Executive Director
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.