Bio
Edna Gergel is a Patent Agent in the Legal Directorate at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), which is operated and managed by UT-Battelle, LLC. She is responsible for managing the laboratories intellectual property, specifically in the areas of chemical sciences, material sciences, biological sciences, and environmental sciences; and is the patent agent for the Critical Materials Institute, and the Center for Bioenergy Innovation.
Prior to joining ORNL in 2007, Edna was a patent agent at an intellectual property law firm located on Long Island in New York. There, she had the pleasure of writing and prosecuting a patent application for a Nobel Laureate. In addition, she worked with numerous scientists employed by large and small corporations, universities, research institutions, and independent inventors to obtain patent protection in the U.S. and in many foreign countries on their behalf. Her experience at the firm covered a diverse field of science, and mainly focused on technologies in the life sciences, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. Further, she gained extensive experience in all areas of intellectual property, including counseling clients, formulating patentability opinions and conducting infringement analysis.
Edna earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1992, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2001. Before pursuing a Ph.D., she was employed by Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA where she was a research technician working with research scientist initially in the field of opioids and opiates, and later in the field of H.I.V.
Awards
Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer from the Federal Laboratory Consortium
2018 Award for Innovative Oven for Faster, Less Energy-Intensive Carbon Fiber Manufacturing
2017 Award for SCIEX License of ORNL’s Open Port Sampling Interface for Mass Spectrometry
2017 Award for Miniature Ion Trap Mass Analyzer License by 908 Devices, Inc.
UT-Battelle, LLC Awards Night 2012- Excellence in Technology Transfer