Melissa Chapman
ChampionCo-Champion, Senior Program Officer, Kauffman Foundation
MIT REAP Team Kansas City will focus on creating the most inclusive biologics ecosystem in the United States, and becoming a global hub for the development, production, and distribution of biologics. It will strive to collaborate with other major cities in the Heartland Region of the US to be a global life science destination.
One of Team Kansas City’s key regional challenges is funding and raising capital in the life sciences sector, which differs from high-growth tech funding. Other areas that the team has identified as needing improvement are visibility within the greater ecosystem, highly skilled labor needed to fill critical roles that are currently leaving the region, and more innovation capacity.
