Entrepreneurial Fellows Program – Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC)

The CBC Entrepreneurial Fellows (EF) Award program identifies and supports the professional development of junior life sciences researchers who are keen to 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. The program exposes Fellows to a breadth of real-world experiences across the CBC institutions and connects trainees to a network composed of the Chicago biomedical community.

2024 Entrepreneurial Fellows I 2023 (Fall) Entrepreneurial Fellows I 2023 (Spring) Entrepreneurial Fellows

Entrepreneurial Fellow Alumni

2024 CBC Entrepreneurial Fellows:

ELENA BOSELLI
elena.boselli@northwestern.edu

Elena Boselli, PhD is a biomedical engineer passionate about sensor technologies for point-of-care applications both in the healthcare and environmental sector, with a focus on solutions with impactful public health implications. Interested in applying a problem-solving and evidence-based mindset in bioentrepreneurship and translating promising research into commercial life sciences solutions that can directly impact and benefit people’s lives. Constantly amazed by the magic of Chicago.
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JORDAN FAUSER
jordan.fauser@northwestern.edu

Jordan is a protein engineer and synthetic biologist focused on developing tools to address human health challenges. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Chemistry from St. Edward’s University and an M.S. in Chemistry from DePaul University. Jordan earned her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Illinois-Chicago, designing optogenetic and chemogenetic tools to study spatiotemporal effects of protein phosphorylation under Dr. Andrei Karginov. Her work at an early-stage startup, developing cell-free biosensor assays, sparked her interest in biotech commercialization. As an Entrepreneurial Fellow at the CBC, Jordan aims to enhance her skills in commercializing innovative biotechnologies while supporting Chicago’s growing biotech ecosystem. She is committed to translating cutting-edge research into practical solutions that impact human health.
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SAFFRON LITTLE
saffron.little@northwestern.edu

Saffron Little earned her B.S. in Chemistry and M.A. in Biology from Fisk University and her Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from the University of Michigan. She conducted her thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Morgan DeSantis, where she developed microscopy-based assays to study the assembly of the activated dynein transport complex, a key player in cellular organization whose disfunction is implicated in several neurological diseases including Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Throughout her graduate career Saffron demonstrated her passion for research and education by volunteering in science outreach and mentorship programs aimed at inspiring the next generation of scientists. Now back in her hometown of Chicago, she is excited about gaining expertise in bringing scientific innovations to real-world application through commercialization with the CBC.
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RICHARD MARTINEZ
richard.martinez@northwestern.edu

Richard holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology from the University of Minnesota. His doctoral research, conducted under the guidance of Dr. Ryan Hunter, centered on host-pathogen interactions in chronic respiratory infections, with a strong emphasis on proteomic analysis in the context of cystic fibrosis. This work provided him with hands-on experience using advanced techniques such as substrate-analog labeling, and it allowed him to collaborate with both patients and healthcare providers. Before earning Bachelor’s degrees in Microbiology and Biochemistry from Colorado State University, he served eight years in the United States Army Reserve, completing multiple tours with the Army Corps of Engineers. His dedication to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion led him to participate as both a Fellow and a Mentor in the American Society for Microbiology’s Future Leaders Mentoring program. Driven by a passion for interdisciplinary collaboration, Richard is eager to further develop skills translating biomedical research to the commercial space through his role with the CBC.
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SATEJA PARADKAR
sateja.paradkar@northwestern.edu

Sateja Paradkar is a cancer biologist with experience spanning early drug discovery to drug delivery. She earned her Bachelor in Pharmacy from BITS Hyderabad, India, and shortly after, started her PhD at Yale in Experimental Pathology. She conducted her dissertation research in Ranjit Bindra’s lab on exploiting DNA repair vulnerabilities in cancer to develop novel therapies. During her time at Yale, the Bindra lab spun out multiple academic discoveries, which allowed Sateja to gain exposure to building start-ups. She applied to the Entrepreneurial Fellows program to get more hands-on experience moving science from the bench to the bedside. Outside of work, Sateja enjoys running by the lake, doing crosswords, and catching Chicago Sky games.
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AMANDA PINHEIRO
mandy.pinheiro@northwestern.edu

Mandy Pinheiro earned a PhD in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry from Boston University. She is trained as a biomedical engineer, physiologist, and biologist and is passionate about translating biomedical discoveries into commercial therapies to improve human health and well-being. She brings a unique combination of scientific expertise and business acumen. Her doctoral research focused on the coordination of mitochondrial respiration and epigenetic modifications via a non-coding RNA cluster in muscle cells. Complementing her scientific training, she has diverse start-up experiences and worked to commercialize early-stage technologies at Mass General Brigham Innovation in Business Development and Licensing. She is excited to contribute to the CBC and the Chicagoland biopharma ecosystem!
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TANVI POTLURI
tanvi.potluri@northwestern.edu

Tanvi Potluri is a skilled life scientist with expertise in women’s health, microbiology, and immunology. She earned her PhD in Life Sciences from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where she specialized in skeletal muscle physiology and estrogen signaling. She also holds a master’s degree in microbiology & Immunology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Tanvi’s diverse research background encompasses endocrinology, fibrosis, immunology, virology, and bioinformatics. She aims to apply her expertise to make impactful contributions to the biotech sector, advancing healthcare through innovative research and solutions.
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ASHLEY SHANNON
ashley.shannon@northwestern.edu

Ashley earned her B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign. She worked at Epic in Madison, Wisconsin, supporting several healthcare organizations with long-term optimization and providing technical expertise for Epic’s clinical and anatomic laboratory application. She recently completed a PhD in the lab of Anna Huttenlocher at University of Wisconsin – Madison, where her thesis work focused on using organotypic models to understand the cell-cell dynamics regulating neutrophil migration. She is excited to be working at the CBC with such a talented EF class to evaluate some of the innovative science being done in Chicago, and to live closer to family and friends in the area.
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2023 (Fall) CBC Entrepreneurial Fellows:

DENNIS ECHEVARRIA-COOPER
dennis.echevarria@northwestern.edu

Dennis is a neuroscience PhD and rare disease advocate who worked to develop mouse models of genetic epilepsy syndromes under Dr. Jennifer Kearney at Northwestern University. Dennis comes to the CBC hoping to augment his scientific training with skills related to due diligence, opportunity assessment, and project management. Going forward, Dennis aims to shake up biotech by bringing a critical perspective on the value of preclinical models and how rethinking their utility can facilitate the commercialization of ground-breaking therapeutics.
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LUCAS SHORES
lucas.shores@northwestern.edu

Lucas Shores, PhD is a trained immune-engineer with a background conducting research in a variety of disciplines including tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, drug delivery, viral immunology, vaccine design for autoimmunity and infectious disease, and metabolic disease. Lucas was the first in his family to attend college and earned his B.S. in biomedical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, and his M.S. and PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University. Most recently, he conducted research in the labs of Jeffrey Hubbell and Melody Swartz at the University of Chicago, studying the intersection of lymphatics, immunology, obesity, and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. After several years at the bench, Lucas hopes to learn the path from the bench to commercialization through his time at the CBC.
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2023 (Spring) CBC Entrepreneurial Fellows:

AHMED DISOUKY
ahmed.disouky@northwestern.edu

Ahmed is a patient-centered, collaborative, and highly motivated scientist-pharmacist with strong experience in neuroscience biomedical research. Ahmed earned his Pharmacy degree from the School of Pharmacy at Al-Azhar University in Cairo in 2016 where his research was focused on medicinal chemistry and drug development. Following Pharmacy school, Ahmed joined the biomedical sciences PhD program at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he worked under the supervision of Dr. Orly Lazarov. During his Ph.D., Ahmed studied the extent of hippocampal neurogenesis in Alzheimer’s disease patients and its impact on their learning and memory. After successfully completing his PhD, Ahmed joined the CBC as an entrepreneurial fellow where he aims to close the knowledge gap between the bench and the pharmaceutical market and build a strong biotech ecosystem in the Chicagoland area.
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SONAL RANGNEKAR
sonal.rangnekar@northwestern.edu

Sonal is a nanomaterials researcher, award-winning science communicator, and community leader. She earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley and completed a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering in Mark Hersam’s group at Northwestern University. Her Ph.D. research was focused on the development of nanomaterial inks for electronic devices, and she had published several papers on printed graphene biosensors for detecting small molecules, proteins, and pathogens. Driven to work at the intersection of science and business, Sonal was a VC Fellow with Bay Area-based Fusion Fund. At the CBC, Sonal looks forward to building out resources for budding biotech entrepreneurs in Chicagoland.
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OWEN SHELTON
owen.shelton@northwestern.edu

Owen is a neuroscientist who has studied how the nervous system generates movement. Owen completed his thesis in the lab of Vicki Tysseling at Northwestern University where he used a mouse model of spinal cord injury to better understand how spasm presentation varies across populations with different SCI severities. With the CBC, Owen seeks to better understand the commercialization of science to move Chicagoland towards more equitable health outcomes.
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