About L2C Partners

Many institutions didn’t have a full or part-time time tech transfer or commercialization capability.  Frequently they didn’t have the ability to identify and monetize their inventions or IP, nor did they have the funds to launch a fully effective internal operation.  So we formed L2C Partners.

In 2013 a group of tech transfer, invention marketing, financial and legal professionals met to discuss issues they had experienced in tech transfer and commercialization.

Federal and State Government funding for colleges, universities and research institutions was shrinking—reducing their financial and personnel resources.  Educational and research institutions, as well as many for-profit research entities, were seeking additional sources of income.  Many institutions didn’t have a full or part-time time tech transfer or commercialization capability.  Frequently they didn’t have the ability to identify and monetize their inventions or IP, nor did they have the funds to launch a fully effective internal operation.

Pharmas, bioscience, tech companies and others expressed their inability to harvest inventions and technology from all but top tier institutions.

And the landscape hasn’t changed.

This core team joined to build L2C Partners.  After 12 months of Beta operation and multiple inventions going to market, technology transfer outsourcing still seems like a very good idea to the L2C team and to our clients.


Core Team

Merle Gilmore, Founder, CEO

  • 20+ years entrepreneurial, intrapreneurial management, consulting. High growth, emerging businesses; commercialization
  • Ernst & Young, Executive Consultant
  • President, for-profit health venture formed by two universities
  • Aramark Corporate Planning & Development (M&A)
  • PepsiCo / Frito-Lay, Internal Operations & Management Process consultant, CFO's staff
  • MBA, Wharton School, Dean's Fellowship
  • BFA, Carnegie Mellon University

Deborah Spranger, Senior Advisor

  • Partner, Health Sciences Department, Troutman Pepper LLP
  • Former Partner, Saul Ewing LLC; Member, Executive Committee; Chair, Business and Finance; Co-Chair, Life Sciences
  • Regularly represents life sciences, other technology companies in licensing intellectual property from universities and to / from other companies
  • JD, University of Cincinnati College of Law; Order of the Coif
  • BA, Furman University, cum laude

Robert Fesnak, Senior Advisor

  • Founder, Fesnak, LLP, merged January 1, 2015 with RSM McGladrey
  • 30+ years of accounting, consulting experience with public, private companies ranging from large, privately held, multigenerational companies to emerging growth businesses to multi-national public corporations
  • Certified Public Accountant (CPA); Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV); Certified Management Accountant (CMA); Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA)
  • BA, Accounting, MBA, Finance, Temple University

Heather Steinman, Ph.D., Senior Advisor

  • VP for Business Development & Executive Director of Technology Transfer, The Wistar Institute
  • 16+ years' experience in technology transfer, commercialization of early stage, basic life sciences discoveries
  • Previously Director, Penn Center for Innovation, Director, Center for Technology Transfer, Perelman School of Medicine; University of Pennsylvania
  • 10 years as technology licensing professional, University of Massachusetts Medical School
  • MBA, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • University of Massachusetts Medical School, PhD, Biomedical Sciences
  • Baldwin Wallace University, BS, BA, Biology, Psychology