John L. HarbAssistant Dean, Scientific Operations
Director, Office of Biotechnology
john.harb@einstein.yu.edu John Harb, M.S.P.H., joined the office of biotechnology’s predecessor office in 1996 and became director of the office in July 2001. John has worked for Einstein for 24 years in positions of increasing responsibility and, in addition to being director of the office, is also assistant dean for scientific operations, a title he has held since December 2000. John received his B.S. degree in environmental health from East Carolina University and received his M.S.P.H. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Under John’s leadership, the office of biotechnology has successfully implemented many new initiatives over the past six years. A prime example is the “start-up” initiative that was launched four years ago.
Since then, many new start-up biotechnology companies have been formed incorporating Einstein technologies. To date, these companies have raised more than $200 million to further develop and bring Einstein innovations to the marketplace, and the most advanced company in this initial cohort recently went public. The office’s recent track record of innovation and asset creation has led to the establishment of the new office of business development, in which John has an active senior role.
Richard Kosman Director, Office of Business Development
richard.kosman@einstein.yu.edu Richard Kosman, Sc.M.M., joined the office of biotechnology in November 2001 as assistant director. In January 2005, Richard was promoted to associate director of the office of biotechnology. In July 2007, he was further promoted to director of the new office of business development, which was created to establish additional collaborations with academic and commercial entities and to further translate the basic research advances made at Einstein into clinical applications.
Richard received his A.B. degree in chemistry summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College and received his Sc.M.M. (Master of Medical Sciences) degree from Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining Einstein, Richard worked as a life sciences industry investment banker/entrepreneur and developed a track record of building valuable life sciences products and companies from academic discoveries (one FDA-approved drug and a cohort of seed-stage client biotechnology companies that have collectively attained in excess of $4.5 billion in total public market/acquisition value).
David Silva, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Office of Business Development
david.silva@einstein.yu.edu David Silva, Ph.D., joined the office of business development in late December 2007 as senior business development analyst and was promoted to assistant director in 2010. He is responsible for research tools initiative and participates in the marketing and out-licensing of Einstein’s technologies. David received his B.S. in microbiology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Boston University School of Medicine. He began his postgraduate career as a technology licensing associate at Upstate USA, Inc. (now a part of Millipore Corporation), where he focused on in-licensing technologies from the academic and biopharma communities. Most recently, David worked as a business development manager at Invitrogen Corporation, where he was responsible for out-licensing Invitrogen’s proprietary technologies to diagnostic, therapeutic and research tool companies and for enforcing Invitrogen’s intellectual property rights.
Janis Peck Paradiso, M.B.A. Assistant Director, Office of Business Development
janis.paradiso@einstein.yu.edu Janis Peck Paradiso, M.B.A., joined the office of business development in late December 2007 as business development analyst and was promoted to assistant director in 2010. In this role, she is responsible for the office's internal marketing and branding initiatives, manages the Technology Transfer Intern Program and participates in the marketing, negotiation and licensing of Einstein’s technologies. Before joining Einstein, Janis worked in the Technology Transfer Office at the Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY) for more than four years. In that position, she managed the Downstate Medical Center’s intellectual property portfolio, as well as other technologies from additional SUNY campuses; led licensing negotiations; and participated in marketing activities. Janis received her B.S. degree in computer engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University) and her M.B.A. from the University at Albany, SUNY.
Ece Auffarth, Ph.D. Contract and Licensing Manager, Office of Biotechnology
ece.auffarth@einstein.yu.edu Ece Auffarth, Ph.D., joined the
office of biotechnology in October of 2009 as contract and licensing
administrator and was recently promoted contract and licensing manager.
Her responsibilities include negotiating, managing and overseeing a broad range
of agreements between Einstein and its industrial and academic collaborators
(e.g., Material Transfer Agreements, Industry-Sponsored Research Agreements,
Confidentiality Agreements, Consulting Agreements, Research Tool License
Agreements, Inter-Institutional Agreements). Ece received her B.S. in biology and Ph.D. in molecular genetics and microbiology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Upon completing her graduate studies, she worked at Darby & Darby P.C. as scientific advisor for two years. In that position, she was responsible for prosecuting patent applications, coordinating U.S. and international patent filings and maintaining client intellectual property portfolios. Prior to joining Einstein, Ece worked as scientific project manager at New York University, where she was responsible for managing the administration of a multi-institutional research program. Ece is a registered patent agent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Yao Cheng, Ph.D. Licensing Associate, Office of Biotechnology
yao.cheng@einstein.yu.edu Yao Cheng, Ph.D., joined the office of biotechnology in April of 2012 as a licensing associate. Her responsibilities include negotiating and managing various agreements between Einstein and its industrial and academic collaborators (e.g., Material Transfer Agreements, Industry-Sponsored Research Agreements, Inter-Institutional Agreements) as well as participating in the evaluation and marketing of Einstein’s technologies. Yao received her H.BSc degree in molecular biology from the University of Toronto, and her Ph.D. in pharmacology from Yale University. In concurrence with her graduate studies, Yao freelanced as a Managing Editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology at Wiley-Blackwell, and wrote clinical research highlights on a broad range of cancer topics. Prior to joining Einstein, Yao worked at the Columbia Technology Ventures as a Client Services Associate, and assisted the patenting and licensing activities of Columbia University.
