Janet Embretson
Partner, Schwegman Lundberg Woessner

Janet Embretson is a shareholder at Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner and a patent attorney with over 18 years of experience in drafting and prosecuting patents related to a wide variety of subject matter including biotechnology, natural polymers, diagnostic and therapeutic methods, plants, nano- and micro-particle based technologies, as well as devices that may be used in combination with chemical and biological therapies.  She did her doctoral work in the lab of Nobel Laureate Howard Temin at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, followed by post doctoral work at Tufts University School of Medicine, Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Minnesota.  During her final post-doc, Janet attended Hamline University School of Law. She has been a member of AIPLA and AUTM.   Throughout her career as a patent attorney, Janet has served University and corporate clients, as well as individual inventors.  She continues to be inspired by scientific advances and to embrace the challenge of turning those advances  into intellectual property rights, taking into consideration the impact of recent decisions in patent law and the implementation of AIA.

Kevin P. Hurley MS RAC
Director of Strategic Alliances and Assoc. Director of Therapeutic Development, Duke Translational Research Institute

Mr. Hurley is Director of Strategic Alliances at Duke Translational Research Institute within the Duke Translational Medicine Institute. He has over 20 years of experience in technical, clinical and regulatory strategy and operations related to new drug and device development. Mr. Hurley has worked in both industry and academia in executive level technical and regulatory leadership positions in academic/biotech, consulting and CRO businesses, thus brings both perspectives to management of collaborative alliances. At DTRI, he is responsible for guiding the collaborative research relationship between industry partners and Duke Translational Medicine faculty and staff. In this role, he assists Duke in discovering new and more efficient ways to bring the best of Duke and our sponsor collaborators to bear in translating basic discoveries into new therapies. 

John Hidalgo
Assoc. Director of Continuous Improvement Metrics, Global Development & Medical Affairs, Bristol-Myers Squibb

John Hidalgo has been an Associate Director in the Global Development and Medical Affairs (GDMA) Continuous Improvement & Metrics group for over two years. In this role, John has worked with GDMA senior leaders across the organization to make the organization more efficient and effective. John is currently serving as the Academic Alliance Director for BMS and is overseeing the relationship with Duke Translational Medical Institute. Responsibilities include fostering collaborative environment between both organizations, take lead on strategic resolution, manage and direct alliance governance activities and drive opportunities for future initiatives

Before joining the Continuous Improvement and Metrics group, John was a manager in the Strategy and Operations service area of Deloitte Consulting LLP. His work focused on Customer and Market Strategy (CMS) projects in the diversified chemicals, consumer products and financial services industries. John received his MBA from New York University Stern School of Business and his BA from Boston University.