Robert Borghese, Adjunct Professor of Law and Entrepreneurial Medicine; The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Robert Borghese is a member of the faculty of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania as a Lecturer in Law and Entrepreneurial Management. He teaches courses in the Wharton M.B.A., Executive M.B.A. and Engineering Management and Technology programs on legal aspects of entrepreneurship and legal issues for growth companies and on mergers and acquisitions. He has also lectured extensively on legal and strategy issues for start-up and emerging growth companies. Mr. Borghese is the author of M&A from Planning to Integration: Executing Acquisitions and Increasing Shareholder Value published by McGraw-Hill Publishers.
Nathinee Chen, Associate Director, Communication Program; The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Nathinee Chen is the current course head for WHCP 6120 (for Prospective Entrepreneurs) and WHCP 6150 (for MBA Startup Founders). She also coordinates the communication program’s work on MGMT 6100 and serves as the co-chair of the WHCP Fellows Program. She enjoys partnering with other Wharton programs and departments at Penn to deliver workshops on leadership communication and entrepreneurial communication. She has taught MBA writing courses, coached PhDs, and taught undergrads in WH201. Prior to Wharton, Nathinee worked for over a decade as a development and content editor for publishers such as Wiley, Cengage, and Jossey-Bass. She has helped authors who lead their field shape their most innovative ideas into digital and print titles exploring topics in business leadership, nonprofit management, executive coaching, and other disciplines.
Nalaka Gooneratne, Associate Professor of Medicine; Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Gooneratne’s research interests are centered around studying the nature of sleep disorders in the elderly. While many older adults complain of difficulties with sleep, it is an area about which modern medicine has only a limited understanding. Funded initially by a National Institute on Aging Mentored Research Career Development Award (K23), he is pursuing research examining the role of melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, in sleep in the elderly and the effects of sleep apnea treatment on cognitive function in older adults. Dr.Gooneratne also runs a Sleep Disorders Clinic for Seniors in an effort to address the medical needs of older patients with sleep disorders. In addition, Dr. Gooneratne is the Associate Director of the Masters in Translational Research Program, with a focus on Entrepreneurial Science education at the University of Pennsylvania’s ITMATEd program. He is the director of the mHealth mobile app development service at ITMAT (CTSA/Penn). He also helps to coordinate the research activities of the Geriatric fellows in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and mentors research fellows in the Division of Sleep Medicine.
Dr. Gooneratne has an interest in education and implementation of academic entrepreneurship in the life sciences. He currently teaches two classes in this area, and is the Director of the Entrepreneurship concentration in the Masters in Translational Research (MTR) Program.
David Hsu, Richard A. Sapp Professor of Management; The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
David Hsu’s research interests are in entrepreneurial innovation and management. Within that domain, he has investigated topics such as intellectual property management, start-up innovation, technology commercialization strategy, and venture capital. His research has appeared in leading journals such as Journal of Finance, Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Research Policy. He serves as a department editor of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation department of Management Science. In 2008, Hsu was awarded an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Industry Studies Fellowship. At Wharton, he teaches two MBA electives, Entrepreneurship and Technology Strategy. At Penn, Hsu is Associate Faculty Director of the Weiss Tech House, which encourages and supports students in the creation, development, and commercialization of innovative technologies.
Jeff Marrazzo, Former Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder; Spark Therapeutics, Inc.
Jeff currently serves on the boards of multiple non-profit organizations, including Life Science Cares Philadelphia and The Rendell Center for Civics and Civic Engagement. In 2022, Jeff and his wife founded the Marrazzo Family Foundation to support arts-integrated education within Philadelphia.
Viviane Martin, Director, Licensing, Perelman School of Medicine, Penn Center for Innovation; Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Viviane Martin is a licensing and commercialization professional focused on early stage technologies in the life science arena. Viviane earned her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology in France. She came to the United States to perform research in molecular biology at the University of Pennsylvania. After four years of research, Viviane participated in a Business Development Training Program in the Life Sciences Group of the Center of Technology Transfer at University of Pennsylvania. She then joined the technology transfer office at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she worked for 11 years, becoming associate director of the office.
Antionnette McDermott, Director, Graduate Program, Wharton Communication Program; The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Antionnette is the Director of the Wharton Graduate Communication Program, where she leads the design and delivery of communication courses for MBA and Executive MBA students. She also leads the communication coaching initiative aimed at helping Wharton doctoral students with their research presentations and job talks.
A lecturer at Wharton since 2011, Antionnette is passionate about teaching, receiving Wharton’s Teaching Excellence Award for outstanding performance based on student evaluations. She currently teaches WHCP 6110 Management Communication and WHCP 6120 Fundamentals for Prospective Entrepreneurs. She has served as a lecturer and facilitator for several co-curricular initiatives with the McNulty Leadership Program, Penn Carey Law School, Fulbright Scholar’s Program, and the Strategic Leadership in Education Certificate Program at the Penn Graduate School of Education. She has also facilitated programs for corporate, government, and non-profit executives in partnership with Wharton’s Executive Education Program.
Sarah Rottenberg, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture; Executive Director, Integrated Product Design Program; University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design
Sarah Rottenberg is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Weitzman School of Design. Sarah is Executive Director of the Integrated Product Design Program at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s Program that brings together design, business and engineering for the purpose of developing new products and experiences and Faculty Director of the Executive Program for Social Innovation Design, a certificate program at the intersection of design and social change. She is also a co-founder of LIA Diagnostics, a Philadelphia startup developing a private, easy to use and sustainable pregnancy test.Sarah specializes in bringing people together to design products, experiences and businesses that are desirable, meaningful, feasible and viable. Sarah began her career as a design researcher at Doblin and was formerly a Directing Associate at Jump Associates. She has a Master of Arts in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, where she specialized in anthropology, and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
Christian Terwiesch, Andrew M. Heller Professor; Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions; Professor of Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine; Co-Director, Mack Institute of Innovation Management; Department Chair; The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Christian Terwiesch is the Andrew M. Heller Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Professor in and the chair of Wharton’s Operations, Information, and Decisions department, co-director of Penn’s Mack Institute for Innovation Management, and also holds a faculty appointment In Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. His research on Operations Management and on Innovation Management appears in many of the leading academic journals ranging from Management Science to The New England Journal of Medicine. He is an award winning teacher with extensive experience in MBA teaching and executive education.
Steven Weiner, Senior Director, Innovation & Technology, Penn Engineering; School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania
Steven Weiner has three decades of experience advising companies and stakeholders on strategic decisions that require a deep understanding of IP law, advanced technology and business strategy. He has held a variety of senior in-house and private firm roles, including commercializing innovation at Penn Engineering, IP strategy at SRI International, and leadership of the Corporate Intellectual Property practice at Davis Polk. His specialities include: IP strategy, patent analysis, R&D strategy, technology agreements, Internet law, IP risk assessment/mitigation, and more.