Justin Burns, Ph.D.
Chief Innovation Officer and Vice President, Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Justin Burns serves as Chief Innovation Officer and Vice President, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), where he leads the organization’s enterprise innovation strategy and manages a multi-million-dollar portfolio of commercialization grants and loans. In this role, he works across universities, investors, industry partners and regional organizations to help translate Georgia research into products, companies and long-term economic impact. He also serves as a senior convener for Georgia’s innovation ecosystem, focused on strengthening commercialization pathways and aligning capital and partners to help companies start, scale and stay in Georgia.
Justin joined GRA in 2024 from Morningside, a Boston-based global life science investment firm. As a member of the venture investment team, he conducted rigorous due diligence on early-stage companies, negotiated and closed new financings and provided counsel to startups throughout their early development, including those seeking to license technologies from universities. Additionally, Justin served as a director on the boards of five life science and healthcare startups and as a board observer for three others.
Previously, Justin spent five years in Emory University’s Office of Technology Transfer, where he managed several teams working to bring new therapeutics, diagnostics, software and other technologies to market. As assistant director of licensing, he negotiated and executed nearly two dozen licensing agreements, improved technology transfer processes, and helped position innovations for spinout and subsequent venture capital investment. His tenure also included managing a portfolio of more than 300 technologies and invention disclosures.
Justin began his career as a National Research Council Fellow at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., where he investigated microbial bio-electrochemical systems for alternative fuel strategies and conducted research on technologies relevant to the defense industry. He later served as a senior postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Emily Weinert at Emory University, studying how bacteria establish infections in humans and plants.
Justin holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry and a B.S. in applied biology from Georgia Tech, as well as a Certificate of Adaptive Leadership from Georgia State University.
