Partner, Patent and Innovations
Deborah Smith is a patent partner-elect in the San Diego office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. She assists with the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in the fields of chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.
Prior to joining the firm, Deborah was a medicinal chemist at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development in San Diego. In this role, she focused on the design and synthesis of organic compounds that modulate the inflammatory and immune response. Deborah received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine, where she developed new synthetic methodologies. She went on to work as a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University, where she developed novel catalytic carbon-carbon bond forming reactions. Deborah has co-authored several scientific publications and book chapters and is a co-inventor on three U.S. patent applications.