Dr. Bruce Bloom - President and Chief Science Officer

In February 2002, Dr. Bruce Bloom became the Executive Director of Goldman Philanthropic Partnerships, a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation. In 2005, when Goldman Partnerships created the public charity Partnership for Cures to carry on the Goldman mission, Dr. Bloom became President and Chief Science Officer. Dr. Bloom directs the operation of this public charity dedicated to making a lasting impact on disease by pushing the boundaries of scientific research and creating new methods to fund it.

Dr. Bloom was profiled in the Chicago Sun Times by financial columnist Theo Pincus. Click here to read the profile. He was also quoted several times in Newsweek in June 2009 and in May 2010.

Dr. Bloom was elected an International Ashoka Fellow in 2009. Ashoka: Innovators for the Public recognizes social entrepreneurs for their system-changing solutions to the world's most urgent social problems. Dr. Bloom and the other new Fellows were inducted, along with newly-elected Fellows from Mexico and Central America, at a ceremony in Washington DC in March 2010. They join the ranks of some 2,800 Fellows in over 60 countries around the world who are working for social change to improve society.

Dr. Bloom holds a Juris Doctor degree from Chicago Kent College of Law, a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from University of Illinois Medical Center, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from University of Illinois. He is a faculty member at Kendall College, has been a lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago for 15 years, and was a senior lecturer at Northwestern University for 6 years. Dr. Bloom has taught Business Law and Risk Management to thousands of health care and other professionals since 1985.

Dr. Bloom currently serves as a the President of the Charles E. Culpeper Science Advisory Boards, a Board member of the Menninger Clinic Foundation, a Trustee of the Kendall College Charitable Trust, a Medical Research Advisor to the LUNGevity Foundation, a Policy Advisor to AccelerateProgress.org, a Board member of the Judy Hirsch Foundation, a Science Reviewer for the ACS Lung Cancer Grant Program and the CHEST Foundation Grant Program, a Client Advisor to Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, and Vice-Chair of the Kendall College School of Business Advisory Board. Dr. Bloom is a host of the Clinician's Roundtable heard on ReachMD.com and on XM 160, and a facilitator for Pathways to Successful Living.

He lives in Deerfield, IL with his wife Stacy and they are watching their two grown children successfully navigate the world.

Edward Kahn - Director of Strategic Business Development

Edward Kahn has served as Director of Strategic Business Development for the Partnership for Cures (PFC) Patient Impact Initiative since late 2010. Ed is an intellectual property expert and the founding president of EKMS, Inc., a company known for pioneering novel IP management techniques for two decades. Ed sold EKMS to a publicly traded company in 2004, but came out of retirement to apply his licensing skills and tech transfer experience at PFC, where he will help patients access effective “new” treatments more quickly and affordably through Rediscovery Research™.

The repurposed drugs and other Rediscovery Research approaches established by PFC’s research partners are often safer, more effective and cheaper than the current Standard of Care, but there is often a gap between publication of research results and adoption of the “rediscovered” treatment in the clinic by physicians and patients. Ed works with public and private sector life sciences organizations to devise creative new business methods aimed at ensuring that life-saving therapies reach patients as soon as feasible.

Ed has presented and written extensively on licensing and IP strategy for John Wiley, Euromoney Publishing, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, Mass High Tech, the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and the Boston Patent Lawyers' Association. His recent book, "Innovate or Perish: Managing the Enduring Technology Company in the Global Market", focuses on the challenge of IP management in today’s evolving innovation environment.

Amy Conn - Advancement Director

Amy Conn is beginning her non-profit career with Partnerships for Cures after a lifetime as a classical musician. Ms. Conn is currently working on Grant Writing and funding research for the Patient Impact Initiative. Known throughout the Midwest for her work as a soprano, she has been a featured soloist with organizations such as the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Elgin Symphony and many others. Locally, she has performed frequently with Music of the Baroque, Chicago Opera Theater and Chicago Acapella. Ms. Conn received her Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and has been a faculty member at the Chicago Academy for the Arts and DePaul University. She has served as the Vice President of the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. While actively performing, Ms. Conn is looking towards graduate work in Public Health.

Janice Layne-Information Technology

Nearly 25 years ago life-long Chicago resident, Janice dreamed of constantly meeting new people within every community in the city of Chicago and the outlying areas, because she wanted to make it feel as comfortable as a small town. This task seemed challenging but not impossible. Throughout her career she has worked in a number of non-profit agencies that put her face to face with everyday citizens and their issues, where she utilized her skills as a writer, community organizer and workshop facilitator to continuously make connections while working and volunteering. With advances in technology and the impact Social Media Marketing is having on the human dialogue, Janice is thrilled to exponentially expand her ability to increase those connections in the city and far beyond.

Janice has a B.A. in Sociology from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois and comes to Partnership for the Cures through Chicago Career Tech.