Staff

Mark Wisniewski is the Senior Director of Biopharmaceuticals.  He is responsible for the life science and biopharma intellectual property developed at UCLA, including managing licensing and marketing staff, financial management of the portfolio and outreach to inventors and industry.  His career spanned multiple roles in biotech management, entrepreneurship and product commercialization in both start-up to Fortune 100 companies.  Prior to his role at UCLA TDG, Mark was the Head of Special Projects at Prolacta Bioscience, a producer of human milk nutritional products for premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit, leading the strategic planning and business development functions. He was also a Principal Advisor to the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute’s Commercialization Accelerator Programs which provides business strategy, product commercialization, fund raising and strategic partnership guidance to hundreds of early stage biotech and life science companies. Mark began his career at Baxter Healthcare where he held positions in business development, strategic planning, marketing and R&D.  Mark received his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and his Masters of Immunology and Microbiology at the UCLA School of Medicine.

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, infectious diseases, neurosciences 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.

Megha joined UCLA TDG in December 2018 and manages a Medtech portfolio. She was previously a Senior Licensing Officer at UC Irvine after which she joined the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as an Attorney and Assistant General Counsel for Global Health. She was then Assistant VP for Research and Economic Development at Cal State University. Megha has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from UC Irvine, a Ph.D. in Physiological Sciences and Genetics from UCLA, and a J.D. from Maurer School of Law, Indiana University.

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.

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

Mimi Ojukwu joined UCLA in 2023. As an Industry Sponsored Research and Material Transfer Officer, Mimi works closely with faculty and industry counterparts to negotiate and execute industry research funding agreements as well as material transfer agreements. Prior to joining UCLA, Mimi worked at United Healthcare, DaVita Healthcare Partners, Abbot Medical Optics and most recently, Masimo Corporation.  Mimi holds an L.L.B. from the University of Buckingham, UK and a B.L. from Victoria Island, Nigeria.  

The TDG complete list of Department Assignments may be viewed here.

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.

Harry joined TDG as an associate with the Industry Sponsored Research and Materials Transfer in 2021. Originally from Orlando Florida and a Los Angeles resident since 2019, Harry has a decade of paralegal experience in a wide variety of areas specializing in domestic, civil, probate, and criminal law. Additionally Harry was a contributing writer for multiple local news outlets in the central Florida area. Harry received his B.A. from the University of Central Florida in 2011.

Iris Heredia joined TDG in November 2014 as an Industry Sponsored Research and Material Transfer Coordinator.  In her role as ISR-MTA Coordinator, Iris reviews material transfer requests and manages intake duties for sponsored research matters. Every month, Iris collaborates with faculty and staff to prepare and submit Conflict of Interest cases. She also runs audit reports to check data entry accuracy and solves any pending issues. Prior to UCLA, Iris was a Marketing Intern at Intercollegiate Athletics Department and a Writing Tutor at University of California, Santa Barbara. Iris holds a B.A. in Political Science and Global Studies from UCSB.

Matthew Savary joined the UCLA TDG in 2019 and serves as Principal of New Ventures and the 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.

Shushanik Basmajyan joined UCLA TDG in November 2022 as a Contracts Manager for Integrated Sciences.  She previously worked as Contracts Analyst at UCLA Capital Programs Department. She also worked as a Program Assistant at Pasadena Unified School District. Graduated from UCLA in 2019 with the major in Sociology.  

Griselda joined UCLA in 2012 and TDG in 2016. Currently as the Contracts Compliance Specialist, her position involves reviewing and drafting the Business Development and Technology Transfer team’s contracts, and managing contract compliance audits such as IP due diligence on patent and non-patentable assets, and assessing licensee compliance post-execution (i.e., development, reporting, and financial obligations). Griselda earned her B.A. in Spanish and a minor in Political Science from UCLA.  Prior to her joining TDG, Griselda worked as a Junior Fund Manager and Purchasing Coordinator at UCLA’s Division of Dermatology for 3 years, and prior to that, she worked for UCLA Health and UCLA’s Division of Rheumatology.

Naomi is a full-time student at UCLA, who joined the Technology Development Group in Summer 2021. As an out-of-state student from Las Vegas, Nevada she is currently working on her undergraduate degree in Psychobiology with a minor in Entrepreneurship. Naomi expects to graduate with her B.S. degree in 2024. Prior to this, Naomi has worked in a managerial position at Massage Envy with no prior experience in patent prosecution. She possesses a strong interest for real-world exposure to technology development, marketing, and commercialization. 

Kristen Robertson joined UCLA TDG in 2015. As senior financial analyst, Kristen works closely with the CFO to monitor the overall finances of OIP-ISR’s portfolio, including royalty and patent distribution, campus revenue allocations, the annual budget, and operational expenses and forecasts. Kristen graduated with a degree in Economics in 2009 from Pepperdine University and has spent her career thus far focusing on financial management, process improvement, and data analysis. She has held various high-level roles in the Aerospace/Defense and the commercial sectors, primarily in the areas of finance and strategy.

As the Operations & Human Resources Analyst, Jessica is responsible for human resources and payroll processing, travel and entertainment reimbursements, purchasing, building operations, and other operational duties. She has a B.S. in Business Administration with a Human Resources concentration from UC Riverside.  Jessica brings with her 4 years of UCLA experience from her time serving as the Administrative Manager at UCLA Anderson Parker Career Management Center and as an Administrative Specialist at UCLA Facilities Management. Prior to UCLA, she worked for 4 years as the Field Human Resources Assistant for Panda Restaurant Group. 

Abril Morales is a 4th year PhD candidate in the molecular biology interdepartmental program. Her thesis work in Dr. William Lowry’s lab seeks to understand the mitochondrial and metabolomic disturbances of monogenic intellectual disability disorders using stem cell- derived models.  Prior to this, her other research experiences include investigating cell cycle regulated proteins using biochemical methods and antibiotic drug discovery from plant microbiomes. As a TDG New Ventures Fellow, she works closely with faculty to develop and enhance their pitch of novel therapeutics

Katherine (Katie) Pohl joined TDG as a New Ventures Fellow focusing on therapeutics in September 2021. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Biology from Emory University and is currently a 6th year PhD candidate in the Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Program. Katie’s research under the Department of Ophthalmology has involved establishing and characterizing a human organoid model of dominant optic atrophy, a retinal degenerative disease. Through her experience as a New Ventures Fellow, Katie has developed a passion for synthesizing multiple streams of information to identify problems, find solutions, and make strategic decisions that inform the development of novel therapies. She plans to graduate in 2023 and is interested in venture capital roles that merge due diligence and project management responsibilities. In her free time, Katie loves to scuba dive and has been learning how to sail.