
Heather J. DiPietrantonio, PhD
(she/her/hers)Overview
Heather DiPietrantonio counsels a variety of clients, including start-ups, small to mid-sized biotech companies, and non-profit research institutions in the life sciences. Her practice focuses on patent prosecution, due diligence, licensing, and opinion work.
Heather is particularly experienced in strategic counseling on development and life cycle management of US and international intellectual property rights relating to gene editing, gene therapy, adoptive cell therapy, nucleic acid vaccines, and transgenic mouse models.
Heather cultivates a true partnership with clients by taking the time to meet in person, understanding their business goals and culture, and working with them to align those goals with intellectual property strategies.
Heather’s doctoral and postdoctoral research focused on the regulation of neuronal cell fate, differentiation, and axonal guidance through signal transduction mechanisms.
Experience
- Counseled various gene editing, cell, and gene therapy companies on developing patent portfolios for cancer and autoimmune therapies currently undergoing clinical trials.
- Assisted biotech company in building a patent portfolio for its pioneering vaccine technology.
- Counseled early-stage biotech companies from Series A financing through eventual IPO.
Activities
- Boston Patent Law Association
- Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology
- Women in Bio
Recognition
- Recognized in the IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals
- Repeatedly recognized on the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list by The Best Lawyers in America©
- Repeatedly named to the list of Massachusetts Rising Stars by Super Lawyers
- Ranked among the Top 100 Most Active Attorneys in Biotech Patent Prosecution by Patexia, Inc.
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award
Interests
Heather enjoys boxing (as long as it’s only with a heavy bag), cooking (assuming there is a cookbook involved, and cooking does not include baking), traveling (just not through Miami airport), and bubble tea excursions with her son.