2025 ITHS Biomedical Innovation Fireside Chat Series – Session 4: Transitioning from Research to Commercialization

Many healthcare innovations can only reach patients if they are delivered as medical products such as therapeutics or medical devices. By necessity, to get there from bench discovery, a product concept needs to go through the commercialization process. This can be daunting. Few researchers have experience in the full range of steps that are required to create a product that will fit clinical needs and meet FDA requirements. This panel will highlight the differences in goals, activities, and personnel that are needed as a new discovery moves toward a commercialization process.

• Ayo Olanrewaju, PhD, Assistant Professor, Bioengineering, U Washington, is developing microfluidic devices for automating molecular tests that will enhance point-of-care diagnostics.
• Janina Malone, JD, Patent Attorney with Lee & Hayes in Portland, Oregon, specializing in life sciences. She assists clients in portfolio development and advises in relation to patentability and freedom to operate.
• David Katz, PhD, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Sparrow Therapeutics, an emerging clinical-stage company addressing disorders of corticosteroid excess. He is an entrepreneur-in-residence at OHSU where he draws on his career experience at Abbot and AbbVie to mentor the next generation of life science leaders.
• Moderated by Jonathan Jubera, MBA, Senior Project Manager, Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute at OHSU. Jonathan manages the Biomedical Innovation Program which supports early-stage technology development for discoveries that show promise for improving human health.