Dr. Morris is the Senior Director of Technology Transfer at HJF, joining in 2021. Dr. Morris oversees all technology transfer operations at HJF, including collaborative agreement execution, intellectual property protection, and licensing and commercialization activities.

Prior to joining HJF, Dr. Morris was Executive Director of the Office of Innovation & Technology Transfer at the University of Louisville. As part of his role there, Dr. Morris had leadership roles in translational programs, including the Coulter Translational Partnership and the NIH REACH Hubs (ExCITE and KYNETIC). He was also a co-founder of Kentucky Commercialization Ventures, which was developed to provide education, partnership opportunities, and technology transfer services to Kentucky’s public comprehensive universities and community colleges. Before taking his role at the University of Louisville, Dr. Morris was Associate Director of TechTransfer and Ventures at Virginia Commonwealth University and a Licensing Executive and Project Leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Dr. Morris graduated with a Ph.D. in Biology from Purdue University in 1994 and received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology. Prior to moving into technology transfer, he studied gene regulation in the retinal and altered gene regulation in epilepsy. Dr. Morris received his M.B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2021.

Dr. Linda Yaswen-Corkery is the Director of Technology Transfer at Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF). She joined HJF in 2016 and manages innovation development activities as well as research agreements and commercialization of medical technologies that benefit the warfighter and their families.

Prior to joining HJF, Dr. Yaswen-Corkery was a Licensing Officer at the University of Maryland where she was involved in commercialization and creation of start-ups based on university technologies. As a start-up founder, she continues to utilize her product launch experience to mentor investigators on the development of innovations from concept to commercialization.

Before Dr. Yaswen-Corkery’s role at the University of Maryland, she held executive positions within a joint venture formed by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Pfizer (formerly Wyeth Pharmaceuticals). Initially focused on development of a novel therapeutic for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, she held positions of Director of Research, General Manager, VP Business Development, and Chief Compliance Officer as the company became an SEC reporting entity. As VP of Business Development, she was responsible for leading the patent prosecution on the first U.S. issued biomarker-based panel that resulted in commercialization of novel diagnostics.

Dr. Yaswen-Corkery graduated with a Ph.D. in Molecular Pathology & Immunology, with a focus on virology from the University of Florida, Department of Medicine. She performed her post-doctoral training at the National Institutes of Health, NINDS, in the areas of autoimmunity and wound healing followed by a Staff Fellow position at NIMH that focused on neurotransmitter research.

Malathy is a Technology Transfer Manager at HJF and manages research agreements, intellectual property protection, licensing and commercialization activities for several HJF/USU portfolios. Prior to joining HJF, Malathy was a Technology Transfer and Inventions Specialist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), where she managed several federal technology transfer agreements and provided guidance to scientific staff on agreement and invention matters. Malathy is a registered USPTO patent agent and has completed the Advanced Studies in Technology Transfer certification program at the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) at the NIH. Malathy graduated with a Ph.D. in chemistry with a focus on chemical biology, from the University of Utah and received her master’s degree in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Madras. Malathy has several years of broad research experience working in academic, federal and private sector settings and transitioned to Technology Transfer to align with her passion for moving scientific discoveries to real-world applications.

Mr. Jakubek is Technology Transfer Specialist II at HJF, having begun his tenure at the Foundation as an Intellectual Property Specialist in 2019. He oversees operation of the IP side of the Minuet Database, assists with the prosecution of patent applications, manages Bayh-Dole compliance, and has broadened his skills in recent years by taking on research agreements and commercialization activities with the Technology Transfer Team.

Prior to joining HJF, Mr. Jakubek worked at several software vendors and law firms, honing his database and IP skills by configuring databases for implementations, consulting with various law firms in database configurations, training clients around the world in their use of their software, managing a docket of 1500 active patent applications, and developing his skills further by attending professional conferences.

Roshni Patel is a Technology Transfer Specialist II, who started at Henry M. Jackson Foundation in 2023. Previously, she obtained her master’s in healthcare administration and began her tech transfer journey at Children’s National Hospital. Here, she learned the foundations of drafting, negotiating and executing a variety of contracts. Since joining HJF, she has worked for the Murtha Cancer Center Research Program as a Tech Transfer Specialist, assisting with the lifecycle of different research contracts. More recently, Roshni has joined the Tech Transfer team at HJF. Here, she will be working on drafting, negotiating and executing agreements, innovation and commercialization outreach, and liaising with internal and external personnel for matters related to agreements, innovation, and commercialization.

Sachit is a Technology Transfer Specialist at HJF, where he works on drafting, negotiating, and executing license agreements and various research agreements for HJF and Uniformed Services University portfolios.

Prior to joining HJF, Sachit was a Technology Licensing Specialist at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), where he drafted and negotiated IP license agreements for plant patents, plant varieties, and biological materials. Sachit also worked at Inneo, a medical device incubator that collaborates with clinicians and industry. At Inneo, Sachit managed the IP portfolio and worked on various IP and agreement related matters. Sachit started his technology transfer career as a contractor at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and credits his time there with learning the basics of invention harvesting, invention evaluation, and technology commercialization.

Katie works on a variety of projects for the T2 office, including drafting and negotiating agreements, and working with teammates to update and manage templates and Standard Operating Procedures. In addition, she manages technologies and conducts marketing activities, including writing nonconfidential summaries. Katie always enjoys learning new things and expanding her skills to take on new responsibilities in HJF’s T2 Office. She got her start in the field by helping set up the Defense Health Agency’s (DHA) Technology Transfer Office and by managing some Educational Partnership Agreements at DHA.

Prior to her entry into the world of technology transfer, she worked as a Federal contractor and consultant. She supported the Federal Emergency Management Agency as well as several different military health entities. The skills learned in these roles—interacting with stakeholders, writing, editing, problem solving, coming up with new solutions and efficiencies, and understanding the inner workings and operations of different organizations---have been vital to her role as part of the T2 Office team.

She holds a Master of Science in Health Promotion Management from Marymount University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Mary Washington.

Maryietta Smith is a Technology Transfer Specialist at HJF, serving the interests of all Tech Transfer Partners. She has more than 10 years’ experience in the Tech Transfer environment. Her expertise ranges from: Database Management, Royalty Distributions, Patent Expense Reimbursement to Agreement Compliance. Maryietta currently manages all funds related to Tech Transfer’s Intellectual Property, including several million USD in royalties.

Maryietta acts as the first touchpoint for the Technology Transfer Office, and has a hands-on approach to ensure partners receive timely response to their agreement requests. Her approach ensures that internal processes are properly formed and efficiently operating.

I have been with HJF for over 20 years and am proud to support our mission of advancing military medicine. I originally began working in the Clinical Trials department, submitting clinical research protocol applications for IRB review and negotiating related support agreements. Since joining the Tech Transfer team, I have begun working on a broader range of research agreements such as material and/or data transfer agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and various types of CRADAs. I have assisted in developing Master CRADAs and agreement templates to streamline agreement processing time. Recently, I have worked to increase efficiencies in our office by vetting agreement requests. I work with internal and external customers to assist with agreement strategy for multiparty and complex research projects and am also happy to meet with and assist stakeholders with gating issues in agreement negotiations.

Bharathi Nuthakki currently works as a Technology Transfer Associate at The Henry M. Jackson Foundation. Bharathi’s (pronounced: Bar-thee) work experience spans across three continents-Asia, North America and Australia. She was Business Operations lead at Pfizer Biologics Developments Center, Chennai. At Small Business Technology Development Center, (SBTDC, North Carolina) and Battelle-India (a wholly owned subsidiary of Battelle Memorial Institute) she provided client advisory services and led technology evaluation teams that comprised researchers and business experts.

She holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from University of Connecticut and an MBA (Supply Chain) from North Carolina State University. Her professional trajectory translates to rich, diverse transnational experiences in research, innovation, entrepreneurship and business operations. She is passionate about creating value from innovative ideas. As a liaison between the worlds of research and business, she engages with researchers, entrepreneurs, clinicians, business leaders, policy makers, end-users, and customers. Her approach involves integrating capabilities and motivations of multiple stakeholders to develop sustainable solutions and roadmaps for successful product development.

Dr. Darius M. Walker is a Technology Transfer Associate at The Henry Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF). Dr. Walker joined HJF in 2026 where he manages and facilitates the innovation and commercialization of novel medical technologies for the warfighter and civilians through intellectual property (IP) protection, licensing, research agreement negotiations, and R&D partnership activities.

Prior to joining HJF, Dr. Walker served as Associate Director of Innovation & Commercialization for Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar (WCM-Q). Proceeded by his role as Associate Director of Grants & Contracts at WCM-Q. As a start-up founder, Dr. Walker continues to use his business experience to guide HJF investigators through the early stages of product development of their innovations.

Before his time at Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar, Dr. Walker graduated with a Doctorate of Philosophy in Biophysics and Genetics from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU), with a focus on molecular biology and cancer. During his time at (CU) he also worked as a Fellow for the CU Tech Transfer Office. Dr. Walker further honed his life-science business development skills as a Technology Transfer Specialist at the National Cancer Institute - Technology Transfer Center (NCI).

Joseph Jilka currently works as a Technology Transfer Associate at The Henry M. Jackson Foundation.

Joseph’s professional experience spans major research universities, academic medical centers, and consulting engagements across the United States. He has served in leadership roles at the University of Houston, Houston Methodist Hospital, Penn State College of Medicine, the Texas A&M University System, and the Texas A&M Health Science Center. His work has centered on advancing biomedical innovations through technology assessment, IP strategy, equity-based licensing, startup formation, and operational modernization.

At the Houston Methodist Hospital, he managed a biomedical IP portfolio of roughly 100 technologies and executed multiple licensing agreements, including an exclusive equity-based license to a neurotechnology startup that later went public resulting in a very significant return to the institution. At the University of Houston, he led the licensing strategy and commercialization operations for a portfolio of approximately 300 active invention disclosures while mentoring a multidisciplinary licensing and operations team. Throughout his career he has strengthened commercialization ecosystems by establishing data-driven workflows, optimizing reporting systems, and supporting clinician-investigators and faculty innovators in translational development.

His career reflects deep experience in medical commercialization, research translation, entrepreneurship support, and organizational leadership. He focuses on making sure the right people, resources, and incentives are in place to move promising innovations toward a real clinical and commercial impact.

Weng McKain is a Technology Transfer Associate with the HJF Technology Transfer Office. She works closely with patent law firms to protect the important research of the many programs supported by HJF. She also negotiates agreements, such as non-disclosure agreements and material transfer agreements, on behalf of HJF and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Prior to joining HJF, Ms. McKain was a Patent Examiner with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. As an Examiner, she examined medical device applications that included syringes, catheters, breast pumps, and insulin pumps, among others.

Ms. McKain received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Tech.