Office of Licensing & Ventures
919-681-6412
rose.ritts@duke.edu
Rose Ritts, PhD, is the Executive Director of Duke’s Office of Licensing & Ventures. With a demonstrated track record of new product and business development in biotechnology, medical devices, and high-tech markets across startup, corporate and government environments, Dr. Ritts oversees the licensing and ventures operations of Duke University and Duke Medical Center with an emphasis on a proactive approach to licensing, new company formation and technology development. Her experience includes designing implantable devices; serving as a program manager for biowarfare defense systems at DoD's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; managing a biotechnology and materials business unit within a large New Jersey corporation; performing IP and technical due diligence as a consultant to venture capital firms; and most recently as founder and CEO of a venture-capital-funded biotech startup, PowerZyme Inc, in Princeton, New Jersey. Ritts received her BS in biomedical engineering from Duke, her MS and PhD from Stanford in electrical engineering, and graduated from Stanford's Entrepreneurial Executive Management Program.