Dr. Kusum Rathore is the Vice President of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation – Multi Campus Office (MCO) in Knoxville.
Kusum manages the technology transfer needs for the MCO office that covers UT Knoxville, UT Institute of Agriculture, UT Chattanooga, UT Space Institute, and UT Institute for Public Service. In addition to negotiating and managing licenses and building strategic alliances, she oversees technology transfer and intellectual property management for advancing a diverse set of technologies coming from the various MCO campuses and the development of strategic partnerships with the industry to promote the commercialization of UT technologies.
Prior joining to UTRF as Vice President, Kusum worked at Thermo Fisher Scientific as Innovation and Commercialization Manager focusing on licensing advanced therapies, including viral vectors, cell therapy, and mRNA manufacturing. Kusum holds a bachelor’s degree from Rajasthan University, a master’s degree from Delhi University in India, and a Ph.D. in Oncology and Cancer Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.