Pat Flavin, JD

President

An entrepreneur, investor, and attorney, Patrick brings more than 20 years of experience in health tech and life sciences, including executive leadership positions at Arches Technology, Outcome Health, and closerlook. Patrick was a Co-Founder and Executive Director of MATTER, a Chicago healthcare technology startup center and innovation hub. He helped build biotechnology companies MediChem Life Sciences and Advanced Life Sciences, both of which he helped take public as chief legal executive.

John Flavin, MBA

Founder & CEO

John is a proven leader with a track record of bringing valuable corporate, academic, and civic enterprises from concept to reality, including Advanced Life Sciences, Chicago Innovation Mentors, MATTER, and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago. John is Co-Founder and Chairman of Pyxis Oncology, Executive Chairman of ClostraBio, and Board member at Grove Biopharma. Over the course of his career, John has successfully raised more than $345 million of private and philanthropic capital to fund the development of transformative organizations.

Ula Widawska

Vice President of Finance & Accounting

As VP of Finance & Accounting for Portal Innovations, Ula oversees financial reporting and daily financial operations for the company. Ula has spent most of her career in healthcare finance, most recently as a Controller at Swedish Hospital part of NorthShore, where she was responsible for managing financial operations and overseeing financial reporting, accounting, accounts payable and treasury for several corporations. Ula’s strong business acumen aided her in leading several strategic initiatives that resulted in improvement of efficiency, reporting and daily financial operations. She brings a fresh perspective to building and leading finance teams, focusing on collaboration, empowerment and business growth.

Rose Jones-Boyd

Executive Assistant to the Founder & CEO

Rose Jones-Boyd is the Executive Assistant to the Founder & CEO.
She is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in professional office executive assistant positions and a track record of strong performance in high-volume, high-pressure environments. She has extensive experience with all administrative tasks including scheduling and correspondence.
As Executive Assistant, Rose ensures the smooth operation of the office. Having held several positions in the University and business fields, Rose can tailor her skills to meet the needs of colleagues and clients. Before joining Portal, Rose worked 13 1/2 years as an Executive Assistant at the University of Chicago.

Elizabeth Harney, MS

Sr. Director of Laboratory Expansion and Operations

As Portal's Sr. Director of Laboratory Expansion and Operations, Elizabeth works closely with Yuan to support daily operations within the lab space and to provide a safe environment for our member companies.  Prior to Portal, Elizabeth was a bench scientist with a particular affinity for analytical chemistry.  In her lab work, she developed a strong understanding and respect for spreadsheets and documentation – her reliability in performance of this understanding (both in quality and consistency) makes her a particularly powerful asset in a safety-focused, scientific environment.

By switching paths from scientist to manager, Elizabeth is able to address the core motivations that had always fueled her pursuit of scientific exploration: to help people. Her starting point contributes to her ability to develop, communicate and teach processes that respond to the actual pain points of scientists.

When not running around the lab or furiously typing on her laptop, Elizabeth enjoys listening to all kinds of podcasts and reading books to unwind.

Kevin Flavin

Director of Design & Experience

Kevin is working to help create scalable systems and practices that can be implemented and standardized across all Portal locations as we expand to Boston and Atlanta. His main goal is to design and/or implement tools that can help foster community and collaboration in co-working environments.

Additionally, Kevin works on all content capture, design, editing, and audio production for Lab Rats to Unicorns (a podcast created by John Flavin).

Gianina Varea

VP, Portfolio Strategy

Gianina is a Biotech entrepreneur passionate about bringing scientific discoveries to patients. She has experience in developing biotech start-ups from the ground up, ranging from strategy to operations and project management, as well as direct involvement in seeking non-dilutive and private funding from institutional and strategic investors. The most recent startup she helped build was Pyxis Oncology. As a Technology Venture Fellow at the Polsky Center at The University of Chicago she worked closely with Pyxis’ founding team to develop the strategic and financial materials to support Pyxis’ formation and $22M Series A. As Pyxis’ first employee, she worked as project and alliance manager, and in business development. She also supported the $150M Series B, several partnerships, and the IPO in October 2021. Gianina obtained her Masters’ degree in Bioscience Enterprise (MBE) at The University of Cambridge and a B.S. in Molecular Biotechnology Engineering from The University of Chile.

gianina.varea@portalinnovations.com

Angie Gill

Director of People Operations

angie.gill@portalinnovations.com

Nick Pennebaker

Sr. Director of Marketing and Communications

Nick is in charge of helping grow the Portal brand on a national level. He joins Portal with more than 10 years’ of experience in marketing and communications within a variety of industries, including financial services, commercial real estate development, and oil & gas, with his most recent role focused on building marketing campaigns at Northern Trust Asset Management. His background consists of public relations, email and web marketing, SEO/SEM, social media, and content development. Nick grew up in Austin, Texas, graduated from The University of Kansas, and still tries to fool himself into thinking Chicago winters aren’t that bad. 

Parth Rao, PharmD, MS

Director of Lab Operations

Parth Rao is an accomplished pharmaceutical professional with over a decade of experience in the industry. He has a proven track record in managing laboratory operations and facility maintenance for startups and established companies in the life sciences industry. Parth is known for his ability to streamline operations and improve efficiencies, his expertise in managing lab infrastructure, and his strategic vision for achieving growth and success. In this role as the Director of Lab Operations at Portal Innovations, he is responsible for formulating and executing strategic goals, developing operational and capital budgets, and managing relationships with life science startup companies and strategic partners. He will ensure everything will run smoothly and succinctly in our labs at both 400 N Aberdeen and 1375 W Fulton.

Throughout his career, Parth has held various leadership positions within the Biotech and Pharma industries focusing on biologics and novel gene therapies. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master of Science from Northern Illinois University. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, traveling, and spending time with his family

Todd Sluzas

Chief Financial Officer

Todd has over 30 years of accounting, finance, tax, private equity, and venture capital experience.  Prior to joining Portal, Todd served as CFO for a private equity group where he has also supported multiple portfolio companies in the CFO role as well as Senior Tax Analyst for a public company owned by the group.  In addition, Todd managed the family office for the principal of the private equity group where he was responsible for investment analysis and due diligence, risk management, cash management, tax compliance and planning, and estate planning.  Prior to that, Todd spent four years with the accounting firm of Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP representing the firm’s audit and tax practice.

Tim Flavin

Sales Development Manager

Haidy Delgado

Senior Manager of Lab Operations

A lifelong Chicagoan, Haidy earned an Associate in Science from Malcolm X College and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago. While at UIC, she contributed to a wastewater microbiology surveillance project researching COVID-19 outbreaks and community trends in Chicago through wastewater-based epidemiology, which was in collaboration with researchers from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

She later took the role as a Microbiologist at a contract pharmaceutical company, where she focused on environmental monitoring and microbiological analysis within pharmaceutical cleanroom environments. In this role she also supported process improvement through laboratory investigations, deviations, and change controls, revised and authored controlled documents like SOPs and logbooks.

Currently, she serves as the Senior Manager of Lab Operations, where she oversees the daily operations that keep the lab running. From managing equipment, troubleshooting and maintenance scheduling, and ensuring safety, all in an effort to support Portal’s diverse community of biotech startups working to advance scientific innovation.

Outside the lab, she enjoys going to punk and hardcore shows, reading, and spending time with her two cats, Pokey and Beanie.

Emily Yee

Lab Operations Associate

Gracyn Gambill

Director, Strategic Platforms and Expansion

Gracyn Gambill is Portal's Director, Strategic Platforms and Expansion in Chicago where she works closely with the Operations and member Experience Team. She is a University of Tennessee alumni with a background in sales and event coordination along with a passion for building and fostering relationships. In her role she is hands on in the coordination and execution of events that aim to increase member engagement. In addition, she ensures that day to day operations run smoothly in Portal's Chicago location. She looks forward to continuing to grow with Portal as its expansion takes place.

Carson Chang

Senior Technology Manager

Carson is Portal's Senior Technology Manager where he helps with Portal's tech stack, troubleshooting, and providing IT support to member companies. Prior to joining Portal, Carson attended the University of Illinois Chicago, and recently worked as an operations strategist with Framework IT. Outside of work, Carson is an avid outdoorsman where he enjoys running, climbing, and cycling.

Jack Flavin

Member Experience Coordinator

Jack recently graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and a minor in Business. Jack will be our new Member Experience and Marketing Coordinator in Atlanta as we ramp up operations at Science Square.

Jack will be integral in providing community support in Atlanta as new members are onboarded, while also helping execute events at Science Square. On the marketing side, Jack will also manage multimedia content and work to expand the reach of our affiliated podcast, Lab Rats to Unicorns.

Nancy Tyrrell

Director of Academic Partnerships

Nancy has worked with a series of life sciences companies and her most recent role was with the Chicago Biomedical Consortium, where she assisted faculty researchers at Chicago-area universities with funding and resources needed to advance therapeutic discoveries. Nancy enjoys being part of the Chicago life science community, and she is an active volunteer with a variety of organizations including Young Women In Bio Chicago, where she is a Board member and past President.  Nancy also serves on the Alzheimer's Association®'s Board of Directors and is a member of the Board’s Executive Committee.

Kira Lipson

Member Experience Manager

Kira is the Member Experience Manager at Portal Chicago, where she fosters meaningful partnerships with members, leads impactful events, and oversees seamless daily communications. Before joining Portal, she managed green infrastructure projects and community initiatives at G.E.T Solutions, an environmental nonprofit based in Chicago. Kira earned her degree in Environmental Policy from Loyola University Chicago in 2022.

Outside of work, Kira is passionate about volunteering with organizations focused on climate solutions, experimenting in the kitchen with unique ingredients, and exploring every art medium she can get her hands on.

Dixon Chan

Accounting Manager

As the Accounting Manager, Dixon oversees the day-to-day accounting operations, financial reporting, and compliance functions for the company. Prior to joining Portal, Dixon served as the Director of Accounting at Shedd Aquarium, where he managed the core accounting team, managing financial operations and overseeing financial reporting, accounting functions for the organization. Dixon graduated from University of Wisconsin – Madison and is currently pursuing his MBA at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Dixon is a licensed certified public accountant in the state of Illinois.

Kevin Kelley, MBS

Director of Membership Sales & Growth

Kevin is a scientist and innovation leader with expertise spanning bioanalytics, biotechnology, business development, and commercialization strategy. Throughout his career, he has focused on connecting scientific discovery with practical application, helping organizations navigate growth, partnerships, and market adoption. Kevin is passionate about fostering collaboration between science and business to accelerate the development of impactful technologies and improve outcomes across the life sciences ecosystem.

Walida Ali

Director of Programming and Partnerships

Walida leads ecosystem development and strategic partnerships at the NJ Innovation Hub at HELIX. Trained as a molecular bioengineer, she brings expertise in venture creation, life sciences, and healthcare innovation. Prior to joining Portal, she served as Innovation Development Manager at Princeton University, supporting commercialization efforts and startup teams across the NSF I-Corps Northeast Hub. Her experience spans scientific due diligence, university partnerships, fundraising, and business development for biotech companies from seed stage through Series B.

Gaby Martinez-Ramirez, PhD

Lab Operations Manager, UChicago Incubator

Raul Vasquez

Executive Director, UChicago Science Incubator

Raul began his career with Baxter Healthcare, supporting process development for parenteral solutions across US and Latin American sites. He then joined the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division as an Operational Excellence Partner, where he led the implementation of process improvement methodologies to optimize administrative and hospital workflows. Most recently, Raul was a foundational member of the Operations team at Evozyne, a Biotechnology startup in Chicago. At Evozyne, Raul helped build out the operations, managed strategic alliances, and led internal program management for early discovery and preclinical programs.

Raul has a degree in Biomedical Engineering and MBA from the Illinois Institute of Technology.  Raul grew up in the west suburbs of Chicago, and currently lives in Riverside with his wife, Araselly, 7-year-old daughter, Adeline, and dog, Skye. He loves all types of music, from heavy metal to reggaeton, and also supports Chicago sports teams, including the Bears, Bulls, and Fire.

Nick Winter

Sr. Director of Membership Sales and Growth

Nick Winter has spent his career at the intersection of science and the people who commercialize it.

At Portal Innovations, Nick leads memberships and growth for Portal’s Fulton Labs headquarters in Chicago, recruiting startups, supporting member companies as they scale, and building partnerships across the national life sciences ecosystem.

His goal is straightforward: help build the best venture development engine in the country. Portal is more than lab space. It is an ecosystem with a running lab, shared equipment fleet, onsite operations and EHS team, and a network of 600+ scientists, founders, and investors. For early-stage companies, that can mean getting to work this week instead of spending 18 months on a lease, build-out, and lab operations setup.

Before joining Portal, Nick spent four years at Nikon Instruments as a Biotechnology Accounts Manager, managing a large life sciences territory. Earlier in his career, he worked in partner program development at Johnson Controls and in sales and marketing at an early-stage fintech startup.

Nick holds a master’s degree in Engineering, Science & Technology Entrepreneurship from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor’s degree in Rhetoric from Wabash College.

Outside of work, Nick enjoys running, cycling, swimming, reading, and movies. He is currently training for the Madison Half Ironman. His fiancée, Katie, is a veterinarian, which has led to an apartment full of animals.

Michael Reagan

Lab Operations Manager, New Jersey Innovation Hub

Michael Reagan currently serves as our Manager of Lab Operations for Portal Innovations ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of our newest laboratory facility at the HELIX in New Brunswick, NJ. He will work closely with a diverse group of biotech startups to ensure they have the infrastructure, resources, and support needed to succeed in a highly competitive field.

Prior to Portal Innovations, Michael served as a Research Scientist for Palatin Technologies, where he led the setup and commissioning of new laboratory spaces, managed day-to-day lab operations, and played a key role in developing workflows to support high-throughput assay development.

Prior to Palatin Technologies, Michael was at a global CRO, Syneos Health, working in highly regulated environments supporting GMP, GLP, and GCP operations. In this role, he contributed to SOP and validation protocol development and supported automation and innovation initiatives across multiple platforms.

Michael holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and an M.S. in Applied Physical Science from Georgia Southern University.

Meghan Jeffrey

Lab Operations Associate, Ocean State Labs

Meghan is the new Lab Operations Associate at Ocean State Labs, Powered by Portal. She recently graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in biotechnology. During her undergrad, she spent time working as a lab assistant in the URI Microbiology lab as a Parasitology Research Fellow.

Andria Winters

Chief Operations Officer

Andria Winters is Portal's Chief Operations Office where she oversees day-to-day operations of the company, ensuring Portal continues its strong trajectory of smart, intentional growth as it expands its leadership across national and international markets. Prior to joining Portal, Andria served as COO for a top-performing commercial real estate brokerage team at CBRE where she helped launch four new R&D buildings in Chicago. Her tenure also includes being the Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), and during her time she co-founded the state's first private economic development corporation, now the Illinois EDC, to lead business marketing and recruitment efforts for Illinois.

Danya Lavin

Executive Director, Ocean State Labs

Danya Lavin is Portal's Executive Director at Ocean State Labs. Danya brings with her a wealth of experience from both the startup world and established companies. Most recently, she was at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where she made significant contributions by building and leading a high-performing translational research group within the Engineering Sciences Department. Before her tenure at Vertex, Danya was instrumental in startups that navigated through acquisition processes and were ultimately acquired by Vertex.