Álvaro Martínez Fuenzalida

Director of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer

Biography

Dr. Álvaro Martínez obtained his degree in Biochemistry from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris VI. He has specialized in intellectual property (IP) and technology transfer applied to scientific and biotechnological research, with advanced training from internationally recognized institutions such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the University of Chile, the University of Barcelona, and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Since 2014, he has served as Director of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at Fundación Ciencia & Vida, where he leads the institutional strategy for managing intangible assets. His work focuses on the early identification of research outcomes with commercial potential, their protection through IP tools (such as patents), and their valorization through technology transfer mechanisms including licensing and the creation of spin-off companies.

In addition to advising biotechnology companies—both within and outside the foundation’s science and business park—on intellectual and industrial property matters, he is also a professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Science at Universidad San Sebastián, where he teaches postgraduate courses on intellectual property and biotechnology-related patents.