Poornima Upadhya, Licensing Specialist, Brookhaven National Laboratory, manages a diverse portfolio of technologies from several areas including life sciences, physics, computer science, environment, and energy. In this position she has successfully negotiated several complex license/option agreements with established and start-up entities, as well as other types of contractual agreements. In addition, she manages the internal technology maturation programs and serves as a reviewer for DOE SBIR proposals.
Prior to joining Brookhaven National laboratory, she was a tenure track Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, and later, a Senior Research Scientist at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New York. In these academic positions she led a team performing basic research on the biochemical underpinnings of two fairly common kidney diseases: Polycystic Kidney Disease and HIV-associated Nephropathy. During her tenure as a scientist, she has been the recipient of several competitive NIH grants. In addition, she has authored a book chapter and articles in significant peer-reviewed journals.
Poorni has a B.Sc in Physics, Chemistry Mathematics from Bangalore University, M.Sc in Biochemistry from Bangalore University, Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Science and M.B.A in Finance from Stony Brook University.