Standing Members

Gary Koretzky, PhD, Chair

Vice President for Research

Gary Koretzky is interim vice provost for research, a professor emeritus of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, and a professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine.  Koretzky oversees research and compliance for programs across Cornell’s Ithaca, AgriTech and Cornell Tech campuses, including more than 30 interdisciplinary research centers and specialized user facilities that support research collaborations, education, workforce development and fee-based use by companies. As interim vice provost, he reports to Provost Kavita Bala. Koretzky previously served as dean of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and vice dean of research at Weill Cornell Medicine, then served as vice provost for academic integration at Cornell and as the founding director of the Cornell Center for Immunology. He helped establish Cornell’s COVID-19 testing program and was instrumental in steering the university through the COVID-19 pandemic. Koretzky’s research focused on immune cell signaling, specifically the molecular events important for immune cell development and function, with a particular interest in the signaling events initiated by surface receptor engagement. He translated his basic investigation with explorations into the impact of modulating key signaling pathways in the host response to malignancy. His research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for three decades, and he’s served on multiple NIH councils, including the Council of Councils. Koretzky has published more than 300 peer reviewed papers and has been recognized for his scientific contributions with election to the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and as a Master of the American College of Rheumatology. Koretzky served as president of the American Association of Immunologists from 2021-22 and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024. Koretzky received his undergraduate degree from Cornell in 1978 and his medical degree and doctorate in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984. After residencies and fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco, Koretzky was on the faculty of the University of Iowa for eight years. Starting in 1999, he was a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and then vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He joined Weill Cornell Medicine in 2013. 

Alice Li

Executive Director of the Cornell Center for Technology Licensing (CTL)

Alice Li is the Executive Director of the Center for Technology Licensing (CTL) at Cornell University. She oversees all aspects of technology management, marketing, license negotiation, outreach, and CTL activities to facilitate new venture creation in its services to all Cornell campuses and colleges. Alice has 14 years of experience in university technology transfer.
She was the Director of Licensing of the Ithaca office from 2011 to 2014, providing mentorship for licensing professionals in intellectual property protection, license negotiation, and spearheading new commercialization initiatives. Alice joined CTL in 2002 and started with hands-on management of invention portfolios, negotiations of complex deals and engagement with startup companies.  Prior to joining CTL, Alice was an R&D manager at BioArray Solutions, a NJ biotech company in diagnostic and drug discovery. During her five-year tenure there, the company grew from a two-person startup to an enterprise of fifty people. BioArray Solutions was acquired by a publicly traded company in 2008.  Alice obtained her Ph.D. from Cornell University and B.S. from Tsinghua University. She is also an inventor and patent holder. Alice has been a Certified Licensing Professional since 2010.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-li-8605b16/

Jeremy Thomas

Associate Vice President, Asset Management

Jeremy Thomas directs real estate development activities for Cornell, which includes strategic planning, oversight of acquisition, sale and leasing of all of Cornell’s real property assets. The position also includes overseeing management, construction and financing of nonacademic real estate. He will manage an annual $30 million portfolio of transactions, acquisitions, dispositions, real estate gifts, leases, licenses, easements and construction projects. Prior to joining Cornell, Thomas served as director of real estate development for Philadelphia’s deputy mayor for economic development. Before that, he was a senior redevelopment specialist for the deputy mayor, working with Philadelphia’s planning and economic development agencies to support redevelopment projects that attracted business, ensuring that those projects and the city’s planning goals aligned.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtc

Krystyn Van Vliet

Vice President for Innovation and External Engagement Strategy and ex officio non voting member

As Vice President for Innovation and External Engagement Strategy, Van Vliet supports innovation, technology transfer and external partnerships across all Cornell campuses. Her responsibilities encompass intellectual property licensing, incubation and acceleration of startup companies, as well as external partnerships and engagement with public and private stakeholders to advance university-level initiatives and partnerships. Her portfolio includes Center for Technology Licensing activities and the Office of Corporate Engagement.

Van Vliet serves on the board of the Empire AI Consortium, Inc., launched by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and in governance roles for regional U.S. Department of Commerce-sponsored programs that advance energy storage and semiconductor materials innovations. She serves as a working group member of the Industrial Advisory Committee, which advises the Secretary of Commerce on how to best implement the CHIPS Act.

As a professor in Cornell’s College of Engineering, Van Vliet directs a large and active research laboratory focused on material chemomechanics: the material behavior at the interface of mechanics, chemistry, physics, and biology. Specifically, Van Vliet seeks to predict how mechanical force can alter the speed of adhesive chemical reactions, and how chemical stimuli can alter the forces required to rupture adhered interfaces.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystyn-j-vanvliet/

Robert M. Scharf

Director, The Praxis Center for Venture Development in Engineering and the Physical Sciences, Secretary and ex officio non voting member

Bob Scharf was appointed director in June 2018 as the first Director of the Praxis Center  for Venture Development in Engineering and the Physical Sciences at Cornell University. Bob came to this role with a long track record of building and launching new products and new ventures as a Director of Marketing at Thomas & Betts,  Executive Vice President of Stratos Lightwave;  and Chief Executive Officer of Protokraft. Bob brings field specific experience in Automotive, Aerospace, Computer, Telecommunications and Medical hardware development projects.

Bob earned a BSME degree from Cornell University’s College of Engineering, and a Master of Business Administration from Youngstown State University in OH.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-scharf-5456811/