Darren Cooke

The Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center is a virtual center designed to help founders navigate the outstanding resources on campus and provides bio-tailored entrepreneurship programs. Campus resources include: Bakar Labs, Integrative Genomics Institute (IGI), California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), Berkeley SkyDeck, and the Robinson Life Science, Business, and Entrepreneurship (LSBE) Program, among others. Programming includes I-Corps @ LSEC, LSEC-Nucleate Venture Fellows Program, LSEC Venture Grant Program, and Bio Startup Speed Teaming (now run by QB3). For more information: https://lsec.berkeley.edu

I teach entrepreneurship-related courses at the business school, including: Berkeley Changemaker: Human Health, UGBA13. Undergraduate course using two learning methods: weekly conversations with Human Health Changemakers, and a group project exploring an Area of Interest. More info at lsec.berkeley.edu/bc-hh Lean Transfer, MBA295T-2. Haas MBA and Berkeley graduate students form teams of 4-6 and test University of California technology for problem-solution-fit through 80+ stakeholder interviews following the Lean Startup curriculum. Introduction to Healthcare Consulting, UGBA198-4. Faculty sponsor for DeCal course hosted by the Phoenix Consulting Group.

Faculty for the NSF I-Corps program and the Bay Area Regional I-Corps Node (UC Berkeley, UCSF, Stanford). I-Corps is a set of programs that uses the Lean Startup curriculum to prepare scientists and engineers to find applications for their research beyond the laboratory, broadening the impact of NSF-funded research projects.

Member of coaching team for NSF's Convergence Accelerator. The Convergence Accelerator is a new capability within NSF to accelerate use-inspired, convergence research in areas of national importance that supports two of the Big Ideas and seeks to engage partnerships – notably public-private partnerships.

Life Science Angels is a Silicon Valley based seed-stage investment group. Since 2005, LSA has invested nearly $100M in close to 100 early-stage life science companies with over 17 exits and over $1B in follow-on investment from later-stage VCs.

Berkeley SkyDeck is UC Berkeley’s premier startup accelerator, supporting 150 startup teams per biannual cohort, with the 20 companies in the invested cohort each receiving $200k in investment from the SkyDeck Fund and more than $500k of in-kind startup support. See https://skydeck.berkeley.edu/bio-track for more information.

IP strategy for investors and startups. Advise and represent early-stage companies and seed-stage investors on patent strategies, freedom-to-operate issues, and licensing matters. www.torvents.com

Helping UC founders launch incredible businesses

The I-Corps at NIH program is focused on educating researchers and technologists on how to translate technologies from the lab into the marketplace. The program provides three-member project teams with access to instruction and mentoring in order to accelerate the translation of technologies currently being developed with NIH and CDC SBIR and STTR funding.

Managed all IP issues and related commercial matters for Bio-Rad's Life Science Group, a $700 million/year life science research tools business. - Oversaw the filing of 400 new patent applications, the issuance of 250 US patents, and foreign equivalents. - Led IP diligence and integration for dozens of deals, including Quantalife (ddPCR), GnuBIO (sequencing), Propel Labs (cell sorting), and Ciphergen (mass spec).

Intellectual property litigation Representative matters: - Caliper Technologies Corp. v. Molecular Devices Corp. (N.D. Cal.) - Ciphergen Biosystems, Inc. v. Molecular Analytical Systems, Inc., et al. (Cal. Superior Ct.) - Mars, Inc. v. Heinz Co., et al. (C.D. Cal.) - GlobespanVirata, Inc. and Conexant Systems, Inc. v. Texas Instruments, Inc., et al. (D.N.J.)

Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar Intern to Hon. Sonia Sotomayor: S.D.N.Y (Fall 1998), 2d Cir. (Spring 1999) Managing Editor, Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts Co-President, Society for Law, Science & Technology

Berkeley Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory Prof. Tony Keaveny, Advisor Thesis: Stresses in the human facial skeleton and forces at the temporomandibular joint arising from masticatory loading – analyzed with finite element methods

Thesis: Design of surgical tool for inserting ventilation tube into tympanic membrane Cal Poly Crew, Rower and Novice Team Coach