Start Small.
Dream Big.
A Cohort for Early-Career Peptide Scientists
The Next Big Thing in Science is a 6-week cohort for early-career scientists who want clarity, confidence, and visibility. Bring your dream, your data, your ambition. We’ll help you amplify it.
You don’t need a million-dollar lab, a famous PI, or a flawless résumé to make a real impact. You need a spark. A tiny experiment that refuses to leave you alone. A community that sees your potential before the world does.
Why We Built This
Chem-Impex was founded on a simple belief: every great discovery starts small.
For 40 years, we’ve supported scientists at every stage of their work, from the very first experiment to break-through innovation.
This fellowship extends that commitment beyond the bench. It’s our way of investing in the next generation of scientific leaders, their ideas, their identities, and their communities.
Because you don’t become the next big thing alone.
We’re here to help you get there.
Program Details:
We're inviting early-career scientists working on peptide-related scientific challenges who bring curiosity and drive to their work and are ready for a community that helps them grow, get seen and move their science forward.
The cohort program:
The chosen scientists will participate in a virtual 6-week accelerator program where they will have access to weekly 1-1.5 hour classes (approximately) and 1:1 mentorship sessions with industry experts in pharma, research and development on topics around business-building, community and storytelling.
Who should apply:
- Graduate students, PhD candidates, MDs, or scientists
- People who work in peptides, biotech, life sciences, or other applied fields with translational potential
What kind of peptide research?
We’re looking for emerging scientists in any stage of their research! Perhaps you’re working on improving peptide stability, designing peptides that selectively target protein–protein interactions, or understanding and engineering antimicrobial peptides (AMPs).
What’s In It For
the Participants?
Move your Research Forward
With hands-on support from industry experts
Gain Recognition As Chem-Impex’s…
“Next Big Thing in Science”, including press features
A 6-week mentorship experience
With weekly group sessions and 1:1 mentorships
Visibility and networking
Access to 30k+ scientists, advisors and industry partners affiliated with Chem-Impex
A chance for an Internship
with Polypeptide Laboratories
An Affiliate Membership
With the UChicago Science Incubator
Program Timeline
The program is a guided build: start with a spark, develop your story and experiment, then pitch to judges.
Meet Our Mentors
A panel of science leaders and builders who will review final pitches and offer feedback.
Our Partners
Our Celebration Event
A showcase of this year’s winners, plus networking
with industry leaders and fellow innovators.
Dr. Paul A. Bertin, Ph.D. is the co-founder, President, and Chief Technology Officer of Grove Biopharma, where he applies more than 15 years of experience in startup leadership and R&D management to advancing a novel therapeutic modality. Prior to co-founding Grove Biopharma, Dr. Bertin served as Director of Innovation at Elevance, where product innovations he led contributed to over 20% of the company’s total revenue. Among his scientific achievements, he played a key role in developing a fine chemical intermediate for peptide APIs through the metathesis of natural oils. Dr. Bertin is an inventor on 40 U.S. patents and the author of 18 peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Bertin earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Northwestern University, where his research focused on the design of metathesis-based polymer nanostructures for targeted drug delivery. He also holds bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and business from Miami University in Ohio.
At Grove Biopharma, Dr. Bertin helps drive the company’s proprietary Bionic Biologics™ platform, which engineers synthetic protein-scale molecules capable of penetrating cells to modulate intracellular protein-protein interactions — historically some of the most challenging targets in drug development. Grove’s approach aims to unlock new therapeutic possibilities for cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and other unmet medical needs by combining biologic function with precision synthetic design.
Under Dr. Bertin’s scientific leadership, the company recently closed a $30 million Series A financing round led by DCVC Bio with broad institutional participation, funds that are being used to advance its lead oncology programs and expand its platform toward clinical milestones. Grove has also expanded its footprint in Chicago’s burgeoning life sciences ecosystem, establishing a larger headquarters and R&D lab space in Fulton Market to support continued growth and innovation.
Jayant Kulkarni is the Chief Executive Officer of Quartzy, a leading lab operations platform trusted by life science teams to manage purchasing, inventory, and lab workflows more efficiently. As CEO, Jayant leads the company’s vision to modernize the operational backbone of scientific research, helping labs reduce administrative burden and operate with greater visibility and control.
Under Jayant’s leadership, Quartzy has continued to scale its platform and expand adoption across biotech, pharma, and academic research organizations. The company has grown into a widely used solution supporting thousands of labs, streamlining how teams procure supplies, track inventory, manage vendors, and stay compliant — all within a single, user-friendly system. Quartzy’s growth reflects the increasing demand for smarter, more integrated tools that allow scientists to focus less on operations and more on discovery.
Jayant is deeply focused on building customer-centric technology that evolves alongside the needs of modern R&D teams. By investing in product innovation, partnerships, and platform scalability, he has helped position Quartzy as a foundational infrastructure layer for life science research organizations of all sizes.
Jane Liu, Ph.D. is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BRT Biotechnologies, Inc., an early-stage biotech company developing novel platforms to accelerate drug discovery and expand access to diverse chemical matters for functional screening. As CEO, Jane leads the company’s strategic vision, scientific mission, and operational growth efforts.
With more than 20 years of experience as a biochemist in both academic and industry settings, Jane has built BRT around a differentiated approach to small-molecule library synthesis that supports high-throughput discovery efforts. She organized a complementary team of scientists, consultants, and advisors, filed key patent applications for the company’s core technology (including the BRiTeCycle™ platform), and raised capital to support the company from its inception.
Under Jane’s leadership, BRT Biotechnologies has continued to advance its proprietary technologies to address longstanding challenges in early-stage drug discovery — particularly the need for more diverse, ready-to-screen chemical libraries that can feed functional screens and accelerate hit-to-lead optimization.
In addition to her work at BRT, Jane is recognized — including by Women In Bio organizations — for her leadership and contributions to the life sciences community, where she champions innovation and supports broader efforts to advance biotech entrepreneurship and research.
Mark Kwatia is Director of Reagents & Biologics Procurement at Abbott, where he has spent nearly two decades building a career that spans scientific research, product development, cost strategy, and enterprise-level procurement. In his current role, Mark leads the formulation and execution of global procurement strategy for reagents and biologics across Abbott’s businesses, driving cross-business leverage, mitigating risk, and influencing supplier selection for R&D new product introductions worldwide.
Throughout his long tenure at Abbott, Mark has held a series of progressively senior roles that reflect both deep technical expertise and strong business leadership. He has led gross margin improvement programs, built and applied product cost models to influence design and manufacturing decisions, and managed worldwide commercial launches of clinical chemistry products through close coordination with cross-functional teams across R&D, quality, regulatory, finance, marketing, and manufacturing.
Mark began his career in hands-on scientific roles, designing diagnostic assays and developing biologics manufacturing processes, including cell culture processes for antibody production that were successfully transferred to manufacturing sites. Prior to joining Abbott, he spent nearly a decade at the University of Illinois at Chicago in research specialist roles, supporting academic research efforts.
With a career rooted in Abbott’s innovation ecosystem, Mark brings a unique perspective that bridges early-stage science with large-scale operational execution, enabling the translation of R&D innovation into commercially viable, sustainable outcomes.
Jamie Shah is the President of her family’s business, Chem-Impex, a distributor and manufacturer of high purity laboratory chemicals, specializing in amino acids used in peptide synethesis. Prior to Chem-Impex, Shah was the Chief Operating Officer of The Spice House. She was also previously the lead associate at Hyde Park Angels and Hyde Park Venture Partners, and was selected as a Kauffman Fellows Finalist. She started her career at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker in the consumer retail group, and then was a financial analyst for Google Maps.
In addition to teaching Outperform & Outlast: Operating and Investing in Closely Held Businesses at Booth, Shah is a Polsky Center Entrepreneur in Residence where she provides mentorship and coaching to University of Chicago students interested in exploring topics related to family business and long term ownership and operations.
Shah earned a dual degree (BBA and BS) from The University of Wisconsin – Madison in finance, investments, and banking and Spanish literature and language, and an MBA from Chicago Booth. In 2023, Shah was selected as one of Family Business Magazine's Transformational Women in Business.
Shah serves on the University of Wisconsin's Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship Advisory Board and resides in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago with her husband, Anish, and their two children Rowan (an adventurous second grader at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools) and Sona (an inquisitive pre-schooler at Near North Montessori).
Nick is the Chief Executive Officer of AddGraft Therapeutics, a seed-stage skin cell therapy company, where he leads the company’s strategic vision and oversees all managerial and operational decisions. He also serves as a Research Strategy Consultant at Arcadia Science and sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of Project Insulin, supporting efforts to expand access to low-cost biosimilar insulin.
Nick brings a multidisciplinary background spanning academic research, biotech R&D, venture diligence, and early-stage company building. He has held innovation-focused roles including Entrepreneurial Lead at Alveothera and Innovation Fellow at Scion Life Sciences, where he led customer discovery, landscape diligence, and concept development for new biotech ventures. He has also supported early-stage investment diligence as a Bio Fellow at Insight Partners and Senior Analyst at Kendall Capital Partners.
Nick earned his Ph.D. in Biophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago, where his research focused on protein conformational dynamics using experimental and computational approaches. Earlier in his career, he held industry research roles at Rubius Therapeutics, ImmunoGen, and Genentech, working on protein engineering, conjugation chemistry, and antibody-drug conjugate development.