Dr. Lopez-Chua has an extensive background in both domestic and foreign patent prosecution matters in the fields of chemistry, biomedicine, immunology, biopharmaceuticals and biotechnology, as well as in the preparation of patentability, freedom-to-operate and validity opinions and due-diligence memoranda. Dr. Lopez-Chua received a B.S. in Medical Technology (cum laude) from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. She received an M. Phil. and a Ph.D. in Pathobiology from Columbia University and has also received an advanced Paralegal Certificate with Honors from Hofstra University.
Prior to entering the legal profession, Dr. Lopez-Chua worked extensively as an academic researcher and scientist for more than a decade. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow and a Research Associate at Waksman Institute and the Department of Biological Sciences at Rutgers University, where she conducted research in the biochemistry and cell/molecular biology of oncogenes and the cellular expression role of osteopontin in human and murine epithelial cells and in cellular signaling and adhesion. As a Research Instructor at Georgetown University Medical Center’s Lombardi Cancer Center, Dr. Lopez-Chua studied the role of heregulin and a fibroblast growth factor on transformation of mammary cancer cell lines. Dr. Lopez-Chua also spent one year at Rutgers University’s Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience as a Visiting Scientist studying cellular signaling and apoptosis of osteopontin. Dr. Lopez-Chua has authored a wide variety of medical technical papers and abstracts. In conducting her scientific research, Dr. Lopez-Chua has used analytical techniques including SDS-PAGE, iso-electrofocusing, ion-exchange chromatography, HPLC, radioactive labeling and imaging, immunoassay techniques, gene sequencing, cell and molecular cloning techniques, and transfection protocols.
Before joining Studebaker & Brackett PC, Dr. Lopez-Chua previously worked with Mr. Studebaker and Mr. Brackett at Nixon Peabody LLP, where she handled numerous matters on behalf of many multi-national clients, including current clients of Studebaker & Brackett PC. In addition to her patent experience with Nixon Peabody, she was a legal assistant and scientific advisor for two prominent New York law firms and a patent agent for two prominent law firms in the District of Columbia dedicated to the practice of intellectual property.
Dr. Lopez-Chua is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Intellectual Property Law Association. She is admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is co-inventor of U.S. Patent No. 5,695,761.
