About Us
University of Houston is actively building a unique ecosystem designed to facilitate and unify university-wide innovation, accelerating commercialization and licensing of faculty, student, and staff inventions. Over the last few years, campus-wide accelerator and incubator programs, like Innov8 (UH Tech Bridge) and RED Labs (UH Bauer College of Business), have been successfully training inventors and entrepreneurs and helping them launch their startups. In 2024, the Division of Innovation created the Innovation Council, comprised of eighteen members from more than ten various colleges and divisions. One of the main missions of the Innovation Council is to work with the university and college leadership to help bridge faculty, students, and early founder teams with the targeted resources that facilitate commercialization of their inventions.
Current leadership and members of the Innovation Council
Jokūbas Žiburkus, PhD
Chair (2025-2027)
Associate Professor, Biology and Biochemistry
College of Natural Science and Mathematics
Interests and Areas of Expertise
IP Commercialization
Life Sciences
Neuroscience
Entrepreneurship
Product Development
Kelly McCormick, JD
Co-Chair (2025-2027)
Professor of Practice
Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Early-stage Entrepreneurship
Ideation
Law
Haleh Ardebili, PhD
Founding Chair / Member
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Cullen College of Engineering
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Energy Storage
Engineering
Biomanufacturing
IP Commercialization
Innovation Ecosystem
Education
Energy Harvesting
Electronic Packaging
Luca Pollonini, PhD
Member
Associate Professor, Engineering Technology
Cullen College of Engineering
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Neuroimaging
Biomedical Instruments
Industry-University Partnerships
Commercialization
Entrepreneurships
Alex Landon, MBA
Member
Professor of Practice
Cullen College of Engineering
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Entrepreneurship
Education Technology
Energy
Venture Capital
Omolola E. Adepoju, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Member
Clinical Professor, Health Systems and Population Health Director, Humana Institute
Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Health Design
Healthcare Access
Digital Health Innovation
Aging
Public Health
Jason Eriksen, PhD
Member
Associate Professor, Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences
College of Pharmacy
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Life Sciences
Neuroscience
Artificial Intelligence
Entrepreneurship
Ming Hu, PhD
Member
Professor, Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences
College of Pharmacy
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Drug Development
Device with Drugs
Natural Products as Drugs
SBIR/STTR Grants
Tanu Chatterji, PhD
Member
Founder and Managing Director of Innov8 Hub
Director, Startup Development and UH Technology Bridge Incubator
Office of Technology Transfer and Innovation
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Technology Commercialization
Startup Development
Entrepreneurial Programs
Ecosystem Building
Venture Capital
Technology Transfer
Michael Harold, PhD
Member
Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Office of Technology Transfer and Innovation | Cullen College of Engineering
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Intellectual Property Licensing
Commercialization
Industry Partnerships
Chemical Engineering
Energy Technology
Hydrogen
Tina Blakes
Member
Program Manager, Operations
Office of Technology Transfer and Innovation
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Technology Transfer Assistance
Administrative Support
Jakoah Brgoch, PhD
Member
Associate Professor, Chemistry
College of Natural Science and Mathematics
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Materials Discovery
SBIR/STTR Grants
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Stacey Gorniak, PhD
Member
Associate Professor, Health and Human Performance
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Health Sciences
Neuroscience
Translational Research
Jason Marsack, PhD
Member
Associate Professor, Vision Sciences
College of Optometry
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Vision Science
Optical Correction of the Diseased Eye's Refractive Error
Translational Science
Leslie Coward, PhD
Member
Director, Faculty Engagement and Development
Provost's Office
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Faculty Engagement
Entrepreneurship
Greg Vetter, JD, MBA
Member
Professor
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
University of Houston Law Center
Interests and Areas of Expertise
Intellectual Property
Software