Dr. Neal Lemon is the Cooper Innovation Center's Associate Vice President for Innovation and Commercialization and was its founding director. In this role, he is helping to rapidly accelerate invention development and startup activity in line with Cooper University Health Care’s objectives. Neal has 15+ years’ experience in technology transfer and innovation management working in Germany, Ireland, Canada, and the USA. 

Prior to joining Cooper, Neal was a member of the PENN Center for Innovation (PCI) team at University of Pennsylvania. As an Associate Director at PCI, in addition to responsibility for IP protection and licensing, Neal successfully helped with startup formation and seed funding. Originally from Canada, Neal’s education includes a PhD in Neurophysiology (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany) and an MBA with a focus on International Business and Finance (University of Victoria, Canada). 

In addition to his experience in technology transfer, Neal was Director of the Targeted Therapeutics and Theranostics Program at Dublin City University, which included a focus on pain management.