That's a wrap! Last week we wrapped up our inaugural cohort of the Next Big Thing in Science, culminating in a celebration event with our community.
For more than 40 years, we've supported scientists behind the scenes not just with products, but with genuine service. Over the years, graduate students would tell our founder, Nitin Shah, that they wouldn't have made it through their PhD without Chem-Impex - whether it was the speed, catalog breadth or the fact that he would often personally call our customers to check in on them. This program is a continuation of that same spirit: support for the people behind the science.
Over six weeks, our eight fellows, each with different trajectories and goals in peptide science, brought ambition and curiosity that impressed us as much as their command of the science itself. We dug into the topics that help get great science off the ground: how structural choices shape stability and patient outcomes, how bench science becomes a development-ready molecule, and how to navigate the business realities of drug development without losing sight of the science. What they learned is that great science isn't enough; startups demand customer focus, and the ability to communicate, network, and build a personal brand around the work. One fellow noted: “It’s very easy to get into the weeds of the science, but... Good science doesn't always speak for itself. Communicating why it matters is just as important, reaching out and talking to people is just as important."
If this program reinforced one thing for us, it's that nobody becomes the "Next Big Thing" alone. So, thank you to our mentors: Paul A. Bertin, Charles Johannes, Sarah Sitz, Ashley Alden, Mark Kwatia, Christopher Marohnic, Jerome Hochman, Ellen Zatkowski, Nick Bayhi, Cameron Pye, Jane Liu, and Jayant Kulkarni. And thank you to our sponsors, without whom this program simply wouldn't have happened: Nucleate, PolyPeptide, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship, The University of Chicago Science Incubator, and Quartzy.
Get ready for an even BIGGER Next Big Thing in Science next year! Look out for our applications for our 2027 Cohort to open in February!
