Laikind heads CONNECT Foundation board

Paul Laikind, Ph.D., has been elected chairman of the CONNECT Fourndation Board of Directors, replacing Tyler Orion who remains on the board.

Laikind is the chief business officer and senior vice president of business development for the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, where he handles efforts to commercialize the institute’s technologies through licenses, collaborations and spin-outs. Laikind has served as a board member, in several cases as chairman, of a number of for-profit and non-profit companies and organizations, including serving the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Board and as a member of the BIO standing committee on bioethics. Additionally, he served as chairman of BIOCOM and is the past corporate chairperson for the American Diabetes Association fundraising walk. Laikind is an Entrepreneur in Residence at CONNECT and is a past award recipient of the Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award.

CONNECT has assisted in the formation and development of more than 3,000 companies in the San Diego region and is widely regarded as one of the world’s most successful organizations linking inventors and entrepreneurs with the resources they need for commercialization of innovative products in high tech and life sciences.