Linda Kahl

Linda J. Kahl is currently Senior Counsel and Director of Ownership and Innovation for the BioBricks Foundation, where her work focuses on developing policy initiatives, legal tools, and educational materials to promote the open and ethical use of biotechnologies.

Prior to joining the BioBricks Foundation, Linda led the Ownership, Access, Sharing, and Innovation Systems (OASIS) project for Synberc, a synthetic biology engineering research centre funded by the US National Science Foundation. Empirical data derived from Linda’s work is helping to shape the policies and practices of government, funding, and community organizations that impact the regulation, patenting, and licensing of foundational technologies for the engineering of biology.

Linda received her PhD in biochemistry and cell biology from Princeton University, and completed postdoctoral studies in genetics at the University of California, Berkeley. She received her JD, magna cum laude, from Santa Clara University, and has been admitted to law practice in California and before the US Patent and Trademark Office.