Ian Bell

Innovation UBC is pleased to announce the appointment of Ian Bell as Associate Director, Innovation Partnerships, effective June 1, 2026. 

Ian is a familiar colleague across Innovation UBC and the broader UBC community. Entering his tenth year with UBC, he brings more than 25 years of progressively senior experience across academic technology transfer, industry, and government, with a career focused on building partnerships, advancing knowledge translation, supporting commercialization, and connecting researchers with external partners and opportunities. 

In his roles with Innovation UBC, Ian has supported a broad portfolio of UBC researchers and technologies across multiple faculties, departments, and research areas. His work has included assessing commercial potential, developing IP protection strategies, identifying funding opportunities, negotiating agreements, supporting UBC spin-off company creation, and building relationships with faculty, industry, non-profit organizations, and government funding agencies. 

Ian also brings significant international leadership experience from his time at Oncode Institute in the Netherlands, where he served as Head of Licensing & Business Development . There, he co-led licensing and business development activities, supported national and European research consortia, contributed to strategic planning as part of the Management Team, and negotiated a high volume of research, licensing, and other agreements. His experience also includes roles with STEMCELL Technologies, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, the University of Calgary’s Technology Transfer Office, and Alberta Innovation and Science. 

In this role, Ian will provide leadership in cultivating and managing strategic research and innovation partnerships, supporting sponsored research and commercialization opportunities, and strengthening Innovation UBC's capacity to connect UBC researchers with partners in industry, government, non-profit, and international networks.