Oona M. Johnstone

Oona Johnstone assists the firm in biotechnology patent prosecution. Her areas of scientific expertise include genetics, molecular and cellular biology and biochemistry.

• Supplies technical expertise in working with research scientists to review invention disclosures and draft patent applications.
• Assists attorneys in preparing office action responses.
• Assists attorneys in providing patentability, validity and freedom to operate studies.
• Provides prior art searching and analysis for clients.

Prior to joining the firm, Oona was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. Her research, focusing on posttranscriptional gene regulation, was part of a large-scale initiative to use genome-wide technologies to characterize networks of RNA-protein interactions in the developing mammalian brain.

Oona’s doctoral research on RNA helicases helped to elucidate cell biological questions related to RNA localization and translational regulation, while placing these mechanistic insights within the context of the developing Drosophila embryo.

Oona has authored and co-authored publications in journals including Molecular Cell, Development, Developmental Biology, International Review of Cytology, and Annual Review of Genetics.

Boston Patent Law Association

Oona was awarded a Doctoral Studentship and a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. She was also the recipient of the Thomas Haliburton Henry Award for the most outstanding graduate of McGill University for the 2003-2004 academic year.

McGill University, B.S., Biology, with distinction

McGill University, Ph.D., Biology, Dean's Honor List

Suffolk University Law School, J.D., 2012 Candidate