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Melissa Maderia is the Scientific Director for West Loop Innovations, a partnership between University of Illinois at Chicago (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 engages with faculty to solicit proposals to ensure a robust pipeline of drug discovery and development projects and oversees funded projects.

Melissa is also 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 leads 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),where she promoted technologies to attract industry partners to further develop and commercialize the technologies to benefit 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.