Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City 2012 | November 28-30

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LILI m. PORTILLA
Acting Director
Office of Policy, Communications and Strategic Alliances, National Center for Advancing
Translational Sciences
Lili Portilla has worked in the area of technology transfer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
since 1989. She has extensive experience in negotiating and developing commercialization
strategies for complex and multi-party collaborations and public-private partnerships.
Portilla has broad knowledge of federal and NIH technology transfer policy and law pertaining
to biotechnology and commercialization issues. Portilla was recently named the acting
director of the Office of Policy, Communications and Strategic Alliances at the newly formed National Center for
Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the NIH. Portilla currently serves as the director of the Office of Strategic
Alliances for NCATS. From January 2008 until 2011, Portilla served as senior advisor to the director of the National
Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and provided advice to NCRR staff on all facets of technology transfer,
intellectual property, and public-private partnerships issues. Prior to NCRR, Portilla served for seven years as the
director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Office of Technology Transfer and Development.
Portilla received a master of public administration in 1992 from American University and a bachelor’s degree
in business administration from Stephen F. Austin State University.
KEN scHANER
Managing Partner
Schaner & Lubitz, PLLC
Ken Schaner is managing partner of Schaner & Lubitz, PLLC, where he has represented many
for-profit and nonprofit entities in the corporate and tax aspects of a wide variety of agreements,
transactions, financings, licenses, mergers, and acquisitions. Schaner serves as general and
outside counsel to many nonprofits and has represented the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation, Stanley Medical Research Institute, National Neurovision Research
Institute, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and others in numerous venture philanthropy
transactions and related legal matters. Schaner began his career at the Internal Revenue Service’s legislative and
regulations division. He holds a bachelor’s degree and J.D. from the University of Illinois.