Crystal Culhane Ph.D.

Crystal Culhane, Ph.D., applies her extensive academic background in organic chemistry to help life sciences organization protect their products and innovations through U.S. and foreign patent prosecution, client counseling, due diligence, patentability and freedom to operate opinions, patent opinions, and post-grant proceedings.

Known as a responsive communicator with a strong depth of knowledge, Crystal works with clients ranging from universities to start-ups and growing companies to multinational organizations to prepare intellectual property strategies that suit their business goals.

In recent years, Crystal has worked with a number of pharmaceutical clients in high-impact patent prosecution. Her clients include a large pharmaceutical company for which she has helped develop and manage a portfolio of several hundred patent families and another which in 2021 received its first-ever FDA approval for a new drug that treats a rare liver disease.

Crystal earned her doctorate in chemistry at Johns Hopkins University, where her research focused on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel optical and radioactive small molecule prostate cancer imaging agents. She has significant experience in various scientific disciplines, including synthetic organic chemistry, radiochemistry, biology, radiobiology, and small animal imaging.