THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS CHICAGO

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Perspectives
2 0 2 2 - 2 0 2 3
CBC Mission
The mission of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium
(CBC) is to stimulate collaboration among scientists
at Northwestern University, The University of
Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago and other
Chicagoland institutions to accelerate discovery and
expand the Chicago based life sciences ecosystem in
order to transform life science research into
biomedical applications, create inclusive Chicagoland
opportunities, and improve the health of humankind.

The CBC Will:

Work towards an inclusive and equitable Chicagoland life sciences
landscape of institutions and industry that works for all citizens of Chicago

Expand collaborations to build a “One Chicago” life sciences ecosystem

that is a destination for visionary biotech companies and talent

Provide faculty and trainees developing therapeutics the critical centralized

analytics, industry validation, and networks of expertise needed for
translation

Mentor and develop a strong cadre of biomedical leaders, researchers,

and entrepreneurs in Chicago

Facilitate development of therapeutics that will, over the long term,

improve the health of citizens of Chicago and beyond.

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Director's Corner
Michelle Hoffmann, PhD, has been serving as
Chicago Biomedical Consortium's Executive
Director since August 2021. Prior to this role, from
2019-2021, Hoffmann was the senior vice president
of Deep Tech at P33, a privately funded nonprofit
charged with elevating Chicagoland’s innovation
economy and driving inclusive economic growth.
Prior to that, Michelle was Senior Vice President at
Michelle B. Hoffmann, PhD Back Bay Life Science Advisors, a life sciences
Executive Director
strategic advisory firm.

CBC Team

Kimberly Corn Kelley Dragoo Eleonora Gatta, PhD

Director of Finance and Operations Executive Assistant Senior Associate Director
New Program Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Corinna Kitcharoen Elizabeth McMath, PhD Nancy Tyrrell

Associate Director Senior Director Director
Events and Communications New Program Innovation and Entrepreneurship Translational Science Programs and Initiatives

[Link] 2
 Leadership and Board Members
The CBC is supported by a number of academic leaders
from Northwestern University, The University of
Chicago, and the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). In
addition to Chicago area leadership, our board
membership includes a group of interdisciplinary
advisors outside of the CBC’s member institutions. The
CBC boards meet regularly to discuss CBC initiatives,
award and educational programs, and strategies.

Executive Oversight Board (EOB) Scientific Advisory Board* (SAB)

Vice Provost for Research and Senior Officer
Erin J. Adams, PhD The University of Chicago
Luisa DiPietro, PhD University of Illinois Chicago

Executive Vice President

Angel Gibson Kinship Foundation (The Searle Family)
Richard Morimoto, PhD Northwestern University

Vice Chancellor for Research

Joanna Groden, PhD University of Illinois Chicago *Scientific Advisory Board recruitment currently in progress

Vice President for Research

Eric J. Perreault, PhD Northwestern University

Ad Hoc Science Board** Accelerator Venture Board (AVB)

AbbVie Portal Innovations 2Flo Ventures Illinois Ventures
James Kath, PhD Yuan Zhang, PhD, MS
Steve Elmore, PhD AbbVie Indie Bio
Rush University Medical Center AbbVie Ventures Insight Partners
Agent Capital Annabelle Santos Volgman, MD
Vissaagan Gopalakrishnan, MD Abingworth J&J Innovation
Sernova Agent Capital KdT Ventures
Deerfield Modestus Obochi, PhD, MBA
Eric Schiffhauer, PhD
ARCH Venture Partners Lilly Ventures
SV Health Investors Astellas OMX Ventures
Flare Therapeutics Jim Summers, PhD Astra Zeneca MPM Capital
Jim Audia, PhD
The University of Chicago Atlas Ventures OCA Ventures
Janssen R&D Diana Bolotin MD, PhD Back Bay Life Science Advisors Orbimed
Michael Bemben, PhD Jeff Hubbell, PhD
Bain Capital PACE Healthcare Capital
Kay McLeod, PhD
Mayo Clinic Kunal Desai, MD, MBA Bessemer Venture Partners Pathway Bioventures
Svetomir Markovic, MD, PhD Raghu Mirmira, MD, PhD Blackbird Labs Portal Innovations
Savas Tay, PhD
Northwestern University Scott Oakes, MD Breakout Ventures Prime Mover Labs
Amy Heimberger, MD Changer Capital Qral Group
Evan Scott, PhD University of Illinois Chicago
Cincytech Bio Recordati
Lisa Dhar, PhD Brian Layden, MD, PhD
Priya U Kumthekar, MD Joanna Burdette, PhD Cooley LLP Undettered Capital
Satish Nadig, MD, PhD Terry Moore, PhD Deep Work Capital Venture Investors
OrbiMed Deerfield Xontogeny
Jim Sullivan, PhD Foresight Capital
** in addition to the ad hoc panel listed here, we engage domain experts
during each ad hoc committee meeting, depending on the therapeutic
focus of the applications under review. 3
The View From Here

Biotech is built on cutting-edge, early-

stage, university-derived research. To
capitalize on Chicagoland’s three R1
universities and grow our biotech
ecosystem, the CBC will continue to
strengthen connections between
academic researchers and industry
experts, expand our programming and
network, all the while promoting the
first-rate research happening in our
universities.

Our programming is ambitious – but

we’ve already seen results. We invite
you to celebrate our accomplishments
and view our plans for 2024.

The CBC is...

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Reaching new ‘HITES’ with an NIH-funded expansion of the CBC
Funded by the NIH’s REACH program, we are proud to launch the Hub for
Innovative Technology and Entrepreneurship in Science (CBC-HITES), which
will expand CBC programming to Rosalind Franklin University, Loyola
University, Rush University, Northern Illinois University, the Illinois Institute of
Technology, and the Discovery Partners Institute. (See page 6)

Developing a commercialization pipeline from lab bench to bedside

CBC programming equips Chicago’s academic innovators with the education,
funding, networks of expertise, and connections to capital that are necessary
to turn academic research into medical applications. Over the last two years:
The Accelerator Venture Board, a network of qualified biotech investors
who validate our funding decisions, has added 20+ venture firms and
industry partners. (see page 4)
The Accelerator Awards supplied industry-grade analysis and seed funding
to three new translational projects; one has attained year two funding.
(See page 8, 11-12)
Director’s Funds, which prime our Accelerator Award pipeline, supported
24 translational projects. (See page 13)
Our Entrepreneurial Fellowship has trained three diverse cohorts of bio-
entrepreneurs; the first set of CBC fellows have successfully found
employment in Chicago’s biotech ecosystem. (See page 14-15)

Building up and standing out in Chicagoland’s biotech ecosystem

Our high-impact events connect the ecosystem, elevate the CBC brand, and
promote our region’s ground-breaking research. Over the last two years:
The Chicago BioCapital Summit showcased 80 Chicago scientist-
entrepreneurs and biotech startups to 70+ national venture capitalists,
scouts and 400+ attendees. (See page 9, 22-25)
BiPOC in Biotech connected 200+ trainees to our local biotech
community and the CBC’s Entrepreneurial Fellowship. (See page 26-27)
Our 19th Annual Symposium presented interdisciplinary research by
clinicians, scientists and epidemiologists to shed new light on stress and
diabetes. (See page 28-29)
CBCAN fireside chats and science talks connected academics with
industry partners. (See page 20)

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 6

CBC Highlights:
CBC-HITES

Accelerator Awards

Chicago BioCapital Summit

 Highlights
CBC-HITES
The Chicago Biomedical Consortium Hub for Innovative Technology
and Entrepreneurship in the Sciences (CBC-HITES) leverages CBC
programming and infrastructure to expand our services beyond the
three member institutions to an additional six institutions: Rosalind
Franklin University, Loyola University, Rush University, Northern Illinois
University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the Discovery
Partners Institute. CBC-HITES is one of five recent hubs sponsored by
the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s Research Evaluation and
Commercialization Hub (REACH) program.

The new hub will be funded by a $10.4 million investment, including $6

million in support from The Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust,
the $4 million NIH REACH grant, and $400,000 by the Walder Foundation. In
partnership with 27 industry, venture capital, and community organizations,
CBC-HITES is unprecedented in the Chicago ecosystem and will accelerate
the discoveries of medical scientists from across Chicagoland.

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 Highlights
Accelerator Award
The new Accelerator Award process was launched in the Fall of 2022 and
takes most of the burden of the application process off of the faculty
members. The CBC analyzes the scientist's idea and presents the idea to the
CBC Accelerator Venture Board (AVB), composed of experts from venture
capital and industry. The AVB helps us determine which translational projects
should be funded by the $250K Accelerator Award in order to move
therapeutic discoveries from the university laboratory to the market.

Year 1 Awardees
PI: Shana Kelley (NU)
The first recipient under the new award process

Drugging the undruggable cancer target

Project: "Allele-specific Mutant KRAS Expression
Modulation as a Targeted Anti-KRAS Therapy"

PI: Evan Scott (NU)

Preventing Type I diabetes in children
Project: “Tolerogenic Nanodrug for Type 1 Diabetes
Prevention: Translation Enabling Studies”

PI: Irina Balyasnikova (NU)

Building smart molecules to attack brain cancer
Project: “Tri-specific T cell engaging protein for the
treatment of IL13RA2+/EGFRvIII+ glioblastoma”

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 Highlights
November 2nd Chicago
2023 BioCapital
Summit
Where vision meets investments

The Chicago BioCapital Summit was held

400+ Attendees in-person on November 2, 2023 at Fulton
70+ different investors and Labs. The highly anticipated all-day affair
industry representatives
connected the region’s most cutting-edge,
university-originated, life science programs
and startup companies with a national
audience of industry and venture investors.
9 Corporate
Sponsors
AbbVie, Charles River, Cooley, Spearheaded by the CBC, the Summit was
Cytiva, Deloitte, JP Morgan,
Portal Innovations, Trammel a collaborative effort with the technology
Crow Company, Walder transfer offices of The University of
Ventures
Chicago, Northwestern University, and
University of Illinois Chicago, with support
from P33 and World Business Chicago.

3 Unique Networking
Opportunities
50+ high-profile investors &
entrepreneurs at a VIP Dinner
A video summary of the Chicago BioCapital
300+ attendees at 2 receptions can be found here:
hosted at Portal Innovations
[Link]/ChicagoBiotech2023

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CBC Awards and Programs:
Accelerator Award

Director’s Fund

Entrepreneurial Fellows

Catalyst Award

Affinity Group Award

CBC Accelerator Network (CBCAN)

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 Accelerator Award

Total Year 1 Awards:

The Accelerator Award program supports (Spring 2018 - Dec 2023)

translational research at the initial, and 21

therefore highest risk, stage of
*Awards per University:
commercially directed research focused on
3
the development of a therapeutic or an (12%)
12
associated biomarker or diagnostic. (48%)
10
(40%)

The new Accelerator Award process was

launched in Fall of 2022 and takes most of NU UIC UChicago

the burden of the application process off of *Each award may have
more than one recipient

the faculty members.

Total Year 2 Awards:
Accelerator Award Applications are (2019 - Dec 2023)

accepted on a rolling basis and are vetted 14

and strengthened by the CBC
Entrepreneurial Fellows.

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 Once the application is complete, we present the idea to the CBC
Accelerator Venture Board (AVB). This board helps us determine the
biomedical research projects across our three member universities –
University of Chicago, Northwestern, and University of Illinois Chicago – that
are most deserving of the Accelerator Award funding program. Up to $250K,
the Accelerator Award supports translational research that moves
therapeutic discoveries from the university laboratory to the market.

Year 1 Awardees

PI: Shana Kelley (NU)

The first recipient under the new award process

Drugging the undruggable cancer target

Project: "Allele-specific Mutant KRAS Expression
Modulation as a Targeted Anti-KRAS Therapy"

PI: Evan Scott (NU)

Preventing Type I diabetes in children
Project: “Tolerogenic Nanodrug for Type 1 Diabetes
Prevention: Translation Enabling Studies”

PI: Irina Balyasnikova (NU)

Building smart molecules to attack brain cancer
Project: “Tri-specific T cell engaging protein for the
treatment of IL13RA2+/EGFRvIII+ glioblastoma”

[Link] 12
 Director’s Fund:
Building a Pipeline to Acceleration

Director's Funds (DF) are seed awards that help to bridge the
$250,000 Accelerator Award. The Director’s Fund became a
vehicle in which experiments, designed in collaboration with
the CBC Executive Director, could be efficiently funded to
address one or more weaknesses, strengthening the project
for future funding through CBC or other award/granting
agencies.

Purpose
The Accelerator Award has been fully embraced as an important
source of funding for riskier translational research projects, but
of even greater importance, as a means of active translational
guidance and expertise. As an outgrowth of this program, the
CBC Director’s Fund Award of the Accelerator Program was
introduced as a corollary of the original program to support the
advancement of research projects who were not fulfilling the
requirements of the Accelerator Award but could benefit from
additional guidance and advice.

Total Awards Given: Impact

(2017 - 2023)
24 The CBC has an opportunity to positively impact far more
translational projects than can be funded with full awards. The
Three DF awardees have impact has already been felt with potentially profound
since gone on to receive
implications. Applicants of the Accelerator program who did not
full funding through the
receive the award were eager to obtain feedback regarding the
CBC Accelerator Award
program. Additional DF weaknesses of their proposals. The partnership with
awardees are currently investigators inherent in the Director’s Fund also served to
waiting to advance to differentiate the CBC as a true value-add for the investigators
Accelerator funding in and to distinguish CBC from other funding opportunities
2024 . available in the community.

12
13
 Entrepreneurial Fellows

The CBC Entrepreneurial Fellows (EF) Three

cohorts between
Award program identifies and supports the
2019-2023
professional development of junior life 13 Entrepreneurial
sciences investigators who are keen to Fellows Accepted
from FIVE PhD
develop the skills and experiences needed Institutions
to move translational projects from a
Awards per University:
university lab toward commercialization
1
and potentially into a Chicago-based 3
(23%)
(8%)

biotech start-up. The program exposes

6
Fellows to a breadth of real-world 3
(23%)
(46%)

experiences across the CBC institutions

and connects trainees to the Chicago NU UChicago
UIC Other*
biomedical community. *Other universities include:
Duke University, The Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine and
University of Minnesota

14
 Immerse Partner Integrate
Working with university Partnering with our member Integrating with members of
faculty and experts in the institution tech transfer and the Entrepreneurial Fellows
greater Chicago entrepreneurship offices Advisory Board and industry
bioentrepreneurship mentors
community

Current CBC Fellows:

DENNIS
AHMED DISOUKY ESCEVARRIA-COOPER ELAN NESS-COHN SONAL RANGNEKAR
PhD from UIC PhD from NU PhD from NU PhD from NU

***
Since the relaunch of
the program in 2019,
five of our EFs are
from under-
represented groups. In
addition, four of our
OWEN SHELTON LUCAS SHORES ALEX VILLARREAL EFs are female.
PhD from NU PhD from Duke University PhD from UMinnesota
***

CBC Fellows Alumni:

SCHNAUDE DORIZAN CARISSA HEATH AMANDA MALDONADO ERIC SCHIFFHAUER KAROL SOKOLOWSKI RACHEL WALLACE
Venture Acceleration Manager Program Manager Innovation Portfolio, Manager Director of Outreach Scientist,Translational Medicine
MATTER Foresite Labs Lurie Children’s Hospital Deerfield Management Portal Innovations Pioneering Medicines

15
 Catalyst Award

The Catalyst Award has been the longest- Total Awards Given:
(Spring 2006 - Dec 2023)
running CBC program, which provided
funding up to $250,000 for two-year new,
107
inter-institutional collaborative research
*Awards per University:
projects addressing high-risk/ high-reward
fundamental biological and biomedical
research. 97
(40%)
81
(33%)

The Catalyst Award program has been 66

(22%)

discontinued in 2023 after 32 rounds. The

last two awards were made in February NU UIC UChicago

2023 (see awardees on the following *Each award had awardees at two or
more universities. (Only two awards
page). The Catalyst Award has been had awardees at all three universities)

replaced with the new Affinity Group

Awards program (see page 18-19 for
additional details).

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Two Catalyst Awards were made between 2022-2023

Round 32 Awardees

PI(s):
HoJoon Lee (NU) and
Raymond Moellering (UChicago)

Project: "Ultrasensitive Discovery of Circulating Nausea-Inducing Factors"

PI(s):
Juan L. Mendoza (UChicago) and
Curt M. Horvath (NU)

Project: "Modulating the potency of cytokine signaling by optimizing

receptor-kinase engagement"

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 Affinity Group Award
Objectives:

Piloted in Neuroscience, the Affinity Group Build a community of Chicago

neuroscientists
award was launched in April 2023 as a new
program with the overarching goal to
provide a framework for selecting high- Develop research
collaborations between
risk/high-reward research projects in the Chicago neuroscientists to
incorporate orthogonal
Neuroscience space. As of June 2023, the expertise

Affinity Group Awards program replaced our

historical Catalyst Award to promote Articulate fundamental
neuroscience questions to
collaborative inter-institutional exploration drive collaborations across
Chicago scientists
of the community’s delineated key scientific
questions.
Develop a novel, team
The members of the Affinity Group will science approach to advance
attractive scientific projects
participate in a collaborative platform where
the CBC funds several high-priority
Accelerate high-risk/high-
collaborations. The Affinity Group awards reward research
can range up to $250,000 total for use over
two years.
18
Neuro Affinity Group
Steering Committee
SIMON ALFORD EDWIN COOK WILLIAM GREEN INDIRA RAMAN
University of Illinois Chicago University of Illinois Chicago The University of Chicago Northwestern University

Process Overview
The neuroscience pilot award included two in-person workshops and two
virtual meetings over a 13-week period, during which proposed projects
were refined and prioritized by the community for funding. The first in-person
event had 90+ registrants over seven Chicagoland institutions.

Neuro Affinity Group Awardees

Three Awards were made in June 2023.

PI(s):
Rui Gao (UIC) and
Kaiwen Kam (RFUMS)

Project: "Connectomic reconstruction of a hindbrain neural circuit

controlling breathing across the lifespan"

PI(s):
Sarah Lutz (UIC) and
Brian Popko (NU)

Project: "Blood-brain barrier dysfunction in vascular dementia"

PI(s):
Ruth Anne Eatock (UChicago) and
Anna Lysakowski (UIC)

Project: “Visualizing evoked activity in vestibular inner ear and

afferent projections to brain

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 CBCAN
CBC Accelerator Network

The CBC Accelerator Network (CBCAN) program has

created a community, bringing together industry experts,
university technology transfer representatives, investors,
researchers and others from the local and extended
biomedical community to discuss discoveries that may have
commercial potential.

Purpose
CBCAN meetings have been used to explore and develop
community input for the Accelerator Award (AA). Upcoming
meetings will provide opportunities for faculty researchers to
network with potential investors and industry experts with
the goal of move promising research programs into and
forward in the pipeline towards commercialization, providing
early commercial guidance that universities and university-
based researchers need.

Impact
CBCAN meetings have contributed to the development of a
strong Chicago life science ecosystem by bringing together
many university researchers, investors, and industry
representatives. By hosting the meetings at a variety of
spaces across the city, we have strengthened collaborations
between the CBC, local universities, accelerators and
organizations including Discovery Partners Institute,
MATTER, mHUB, iBIO, and Portal Innovations.
23
CBCAN meetings
The 2023 year-end CBCAN event, held in partnership with
have been hosted
life science partners including Portal Innovations, iBIO, Chan
Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago and Women In Bio, at Portal since its
Innovation gathered 275+ people from the Chicago life inception in 2017
science community to review the achievements from 2023
and look ahead to what can be accomplished in 2024.

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Ecosystem Building
An important component of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium’s past
and ongoing success has been the high level of engagement within the
Chicago community. The CBC Leadership, staff members and
Entrepreneurial Fellows are consistently involved in the Chicago
biomedical community and participate in various community programs
and organizations.

In 2022 and 2023, the CBC partnered with a number of

organizations to bring exciting community building events
such as the 19th Annual Symposium, BIPOC in Biotech and,
the most recent, Chicago BioCapital Summit.

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 November 2nd Chicago
2023 BioCapital
Summit
Where vision meets investments

The Chicago BioCapital Summit was held

400+ Attendees in-person on November 2, 2023 at Fulton
70+ different investors and Labs. The highly anticipated all-day affair
industry representatives
connected the region’s most cutting-edge,
university-originated, life science programs
and startup companies with a national
audience of industry and venture investors.
10 Corporate
Sponsors
AbbVie, Charles River, Cooley, Spearheaded by the CBC, the Summit was
Cytiva, Deloitte, JP Morgan,
Portal Innovations, Trammel a collaborative effort with the technology
Crow, Walder Ventures transfer offices of The University of
Chicago, Northwestern University, and
University of Illinois Chicago, with support
from P33 and World Business Chicago.

3 Unique Networking
Opportunities
50+ high-profile investors &
entrepreneurs at a VIP Dinner
A video summary of the Chicago BioCapital
300+ attendees at 2 receptions can be found here:
hosted at Portal Innovations
[Link]/ChicagoBiotech2023

22
 29 1 Keynote Speaker,
2 Panel Discussions, 1 Fireside Chat,
Speakers and Presenters 6 Scientific Lightning Talks

Invited Speakers
Prof. Robert Langer, Co-Founder of Moderna; Dr. John Leonard, President and
CEO, Intellia Therapeutics; Dr. Anil Vasudevan, Senior Director, AbbVie

Scientific Lightning Talks by Scientific Founders

Profs. Alexis Demonbreun and John Rogers from NU; Profs. Brad Merrill and Nora
Vazquez-Laslop from UIC; Profs. Lev Becker and Allison Squires from UChicago

Fireside Chat
IL State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, who discussed how his office invests in
Illinois biotech

Panel: Commercializing Academic Innovation

Dr. Steve Elmore, VP Platform AbbVie; Prof. Shana Kelley, President Chan
Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago; Prof. Rober Langer, Co-Founder of Moderna; and
William Slattery, Partner, Deerfield Management
Moderated by Michal Preminger, Regional Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation

Panel: Midwest Biotech Capital Formation

Dr. Vikram Chaudhery, Co-Founder General Inception; Daniel Gottlieb, Assoc.
Dir, Broadview Ventures; Anya Schiess Managing Partner, JP Morgan Life
Sciences Private Capital; and Dr. Geeta Vemuri, Founder, Agent Capital
Moderated by John Flavin, CEO and Founder of Portal Innovations

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 24

Hall of Inventions:
The highlight of the Chicago BioCapital Summit, featuring Chicagoland’s top
academic innovators.

80+ Companies
160+ Scientist-Entrepreneurs
across four Chicagoland
universities

VC and industry
representatives spent the day
networking and learning about
cutting-edge technologies
emerging from university labs
and spinout startups

The Buzz
Excitement was evident throughout the day of the Summit and reverberated
afterward through online engagement from State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, World
Business Chicago, and many others, including:

J&J Innovation
“I want to give a loud shoutout to the Chicago Biomedical Consortium for the impressive work to develop
the most optimal conditions allowing innovation from Chicago-based universities University of Chicago,
University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University to be translated toward meaningful products for
patients and mobilized into startups and/or industry partners (…)”

IndieBio Rhaeos
“A big congratulations to …the CBC … in bringing “I’ve never seen anything like this event in the city
together a fantastic group of individuals. It was in the close to 20 years I’ve been working with
incredible to see so many founders, investors and startups. Simply amazing! Thanks for highlighting
biotech partners come together to hear how great innovation in Chicago (…). This event just let
Chicago is supporting the growth of early-stage us shine a bit brighter. Go #Chicago!”
science companies (…)”
 25

Sponsors:

Snapshots:
 March 30th BIPOC in
2023 Biotech

BIPOC in Biotech, co-hosted by CBC, P33,

150+ and TechChicago, was a one-of-a-kind
Life-science graduate career and professional networking event
students and postdocs held at Cresa’s headquarters in Chicago’s
from under-represented
minorities across the major Fulton Market District that showcased the
midwestern universities, with vibrant biotech ecosystem that we are
additional reach to universities
across the country building in Chicago.
The event brought together Black,
Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
30+ PhDs, postdocs, and early career
Local life-sciences scientists from across the Midwest and
companies connected them with representatives from
recruited PhDs and connected
with attendees during the local life-science organizations. These
Career Fair portion of the event connections helped attendees learn about
career opportunities, build their networks,
and develop a local biotech community.
16 Event Presented by: Sponsored by:
Speakers
including 3 keynotes,
2 panels, 1 workshop, and 1 The CBC gratefully acknowledges
support from the Searle Funds
live pitch competition at The Chicago Community Trust

26
Highlight
BIPOC in Biotech offered a deeper look into Chicago’s vibrant life-science
ecosystem through an outstanding speaker lineup and career expo. An exciting
live pitch competition showcased local biotech entrepreneurs, culminating in an
afterparty with additional networking and community-building opportunities.

16 speakers across multiple talks, panels, and events

Speaker Keynote speakers include: Paul Mola, MS, Founder,
President & CEO of Roswell Biotechnologies and Nick
Lineup
Davis, ScD, General Partner of Changer Fund; Founder
& CEO of Hovana

Participating companies came from established

industry, consulting, venture and startups from the
Career local Chicago life-sciences ecosystem
Connections Connections were made between 30 companies and
a set of diverse attendees from across the midwest
who they may not typically reach.

5 local biotech companies took part in the

inaugural Deep TechRise Pitch Competition
Live Pitch
Competition One company was awarded a $25K prize and has
since gone on to receive FDA clearance to market
their product.

The Interview Preparation Improvisation Workshop was

hosted by Byron Stewart, a science communication
Workshop instructor for NU’s RCTP Science Communication
program. The workshop aimed to help attendees hone
their brand and better convey their work, setting them
up for success as they venture into a career.

“What a tremendous event! Getting to network with other folks who

have historically been pushed to the outskirts of BioTech was a joy.
Looking forward to next year's conference!” – Attendee

“I learned so much from this event, I met some amazing individuals and I think
we will be able to help both aspiring innovators and hopeful entrepreneurs in
their next steps!” – Company Representative

27
 November 17th

2022
19th Annual Symposium
Stress and Human Health: Diabetes

The annual symposium is aimed at gathering 2 Keynote Speakers

local scientists and key life science players to
highlight research that goes from the bench to
the bedside to the community. This
outstanding all-day program was held on
November 17, 2022 at Northwestern Medicine
Prentice Women’s Hospital and virtually DR. ARLEEN TUCHMAN, PHD
Professor of History
Vanderbilt University and
through Zoom. The event was spearheaded by renowned author of "Diabetes: A
History of Race and Disease"
the CBC in collaboration with an organizing Historical Reflections on Stress,
Race, and Diabetes
committee composed of 10 faculty across our
3 member institutions. The symposium
featured three sessions:
Stress in diabetes: integrated nutrition,
obesity, and diabetes
Stress from the micro and macro
DR. ROHIT KULKARNI, MD, PHD
environment in complications and Senior Investigator at Joslin
Diabetes Center and Principal
progression of diabetes Faculty at Harvard Stem Cell
Institute.

Stress in diabetes: reciprocal aspects of Diabetes – a consequence of

miscommunication between exocrine
hypoxia, rhythms, sleep, and social and endocrine cells?

determinants.
28
 150+
Audience worldwide from 6 different countries,
representing a vast array of universities, companies,
and institutions
1 Poster Session
hosted on a virtual platform for an engaging and interactive experience

In Numbers Event Sponsor:

12 Featured Panelists
from across the CBC universities presented their scientific research
Grant BARISH Pamela MARTYN-NEMETH Krista VARADY
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine University of Illinois Chicago University of Illinois Chicago
B cell lymphoma 6 regulates sexually dimorphic Stress and Sleep in Type 1 Diabetes Health benefits of intermittent fasting
hepatic lipid metabolism and steatosis

Kirstie DANIELSON Raghu MIRMIRA Amisha WALLIA

University of Illinois Chicago The University of Chicago Northwestern University
A Novel Electronic Medical Record Diabetes New Perspectives on Type 1 Diabetes: Stress, Cardiovascular Disease, and
Screening Program in an Urban Academic The Beta Cell under Stress Diabetes in the COVID-19 Era
Hospital Emergency Department

Tina DROSSOS Sirimon REUTRAKAL Jill WEISSBERG-BENCHELL

The University of Chicago University of Illinois Chicago Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Nutrition and Obesity: Key Factors in Sleep interventions and glucose metabolism Adolescent Coping and Adapting to Life with T1D
Diabetes

Kristin L. KNUTSON Robert SARGIS Pingwen XU

Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine University of Illinois Chicago University of Illinois Chicago

Sleep health and metabolic disorders: A Swimming in a Pool of Stressors: Environmental Estrogens in the brain and metabolic adaptation
review of the evidence Toxicants, Health Justice, and the Diabetes to temperature and nutritional stresses
Pandemic

4 Lead Organizers:
UChicago: Louis Philipson and Julian Solway; UIC: Brian Layden;
NU: Joseph Bass plus 6 Supporting Organizers

>3200 Impressions
on Twitter, engaging social media audience

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 Number of interns
hired in
2022 and 2023

2022
CBC Internships
Received 16 applications The CBC offers internship opportunities for
from UChicago Metcalf current master’s and PhD level students as
program well as postdocs throughout the school year
and full-time summer internships for
Two full time summer undergraduate students. Interns contribute to
interns worked with data analyses and support numerous CBC
CBC for 10 weeks initiatives ranging from Accelerator Award
triage and diligence, Affinity Group planning,
landscape reports, and other special projects.
2023 During their time with the CBC, interns can
attend Entrepreneurial Fellow’s educational
Received 32 applications lectures as well as local networking and
from UChicago Metcalf biotech community-building events.
program
Interns are recruited at all local universities
Four full time summer through the MyChoice program at the
interns worked with University of Chicago, which aims at
CBC for 10 weeks exposing trainees to multiple career options
and experiences leveraging their strong
research training.

Summer undergraduate interns are recruited

through the Metcalf Internship program,
supporting biomedical students at the
University of Chicago.

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 31

Chicago Biotech
Life Science
Landscape Report
Chicago is poised and prepared for life sciences’
next frontier. Chicago’s many assets give it the
potential to become a world class biotech hub in
the Midwest.
In April 2023, CBC, in partnership with Cushman &
Wakefield and P33, developed an analysis report
highlighting Chicago’s wealth of scientist-
entrepreneurs, regional investments in
infrastructure, and accelerators like Portal
Innovations, which have brought seed capital and lab
space to the region. Chicago’s universities have
brought in $5.8 billion of NIH funding— growing at
twice the national average over the last five years —
and authored 1,365 issued patents, generating $1.3
billion in licensing revenue and a growing network of
life sciences companies.

The full 2023 Life Sciences

Landscape Report can be
found here:
[Link]/ChicagoLSR2023

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 Education & Outreach

Information Sessions
A total of 10 CBC Accelerator Award and Affinity Group Information
Sessions occurred in the last two years (in person and via Zoom)
2 at UIC
2 at NU Evanston
2 at NU Chicago
2 at UChicago

Information sessions provided details regarding the application process,

eligibility, review process and important dates associated with the CBC
programs, including the Affinity Group Award, Accelerator Award and
Entrepreneurial Fellows.

Workshops and Courses

Four Workshops
How to build an outstanding resume for scientists
Maximizing your earnings through negotiation
Immunology 101: understanding the immune system from an
investor viewpoint
Best practices for landing a job in biotech featuring local start
up, Evozyne

50+ volunteer lectures from national and local biotech stakeholders

Biotech company creation and investing
Biotech drug discovery
Startup journey: what does it take to raise seed capital

Career Fairs
In an effort to attract and retain talent in Chicago, the CBC hosted a
career fair for life science PhD and postdocs during the BIPOC in
Biotech event in March 2023. (See page 12-13)

The CBC participated in 12+ career events to recruit strong Master’s

level, PhD and postdocs for the CBC Entrepreneurial Fellows (EF)
program. By attending and speaking at multiple career fairs at UIC,
UChicago, Northwestern, Harvard, Rush, and Loyola, the CBC was
successful in recruiting and hiring seven highly talented EFs.

Another benefit of attending many local and national career fairs: the
CBC’s visibility has significantly increased!

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Program Partners & Ecosystem

Accelerators & Incubators

Helix 51 mHub
MATTER Portal Innovations
University Tech Transfer Offices
Northwestern University (INVO)
The University of Chicago (Polsky)
University of Illinois Chicago (OTM)
Industry Partners
AbbVie Cytiva
Astra Zeneca Deloitte
Charles River J&J Innovation
Cooley JP Morgan
Economic Development
Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization (iBIO)
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity (DCEO)
P33
World Business Chicago
Philanthropy
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Walder Foundation
Other Private Foundations
Non-Profits (anonymous)
Cures Within Reach
Discovery Partners Institute (DPI)
Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC)
Women In Bio (WIB)

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[Link]

@ChiBioMed

[Link]

@chicagobiomedicalconsortium