Agenda
—
9:00 – 9:30 a.m.: Registration
9:30 – 9:45 a.m.: Welcome & Opening Remarks
- Dan Sachs, Executive Director, Deep Tech Ventures, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Omkar Bhave, Director, Investment Strategy, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
9:45 – 11:00 a.m.: Finalist Startup Pitches and Q&A from the GSIF Advisory Committee
- 9:45 – 10:10 a.m.: CellCipher
- 10:10 – 10:35 a.m.: NetMicroscope
- 10:35 – 11:00 a.m.: INOFFA Therapeutics
Team Descriptions
// CellCipher has developed a process to apply single-cell RNA sequencing to embryoid bodies to study environmental and chemical exposures on human cells, thus generating population-scale data to enable drug discovery and personalized medicine.
The team has developed a multi-tissue human organoid (MTO) model that can be used to efficiently screen for drug toxicity and off-target effects in dozens of human cell types from tissues all throughout the body. MTOs are grown efficiently, in a single dish, and over a short period of time. Experiments to date have proven that the 68 cell types that comprise MTOs align well with known gene expression patterns in human embryonic stem cells, fetal cells, and adult human tissues, indicating that MTOs are a powerful model of human gene regulation.
When combined with single-cell RNA sequencing, CellCipher’s MTO system can be used to measure the transcriptional effects of candidate drugs in dozens of human cell types and across multiple individuals – all in a single, streamlined experiment. With its machine learning classifier trained on data from its MTO Drug Response Atlas, CellCipher will be able to provide clients with detailed toxicity profiles and predict off-target effects.
Team:
- Yoav Gilad – cofounder, dean, biomedical and health informatics, University of Chicago
- Katherine Rhodes – cofounder, staff scientist in Yoav Gilad’s lab
- Jackson Finks – business development, Chicago Booth MBA student
// NetMicroscope is disrupting network performance monitoring with state-of-the-art machine learning-driven approaches. The solution integrates network performance metrics from a variety of data sources and integrates these to provide intelligence to network operators concerning the performance of specific applications in the network.
The team has developed and deployed custom, proprietary machine learning models trained to infer application and network performance problems and assist operators in rapidly remedying problems with model-driven diagnostics, thus improving overall user experience.
NetMicroscope also has monitoring software to collect statistics from network traffic. The tool is complementary, running on top of existing infrastructure to enhance the collected information from network traffic. The tool integrates fast anonymization of traffic for privacy and fast transformations to create features useful as input to machine learning models via passive and active measurements.
The solution is vendor-independent and fine-grained, providing more detailed information about which applications are not working and why, helping network operators to intervene before customer complaints arise.
Team:
- Nick Feamster, CEO and cofounder, Neubauer Professor of Computer Science, University of Chicago
- Francesco Bronzino – CTO and cofounder
// INOFFA Therapeutics is developing a technology based on human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to restore the natural ovarian function for women with Primary Ovarian Insufficiency.
INOFFA’s innovative solution uses exosomes—small vesicles secreted from umbilical cord stem cells—under novel conditions. These exosomes operate as targeted delivery agents, ferrying specialized cargo that includes miRNAs and proteins crucial for the rejuvenation of ovarian tissues.
The exosomes exhibit a distinctive nature, produced from umbilical cord stem cells under specific conditions meticulously formulated by INOFFA. This intricate engineering and development process ensures that these exosomes surpass mere carriers, embodying intricate vesicles meticulously designed for ovarian regeneration. The targeted approach helps minimize potential side effects and optimizes therapeutic impact, concentrating treatment where it is most efficacious.
Team:
- Ayman Al-Hendy, cofounder, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, University of Chicago
The team is made up of several members of Al-Hendy’s lab, including fellow cofounder Mohammad M. Ghasroldasht, postdoctoral research scholar; Hiba Alkelani, a clinical research coordinator and the company’s chief medical officer, Farzana Begum Liakath Ali, postdoctoral research scholar and chief scientific officer, and Hang-Soo Park, a staff scientist.
Advisory Committee
—
A full description of the Advisory Committee is available here.
ROBERT ALTMAN, MBA ’88, PHD
Member of the Board of Directors, Toltec Pharmaceuticals
KEN BRADLEY
President and CEO, PixelEXX Systems, Inc.
MUS CHAGAL, MBA ’97
Executive Chair, Great Lakes Crystal Technologies
COLEMAN COLLINS
Product, Design and Strategy, IonQ
NII DODOO-AMOO, MBA, PHD
Investor, Osage University Partners
DOUG GIVEN, MD, PHD
CEO, Health2047; Managing Partner, G5 Partners
STEVE GOULD, MD
Founder and Principal, The Gould Consulting Group
FRANK GRECO
Executive IT Architect, AI and Machine Learning, IBM
ANIA LABNO, PHD
Operating Executive, KKR
SCOTT MEADOW, MBA
Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship, Chicago Booth School of Business
BELA MEHTA, MBA
Managing Partner, CITG Capital
ALEX MUNNS, MBA
Assistant Portfolio Management, Driehaus Capital Management
ARMANDO PAUKER, MBA
Managing Director and Co-founder, Tensility Venture Partners
CHARLES POLSKY, MD ’96
Vice President and Director, William Harris Investors
MARTIN SANDERS, MD
Life Sciences Entrepreneur
BRIAN TOLLIVER, MBA ’99
Founder and Principal, Triple Edge Consulting
SCOTT WALBRUN, MBA ’19
Principal, BMW iVentures