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Deborah M. Vernon, Ph.D. is a Partner at McCarter & English, LLP, where she assists clients in obtaining and enforcing intellectual property rights in both the U.S. and abroad. Her practice is focused on chemical and mechanical arts. She has particular experience with drafting, prosecuting and maintaining patents in the technology fields of metallurgy, superconductors, semiconductors, photovoltatics, plasma science, ceramics, thin film technology, nanophase materials, composite materials, spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, medical devices and instrumentation, and mechanical engineering. Deborah has successfully represented clients in patent appeals, patent reissues and re-examination proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She also has experience with defending and challenging patents in opposition proceedings in Europe. Deborah obtained her doctorate degree in material science from Brown University, where she conducted research on thin films and ceramic materials. This research led her to develop novel processing techniques for controlling grain growth during the densification of nanophase ceramic compacts using chemical vapor infiltration.

Alexandra (Sandra) Glucksmann, Ph.D., was most recently Chief Operating Officer at Editas Medicine Inc., a gene editing company whose mission is to translate its genome editing technology into a novel class of human therapeutics that enable precise and corrective molecular modification to treat the underlying cause of a broad range of genetic diseases. Alexandra was most recently Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Cerulean Pharma, which she joined at its founding. Cerulean Pharma is a clinical-stage company developing innovative nanopharmaceutical tumor-targeting products. She was brought in by founders and investors to help build Tempo (renamed Cerulean) from the ground up. She was a key contributor to all aspects of building the company including setting the strategy, analyzing product development opportunities, cultivating platform and product partnership prospects and participating in fundraising activities. Prior to joining Cerulean in 2006, she spent 13 years at Millennium Pharmaceuticals which she joined in 1993 as one of its first scientists. At Millennium, she held a series of positions with increasing responsibility, ultimately becoming Vice President of all platform technology groups before moving into a senior role in strategic program management and operations. In this role, she worked closely with the CEO and led company-wide process improvement initiatives and participated in business development and M&A efforts. During her tenure at Millennium, Alexandra was critical in helping Millennium evolve from a genomics research-focused organization to a fully integrated and commercial pharmaceuticals company.  Her division played an integral role in the numerous Millennium-large pharma collaborations, which generated over $1.8 billion in funding for the company. She serves on the Board of Directors of Taconic Farms and is the Chair of the Board of Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology (WEST). She is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Harvard Partners Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine. Alexandra was a post-doctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds a Ph.D. with honors from the University of Chicago.