Speakers

Batool is an associate in the Global Corporate Group and a member of the Executive Compensation team. Her experience includes counselling private and public companies on matters involving employee benefits and corporate compensation, such as equity and cash-based incentive compensation plans, deferred compensation programs, bonus programs, and welfare plans in the context of mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. Batool also negotiates and advises clients on employment, change in control, separation, and other executive agreements.

Allison is a Partner in the Global Corporate Group, who serves as Chair of the U.S. Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group, and assists clients with matters involving employee benefits and executive compensation. Among Allison's areas of specialty expertise are the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule, legal compliance for qualified retirement plans, complex controlled group and similar determinations, documentation and disclosure for qualified and nonqualified plans, executive compensation (including Code Sections 409A, 280G and 457), counseling regarding day-to-day benefits administration and compliance, health and welfare plan matters, and withdrawal liability and other multiemployer plan issues. Allison also regularly advises employers on ERISA fiduciary matters, including governance, potential liability, and best practices, and assists financial institutions with complex prohibited transaction, trust and custody, required disclosures, and "plan asset" matters. Allison also is experienced with benefits advice in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and lending transactions, including private equity and private fund transactions, as well as analyzing ERISA implications of fund structure and certain operations.

Bin Yan is the associate vice president for research and director of the Office of Technology Management (OTM). Prior to Penn State Yan was the director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Miami. During her tenure, the University of Miami generated record levels of licensing revenue and was recently ranked as one of the top performers in the country by Heartland Forward on the effectiveness of technology transfer based on research expenditures.

Yan is a tech transfer veteran who has spent the past 24 years working with innovators, investors, industry partners and other stakeholders to advance the commercialization of university research at the University of Miami, University of Florida, and University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Her work experience also includes serving as the associate vice president for licensing and legal counsel at a publicly traded biotechnology company.

She earned her doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Florida and her Juris Doctor from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.