By Gianna Ricotta
Members of BurstIQ’s Research Foundry include blockchain enthusiasts focused on healthcare, who come from a number of industries and backgrounds. All of our coalition members benefit from Research Foundry, which provides a free utility service and community coalition that has made great strides in the healthcare world.
In this series, we are featuring the stories of our members who are using Research Foundry and how their vision and values include blockchain and health access. Many also volunteer their time to mentor startups regarding regulatory and research challenges in bringing their ideas to market. Today we had the pleasure of speaking with Mike Henson, an intellectual property lawyer and partner at Perkins Coie LLP
Who Is Mike Henson?
Mike Henson has been involved with the Denver blockchain community for several years. His firm, Perkins Coie, was the first law firm in the United States to form an industry group in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space in 2013. Along with Perkins Coie, Mike hopes to be a source of legal content and guidance to members of Research Foundry on topics that are of interest to the community.
Mike has a number of blockchain certifications and has been involved in a variety of professional leadership roles involving blockchain. He currently leads the Intellectual Property Working Group for the Government Blockchain Association. He is also a Review Editor for ‘Frontiers in Blockchain’, the first peer-reviewed journal dedicated to blockchain from a scientific publisher. Additionally, he has published articles on the topic of blockchain technology in publications such as ‘Blocking the fake supply chain’ in Intellectual Property Magazine.
Mike Henson on Blockchain Technology
Mike Henson’s firm Perkins Coie shares a goal with BurstIQ of facilitating the integration of blockchain technologies into various industries, including healthcare. Mike believes that Perkins Coie can serve as a source of legal knowledge and guidance to the community and its members as they evolve. Perkins Coie offers an unparalleled level of insight into the legal aspects of blockchain.
Mike is passionate about blockchain and the legal issues surrounding the blockchain space. His presentations on the subject of blockchain have included topics such as ‘Blockchain in Healthcare and Clinical Research — Practical Considerations for Navigating the Legal and Regulatory Minefield’ (co-presented with BurstIQ CSO Dr. Wendy Charles) and ‘Blockchain and Its IP Implications’. Volunteering with Research Foundry, Mike has contributed his expert knowledge on the legal issues surrounding blockchain and offered valuable advice to startups to help them achieve their business goals.
Mike Henson on Research Foundry
Mike is enthusiastic about participating in Research Foundry and forming a mutually beneficial relationship between Perkins Coie and Research Foundry. Speaking about his time with Research Foundry so far, Mike says:
In the brief amount of time I have been involved with Research Foundry, it has become apparent that the staff at BurstIQ is very supportive of the community and helping members integrate onto the platform. This is reflected in the Tech Tuesday which the company hosts and the Slack channel where members can interact and brainstorm ideas.
BurstIQ and Research Foundry Members Offer Gratitude
BurstIQ Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Wendy Charles spoke about her friendship and working relationship with Mike:
When I joined BurstIQ, I invited Mike and his colleague Youssef Sniefer, to learn more about production blockchains by learning about the BurstIQ and Research Foundry. Mike agreed to volunteer in Research Foundry and “hit the ground running.” Within the first few weeks, he helped several blockchains gain legal direction. He has also been extremely generous with his time with me and helped answer my legal blockchain questions about intellectual property and export control. Overall, Mike has made an enormous difference, and we could not be more grateful for his involvement.
Dr. Ned Saleh, Founder of Synsal Inc., shares:
I have interacted with Mike Henson over the course of several sessions that covered hours of concept deep-dive, brainstorming and strategic advice. I was struck by Mike’s ability to exercise structured thinking then switch to out-of-box scenarios in a single setting back and forth. Mike comes across as passionate to innovation and empathetic to start-up founders’ needs and challenges. Seldom founders receive strategic advice that is valuable both as legal and business insight. Mike is generous with his valuable time for entrepreneurs, and his presence in the BurstIQ community, while only recent, is already making a difference.
Ian O’Rourke, Founder of TakeRight, adds:
Mike and his team at Perkins Coie were very generous with their advice and extremely encouraging. After looking at our business model they gave insight that only seasoned professionals would have. We did not hear “No! don’t do that”. Instead, we heard, “you might want to try this approach.” Anyone who has been around startups knows you want to ‘take the hill,’ not ‘die on it.’ Mike probably steered us away from what would have been a very costly mistake. Having these kinds of straight shooters on your side in this space is not only what you want, it’s most likely what you need. I highly recommend discussing your project with them, they might even change your opinion of lawyers.
Want to learn more about Research Foundry?
Research Foundry offers a platform for coalition members to collaborate, access data, and benefit from crowd intelligence within a safe and secure environment. Researchers, health-focused organizations and global innovators can use Research Foundry to perform distributed research and develop solutions together.
Find out here how you can get involved with Research Foundry.
