Meet the Venture Partners team: Hannah Nelson

Name: Hannah Nelson
Title: Licensing Analyst
Years at Venture Partners: 1

Q: Tell us a little about yourself! (Education, Where You’re From & How You to Got to CO, Interests, Hobbies, whatever!)

A: I’m originally from the Midwest (Chicago suburbs) but spent the last 20 years of my life living all over Texas. I’m very excited to be spending my first year in beautiful Colorado!

I got my B.S. in Biology at Trinity University in San Antonio, did a stint as a diagnostic lab tech after college, then got my Ph.D. in Microbiology at the University of Texas at Austin.  While I was getting my doctorate, I wanted to explore careers at the intersection of science, business, and law- which is how I learned about the awesome field of technology transfer. I started as an intern in the UT Austin tech transfer office, then moved on to a full-time role at the UT Health Science Center in Houston. When my family decided to make the move to Colorado, I was fortunate to be able to join the team here at CU Boulder.

Q: What is your role at Venture Partners? Tell us more about what you do.

A: I lead our license compliance efforts, to ensure that companies stay on track once a license agreement is in place. An intellectual property license is like a marriage- there is a lot of work that goes into the “dating” phase of establishing an agreement, but once the license is executed, that is only the beginning of a (hopefully) long relationship.  I also manage new inventions in the life science portfolio.

Q: What is your favorite part about your job and what do you like most about working on the Venture Partners team?

A: It didn’t take long to realize what an intelligent, talented, and fun team is at Venture Partners. Working with everyone here has been great. The thing I love about this field is that you are constantly exposed to new and exciting innovations, and you get to learn about so many different areas of research.

Q: When you aren’t at work, where will we find you?

A: Outdoors with my family, traveling, or trying a new restaurant. If you share your restaurant recommendations, we will be fast friends!

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

A: To use the rule of one touch. Meaning if you can take care of an item the first time you touch it, do it, because it will save both time and mental space. I'm not always successful in implementing it, but I aspire to follow it when I can!