Erin Overstreet is rejoining university tech transfer, having spent the past year at an IP consultancy and earlier career stops at UCSF and UT Austin.
The University of Southern California (USC)’s technology licensing office USC Stevens Center for Innovation last week appointed Erin Overstreet as executive director.
Overstreet joins from intellectual property consultancy Sweeney Biomed Consulting, where she had been freelancing since November 2022. Before this, she spent a year and a half as the head of corporate development and operations at immunotherapy developer Delta TpX.
Delta TpX was a spinout from the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) but wound down towards the end of 2022.
Overstreet had earlier spent more than seven years in tech transfer at UT Austin, most recently serving as director of licensing for life sciences, software and physical sciences from 2018 until 2021. From 2007 to 2012, she was a licensing officer in the Office of Technology Management at the University of California, San Francisco.
USC selected Overstreet after a comprehensive process that involved a six-person search committee and a panel of 36 faculty and staff members. She replaces Steven Moldin, interim associate vice-president for research strategy and innovation, who had acted as interim executive director.
Ishwar Puri, senior vice-president of the Office of Research and Innovation, which oversees the USC Stevens Center for Innovation, says: “The university has the utmost confidence in Dr Overstreet’s ability to lead USC Stevens successfully. Her background and experience fully align with the role itself, and we are excited to see the new directions she takes and her impact on USC Stevens and the university as a whole.”
Thierry Heles
Thierry Heles is editor-at-large of Global University Venturing and Global Corporate Venturing, and host of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.
