PCI - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Legal Affairs
Abby joined Penn in 2021, after previously working for various hospitals after graduating law school. She works with the Alliances group providing legal counsel and review.
Job Titles:
- Accountant
- Financial Analyst
- Financial Compliance Analyst
As Financial Compliance Analyst, Amy is part of PCI's Finance Team. She works directly with the Licensing, Intellectual Property, and Legal teams on post-execution of License Agreements to support License compliance.
Email Amy.
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice Provost for Research and Managing Director
- Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation
Ben Dibling is Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) at the University of Pennsylvania. Ben leads the PCI team in advancing discoveries and ideas resulting from Penn's research towards new products, services, and/or businesses to provide benefits back to Penn, its inventors, and society. The PCI team actively facilitates a broad range of technology development connections between Penn and the commercial sector, including technology licenses, R&D alliances, sponsored research, and the formation of new ventures.
Prior to joining PCI and Penn in 2016, Ben was Senior Associate Director of Licensing at UCLA. Ben started his career in technology transfer in 2004 at UChicagoTech, the office of technology and intellectual property at the University of Chicago, and was Program Manager in Oncology at the time he moved to UCLA in 2011.
Ben holds a PhD in Clinical Medicine from the University of Leeds and a B.Med.Sc. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Birmingham. He is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP). Ben is a member of AUTM, LES and prior chair of the Board of Governors for CLP.
Brian helps to enable research at Penn through review and negotiation of agreements with commercial companies supporting research activities at the University. A transactional attorney with over a decade of contracting experience, Brian works with faculty investigators, research administrators, and various Penn stakeholders and decision makers across the University, as well as with commercial collaborators ranging from one-person startups to global pharma companies. Brian is a graduate of Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he was managing editor of the Temple Law Review, and received his BA in music from New York University. Brian lives in Philadelphia, regularly records and performs music on his own and with a variety of groups, and hosts a radio show that focuses on improvised music.
A negotiator in PCI's Corporate Contracts group since 2014, Christine manages and supports the University of Pennsylvania's research and business activities through structuring, drafting, and negotiating a variety of corporate and commercial contracts. Prior to joining PCI, Christine worked for 6 years as a commercial litigator at Archer & Greiner. Christine lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Technology
David helps manage Penn's relationship with the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. David received his BS in biology from UNC Chapel Hill, followed by his master's in biochemistry from North Carolina State University, and finally his PhD from UNC Chapel Hill. Subsequently, David did a postdoctoral fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston TX. David's academic research interests were mouse models of brain tumors, specifically malignant gliomas.
Job Titles:
- Assistant General Counsel
Denene provides legal support to PCI leadership and to the Corporate Alliances Team at PCI. In that capacity, Denene handles complex licensing transactions, supports contracting efforts at the Center for Cellular Immunotherapy (CCI), and also handles manufacturing and supply agreements, patent litigation and related adversarial matters related to Penn's patent portfolio, such as IPRs and Opposition proceedings in Europe.
Derrick has over a decade of experience in market research and analysis. At PCI, he specializes in gathering and analyzing market data to drive strategic decisions, working closely with the Technology Licensing Officers and Business Development teams. Derrick provides critical market intelligence and develops marketing strategies that help transform innovative research into viable commercial products, combining his marketing expertise and passion for technology to advance PCI's mission.
Job Titles:
- Penn 's Chief Innovation Officer
JoAnne provides executive administrative support to Dr. John Swartley, Penn's Chief Innovation Officer, and Dr. Ben Dibling, Associate Vice Provost of Research and the Managing Director of PCI. She has many years of administrative experience and helps to coordinate the activities of the administrative support functions of PCI. She holds a master's degree in counseling and an undergraduate degree in psychology. She relishes family time, enjoys Zumba, loves to dance, and has a passion for beach travel.
Job Titles:
- Associate General Counsel
- Associate Director, Legal Affairs at the Penn Center for Innovation
- Member of the National Association of Colleges and University Attorneys
Elizabeth ("Liz") Lai Featherman is Associate Director, Legal Affairs at the Penn Center for Innovation, as well as an Associate General Counsel of the University of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Featherman is a member of the National Association of Colleges and University Attorneys (NACUA) and ChIPs. She is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Corporate Contracts
Job Titles:
- Senior Intellectual Property Paralegal
Gangotri supports the technology commercialization efforts of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. She evaluates the commercial potential ion of new inventions, determines a strategy for seeking IP protection, markets the technology to prospective companies, negotiates various agreements and helps to establish relationships between industry and Penn researchers. Gangotri has a PhD in Chemistry and taught undergraduate chemistry prior to her role as a technology transfer professional. She enjoys reading and is currently an active member of PCI's book club.
Grey manages analytic and reporting activities across the breadth of PCI. She also collaborates on organization wide effort to establish data standards and ensure data integrity.
Job Titles:
- Revenue Distributions Analyst
Hector is responsible for processing internal and external revenue distributions in accordance with the University's Patent Policy.
Job Titles:
- Senior Patent Prosecution Paralegal
Helene is a Senior Patent Prosecution Paralegal, supporting the filing and prosecution of Penn's patent portfolio. She studied Communication with a concentration in Political Communication and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. Helene has over 15 years of experience in the tech transfer space. She likes travel, music, the Phillies, and a great pasta dish.
As Business Administrator, Jackie's key duties include administering approval and payment of legal invoices, monitoring purchasing card activity, initiating journal entries to recover expenses from other departments, invoice preparation for external parties and review of expense reimbursement reports in Concur.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Corporate Alliances Team
- Executive Director, Corporate Alliances
Jim is the Executive Director of the Corporate Alliances team at PCI and has worked in technology partnering, licensing and commercialization at Penn since 2008. His team leads business development, strategy, negotiation, execution, alliance management and oversight of large, innovative and mutually beneficial strategic alliances for Penn with many corporate, non-profit and foundation partners.
Jim and his team pioneer and build innovative translational alliance programs with the goal to align fundamental inventions with teams of scientists and business people to develop innovative and impactful technology solutions for some of society's biggest problems and challenges. The alliance program partnerships have generated significant basic research, manufacturing development, clinical trial funding and licensing revenue to Penn, and resulted in the creation of multiple start-up companies based in the Philadelphia area and elsewhere that have collectively raised substantial equity financing and in numerous cases have gone public. These partnerships have resulted in the approval of two transformative new products with many other products under active development.
Jim received his Ph.D. in Neurobiology from The University Chicago and a B.A. (double major) in Biology and Economics from The University of Virginia. He is also a registered U.S. patent agent. Prior to joining Penn, Jim worked for a biotechnology company in the Philadelphia area working in a business development and intellectual property management capacity.
Jay is responsible for PCI's financial operations, including finance strategy, metrics and controls, and reporting of financial results. Jay received his MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his A.B. in Government from Harvard University. He enjoys cross country skiing, woodworking, and painting.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operations Officer & Executive Director, IP
- Chief Operations Officer and Executive Director of Intellectual Property
Jennifer Langenberger is the Chief Operations Officer and Executive Director of Intellectual Property. She oversees the University's patent estate and is responsible for the administrative infrastructure of PCI, including management of PCI's information technology, human resources, office administrative support, and facilities.
Jennifer has been at PCI since 2006. Prior to that she worked as an IP specialist at CHOP, a patent agent at a patent boutique law firm, and as a patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Job Titles:
- Executive Administrative Assistant to Chief Innovation Officer & Associate Vice Provost for Research & Managing Director
Job Titles:
- Penn 's Chief Innovation Officer
John S. Swartley, MBA, PhD is the Chief Innovation Officer of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) where he leads and supports innovation initiatives across the entire institution. Dr. Swartley served previously as the Associate Vice Provost for Research and Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) at Penn where he led a multi-faceted team focused on new product development, corporate partnerships, technology licensing and new venture creation based on faculty expertise and discoveries made at Penn. Prior to joining Penn in 2007, Dr. Swartley was Senior Vice President and General Partner of BCM Technologies (BCMT), the venture capital investment subsidiary of Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Swartley joined BCMT in 2003 from the Yale University Office of Cooperative Research where he was Associate Director of the Medical Campus Office. Over the course of his career, Dr. Swartley has facilitated thousands of commercialization and research partnership agreements that have collectively generated nearly five billion dollars in licensing income and sponsored research funding, as well as participating in the formation and oversight of hundreds of university spin-out companies that have collectively raised several billion dollars of investment capital. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Bates College, an MBA from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University, and a PhD in Microbial & Molecular Genetics from Emory University.
Job Titles:
- 2024 / 2025 PCI Fellows Cohort / Penn 's Chief Innovation Officer
Job Titles:
- Director
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate Director for the Physical Science
Josh Jeanson serves as the Senior Associate Director for the Physical Science team where he is primarily responsible for innovations resulting from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Arts & Sciences, the Wharton School, and the Weitzman School of Design.
Josh Jeanson has built a career identifying, protecting, and commercializing intellectual property created in academic research labs. Josh has led numerous licensing negotiations for university owned technologies. The breadth of these negotiations has been with large engineering companies, high-profile startup companies, and niche cottage-industry opportunities. In addition to traditional licensing, Josh has worked closely with thought leaders on conceiving and launching unique technologies in underdeveloped fields or emerging market spaces.
Josh has supported several high growth new ventures from his Penn portfolio, including Vivodyne, AlphaThera, Neuralert, and Agni Semi. In his previous role at UVA Licensing & Ventures Group he supported the initial commercial efforts of Mission Secure, Laser Thermal Analysis, MadiDrop, and VLNComm. Prior to Penn, Josh helped found InfiniSat - a new venture in the 10-100kg small satellite space; and Sano Chemicals - a clinical stage anti-infectives company.
Josh received a BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Mississippi, is a graduate of the Law School of the University of Mississippi, and received an MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Mississippi State University. Josh also holds a small satellite system design certificate from the University of Surrey. Josh has been asked to participate in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program as a grant review panelist with expertise in technology translation and commercialization plan reviews.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director
- Assistant Director of Licensing for the Perelman School of Medicine
Joyce joined PCI as an Assistant Director of Licensing for the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) licensing team in 2023. She is responsible for faculty outreach, engagement, managing intellectual property and supporting commercialization of assets resulting from PSOM research. Prior to this role, Joyce held various licensing positions in both academia and industry. She holds a PhD in Chemistry from Louisiana State University and worked as a Postdoctoral research associate in the joint Biomedical and Engineering department at UNC, Chapel Hill, where she focused on developing modular microfluidic systems for various cancer and neuronal translational research applications.
Job Titles:
- Associate General Counsel
Job Titles:
- Financial Analyst
- Senior Accountant
Kathryn is responsible for PCI's financial statement accounting and the related reporting, overseeing various accounting functions and financial compliance.
Before joining PCI, Kathryn worked at a public accounting firm as an auditor. Kathryn has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island and a M.S. in Accounting from Boston College, and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Senior Business Systems Analyst
Job Titles:
- Chief Marketing, Communications
- Chief Marketing, Communications, and Programs Officer
Laurie Actman serves as the Chief Marketing, Communications and Program Officer at PCI. Laurie as part of the Executive Team oversees the strategic implementation of PCI's programs and partnerships, marketing, and communications and helped to plan and launch the Pennovation Center, Penn's startup incubator where she actively managed programs and partnerships. Previously she served as PCI's Chief Operating Officer from launch in 2014 to December 2016. Before PCI she has worked for notable organizations in the private, non-profit and public sectors in Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C. including as Chief Policy Officer for the CEO Council for Growth, Consultant to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter on his Administration's sustainability and ARRA initiatives, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Viridity Energy, and Deputy and Interim Director for the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation, a $150 million public private project capitalized by the US Department of Energy and based at Philadelphia's Navy Yard. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning and Real Estate from UNC-Chapel Hill. Actman lives in Bala Cynwyd with her husband and three children and spends a lot of time when not working on the soccer sidelines, playing tennis and walking her dog.
Job Titles:
- Administration and Finance Officer
Lee Ann oversees all aspects of financial expense operations at PCI, including income distribution, legal expense processing, purchase orders, travel, purchasing card activity, and payroll administration. Her role includes tracking all PCI funds and funding sources, financial reporting and ad hoc financial analysis. Lee Ann is a Certified Public Accountant in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Prior to joining PCI, Lee Ann worked in public accounting and Penn's Office of Audit, Compliance and Privacy. She enjoys spending time with her family, running, reading, cooking and visiting Cape Cod, MA.
Job Titles:
- Intellectual Property Compliance Coordinator
Lenora is responsible for the day-to-day coordination of IP compliance obligations including federal reporting and record maintenance in PCI's IP management database. Lenora holds a BA from La Salle University and a MA from Saint Joseph's University. She enjoys lifting heavy circles and showing others how to get stronger by moving heavy circles too.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate Director of Licensing
Job Titles:
- Administrative Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Assistant Alliance Manager
Job Titles:
- Administrative Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Administrative Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Intellectual Property Compliance Manager
Job Titles:
- Director of Licensing and Corporate Contracts
Job Titles:
- Program and Compliance Manager
Job Titles:
- Human Resources and Operations Manager
Job Titles:
- Director, IP and Operations
Job Titles:
- Director, Penn Medicine Co - Investment Program
Job Titles:
- Senior Intellectual Property Paralegal
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Special Business Projects
Bob Schenkel is a Director in the licensing group working with various Penn investigators conducting life sciences research. Bob has been with PCI for 18 years. Prior to joining Penn, he worked for various pharmaceutical companies in business development and research and development.
Job Titles:
- Marketing & Communications Manager
Job Titles:
- Financial Administrative Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Director of Innovation & Technology
Job Titles:
- Senior Intellectual Property Paralegal
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of Licensing, Physical Sciences and Engineering
Job Titles:
- Program Director, PCI Fellows and I - Corps
Job Titles:
- Accountant
- Financial Analyst