Christina Pellicane, a leader in academic entrepreneurship, has joined Princeton University as assistant director of innovation and the lead instructor for the new Princeton-led Innovation-Corps (I-Corps) Northeast Hub.

Pellicane will work with Vice Dean for Innovation Rodney Priestley, the Pomeroy and Betty Perry Smith Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, to develop strategy and programming for Princeton Innovation, the University-wide initiative to expand the beneficial impacts of Princeton’s missions of research, education and service through innovation and entrepreneurship. Pellicane will also work toward establishing strong support for diversity, equity and inclusion in innovation and entrepreneurship. In the role, Pellicane joins the Office of the Dean for Research (DFR), which houses Princeton Innovation, to support activities that enable research discoveries and creative ideas to become solutions that serve humanity.

Pellicane will also serve as the lead instructor of the newly created Innovation-Corps (I-Corps) Northeast Hub, formed through a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation. The Hub, which launches in January 2022, will serve as the center of a regional network for entrepreneurial training to support the development of activities and grow the nation’s capacity to transform scientific discoveries into tangible societal benefits.

As lead instructor, Pellicane will guide creation of the Hub’s educational and training programs for faculty, staff and student researchers from Princeton as well as the Hub’s two partner and five affiliate institutions, as well as additional participants from throughout the region. Pellicane will collaborate with the Hub co-director and leadership team, as well as leaders at regional universities, to set strategic goals and objectives. Pellicane will recruit, staff, and evaluate potential instructors, train new instructors and mentors, and oversee recruitment of participants into the I-Corps training program.

Pellicane brings more than a decade of experience in supporting technology entrepreneurs in academia as well as experience in industry and business development. Pellicane is a nationally certified NSF I-Corps Instructor and leader in entrepreneurship education. Most recently, Pellicane was the first director of commercialization for the University of Delaware (UD)’s Horn Entrepreneurship Center, managing several initiatives including a $2M Proof of Concept fund and the UD I-Corps site. A patented inventor, Pellicane serves as chief operating officer of Lignolix, a chemical tech startup.

Pellicane holds a Bachelor of Science in biology and animal science from the University of Georgia and a Master of Business and Science with a concentration in biotechnology and genomics from Rutgers University.