Debra Summers has served as director of marketing and communications for the UC Berkeley Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Research Alliances since 2019.
Debra connects industry partners with inventors to commercialize UC Berkeley's research and innovation through licensing, strategic alliances, and industry sponsored research for IPIRA and its peer divisions, the Industry Alliances Office and the Office of Technology Licensing. She provides direction related to campus innovation and entrepreneurship, digital wayfinding systems, SBIR/STTR programs, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and data-based analyses, and also oversees IPIRA's website, newsletter, and publications. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, Debra served as a liaison between UC San Francisco and the Department of Veterans Affairs HIV, Hepatitis, and Related Conditions Programs and senior donor relations specialist for UCSF University Development and Alumni Relations. Before joining the University of California, she worked with nonprofit, for profit, government, and startup organizations. She spent her early career as a journalist and editor.
Debra earned her undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz in biology and literature and her Masters degree in journalism from the New York University Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program.
