Shyama Majumdar, PhD, MBA, is associate director of science ventures at the Polsky Center. In this role, Shyama works with faculty, staff and students to facilitate the creation of science and technology-based ventures developed by innovators at the University. While she has a focus on life sciences due to her scientific background, she is passionate about technology startups in general.

Prior to joining the Polsky Center, Shyama was a research assistant professor at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she conducted Prostate cancer research. While at UIC she also worked as program coordinator at IllinoisVENTURES where she oversaw the running of the proof-of-concept fund that funds early stage technologies developed at the university. Prior to this Shyama worked as a consulting program manager at EnterpriseWorks where she helped develop and manage their accelerator program.

Shyama earned a PhD and an MBA from the University of Delaware and conducted her postdoctoral research cancer biology at Harvard Medical School and University of Illinois at Chicago.

Originally from New Delhi, India, Shyama now lives in the West Loop with her husband (MBA ’18) and two daughters. In her free time she enjoys cooking, reading, and binge watching TV series on Netflix.

Amy leads the ARPANET-H innovation network at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which connects people, innovators, and institutions and mobilizes capabilities to help transformative innovations reach both the market and the end-user.

Previously, Amy was the Director of USAID’s Center for Innovation and Impact (CII) in the Global Health Bureau, which applies market shaping, innovative financing, digital health, and enabling innovation approaches to global health challenges. Earlier, she was based in Mumbai with Monitor Inclusive Markets, where she developed social enterprise models. Prior to this role, she served as the HIV/AIDS Program Director for the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Liberia. Before CHAI, Amy was at the World Bank’s Development Marketplace, which funds new approaches to serving the poor.

Amy also worked with TechnoServe in Peru, creating growth strategies for microbusinesses. Prior, she was with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), advising multinational companies in the pharmaceutical, financial services, and consumer goods industries.

Amy holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a BA with Distinction in Political Science from Yale University.

Mr. Pachucki is Founder and Principal of the IBT Group LLC, which focuses on creative urban

developments in metropolitan areas. Current projects include 1200 Fulton, a full-block creative

office, retail and entertainment complex in the West Fulton Market area of Chicago.

Mr. Pachucki is responsible for strategic management of all development activities for IBT Group

including pipeline, acquisition, financing, planning, leasing and project execution. He has over

30 years of real estate experience and has been involved in the development of over ten million

of square feet of office, residential and retail space throughout the country during his career.

Prior to the formation of the IBT Group, Mr. Pachucki started and oversaw retail development in

the Midwest for Opus Group of Companies, a family owned real estate company which was one

of the largest privately held real estate companies in the country.

Prior to OPUS he spent several years with Balcor as Vice president where he was responsible for

an extensive national portfolio of 2,000,000 square feet of commercial space and 60,000

residential units. An architect by training, Mr. Pachucki spent several years with at the time the

largest architectural firm in Wisconsin, Mochon, Schutte, Hackworthy & Juerisson, where he was

involved in various aspects of the design process for institutional and commercial buildings

including airports, schools and residential projects.

Mr. Pachucki graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in

Architecture and also completed graduate level studies at the University of Wisconsin Graduate

School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Rob is a Director in the Transactions group where he is responsible for sourcing and closing joint venture partnerships. Since joining the firm in 2019, Rob has been involved in over $7 Billion in transactions within the healthcare, senior housing, and life sciences sectors. Prior to joining Harrison Street, Rob was a member of the real estate private equity group at KKR in New York. Prior to KKR, Rob was a member of the real estate investment team at J.P. Morgan. Rob graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering and an MBA in Real Estate

Max Zwolan is a Vice President within JLL’s Life Sciences Practice Group in Chicago, and focuses his efforts in advising groups with lab, R&D, and specialty manufacturing real estate needs. Max represents both tenants and owners in their real estate strategy, bringing a unique perspective within the Chicago market, and his experience ranges from working with local university spin-outs to institutional owners.

Neil has 10 years of industry experience and oversees asset management for many of Singerman Real Estate’s office, industrial, and life science investments. He works with capital partners, tenants, and third-party service providers to implement and execute business plans and drive value creation. Prior to joining Singerman, Neil was a Vice President at Sterling Bay, where he actively managed a variety of real estate investments nationally, including office, hospitality, and life science developments and redevelopments. Before Sterling Bay, Neil was an Investments Analyst at Newport Capital Partners.

Brian leads Skender’s specialized Healthcare and Life Sciences market sectors, overseeing project teams responsible for various hospital, outpatient and laboratory projects. A veteran of Skender since 2008, Brian is well known for his contagious energy and commitment to quality, strategy and overall client experience.

Michelle is a native Philadelphian, scientist, and experienced lab director. After earning a PhD in genetics from Thomas Jefferson University, she completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Michelle then entered lab management, ultimately achieving High-complexity Clinical Lab Director certification. A team leader and critical thinker, Michelle is skilled at navigating conversations within and outside the scientific community. If she looks familiar to you, you may have seen her on “The Daily Show” as the spokesperson for her previous employer, Fairfax Cryobank.

Steven Collens is CEO of MATTER, the premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub. MATTER opened in February 2015 and nurtures entrepreneurs and innovators building next-generation health IT, medical device, diagnostic and biopharma technologies. MATTER has worked with more than 800 healthcare technology ventures and the company partners with dozens of industry-leading companies, health systems and universities.

Prior to assuming his current role, Steven was senior vice president at Pritzker Group, the investment firm led by Tony and J.B. Pritzker. In that capacity, he led the team that created 1871, Chicago’s center for digital startups, which became the top-ranked business incubator in the world in 2018. He previously worked at Abbott in a variety of domestic and international functions, including product management, policy and public affairs. In 2005, Steven helped found ConstantWellness.com to give patients control over their health data and allow healthcare providers to coordinate care of their patients. Prior to Abbott, Steven served as legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun.

Steven holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BA from Washington University in St. Louis. He chairs the board of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and serves on the boards of 1871 and the Chicago High School for the Arts. He is a member of ChicagoNEXT, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s council on technology and innovation, a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow, and a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Lisa Dhar is the Associate Vice President for Innovation and oversees Northwestern's Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO) which includes The Garage and The Querrey InQbation Lab. Previously at INVO she was the Director of New Business Ventures and the Interim Executive Director of the Querrey InQbation Lab. INVO supports the translation of Northwestern innovations to the public and the development of the next generation of entrepreneurs. In addition to her work at INVO, she has taught in the McCormick School of Engineering and Kellogg School of Management.

Prior to joining Northwestern in 2016, Dhar held various leadership roles in the Office of Technology Management at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) from 2009. Earlier in her career, she was co-founder and vice president of media development for InPhase Technologies, a Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies startup that raised more than $90 million in total funding. There, she led a team of chemical engineers, chemists and optical engineers to commercialize high-performance recording media for holographic data storage. Dhar has been awarded nearly a dozen patents, has coedited a book on holographic data storage and has authored or coauthored more than 25 journal articles. Dhar earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from University of Chicago and her doctorate degree in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Rebecca Motley’s professional background is in assisting startups with connections to resources,

utilizing a wide network of contacts throughout the Midwest. Her consulting company, 51-

enterprises, llc, works with all types of startup organizations, from retail to technology to life

sciences, referring them to resources from funding to operations. She moved to Chicago from

Champaign, IL, in early 2023 to run BioLabs Chicago, a life sciences incubator that was to open

in Lincoln Park. Before BioLabs, Rebecca directed the operations of EnterpriseWorks, the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s technology startup incubator. Her additional

experience has been in municipal economic development, commercial real estate, non-profit and

grant administration, and commercial lending. She has a B.S. in Economics and an MBA from

the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

David Sieren is a multidisciplinary designer and strategist focused on solving problems, inspiring teams, fostering community, and sharing knowledge. For over two decades, he’s helped clients in sectors from life sciences to hospitality leverage to power of research and design to thrive.

A partner at One Design, David is the studio’s Managing Director of Design and Strategy, leading teams focused on creating powerful experiences at the intersection of research, design, communication, and technology. David teaches visual communication at DePaul University’s School of Design. In 2007, he co-founded the Post Family, an internationally recognized Chicago-based collaborative focused on the creation of experiences that engage communities through art and design. He served as Co-President of AIGA Chicago—the second largest chapter of the nation’s oldest professional association for design—between 2017 and 2020.

His work has been recognized at home and abroad by the likes of Communication Arts, PRINT, HOW, AIGA, Society of Typographic Arts, The New York Times, Brand New, Design Museum of Chicago, and the BBC. In 2020 he was recognized among 50 designers who shape the city of Chicago by Newcity. In 2020, One Design was recognized by PRINT as Agency of the Year as part of their annual international Design Awards competition.

Michelle Hoffmann, Ph.D. has been serving since August of 2021 as the Executive

Director of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC), a consortium of biomedical

researchers across Northwestern, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the

University of Chicago that is generously supported by the Searle Funds at The Chicago

Community Trust. The CBC’s mission is to stimulate collaboration among scientists to

accelerate discovery that will transform biomedical research and improve the health of

humankind. In her time as Executive Director, Dr. Hoffmann has reorganized the CBC

to train local PhD talent in the business of early science commercialization while

developing a process to find and fund the most promising biopharma applications of

Chicago university science. Prior to this role, from 2019-2021, Dr. 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.

Hoffmann spent 15 years helping life sciences companies grow, most recently as a senior

vice president at Boston-based Back Bay Life Science Advisors, an integrated strategy

and investment firm to global life science companies and their investors. During her

time at Back Bay, Hoffmann led projects for large, publicly traded companies, as well as

small, private, venture-backed health care and life sciences companies. Hoffmann also

worked closely with Back Bay’s investment team on two large transactions: an

epigenetics platform that was sold to Gilead Pharmaceuticals for $65M and an agent to

combat acute kidney injury that was acquired by AbbVie for $110M.

Hoffmann earned a PhD in molecular and cellular biology from the University of

California Berkeley and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Brandeis University.

Jason Paragas is the founder and CEO of DVLP Medicines, a techbio company engineering a

technology solution to the drug development valley of death. He boasts a proven track record

in company creation. As President and founder of SaponiQx, he spearheaded the formation of a

new company converging AI, synthetic biology, and immunology to reimagine vaccines. The

company secured significant investment, built a robust product pipeline from a novel platform,

and assembled a strong management team.

Beyond SaponiQx, Paragas served as the lead partner for biotechnology at Social Impact

Capital, making seed-stage investments and incubating companies in the deep tech-biology

crossover space. He currently sits on several boards and mentors new companies.

Paragas' extensive experience extends beyond the startup world. He previously held the role of

Vice President for External Innovation at Valo Health, where he sourced technology, data, and

partnerships for an intelligent health platform. Prior to that, he was Director of Innovation at

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. There, he leveraged the lab's unique resources and

diverse workforce to drive innovative AI-based pathfinding projects in precision medicine.

Paragas' leadership in the ATOM Cancer Moonshot project exemplifies his ability to build

impactful collaborations. He brought together a multi-Lab team and forged strategic alliances

with the National Cancer Institute, UCSF, and GlaxoSmithKline to harness the power of

computational models, machine learning, and high-performance computing. This collaboration

paved the way for future TBI diagnosis and made connectomic brain mapping medically

actionable.

Paragas' contributions extend beyond healthcare. He served as a technical advisor to the

Department of Energy leadership, playing a key role in establishing the Office of Artificial

Intelligence and Technology. During the Ebola virus crisis, he led the Department of Energy's

Ebola virus Task Force, earning a Secretary of Energy Appreciation Award for his efforts.

Paragas' diverse career also includes leading the development of the next generation of

diagnostics, bio-surveillance, and medical countermeasures while at the Defense Threat

Reduction Agency. At NIAID, he pioneered a new translational medicine program for a BSL-4

laboratory, ultimately co-inventing a novel Ebola virus vaccine.

Paragas' expertise and commitment to innovation are further recognized by his participation in

multiple government advisory groups, including the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee and

the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon panel. His dedication has also been acknowledged through

numerous Secretary of Energy appreciation awards.

Kurt’s professional engineering career spans over 40 years. His expertise includes structural engineering design for Mission Critical Facilities such as Data Centers, Health Care Facilities such as Hospitals and Clinics and Life Sciences Facilities such as Biopharmaceutical Pilot Plants and Production Facilities around the United States and the World. His area of expertise is in designing buildings to be occupable after natural disasters including Tornados, Hurricanes and Earthquakes. He has been the structural engineer of record for conventional “fixed Base Buildings” ranging from 1-23 stories, “Base Isolated Buildings” ranging from 1-5 stories, and the retrofit and new construction of buildings incorporating Fluid Viscous Dampers ranging from 1-22 stories. He has published numerous papers on passive energy dissipation and presented the findings at various conventions in Boston, San Francisco and Milan.

For over 23 years as the Founding Principal at PARADIGM Structural Engineers, Kurt spends most of his time developing new leaders at PARADIGM and mentoring staff in Chicago and San Francisco.