OTC March 2023 Webinar: Shifting Technology Commercialization to the Fast Lane

A new model for rapidly accelerating technology commercialization is gaining national popularity. Venture Builders align talent, funding, and industry-specific resources around disruptive technologies to shift commercialization to the fast lane.  In this session, three venture builders will share their models and expectations, and Kendra Stenzel, UK OTC Commercialization Manager, will share the university's view. 

Moderator:

• Eric Hartman, Senior Associate Director of Commercialization, Office of Technology Commercialization, University of Kentucky

Panelists:

• Audrey Beckman, Chief Innovation Officer, Boomerang Ventures
• Ryan Fox, Chief Operating Officer, Orange Grove Bio
• Joe Hofmeister, Co-Founder/President, Cerovations, LLC
• Kendra Stenzel, Ph.D., Commercialization Manager, Office of Technology Commercialization, University of Kentucky

Bios:

• Audrey Beckman, Partner and Chief Innovation Officer at Boomerang Ventures since 2020, brings healthcare ideas to life by identifying new value drivers, de-risking key uncertainties, and providing necessary resources to first-time founders, universities, corporate clients, and healthcare systems. Audrey is a seasoned executive, serving over 20 years in several executive roles and 10 years doing design and product development work with Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc., one of the world’s top medical device companies. During her early career, Audrey developed and commercialized numerous knee implant and instrumentation systems, leading multi-functional technical and international surgeon teams in parallel with hands-on design activities. After helping develop and commercialize one of the world’s best-selling knee implant systems, Audrey began her management career in 1996, assuming the leadership of Zimmer’s Knee Development Engineering team. The orthopedic industry went through a significant change relative to relationships with surgeons who are both customers and consultants. Audrey was an essential leader of the Zimmer R&D leadership team as it developed new methods of valuing intellectual property, compensating consultants, and documenting the needs for consulting activities for internal approval and external oversight. She rebuilt and led the Global Medical Education and Training team, improving educational effectiveness and aligning practices with AdvaMed guidelines. With an annual budget exceeding $70 million, the team grew from 30 to 100 people across more than 20 countries, training 28,000 healthcare professionals annually. Audrey also negotiated and collaborated with industry associations to develop and implement new third-party administered grant and donation practices for orthopedic professional education and to support needy patients worldwide. Audrey began angel investing with VisionTech Partners in 2012, focusing her investments on start-up life science companies. After leaving Zimmer Biomet in 2016, she began advising start-ups on pitch decks, business opportunities and scaling activities. Audrey became the first independent board member for Board Management Software Inc., which primarily serves nonprofit organizations. She serves as a board member for Enlighten Mobility, a health tech start-up developing innovative, data-driven mobility care solutions. Audrey earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Ball State University. She is an active participant on Notre Dame’s Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Industry Advisory Board, the College of Engineering Advisory Council to the President, and the Women in Engineering Advisory Council. She was instrumental in helping the College of Engineering receive multiyear research grants for pioneering research related to a new medical device technology.
• Ryan Fox is Chief Operating Officer at Orange Grove Bio and is committed to the discovery and development of new transformational therapies for diseases with unmet medical needs. Trained as an organic chemist, Ryan began his more-than 20 years of R&D experience in the chemistry labs of GSK where he worked on a wide range of targets and therapeutic areas. After joining a virtual discovery group in 2013, he began transitioning into various leadership and operational roles overseeing finance, portfolio, risk management, and external relations. Ryan’s unique background spans drug discovery, project leadership, strategy, and operations, giving him the ability to take on the challenges of individual projects as well as enterprise-wide initiatives. With a proven track record for building and leading high-performing multi-disciplinary teams that have delivered clinical candidates, he knows what it takes to get programs across the finish line. His extensive experience in the externalization of drug discovery through the utilization of a global CRO network and academic partners has proven instrumental in his ability to implement plans that reduce timelines and maximize financial return. Ryan’s hope is to facilitate this process for all teams and companies with which Orange Grove Bio interacts. Ryan received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Miami University. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Organic Chemistry from Miami University.
• Joe Hofmeister, Co-Founder/President of Cerovations, LLC,  is a medical device executive with 35 years of medical device management experience.  Joe has worked in large, global medical device firms, (such as Pfizer's American Medical Systems, Coloplast Corporation, Starkey Hearing & Muranaka Medical) and in several small medical device startups.  Joe started his career in market research, international marketing and product management, before spending a decade in corporate business development where he worked in support of corporate mergers and aquisitions.  Following that, he worked in the University of Minnesota's tech transfer office as the medical device technology licensing manager.  In 2018, Joe co-founded Cerovations, a grant-funded medical device product development company which seeks to accelerate the development and commercialization of early-stage, high-impact medical device technologies.    
• Kendra Stenzel, Ph.D., is the Commercialization Manager for Medical Devices for the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) at the University of Kentucky (UK) serving the College of Pharmacy and the College of Medicine. She works with UK Innovators to develop business models and commercialization plans for the technologies and to direct UK OTC's resources to maximize the long-term impact of each UK intellectual property (IP) asset.