InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. announced the appointment of Heather M. Hamel, J.D. as its Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel. In her role, Ms. Hamel will lead the company's legal and intellectual property functions, and provide strategic guidance to the company's Board of Directors and executive management team.

Ms. Hamel will also be responsible for the oversight of certain other functions, including business development, human resources and external communications. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Hamel served as the company's Vice President of Legal Affairs and Business Development. At InVivo, Ms. Hamel has held responsibility for a broad array of legal and transactional matters, including legal oversight of equity financing transactions and securities reporting, as well as business development procurement, intellectual property management and corporate governance.

Prior to InVivo, Ms. Hamel worked at Ecolab Inc., where she oversaw a variety of legal matters including intellectual property strategy, patent prosecution and litigation management. Ahead of her role at Ecolab, Ms. Hamel worked at PLR IP Inc., where she was responsible for global intellectual property licensing and partnering across a range of assets. Earlier in her career she worked in private practice at Schwegman, Lundberg and Woessner, P.A., and at the Washington Center as a legal associate.

Before starting her legal career, Ms. Hamel spent several years as a scientist working as a biomaterials research associate at the University of Wisconsin. Ms. Hamel has also served as an external legal advisor to several early-stage pharmaceutical companies. Ms. Hamel holds B.S. degrees in biochemistry and chemistry from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, a J.D from William Mitchell College of Law, and a Master of Liberal Arts degree in general management, extension studies from Harvard University.