Dr. John Lucas, founding Dean at the Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Chicago School, is leading the charge in training future doctors to care for the whole person—mind and body.

Dr. Lucas discussed how a holistic focus on the connections between mental and physical health can improve our overall quality of care, why resilience is key for doctors, and what this means for all patients.

“This concept of being mentally healthy is inextricably intertwined with being physically healthy,” says Dr. Lucas. “And the incidence of diagnosable mental health conditions is going up.”

Dr. Willis shared A comprehensive overview of how to effectively commercialize life science innovations and contribute to a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem within universities. In the rapidly evolving field of life sciences, translating groundbreaking academic research into viable market solutions presents both exciting opportunities and unique challenges. Her talk was based on both personal experiences as an entrepreneur and investor as well as learnings from other company’s successes and failures. Dr. Willis explored the journey of life science innovations from the lab to commercial success, addressing critical questions such as the origins of new life science products and the strategies for assessing their commercial potential.