ROGER WERNE is a Senior Advisor for the Innovation and Partnerships Office (IPO). Dr. Werne has broad experience in the commercialization of technology developed within the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). He launched and led the laboratory’s Industrial Partnering program in the late 1980’s while an Associate Director for Engineering.

In 1995, he left LLNL and co-founded ITI Medical Technologies, a medical device company that developed unique surgical instruments for the field of Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) guided surgery, a new minimally invasive surgical paradigm. The company patented, developed, and had FDA approval of a unique line of electrosurgical instruments which are still available in the medical marketplace.

Roger returned to LLNL in 1999 as Chief Engineer for the NAI/Homeland Security Directorate tasked with countering the proliferation and use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against the United States. From 1999 to 2005, Dr. Werne was on the external Division Review Committee for the Engineering Sciences and Application Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 2007, he joined the Innovation and Partnerships Office as Deputy Director, overseeing the licensing of laboratory developed intellectual property to the private sector and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with industry. He is a member of the Keiretsu forum, Angel Investment group, the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics, and the Innovation Advisory Committee at San Jose State University. Dr. Werne received his Ph.D. in Structures and Solid Mechanics from the University of California at Berkeley.