Ted Mattes

Research Development Officer and Technology Commercialization Officer

Ted Mattes, Ph.D. is the research development and technology commercialization officer for Oakland University.  

Ted Mattes holds a Doctorate in Microbiology from the University of Georgia. His thesis investigated hidden pathways in the synthesis of coenzyme B12 in prokaryotes through genetics, molecular biology, and chemistry. This work resulted in four first-author publications, including a book chapter reviewing 30+ years of coenzyme B12 research. Ted holds his Bachelor of Science (with honors) in Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (Microbiology) from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. While at Lincoln, he conducted undergraduate research on the switch in Staphylococci carbon metabolism between biofilm formation and respiration, contributing to 2 peer-reviewed publications. He also conducted diagnostic work for the Veterinary Diagnostic Center and worked as a dairy intern at the Dairy Research Farm in Mead, Nebraska.

Following his graduation from the University of Georgia, Ted served a short-term post-doctoral fellowship on a Department of Energy grant, engineering anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria for the synthesis of plastic precursors. After 11 years of bench research, Ted opted to pursue a new challenge. He joined the University of Georgia’s technology transfer intern program, learning about technology transfer and the intersection of science, business, and law from the staff of Georgia’s Innovation Gateway and its business development unit. During his time with Georgia, Ted served as an entrepreneurial lead for a faculty start-up, helping to assess product-market fit of their core intellectual property. He also helped develop slide decks for that start-up and several others, conducting market analyses.

In the fall of 2019, Ted joined the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Office as a Technology Transfer Intern. As an intern, Ted learned the ins and outs of federal technology transfer, working with investigators at both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the NIAID. Ted joined the federal government full-time as a Technology Transfer and Patent Specialist with the NIAID in January of 2021, where he began providing support to investigators in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, studying neglected tropical diseases, host immunity response, and human immune cells. He eventually rose to Senior Technology Transfer and Patent Specialist, and helped with the transition of new investigators to the institute following the launch of the Laboratory of Host Immunity and Microbiome. He provided a full slate of services to the NIAID: collaborative agreement development and negotiation; invention evaluation, patenting, and marketing; license negotiations; grant negotiations; and copyright consultations. Ted was also a lead project manager for the development of a new internal approval and routing system, which resulted in significant time savings in the approval of new collaborative agreements and grants. He received a NIAID Merit Award and two Special Service/Acts Awards for his efforts.

For Oakland, he provides research development consultations and proposal development in the biomedical sciences, and is responsible for faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Bioengineering, the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, and the Eye Research Institute.

Ted is also Oakland University’s Technology Commercialization Officer (for all faculty, staff, and students) and is your point of contact in the Research Office for intellectual property consultations and new invention disclosures. Ted can work with you to provide advice and information on how and when to protect new inventions. He will also work with you to obtain intellectual property protection, as available, through Oakland and to commercialize ideas through external collaborations and licensing.