Introduction to Intellectual Property & Technology Commercialization

Eric Ginsburg, PhD, serves as the senior director, intellectual property and technology development at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Eric’s team works with faculty and other researchers to move their discoveries and inventions towards the marketplace. Prior to joining Polsky, Eric worked in research and development at Eastman Kodak and Abbott Laboratories, and was a postdoctoral researcher at the IBM Almaden Research Center. Eric earned a SB degree from MIT and a PhD from Caltech, both in Chemistry. His graduate work focused on the synthesis and characterization of soluble electrically conducting polymers. Eric is a registered patent agent and a certified licensing professional. In his spare time, Eric enjoys being somewhere like this or this as often as possible.

At Polsky Science Ventures, Christine leads the formation and launch of new science and technology companies across all fields of research at the University of Chicago. As a seasoned business leader and value creator, Christine brings more than 10 years of venture capital experience and has helped deliver more than $12 billion in incremental value for a variety of life science businesses, including startups and publicly-traded global companies. Christine is a serial entrepreneur who cofounded a specialty chemicals intermediates business, which successfully exited to Great Lakes Chemical in five years with double digit return on investment. She served as CEO of Quest Strategies, which provides strategic consulting to innovative growth companies and as the vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship at the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership and managed the Helix Fund, which provides funding to life science and information technology startups. Christine created STL Export Accelerator, the nation’s first accelerator to focus on exporting, managed a regional business plan competition, co-led a movement to coordinate all of St. Louis’ assets to achieve innovation results and managed five incubators with approximately 800 entrepreneurs. Christine received her bachelor’s degree of science in chemistry and biomedical sciences from Western Michigan University, her PhD in chemistry from Purdue University, and her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In her spare time, she enjoys outdoor activities and world travel.

Thelma serves as the director, business development and licensing, at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.   She is responsible for licensing new university technologies to commercial partners, and works with faculty and her Polsky colleagues to find companies or build new companies that will transform scientific discoveries into products. Thelma holds a PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of Chicago, and received her BA in Biology and English from the University of Virginia. A native of Alexandria, Virginia, she enjoys off-shore sailboat racing and paddleboarding in her spare time.