Industry and Academic Experts Line Up for New Bioinnovations Speaker Series

RFU announces the launch of its new BioInnovations Speaker series, which debuted on Oct. 19 in-person at RFU’s Innovation and Research Park (IRP) and live via Zoom with “Advances in Diagnosing, Preventing and Treating Brain Diseases.”

Industry panelists included Jim Sullivan, PhD, CEO of Vanqua Bio; Murali Gopalakrishnan, PhD, global head, Search & Evaluation Neuroscience at AbbVie; and several senior faculty researchers from RFU’s Brain Science Institute, including Director Amiel Rosenkranz, PhD, who moderated the session. According to Dr. Rosenkranz, more than 2 billion people worldwide are affected by brain disorders, including 1 in 6 in the U.S., where neurological disorders cost $1 trillion or more per year.

The series will continue Dec. 7 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. with “Stress and How it Connects to Mental and Physical Health Disorders,” moderated by Kristin L. Schneider, PhD, associate dean of research at RFU’s College of Health Professions. Panelists will include Chicago Medical School Assistant Professor Joanna Dabrowska, PhD, PharmD, whose lab studies how repeated stress can lead to long-term changes in stress-coping behavior; Associate Professor of Psychology Monika Waszczuk, PhD, who has studied the impact of trauma exposure on health outcomes, including 9/11 first responders; and Associate Professor of Psychology Brian A. Feinstein, PhD, who studies the importance of mental health in individuals from sexual and gender minority backgrounds.

Industry panelists on Dec. 7 will include Katherine Leaderbrand, PhD, associate director for research at Aptinyx, Inc.; Ethel Larsson, VP and general manager, head of Psychiatry Business Unit for Lundbeck; and Venoncia M. Baté-Ambrus, PhD, executive director of the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County.

The first event for 2023, “Industry and Academic Collaborations,” is scheduled for Feb. 15. All events in the series are free and open to IRP partners and supporters; industry leaders and biomedical entrepreneurs; the RFU campus community, including researchers and alumni; and the general public.

“This new exciting speaker series, co-partnered with Lake County Partners, will debate key global healthcare and biomedical research issues that impact society including industry and academic researchers,” said Ronald Kaplan, PhD, executive vice president of research at RFU.