Pavel Lazarev, Ph.D., Founder and Director Prior to founding Kontrakt, Dr. Lazarev was a founder and CTO of Optiva, Inc. which designs and manufactures a new class of self-assembled thin crystal film. Previously held positions include, President of Molecular Devices and Technologies Corp. in Moscow as well as President of Nanotechnology MDT, an atomic scale instrument manufacturer. Earlier he spent almost two decades at the Russian Academy of Sciences, where he was Associate Director and Head of the Biotechnical Department of the Biophysics Institute. He received an M.S. in Chemistry from the world renowned Moscow State University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Russian Academy of Sciences as well as Doctorate of Science in biophysics from the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Lazarev is the inventor and patent holder of over 100 patents and patent applications and the author of over 150 scientific papers. He is also credited with co-founding the Journal of Molecular Engineering and the Journal of Molecular Materials.
	Alla Sakharova, Ph.D., Managing Director (London-Silicon Valley-Moscow) Dr. Sakharova graduated from the Moscow Mendeleev Institute of Chemical Technology, Department of Physical Chemistry. In 1992 she received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the prestigious Russian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Sakharova’s experience in start-ups and intellectual property management goes back to 1995 when she left the Institute of Electrochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and started her work with the group of start-up companies and technological incubators. Her experience included work with Quanta Vision, Inc. which developed technology for x-ray diffraction analysis of benign and malignant changes in soft biological tissues, including cancer diagnostics as the initial target. The company developed the patent portfolio of 10+ patent applications, a major part of which was issued worldwide. From 1999 to 2005 she operated in California as IP Portfolio Manager with Optiva, Inc. By the end of 2004 Optiva products and technologies have been covered by 69 families of inventions disclosed in 176 patent applications, 43 of which were issued in USA, Russia, Europe, Japan, and China. Starting from June 2005 Dr. Sakharova was employed as Intellectual Property Manager with Kontrakt Technology Ltd. (London, UK).
	Elena Neburchilova, Ph.D., Technical and Industrial Intelligence Director (Vancouver-Moscow) Dr. Neburchilova graduated from Moscow State University, Department of Chemistry. In 1990 she received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry (Moscow, Russia) and in 2000, obtained her Masters in Technological Management from the Academy of National Economy (Moscow, Russia). She managed commercialization and application of new electrochemical materials and technologies in enterprises in Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Germany. After holding the position of Head of Information Department at Optiva Inc for a period of 5 years, Dr. Neburchilova joined Kontrakt Limited as the Head of Technical Intelligence. She is applying her experience in market research, promotion of innovation products, in-depth analysis of innovation and investment projects and market analysis to bring our clients into competitive strategic, and ultimately, profitable positions.
	Nikolay Guselnikov, Ph.D., Patent Attorney (Russia), Director of Patent Office Mr. Guselnikov graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Department of Physical and Quantum Electronics with the specialty in radio-physics and electronics. His work experience includes 15 years as a head of the department with the Federal State Unitary Plant “SIP “Istok” (Moscow region, Russia) and years as a patent expert at the Federal Institute of Industrial Property. Mr. Guselnikov is a certified patent attorney and has been working with Optiva patent team since 2002. He personally drafted and followed prosecution of more than 30 patent applications. Since May 2005 Nikolay Guselnikov has been employed by Kontrakt Limited (Moscow, Russia) as a Senior Patent Agent.