Contact Us

Tiefei Dong is responsible for assisting in the commercialization of biomedical science technologies developed at URMC. Tiefei has broad research experience from his academic background. In addition, he has sales and marketing experience from his previous work at the Johnson & Johnson Beijing office. Tiefei received his B.S. in Cell Biology from Peking University, his M.S. in Pathology from UR, and his Ph.D. in Pathology from UR.

David Englert is a Senior Information Analyst in the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He coordinates the office’s marketing efforts and is responsible for the critically acclaimed F.I.R.E. Series—OTT’s educational seminar series.
Prior to his arrival at OTT in 2002, David worked as a Compliance and Validation Auditor for a Big Three accounting firm.
David earned his B.A. in English Literature from the University of Rochester.

John Fahner-Vihtelic has been a technology manager and intellectual property professional for 16 years. He began his career in this field at the NIH where he managed the device and instrument portfolio for nine years. He was Senior Licensing Manager for Physical Sciences at the University of Utah, then joined the URMC as Deputy Director for OTT. Presently he spends most of his time working with new URMC start-up companies, in a variety of capacities—from business assessment, to IP protection, to fund raising, and all aspects of corporate management. He was trained as a nurse and EMT.

Dr. Corine Farewell is Deputy Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester. In this role, she provides guidance to University researchers on all aspects of protecting and commercializing University innovations. Dr. Farewell is also responsible for providing strategic direction for the licensing and commercialization of the University’s patent portfolio. She works with the business community to identify technology needs and negotiate technology transfers to meet those needs. Dr. Farewell joined the University of Rochester in September 2007 from the Cornell University Center of Technology Enterprise and Commercialization where she was active in technology commercialization for 6 years. Prior to her technology transfer roles, Dr. Farewell performed technical services, marketing, training and development functions with scope throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for The Iams Company. The combination of her scientific and business training along with over 15 years of international business experience has provided a strong foundation for her role of managing university intellectual property and venture development.
Dr. Farewell earned Bachelor of Science, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Business Administration degrees from Cornell University. She has been an invited guest speaker for both scientific and management topics throughout Europe and the US including lectures at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Krouse Graduate School of Management at Syracuse University, North American and European Veterinary and Animal Health Industry conferences. She has served on the Alumni Association Executive Committee for the Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine, the Johnson Graduate School of Management BR Incubator Advisory Board and the campus-wide Cornell Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Program.

Diane Frank serves as Administrative Assistant in the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Her responsibilities include providing support to the financial administrator and the management team, processing and invoicing of intellectual property agreements, assisting visitors, and maintaining the overall efficient performance of the office.
Diane is a proven business professional with over 20 years of experience in finance and marketing communications. She is a certified member of WBENC—Women Business Enterprise National Council, and attended Onondaga Community College and Monroe Community College.

Jack Fraser is Deputy Director of Technology Transfer with responsibility for licensing inventions and software from students and faculty and for assisting in collaborations with companies and startups. He also serves as adjunct with the Entrepreneurship faculty at the Simon School of Business, where he teaches a course in Technology Transfer and Commercialization.
He joined the University in January 2000 from the Xerox Corporation, where he had directed patent management within the corporate Intellectual Property organization. There he managed the business evaluation of invention proposals for patent application and to identify those technologies with an opportunity for external licensing. Prior to his role in corporate patent management, Jack held management positions in research, engineering and technology strategy within Xerox. He led a number of start-up teams from product planning and technology selection to the hand-off of copier designs for manufacture in Japan. He led a 50 person cross-functional team in technology transfer resulting from a major patent license for an ink imaging system. This project led to the formation of DXI (DuPont-Xerox Imaging), a joint venture. Other assignments included managing a collaboration with Philips on image storage, the specifications activity for a Xerox-Hewlett Packard-Novell network printing consortium and product manager for special media applications for ink jet printing.
Jack received his A.B. in physics from Hamilton College, a Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University, and participated, as a Xerox designee, in the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School. He has been awarded 14 US patents from inventions at Xerox.

Marjorie Hunter directs the URMC Office of Technology Transfer with over 25 years of experience in intellectual property matters and technology transfer. She has served in many capacities including: Patent Attorney for Amoco Corporation, Corporate Counsel for Baxter Diagnostics Inc./Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Senior Technology Licensing Specialist at the Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health, Director of the Technology Transfer Office, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and most recently as the Senior Licensing Manager for the Technology Transfer Office at the University of Utah. She is a registered patent attorney and a member of several bar associations as well as the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) and the Licensing Executives Society (LES). Marjorie received her BS in Honors Biology from the University of Illinois in 1978, and went on to earn her JD at the Dickinson School of Law of Pennsylvania State University in 1981.

Courtney Jackett is the Technology Transfer Specialist in the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester. As the specialist, she is responsible for administrative support to the office by managing the daily operations of the office and coordinating technology transfer support services. She provides guidance to faculty and staff with respect to routine University technology transfer procedures and services.
Courtney has been with the University since 2003. She holds an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Laura McKnight is the Intellectual Property Assistant for the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She provides administrative support to the IP Administrator and Licensing Managers and is responsible for managing records pertaining to invention disclosures, domestic and international patent prosecutions, and other URMC intellectual properties. Laura was previously an estates and trusts paralegal at a Rochester law firm. She received a B.A. in Political Science from St. John Fisher College, a Paralegal Studies Certificate from Monroe Community College and is a registered Notary Public.

Zubair Mirza has a diverse professional experience of over 28 years in medical technology innovation, engineering, development, and management as well as business and organizational development and strategizing. He has served in various capacities in technology, scientific, corporate, entrepreneurial, clinical, consulting, and non-profit environments including: as Manager Advanced Development Engineering with Becton-Dickinson, VP R & D at Critichem, President of Natural Solutions, VP/Chief Technology Officer for Life Products and as a researcher on projects for WHO, SIU School of Medicine, Springfield Illinois Board of Education. He co-founded three medical start-ups, sold one to BD, licensed technologies to and from corporations, has served on various corporate and community boards and holds six patents. Zubair received his bachelors in Biology and masters in Industrial (medical product) Design from the University of Illinois and also has a degree in Respiratory Therapy.

Erin Miterko is an Administrative Assistant in the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Her responsibilities include processing invoices and agreements, providing assistance to visitors and staff, and maintaining the smooth functioning of the office.
Erin earned her B.S. in Speech Pathology from SUNY Geneseo and is a recent graduate of the Paralegal Studies program at Monroe Community College which provides her with a solid background for her position.

Mithun Mukherjee has a broad research background in software programming and data analysis for fMRI research from his past experience as a technical associate at the Rochester Center for Brain Imaging. Mithun holds a masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and is currently pursuing an MBA part-time at the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester.

Gail Norris is Director for the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester. As Director, she provides leadership in developing strategies for the licensing and commercialization of Intellectual Property developed at the University, fostering corporate collaborations and assisting in the establishment of start-up companies which use technology developed at the University.
Ms. Norris was a partner of the law firm of Nixon Peabody from 1990 until 2000 specializing in all aspects of corporate law. She represented clients in a broad range of business transactions, in technology licensing, in corporate formation and governance and in many other types of business negotiations. In 2000, Gail became the General Counsel for the US operations of Celltech Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company based in the UK where she was responsible for all legal matters for the Company's US operations. In 2005, Gail joined the Office of Counsel at the University of Rochester in August to assist the University with its business transactions, especially in the area of technology transfer. She assumed her role as Director for the Office of Technology Transfer in early 2006.
Ms. Norris is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the Association of University Technology Managers. She received her B.S. in Management from Syracuse University and her J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University.

Beth Race is the Intellectual Property Administrator in the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester Medical Center. As the administrator, she is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the IP section of the office. She monitors and facilitates communication between outside counsel, inventors, and OTT licensing staff. Beth is responsible for the details surrounding patent protection and ensures University compliance with reporting requirements arising from external funding of research.
Beth also coordinates our High School Volunteer and Paralegal Internship Programs. She has been with the University since 2006, and before that spent ten years as an intellectual property paralegal. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration and is currently matriculated in the part-time Simon MBA program at the University of Rochester. Beth is a Notary Public.

Michael Rusnak has over 23 years of professional experience—most recently holding the position of Venture Consultant with BCM Technologies, Inc., the venture subsidiary of Baylor College of Medicine. He has held senior positions in biotech business development with Ceros, CombiChem, and Lexicon Genetics where he has been involved with over $100 million of partnering activity. Prior to Lexicon, he has held various positions in marketing, sales, and project management with Baxter, Bayer, and Cetus. Michael received his MS in Clinical Science from San Francisco State University and has a B.S. in Microbiology from St. Bonaventure University.

Lisa Sheldon is the Technology Transfer Administrator in the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester. As the administrator, she is responsible for licensee and client liaison, data management, agreement monitoring, and financial oversight for the protection and commercialization of intellectual property created by the University of Rochester faculty, staff and students. She provides data analysis, financial agreement invoicing/tracking, and royalty allocations and distribution. Lisa also coordinates specialized technology transfer projects.
Lisa has been with the University since 1993. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts and is a Notary Public.

Mary Shierloh is the Financial Administrator in the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Rochester Medical Center. As the financial administrator, Mary oversees the flow of all office activities. She is responsible for the design, execution, and effectiveness of internal controls. She manages the OTT accounts, including the preparation and management of capital, operating, and patent budgets. She monitors license compliance and provides financial oversight for the protection and commercialization of intellectual property created at the University of Rochester Medical Center. This includes analyzing data, as well as allocating and distributing royalties. Mary assures compliance with all applicable office, Medical Center, University, federal, and international policies and procedures. Mary also supervises the administrative support staff. She has over 20 years experience in medical office management and administrative support. Mary joined the Office of Technology Transfer in 2001. She is a Notary Public.

Harl Tolbert is responsible for the commercialization of biological science technologies developed at URMC. He holds a masters degree in Animal Sciences and an MBA from the University of Illinois. Prior to working in academic technology transfer, Harl worked in sales and marketing at Abbott Laboratories. He also worked in the business development group at Pierce Chemical where he in-licensed technology from universities and life science companies.