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James D. Laur, JD, is vice president, Intellectual Property and heads up Cedars-Sinai Technology Ventures and the Cedars Sinai Accelerator. Mr. Laur is also Managing Director of Cedars Sinai Health Ventures. Mr. Laur’s primary responsibilities are focused on innovation, technology transfer and international business activities. He drives new business development and investment opportunities involving innovation and technology-related activities at Cedars-Sinai and its global partners. Mr. Laur also represents Cedars-Sinai on the board of directors of some of its spinoff companies and other investments.
Mr. Laur began his career at Cedars-Sinai in 1991 in the Legal Affairs Department. He was deputy general counsel and served as primary counsel for the Cedars-Sinai Research Institute and its information technology department. Since 1994, Mr. Laur has played a leadership role in the Cedars-Sinai Technology Transfer Office, which has earned over $200 million in royalty income from its licensing program over the past 10 years. In addition to managing the institution’s intellectual property portfolio, Mr. Laur has been instrumental in structuring numerous spin-off companies based on early-stage technologies from research laboratories at Cedars-Sinai and its international partners. Among the better known of these companies are Prometheus Biosciences, Zynx Health, Stanson Health, Santarus, and Savacor.
Mr. Laur is a frequent speaker at local and international meetings on intellectual property issues, technology ventures, innovation development and commercialization strategies. He holds dual bachelor’s degrees, with honors, from UCLA in political science and philosophy. Mr. Laur earned his doctorate of law degree, cum laude, from the Boston College Law School.