Meet the Team

Nadya Mason is the Dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) and Interim Vice President for Science, Innovation, and Partnerships at the University of Chicago.

Mason specializes in experimental studies of quantum materials, with a research focus on the electronic properties of nanoscale and correlated systems, such as nano-scale wires, atomically thin membranes, and nanostructured superconductors. Her research is relevant to applications involving nanoscale and quantum computing elements.

Before becoming dean of PME, Mason was the Rosalyn S. Yalow Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she directed the Illinois Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and also served as founding director of the Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (I-MRSEC).

In addition to maintaining a rigorous research program and teaching, Mason works to build community in the physical sciences, particularly through mentoring, and is former chair of the APS Committee on Minorities, where she helped initiate the “National Mentoring Community.” Mason can also be seen promoting science on local TV, at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and in a TED talk on “Scientific Curiosity.”

Mason received her B.S. from Harvard University and her PhD from Stanford University, both in physics. Among her many honors, she is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been recognized for her work with awards, including the 2009 Denise Denton Emerging Leader Award, the 2012 APS Maria Goeppert Mayer Award, the 2019 APS Bouchet Award, and the 2025 Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award.

Ethan Gillman serves as the Manager of Strategic Initiatives at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In this role, he leads the development, launch, execution, and communication of cross-functional strategic projects that support both Polsky Center and broader University of Chicago priorities across the innovation and commercialization continuum.

Previously, Ethan served as a project manager and the director for business, economic, and neighborhood development for the City of Chicago, where he advanced major citywide initiatives, including management of the $1.7 billion Chicago Casino project. He played a key role in driving the Mayor’s economic development agenda, overseeing critical development projects on Chicago’s South and West Sides, supporting elements of the City’s housing portfolio, and contributing to the Cut the Tape initiative to streamline development processes.

Before joining City Hall, Ethan was a transfer pricing analyst at Ernst & Young, where he supported global engagement teams in pricing and monitoring intercompany transactions involving intangibles, products, and services.

Ethan holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Lisa Ballard is the Executive Assistant for Samir Mayekar and Angie Marks.  She has been with the University of Chicago for  25 years.  With 12 years of experience supporting C-suite executives in the Office of Civic Engagement, she has thrived in efficiency, organization and managing complex schedules. Lisa has established relationships with both internal and external partners.

Away from the University, Lisa enjoys spending time with her family.

Crystal Camargo, PhD, serves as an Assistant Director for Science Programs at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In this role, she supports a portfolio of science-focused programs and events—including I-Corps, the Collaboratorium, Innovation Fund Associates, the Commercialization Fellowship, Courses for Scientists, and Innovation Fellows—that empower students, postdocs, faculty, and researchers working at the intersection of science, business, and entrepreneurship.

Crystal has spent more than a decade helping students and faculty thrive in higher education. Her career has taken her through the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Denver, with each experience deepening her expertise and passion for learning. At UChicagoGRAD, she guided STEM master’s students as they mapped out their career paths, offering support that blended practical advice with big-picture vision. At Northwestern, she became a connector, supporting programs that brought together departments and communities, including the Center for Civic Engagement, the Bridge Scholars Program, and the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities. She also stepped into the classroom, teaching undergraduates about film and media literacy, and later designing workshops that helped faculty explore the possibilities of AI in teaching. Today, at the Polsky Center, Crystal continues to bring curiosity, creativity, and collaboration to everything she does.

Crystal earned both her doctorate and master’s degrees in Communication and Media Studies from Northwestern University, along with graduate certificates in teaching and management. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies, Spanish Language & Literature, and Gender Studies from the University of Denver. Outside of work, she enjoys caring for houseplants, taking dance classes of all kinds, weightlifting, watching movies, and exploring new coffee shops in different neighborhoods.

Brittani Brown brings a background spanning startups, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. They have held operator roles at two digital health unicorns, supported accelerator programming at BLCK VC, sourced deals and worked closely with founders through Included VC, and most recently founded PLUG, an AI-powered platform helping small businesses identify and implement the right tools to grow. They join the accelerator team eager to bring these unique perspectives and experiences to their role at Polsky.

Kelly McGuire is a mission-driven senior finance executive with more than 20 years of experience, she brings a strong record of profitability, sustainable growth, and team leadership across nonprofit organizations, political campaigns, and private industry. Her expertise includes strategic partnerships, process innovation, and developing human capital through identifying and leveraging individual strengths.

At the University of Chicago’s Development Innovation Lab, McGuire implemented a comprehensive project-based accounting system and led multi-year financial forecasting for complex, multi-source portfolios. Previously, she served as controller and deputy CFO for the Obama Presidential Re-Election Campaign, overseeing a $1.38 billion budget, and as CFO of a private K–12 school, where she achieved 100 percent budget accuracy on $30 million in operations and managed a $100 million endowment.

McGuire, a CPA, holds an MBA from DePaul University and a B.S. in accountancy with honors from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has also taught finance, accounting, and entrepreneurship as a graduate-level adjunct professor.

Dev Gavaskar joins the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as senior director of Venture Development, where he leads efforts to accelerate the commercialization of breakthrough technologies emerging from the University of Chicago’s research ecosystem. His focus spans the physical sciences and quantum portfolio, with a particular emphasis on sustainability, cleantech, and decarbonization.

Dev brings over two decades of experience in technology commercialization, venture capital, and business development. Most recently, he served as vice president of Business Development at Synata Bio, where he led commercial strategy and secured high-value licensing and revenue-generating deals in the clean technology space. His work at Synata also deepened his expertise in global market dynamics, especially in crafting growth and licensing strategies tailored to diverse international markets.

Prior to Synata, Dev was a partner at True North Venture Partners, an impact-focused venture fund investing in deeptech. There, he played a pivotal role in sourcing and evaluating early-stage investments in energy, water, and industrial innovation. Internationally recognized for his expertise in techno-economic evaluations, Dev has helped shape investment strategies and commercialization pathways for both emerging and scaled technologies across multiple sectors.

Julie Colhoff is the Associate Director, Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In this role, she oversees the cultivation of the undergraduate entrepreneurship community, including managing the College New Venture Challenge and the new Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor.

Julie is passionate about supporting undergraduate student development. She brings over a decade of experience in higher education, with a strong background in student advising, leadership development, and program administration. Prior to joining Polsky, she served as Assistant Director of Athletics, Compliance and Retention at Malcolm X College, where she led strategic programming and support services for student-athletes. Earlier in her career, Julie coached NCAA Division I women’s soccer, including co-launching the women’s soccer program at the University of Illinois Chicago. She has also worked as an academic advisor and college instructor, assisting undergraduate students in navigating both academic and personal development goals.

Julie holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Lewis University and a Bachelor of Science from Loyola University Chicago, where she was a four-year student-athlete.

Alyssa Master is the Director of Venture Development at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In this role, she works closely with life sciences faculty to translate their research into high-impact ventures—providing guidance on startup development, commercialization strategy, and investor engagement.

Alyssa is an experienced biotech leader and strategist with a strong background in scaling early-stage companies and building robust, adaptable organizations. She has held pivotal roles in startups in cell therapy and biomaterials, where she helped grow teams, align cross-functional priorities, and lead strategic operations initiatives.
Prior to joining Polsky, Alyssa worked as an independent consultant, advising life sciences startups on operational planning, vendor selection, and go-to-market readiness. She thrives at the intersection of science, strategy, and execution, and is passionate about mentoring founders and cultivating resilient, mission-driven teams.

Alyssa earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and completed postdoctoral research in pharmacology and nanomedicine at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Prior to joining the Polsky Center, Heather served as the Executive Director, Head of New Business Opportunities of the Rx+ Business Accelerator at Astellas. She led ideation and incubation activities, collaborating closely with colleagues across the company and with VC partners and other external collaborators. Prior to this role, she was the Executive Director of the MedTech Accelerator program at mHUB, where she was responsible for sourcing and evaluation, as well as program execution.

Heather joined Baxter in July 2017 as part of the central innovation team. She led technical assessment teams for due diligence of new opportunities for mergers and acquisitions and venture investment. Following that initial role, Heather was appointed the Director of External Innovation, where she led Baxter’s efforts to increase open innovation partnerships across universities, incubators and accelerators, medical centers, and other partners. She supported transformational innovation for all global business units and technology platforms. She then served as a Director for Medical Operations, where she was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the medical affairs and clinical development function, including grants programs, clinical contracting, and CRO management.

Prior to joining Baxter, Heather was the Assistant Director and Head of Business Development in the Technology Commercialization and Licensing group at the Polsky Center. She spent nine years developing, protecting, and licensing University-owned intellectual property. In addition to her technology portfolio, Heather supported efforts of the commercialization team to identify and manage high-value contacts, coordinating the University’s marketing strategy for the opportunity pipeline, representing the team at multiple partnering meetings, and launching a program to cultivate relationships with venture capital groups. She worked with the team to pilot and grow a proof-of-concept fund and launched several internship programs to leverage the talents of students and postdocs exploring alternative careers. Heather completed a PhD in Neurobiology, Pharmacology, and Cell Physiology at UChicago.

Rahul Singal is an Associate Director at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago, where he manages accelerator programming for pre-seed startups in cleantech, quantum, and AI/data sectors. He also contributes to strategic initiatives and special projects for the Chicago Booth School of Business, including expanding deep tech accelerators globally from Chicago to Delhi and Paris.

Prior to his work with the Polsky Center, Rahul spent over five years working in technology and innovation, primarily at Accenture, where he worked across North America and Europe as part of the Enterprise Startup Partnerships and Corporate Venture Capital group. He led collaborations with emerging startups which drove over $50M in services revenue. His work spanned frontier technologies such as spacetech, AI, and quantum computing, where he played a central role in structuring partnerships, negotiating licensing agreements, and developing joint go-to-market strategies with Microsoft and other key partners.

Rahul holds a BS in Computer Science from Washington State University, where he was an Engineering and Entrepreneurship Scholar. A technologist at heart, he holds certifications in Microsoft Azure and enjoys AI engineering, full stack development, and creative writing. Whether collaborating with founders or building new tools, Rahul thrives at the intersection of innovation, business, and technology.

Nicole Bell serves as Chief of Staff at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In this role, she leads strategic initiatives and operations, including HR, finance, corporate partnerships, and the UChicago Science Incubator.

Nicole brings 15 years of experience in strategy and operations most recently as the First Deputy for Economic and Neighborhood Development for the City of Chicago, where she drove equitable economic recovery through large-scale initiatives such as the Chicago Recovery Plan’s $1.2 billion in new investments. Prior to her work with the City, Nicole was a Project Leader at the Boston Consulting Group, where she worked with a diverse set of clients including universities on strategy, innovation, and operations.

A lifelong science enthusiast, Nicole has also taught high school chemistry and coached robotics at a DC Public School, and she supported the success of small businesses and job seekers at the NYC Department of Small Business Services. Nicole holds a BA with honors and an MBA with high honors from the University of Chicago and is a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow.