Leadership

TJ Augustine, PhD, MPP

Vice Chancellor for Innovation
University of Illinois at Chicago

TJ Augustine is the Vice Chancellor for Innovation for the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he coordinates the technology commercialization and entrepreneurship activities that are part of UIC’s innovation ecosystem, and a professor in the Department of Chemistry. The units reporting to Dr. Augustine include ACCC, Extended Campus, and a new office focused on corporate relationships.

Previously, Augustine served as Associate Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation for the University of Illinois System where he was responsible for providing strategic leadership in identifying potential public-private partnerships and enhancing connections among internal and external stakeholders to foster innovation and technology commercialization. Prior to returning to the University of Illinois, he served as a Technology-to-Market Advisor and Acting Deputy Director for Commercialization at the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) where he helped prepare breakthrough energy technologies for transition from the lab to the marketplace. While at ARPA-E, he helped craft the agency’s commercialization strategy, particularly focusing on a number of programs targeting biological production of transportation fuels.

Augustine also served as Special Assistant to Secretaries Steven Chu and Ernest Moniz at the Department of Energy, where he acted as the Secretary’s principal liaison to senior staff in the areas that included energy technology development, environmental management, and national security. Prior to the Department of Energy, he worked as an OSA/SPIE/AAAS Science and Technology Fellow in the office of Senator Richard Durbin, developing legislative strategies and serving as an advisor for energy and environmental policies.

Augustine is an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (BS in Chemistry), and he earned both a Master’s in Public Policy and PhD in Chemistry at Stanford University.

Joanna Groden, PhD, MPP

Vice Chancellor for Research
University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Joanna Groden currently serves as the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her BA degree in Biology at Middlebury College, a PhD in Cell Biology and Genetics at the Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Human Genetics/Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Utah.

Dr. Groden previously served as Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Cancer Biology & Genetics at The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine. She joined The Ohio State University faculty in 2005 and served in various administrative roles in the College of Medicine, such as Associate Dean for Basic Science Research from 2007 to 2011, Associate Dean for Graduate Education from 2011 to 2013; and finally as Vice Dean for Research from 2013 to 2017. Most recently, she served as the Co-Director of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, Director of the Pelotonia Fellowship Program and the Education Program Leader for the OSU CTSA-supported Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences. Prior to her tenure at OSU, she served on the Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology faculty of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine from 1993 to 2005 and, during her last two years there as the College of Medicine Vice Dean for Research. She was previously appointed as an Assistant Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1997-2004).

Dr. Groden is a human geneticist, who is internationally recognized for her research in identifying key genetic causes of colon cancer and other inherited cancers through the identification and characterization of two human disease genes. Her research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1994. Dr. Groden has served on several boards and advisory panels including the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors, and actively participates in the peer review process for AACR, NIH, DOD and many other national and international funding agencies and scientific journals. With numerous publications and patents, Dr. Groden has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association.

Suseelan Pookote, PhD

Director, Office of Technology Management
University of Illinois at Chicago

Jana Jensen, PhD

Chief Operating Officer
Deerfield Discovery and Development, Deerfield Management

William Slattery

Partner
Deerfield Mangement

Melissa Maderia, PhD

Scientific Collaboration Director
West Loop Innovations

Melissa Maderia is the Scientific Director for West Loop Innovations, a partnership between UIC and Deerfield Management to accelerate the commercialization of therapeutics at UIC. Deerfield will invest up to $65 million in translational research funding and provide expertise in state-of-the-art drug development to advance promising UIC discoveries. As Scientific Director, Melissa manages all aspects of West Loop, including engagement with faculty, the solicitation of proposals, and overseeing the review process. She works closely with UIC faculty and the broader Deerfield drug discovery and development team to ensure a robust pipeline of projects. Once projects have been selected, Melissa works with the principal investigators to develop a research plan and allocate the resources needed to achieve Investigational New Drug (IND) readiness, the first step towards clinical testing.

Previously, Melissa was the Assistant Director and a Senior Technology Manager in the Office of Technology Management (OTM) at UIC, where she was responsible for managing a portfolio of medical-related technologies and led evaluation, patenting, marketing, and licensing activities. Prior to coming to UIC, Melissa served as a Technology Transfer Specialist at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While at NCI, Melissa promoted technologies that were developed at the NIH to attract industry partners to further develop and commercialize the technologies to benefit public health. She also promoted NIH resources available to industry and academic institutions such as funding opportunities, technical expertise, novel technologies, pre-clinical testing and screening, as well as helping to provide access to clinical sites for projects that directly benefited public health.

Melissa earned a BA in Chemistry from Hamilton College and a PhD in Chemistry from Texas A&M University, as well as a Master’s in Management with a marketing specialization and an MBA from the University of Maryland University College.