How a Biopharma Hub and their Entrepreneurial Fellows are Placing Chicago as a Center of Biotech Innovation
Entrepreneurial fellows with the Chicago Biomedical Consortium. Photo credit: Amanda Maldonado.
The Chicago Biomedical Consortium applies venture-level rigor, industry expertise, and patient capital to transform early scientific discoveries into investable ideas in and for Chicago and beyond.
Amanda Maldonado is passionate about women’s health. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry, where her research focused on advancing therapeutics to treat ovarian cancer at the molecular level. After graduating, Maldonado interviewed for career positions at biotech companies in New York and Maryland. While the Miami native wanted to stay in Chicago, she had resigned herself to relocating if she wished to advance in the biotech space.
“I love Chicago. I have really grown to love the culture and the community within the biotech sphere,” Maldonado said. The lower cost of living was attractive, too. “It’s the third-largest city in the United States, but the cost of living is so much lower than San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York,” she said.
Thankfully, before graduating from the University of Chicago in 2022, she discovered the Chicago Biomedical Consortium’s (CBC) Entrepreneurial Fellows (EF) program.
The CBC is a center of excellence for biomedical innovation that identifies and nurtures high-impact university science that has the potential to yield new therapeutics and expand the Chicago-based life sciences ecosystem. Programs within the CBC aim to help transform life science research into biomedical applications. The CBC applies venture-level rigor, industry expertise, and patient capital to transform early scientific discoveries into investable ideas.
“The EF program contributes to this aim through investing in the professional development of junior life sciences researchers, helping them develop the skills and experiences needed to move translational projects from a university lab toward commercialization and potentially into a Chicago-based biotech start-up,” shared Michelle Hoffman, Ph.D., executive director of the CBC. “The program exposes fellows to real-world institutional experiences and connects them to the Chicago biomedical community. The fellows come from across the country but are pledged to stay in Illinois to build after the fellowship is over.”
Maldonado applied for the EF program, and was accepted in April 2022. Throughout the next two years, she would build meaningful relationships and critical career skills.
“Throughout the two years with the CBC, I had the privilege of participating in exceptional professional development programs,” Maldonado shared. “These initiatives allowed me to bridge my scientific background in medicinal chemistry with practical business development experiences. This fusion of knowledge has been instrumental in broadening my perspective and enhancing my skill set...Moreover, the collaborative and supportive environment fostered within our team deserves special mention. The spirit of teamwork and camaraderie among my colleagues has been inspiring. I am grateful for the sense of belonging and inclusivity that my cohort provided. Together, we did not just work side by side; we built a team, a supportive community where each member felt valued and heard.”
Upon fellowship completion, Maldonado was eager to stay in touch with program leaders and participants, and looked forward to witnessing the continued success and expansion of the CBC program.
In 2024, after two years of an established EF program, CBC launched their Hub for Innovation Technology and Entrepreneurship in the Sciences, better known as CBC-HITES. This hub is one of 13 funded by the National Institute of Health’s Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub program. The $4 million dollar award enabled CBC to expand their service from three local institutions to nine, broadening access to critical expertise and networks that Chicagoland medical scientists need to develop their research. Additional funding for the CBC-HITES program comes from CBC's founding sponsor, the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, and the Walder Foundation, which contributed $400,000 to expand the EF program. With federal and community support, CBC continues to train fellows committed to growing Chicago's biotech ecosystem and to encourage their integration post-fellowship.
Perhaps most important to those in the field, the CBC’s mission and activities contribute to a larger Illinois initiative to establish Chicago as a center for biotech innovation.
CBC has become a central resource that empowers Chicagoland scientists to connect across broader sectors and commercialize their biomedical applications. This is a critical role that strongly aligns with the Walder Foundation’s vision of an inclusive, collaborative life science ecosystem.
"We believe that only through coordinated efforts between academia, community, government, industry, family office, venture, and philanthropy can we equitably address large-scale scientific problems now and in the future,” said Elizabeth Walder, Chief Executive Officer of Walder Foundation.
Chicagoland biotech companies do not receive the same level of private venture capital funding as their coastal counterparts, according to numbers from the CBC—and this effort aims to change that. The goal: creating a strong, inclusive bioeconomy that can attract venture capital funding and more talent.
Talent like Amanda Maldonado.
After completing CBC's two-year EF program, Maldonado joined the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago as an innovation portfolio manager. She’s in charge of all therapeutics and diagnostic tools that have opportunity to commercialize. She plans to stay in Chicago and to actively contribute to a stronger biotech ecosystem that rivals—or even supersedes—ecosystems in other parts of the nation.
“I am excited about the future, knowing that the experiences and connections from my time at CBC will continue to guide me in my endeavors,” she shared.
Learn more about CBC-Hites: chicagobiomedicalconsortium.org/cbc-hites
Stay engaged with efforts from our Science Innovation pillar: walderfoundation.org/science-innovation
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