david j. fink, ph.d.
Director of Entrepreneurial Services
techcenter@UMBC

Dr. Fink's career in biotechnology and biomedical product development spans over 30 years as a researcher, research manager, consultant, entrepreneur and officer of several start-up biotech companies. Dr. Fink was trained in chemical engineering at the Universities of Cincinnati and Michigan and was a post-doctoral fellow in biochemistry at Purdue University. He then joined Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio where he conducted and managed research on over 100 projects over a 12-year period.

In 1986 he founded his own biomedical consulting business, Bio-Integration Inc., which was active until 1997. In 1988 he founded and served as President of CollaTek, Inc., in collaboration with Gattefossé SA of Lyon, France, to develop and commercialize technology licensed from Battelle for manufacturing collagen-based medical implants. Dr. Fink became the second employee of Osiris Therapeutics at the time it was founded in 1993. Osiris is a Baltimore tissue regeneration company with a platform technology based on adult stem cells. In 1997 Dr. Fink became Vice President for International Technology Development and was responsible for planning and coordination of all international programs and collaborations conducted by Osiris, including a major corporate partnership with Novartis Pharma, Basel, Switzerland.  Dr. Fink joined Chondros, a start-up cell therapy company in Baltimore, as its first employee in 2001, and he continued as its President and COO until November 2003.

Dr. Fink continues to consult with companies in the biotechnology field by assessing business plans, preparing federal grant applications and evaluating technology transfer and new business opportunities. He participates in UMBC's ACTiVATE program for training women engineers to start technology-based companies.  He is a member of the Technology Advisory Committee of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, and the techcenter@UMBC Business Advisory Board. He has authored 40 scientific papers and book chapters, and he has been awarded 21 US patents.