April 30, 2026 | Julie Watson Speaking at Rutgers Road to Commercialization Symposium Series

Special Counsel Julie Watson will be a featured panelist as part of Rutgers University’s Road to Commercialization Symposium Series. The series, hosted by Rutgers’ Office for Research, seeks to inform attendees about academic commercialization and entrepreneurial best practices and steps, while highlighting the resources available to researchers through the Office for Research's Technology Transfer and New Ventures units. Details on Julie’s session are below:

“How Research Funding Impacts Commercialization Opportunities” – April 30, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EST

A panel of experts will explore how federal, corporate, philanthropic, and venture models—and their associated 'terms'—influence translation, partnerships, startups, and long-term value, while highlighting strategies to align scientific excellence with market opportunity and navigate key IP issues such as ownership, licensing, and access. As part of the webinar, attendees will also learn about all the resources provided by the Office for Research.

Julie will be joined on the panel by Sadhana Chitale (New York University), Katherine Chou (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Nelson Medeiros (Novartis Biomedical Research), and Ken Porter (University of Maryland Ventures). The discussion will be moderated by Rutgers’ Shemaila Sultana.

Julie Watson concentrates her practice in early-stage intellectual property transactions, particularly in the dynamic realm of technology startups and university technology transfer and has earned a reputation for her acute understanding of client needs and her ability to provide strategic solutions and has been recognized by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine as one of the “World’s Leading Patent Practitioners” with deep knowledge of university licensing and tech transfer.  As past chair of the Board for the Certified Licensing Professional™ (CLP), faculty for AUTM’s Advanced Licensing Course, and a lecturer for a number of academic programs including at Wake Forest University's School of Medicine and Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, she is dedicated to continuously advancing the profession.