The Translation Economy: How Academic Discoveries Become Biotech Companies
Why do so many promising academic discoveries fail to become medicines?
This talk explores the translation gap, both as the scientific journey from bench to bedside and as the challenge of translating between the stakeholders who ultimately determine success: investors, regulators, payers, physicians, and patients. It also provides a practical overview of the Northwestern programs and resources offered through the Querrey InQbation Lab that help bridge the gap between academic innovation and real-world impact.
Who should attend: Faculty and Clinicians, postdocs, graduate students (PhD, MD, MBA)
Pizza will be provided.
Speaker:
Elan Ness-Cohn, PhD is the Senior Manager of Life Science Ventures at the Querrey InQbation Lab, where he leads venture development and commercialization programming to help Northwestern faculty and students turn research discoveries into investable startups.
His work focuses on guiding founders through key strategic milestones, investor readiness, and market alignment, while building strong connections to the broader biotech and venture ecosystem. Elan brings a background in computational biology, consulting, and early-stage venture support, with experience advising global biopharma companies and working with startups through the Chicago Biomedical Consortium and other regional accelerators. Elan earned his BS in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his PhD in Biomedical Research from Northwestern University.
This is a closed in-person event, open to the Northwestern community (students, staff, faculty and affiliated startups). Please register using your university or startup email address.