Staff

In his role as Business Development Officer, Tariq is currently involved in the marketing, patenting, and licensing of UCLA’s Life Science Technology portfolio, spanning immuno-oncology, immunology, and regenerative medicine. Tariq is currently managing UCLA’s alliance with the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI).

Tariq joined UCLA TDG in July 2016 and was responsible for the Medical Device portfolio. He left TDG in 2018 to become the Director of Alliance Management for Atara Biotherapeutics, an allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company.  Prior to his time in TDG, he served as Interim CSO for a Houston-based healthcare startup, and as Associate Director at the Center for Innovation at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Tariq brings 15 years of technology transfer experience, having handled licensing and technology transfer at Partners HealthCare Innovation in Boston, the NIH-National Cancer Institute in Maryland, and the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. 

Tariq received his M.B.A from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, his J.D./L.L.M. from University of New Hampshire – Pierce Law, and his Master’s of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Georgetown University. Tariq is a registered Patent Attorney with the USPTO.

Joel Kehle joined UCLA TDG in August 2017. In his role as Technology Transfer Officer, Joel manages a portfolio of database, algorithm, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, and other types of computer science technologies. He has over 20 years of industry experience in information technology and software development. Joel spent over 10 years at Qualcomm focused on cloud computing, enterprise architecture, infrastructure automation, and middleware software. Additionally, he served as Vice President, Technology for multiple startup companies incubated at Idealab in Los Angeles. Joel earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Thibault joined UCLA TDG in August 2023. In his role as Business Development Officer, he is involved in the patenting, marketing, and licensing of UCLA’s Life Science Technology portfolio, focusing on Infectious diseases.

Thibault previously worked for the French Trade Agency in Boston, Business France. He was responsible for business development operations for French biotech startups, and for co-organizing the prestigious Prix Galien USA - an award regarded by many as equivalent to the Nobel Prize in BioPharmaceutical research. 

Thibault has been involved in the selection process of several acceleration programs for life science startups including MassBio Drive, the acceleration program of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and NETVA (New Technology Venture Accelerator), an acceleration program leaded by the French Embassy in the United States.

Before moving overseas, he worked as a Senior Consultant in Innovation Strategy for Alcimed in Paris, France.

Thibault graduated from Chimie ParisTech – PSL University in Paris, France in 2019.

Earl Weinstein joined UCLA TDG in 2005 and is currently Associate Director of Licensing. In this role he works closely with faculty, staff and students to evaluate, protect and commercialize University inventions, and assists with the formation of UCLA startups. Prior to joining UCLA, Earl was with PureTech Ventures, a seed stage venture capital firm in Boston. Earl completed a Ph.D. at MIT working on computational and experimental analysis gene regulatory networks and his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

David Riccardo serves as the Business Development Associate, Engineering and Physical Sciences. David joined UCLA TDG in August 2021, bringing four years of industry-side business development experience in technology transfer, contract management and financial negotiation. Prior to TDG, David spent three years as a Licensing Associate at BioLegend, Inc. in San Diego. Prior to BioLegend, David worked at Tioga Research, a contract research organization focused on skin-applied formulations and transdermal drug delivery, and volunteered at IXL Center, a management consulting firm. David holds a B.S. in Human Biology and a Minor in Business from the University of California, San Diego.

Sofia Ramos joined UCLA TDG in September 2021 as Startup Support Associate of UCLA Ventures. In her role, she works closely with university startups, providing continued support through the UCLA Startup in a Box (SIAB) program, connecting all UCLA-related startups to service providers including corporate law firms, banks, human resources, and tax and accounting services. Prior to joining TDG, Sofia was an analyst at an impact fund dedicated to investing and uplifting minority entrepreneurs and is an active member of UCLA Anderson’s School of Management Riordan Programs. Sofia holds a B.A. in Political Science, and a minor in IMS from the University of California, Los Angeles and the Paris Institute of Political Studies.

Sherrie Dennehy joined UCLA in 2022. As an Industry Sponsored Research and Material Transfer Officer, Sherrie works closely with faculty and industry counterparts to secure industry research funding contracts and material transfer agreements. Prior to UCLA, Sherrie spent seven years at the University of Southern California as the Principal Contract and Grant Officer managing the team responsible for all out-going research subcontracts. Sherrie has also worked at UC Irvine and the University of Central Florida and has over 13 years of experience managing research contracts and grants. Sherrie has a Masters in the Study of Law from the USC Gould School of Law, an M.B.A. from the University of Central Florida, and a B.A. in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara

Before coming to UCLA, Darnell previously worked for 5 years as a Contracts Manager at NYU School of Medicine & NYU Langone Health.  In that role he negotiated agreements involving intellectual property and research at the medical center, including research, licenses, material transfers, software, and other agreements.  He worked in the Columbia University Medical Center Clinical Trials Office for 8 years, and was the Director of Contracts in the office for 4 years.  His other Contracts Manager experience includes Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center, Janssen Research and Development, LLC, and ImClone Systems.  

Darnell holds a B.A. in Psychology from Valparaiso University, and a J.D. from City University of New York School of Law.
 

Ruzanna joined UCLA TDG in 2021. As an Industry Research and Material Transfer Associate, Ruzanna assists TDG’s ISR Team with drafting, negotiating, and executing material transfer and research agreements. Prior to her role at UCLA, Ruzanna worked in Worker’s Compensation and Real Estate law.  Ruzanna received her law degree in 2016 from Southwestern Law School and her B.A. in Sociology from California State University, Northridge.

Roxy holds a BA in Journalism & English from CSU, Chico, and has attended law school in both her native California and England, UK, where she worked and lived for 9 years.  Roxy’s previous work environment was in the legal sector in both California and England, and is also a California Notary.

Karla joined UCLA TDG in July 2013 as an ISR-MTA Coordinator. Currently in her role as a Senior Coordinator for the ISR-MTA team she reviews and processes MTA agreements as well as ISR proposals and intake matters. Karla provides support to all ISR staff and reviews applicable information to complete Conflict of Interest Cases. She previously worked in the Office of Research Data Management (ORDM). She started at UCLA as an Administrative Assistant in the office of Extramural Fund Management (EFM) in 2000, where she gained experience with reviewing awards and assigning fund numbers. In 2006 she was promoted to an Administrative Analyst role in ORDM. She has experience with the UCLA Financial System and PATS. She has been in charge of processing awards, adding new sponsors and requesting sponsor codes via UCOP-REMS. Karla is a departmental resource between ORDM and EFM with ISR matters.

Matthew Savary joined the UCLA TDG in 2019 and serves as Principal of UCLA Innovation Fund. Dr. Savary manages the MedTech vertical of the UCLA Innovation Fund, and is responsible for evaluating early-stage medical device technologies, working closely with UCLA inventors and external advisors to de-risk promising assets, and attracting industry partners, entrepreneurs, and investors to continue development through a license to an established or newly created company. Matthew joined the TDG from Medtronic in Boulder, CO, where he was Director of Medical Affairs for four years.  Prior to that he was a Surgical Resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.   Matthew has a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Steven Institute of Technology, and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Tufts University School of Medicine.

Lily Yu joined UCLA’s Technology Development Group in March of 2015 as a Patent Prosecution Analyst.   She provides patent support to the business development officers, inventors, and licensees by managing their extensive patent portfolios.   In addition, she handles all of the annuities for UCLA.  She began her intellectual patent career in 2011 at Ladas & Parry.   Prior to working in the patent field, she worked in education and nonprofit.   She holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Bachelor of Arts in Asian American Studies from UCLA.

As the Director of Human Resources, Laura is responsible for leading employee relations, training and development strategies, recruitment, performance management, compensation, payroll, and benefits for UCLA TDG. Laura joined TDG in 2013, and prior to that she worked in several roles over thirteen years in the Office of the Chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley. Her most recent role was as the Director of Human Resources & Operations for the Vice Chancellor of Administration & Finance. Laura holds a B.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley.

Valentina Alonso is a Ph.D. candidate in the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA and is conducting research in Dr. Alexander Hoffmann’s laboratory. Her thesis work focuses on understanding the role of NFkB in B cell development and fibroblast cellular senescence. During her time in graduate school, Valentina has gained a broad range of laboratory skills and is now excited to expand her knowledge of technology transfer as a TDG Technology Fellow. After graduating, Valentina hopes to leverage her skills gained in the laboratory along with the TDG fellows program to enter private industry.

Ran Hu joined TDG as a Technology Fellow in July 2024. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Bioinformatics Interdepartmental Program at UCLA, conducting research in Dr. Jasmine Zhou’s lab. Her research primarily focuses on developing computational methods to analyze cell-free DNA methylation data, aiming to facilitate noninvasive early cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and disease monitoring. As a TDG Fellow, Ran is responsible for creating marketing materials and drafting non-confidential disclosures for UCLA inventions.

Cayden joined TDG in 2023 as a Technology fellow. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Bioengineering at UCLA in Professor Dino DiCarlo’s group. After receiving his B.S. from UC Berkeley, Cayden spent two years at a single-cell sequencing startup before beginning grad school. His current research is focused on creating platforms to accelerate synthetic biology workflows used in biomanufacturing. He expects to graduate in 2024 and make the jump to industry.

Alyssa Ramella is an MBA candidate at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and holds a bachelor's degree in information technology from Rutgers University. Alyssa is supporting the Technology Development Group as an Innovation Fellow, helping portfolio teams build their go-to-market strategy. Before attending business school, Alyssa worked in go-to-market strategy and technical sales at various technology companies in the cybersecurity and enterprise infrastructure space.