John Flavin, a Chicago entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in life sciences ventures, will discuss Chicago Innovation Exchange (CIE), the newly formed hub for multidisciplinary collaborations and support for business start-up activities at the University of Chicago. Mr. Flavin has been named executive director of CIE.

Mr. Flavin was previously executive director of Chicago Innovation Mentors, a consortium of Illinois universities and research institutions dedicated to driving commercialization of new technologies by connecting entrepreneurs with experienced corporate mentors.  He led Chicago Innovation Mentors from early launch in October 2011 until he joined UChicago in September 2013—having expanded the consortium to more than 180 mentors and 66 ventures.

Throughout his career, Mr, Flavin has focused on entrepreneurial finance and operations. He has led two successful initial public offerings on NASDAQ and has raised more than $200 million in private and public funding.  He was also co-founder, president and chief financial officer of Advanced Life Sciences and served as chief operating officer of MediChem Life Sciences, a startup that was eventually sold to deCODE genetics, Inc.

The event is free and open to the public, but space may be limited.