My areas of interest at UNC are technology commercialization, entrepreneurship, and new venture development. Teaching: MBA 846C: Startup ConsultingMBA848A: Startup UNC -- Technology AssessmentMBA880P: S.T.A.R (serve as a faculty advisor)MBA896: Healthcare Consulting (serve as a faculty advisor and guest lecturer)Graduate Certificate in Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship (program manager)Carolina Graduate Consulting Group (serve as a faculty advisor)New Ventures:Manage a portfolio of UNC technology startups through the New Enterprise Opportunity program at KickStart Venture Services; Office of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic DevelopmentTechnology Commercialization:Co-Principal Investigator; Technology Commercialization Carolina program ($1.1M program funded through the Economic Development Administration (EDA; Dept of Commerce))

Technology commercialization and entrepreneurship courses: MBA848A -- Startup UNC I: Technology Assessment MBA846C --Startup ConsultingMBA880P -- S.T.A.R (faculty advisor)

Supported university technology commercialization, innovation, and entrepreneurship through several programs designed to educate students, faculty, and staff and to launch, fund, and incubate university technology-based companies. • Served as co-PI/PI on several innovation-focused grants including $1.1M grant from the Economic Development Administration and two NC Biotechnology Center TEG grants• Oversaw the Startup Consulting Program and mentor MBA student teams to serve as consultants to UNC-based startup companies. Project teams provide direct technical assistance to companies in developing market research, competitive analyses, go-to-market strategy, revenue models, and financial forecasts. 20+ projects supported.• Provided entrepreneurial and operational support to university startup companies via collaboration with UNC's Office of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development. 18 new ventures created through the New Enterprise Opportunity program. Serve as the university representative on the Member Representative Committee for three startups in my startup portfolio. • Taught entrepreneurship and technology commercialization courses: MBA848A–Startup UNC I: Technology Assessment, MBA846C-Startup Consulting; served as faculty co-advisor to MBA880P; and served as guest lecturer in MBA 896–Healthcare Consulting and MBA 895–Healthcare Entrepreneurship,• Managed UNC’s Graduate Certificate in Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship Program

Oversee the technology commercialization program, providing technical assistance and programming aimed at growing the regional knowledge-based economy in Southeast Louisiana. Actively support startup creation and growth by assisting clients with idea conception and validation, IP due diligence, market assessments, liaising with university technology transfer offices and corporate partners to enable technology licensing, business plan development and optimization, identifying sources of funding through small business grants and equity-based investment, and general business education and consulting. The commercialization program has led to direct job creation through full-time Fellowships and part-time Internships and indirect job creation through economic development initiatives and support of emerging companies. Since 2011, the team has employed 8 full-time and 26 part-time commercialization support personnel that have directly assisted hundreds of entrepreneurs, evaluated over 120 technologies, and supported over 60 companies. These efforts have led to client companies raising $2.5M in small business grant funding, nearly $750K in other grant funding and business plan competition awards, over $15M in equity-based financing, and the creation of 135 new jobs.

Assist in commercializing technology at all phases of development, from initial disclosure to market entry. This is accomplished by assisting inventors with invention disclosures, SBIR/STTR grant proposals, market analyses, drafting business plans, and coordinating management teams.

Designing and synthesizing novel polymer nanoparticle delivery methods for the encapsulation of drugs to treat ischemia-reperfusion injury caused by myocardial infarction (heart attack).

Investigated mechanisms that regulate cardiac and skeletal muscle development during early embryogenesis.

Investigated cell signaling mechanisms that regulate cellular growth and migration in primary vascular smooth muscle cells and cardiomyocytes

Investigated RNA expression patterns in primary cultured human cell lines after stimulation with various activated blood-clotting factors

Investigated the role of cytokines and growth factors in toxicity and carcinogenicity using cell-culture systems and animal models