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Janet McNicholas, PhD, currently serves as Chief Legal Officer at Invenra. Janet has more than 30 years of experience in the life sciences industry, serving biotech companies with products and platforms for antibody, gene/gene editing, and cell-based products. She has advised companies in their licensing and agreement matters and is experienced in biopharma litigation and opposition matters. She has also advised companies in their development, management, and enforcement of worldwide patent portfolios and written and prosecuted patent applications for a broad range of life science technologies. As a law firm partner for several decades with an IP practice, she conducted patentability, patent landscape, freedom-to-operate, infringement, and validity assessments; conducted IP audits, evaluated IP portfolios in connection with acquisitions, licensing, financings, collaborations, and/or partnering deals; and mined both developing and mature patent portfolios for opportunities to maximize value. Prior to practicing law, she conducted research in immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics at the University of Illinois as a pre-doctoral student and then at Stanford University and at the California Institute of Technology as a post-doctoral fellow of the Arthritis Foundation. She has spoken at national and international scientific, business, and legal conferences on business, legal and IP issues relating to recombinant biologicals, therapeutic antibodies, next generation biotherapeutics, bioprocessing/bioproduction, biofuels, biosimilars/biobetters, pharmaceuticals, Hatch-Waxman Act, branded and generic drug development, medical devices, patent and regulatory exclusivities, partnering/outsourcing, translational research, bio-entrepreneurship, development of innovative gene/gene editing/cell-based therapeutics, and product commercialization strategies.