Biomedical Business Development
Chicago Biomedical Consortium
Mentors
Michelle Hoffmann, PhD Executive Director, Chicago Biomedical Consortium
Eleonora Gatta, PhD Senior Associate Director, Chicago Biomedical Consortium
About the CBC
The mission of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC) is 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 aims to:
- 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 the development of therapeutics that will, over the long term, improve the health of the citizens of Chicago and beyond.
Please note that while working with the CBC you might conduct tasks overlapping the roles highlighted below. A separate externship focused on science communication is also available.
Bio-Entrepreneurship
The focus of this theme involves helping CBC faculty to develop their scientific research into ideas with strong business cases. The extern would integrate into teams of our full-time Entrepreneurial Fellows (EFs) who are tasked with investigating the business potential of the faculty’s invention or idea. Taking direction from an assigned EF/ EF team, the extern would learn how to discern the science behind the discovery, relate it to current scientific knowledge, explore the business and commercial implications, and perform the primary and desk research necessary to evaluate the business impact. The successful candidate will have a strong science background, be insatiably curious, and have a rudimentary understanding of the way drugs are developed and sold in the US. Specifically, projects related to this aim would include:
- Desk research into the specific technology and its potential applications
- Finding and scheduling key opinion leaders within the CBC community as well as outside experts
- Developing competitive pipelines of therapeutics and examining which ones might be formidable
- Researching the best models and systems for proving concepts in pre-clinical packages
- Developing a market assessment of a new area which includes investment and potential revenue potential
Biomedical Landscape Data Collection & Analysis
Projects related to this theme help CBC to develop a bird’s eye view of the cutting research across our member institutions that could be translated into biomedical applications. Based on literature review, funding databases, and industry trends, the extern would develop insights into shifting trends in biomedical research as it relates to the Chicagoland scientific community and iteratively refine these insights with other members of the community, including Portal Innovations, SmartHealth Catalyst, and Kaleidoscope Health Ventures. The successful candidate would be familiar and comfortable reading scientific papers, be adept at reading biotech/biopharma news about financings and study read-outs, and comfortable using excel and other programs to build databases of scientists. Specifically, the projects would include:
- Identifying the researchers in the area that are working on said problems and maintain up to date contact and awareness of their publications, research progress, patent filings, and funding needs
- Stay abreast of new trends in biotech and match to our current research faculty
- Ensure that our database of faculty is up to date with the most recent research findings
Partnership Development
Foci included in this theme include building partnerships with industry, venture, and philanthropy across the US and Chicagoland. The extern will have a cursory knowledge of how early-stage biomedical applications get funded as well as a desire to help make connections that benefit the CBC and our scientists. The extern should also be very organized and interested in and available for meetings where we discuss the CBC value proposition. The successful intern will be invited to help craft our tactics and strategy as we increase the prominence of our organization. Specifically, projects related to this aim would include:
- Helping organize our customer relationship management system
- Using data from the system to develop insights into who we need to be interacting with
- Researching potential funding sources and partners (industry, venture, other)
- Developing the strategy to network towards them
- Helping to put together the materials that explain the CBC’s value proposition
Qualifications
The successful candidate will have:
- excellent writing and communication skills
- cursory knowledge of how early-stage biomedical applications get funded
- a desire to help make connections that benefit the CBC and our scientists
- research skills
- a strong science background
- insatiable curiosity
- a rudimentary understanding of the way drugs are developed and sold in the US
Before submitting an application, please visit the Externships page for instructions regarding our new application platform: myCHOICE-Symplicity.