For about a year, Northwestern University professor Shana Kelley and a group of more than 20 Chicago scientists met every Saturday morning to solve a complex challenge: how to win over Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan.
The couple’s philanthropic organization had just started a nationwide search for their first biomedical research hub outside San Francisco, and Chicago’s top universities were determined to win. The $250 million prize, which Kelley’s team ultimately won, could propel the city’s ambitions to follow in the footsteps of Boston to become a biotech leader.
Crucially, it could also help turn around a narrative that’s taken hold since the pandemic, one of rising crime and a hollowed-out downtown. While Chicago has seen some big names in finance and corporate America quit, the city has quietly cultivated its biotech sector.
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