Throughout her career, Jessica Martin Eckerly has been bringing brilliant discoveries from academic labs into the marketplace where they can solve problems and improve lives. With Forward BIOLABS, she saw an opportunity to create a valuable asset for the bioscience startup ecosystem by enabling early-stage companies to operate efficiently, cultivate relationships, and collaborate within the nurturing environment while advancing cutting-edge technologies. She brings a strong track record of successful life sciences and medtech management experience and innovation expertise in settings including start-up (Stratatech, acquired by Mallinckrodt), established company (contract research organization PPD), and non-profits (internationally recognized WiCell). Sharing her passion for entrepreneurship, Jessica serves on the Advisory Board for WiSys’s Venture Home and as an Adjunct Professor teaching biotech business strategy for the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. She was recognized as a Madison area “40 under 40” award recipient and was a fellow with the venture capital firm Bascom Ventures. Jessica is a proud double Badger, earning both an Executive MBA and a MS in Biotechnology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A former Ironman triathlete and marathoner, Jessica keeps active with her her family by spending time outdoors camping and hiking.

Michael (Mike) Polewski is the Operations Manager at Forward BIOLABS.  In this role, Mike is responsible for the day to day operations at Forward BIOLABS.  Mike manages the implementation of laboratory and facility systems, maintains facility and laboratory equipment, and administers safety (bloodborne pathogen, biological, and chemical) policies and procedures.  In addition, Mike manages a team of lab operations assistants and interns.  As the go-to person for member companies with questions and requests related to lab and facility operations, Mike ensures they have a positive experience during their residence at Forward BIOLABS. 

Mike holds Master of Science in Biotechnology and a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology degrees from UW Madison. He is currently working on the completion of a certificate in Drug Product Development in order to better understand the relationships between the chemical, biological, and clinical disciplines of product development.  Before joining Forward BIOLABS, Mike spent 11 years in academic research labs at the University of Wisconsin - Madison as a researcher and lab manager.  Mike enjoys working closely with the member companies of Forward BIOLABS to understand their research needs and learning about the innovative approaches that are being used to address the problems of our time. 

Bianca Fung is the Lab Operations Assistant at Forward BIOLABS. Bianca works closely with Mike and Rachel to support growing member companies at Forward BIOLABS by ensuring that the day-to-day operations are run smoothly. In this role, Bianca is responsible for performing routine checks and maintenances for facility and lab equipment, developing policies and procedures, providing administrative and quality systems support as well as assisting the Forward BIOLABS team with ongoing projects.   

Bianca holds a Bachelor of Science in Integrative Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Applied Biotechnology at UW-Madison. Prior to joining Forward BIOLABS, Bianca was a Clinical Laboratory Scientist at Exact Sciences. Outside of work, Bianca enjoys drawing, making pottery, camping, and most of all, traveling.  

Laura Kaiser’s social media, communications, event planning and marketing experience allows her to work with a vast array of entrepreneurs, startups and other mission-oriented companies. She ensures the Forward BIOLABS internal and external teams have what they need to be successful within the community by promotion, outreach and connection-building. She runs Engage Social Media, helping clients with any form of building their brand, telling their story and connecting to their audience.

Laura has a Bachelor of Arts from UW-Madison in Sociology and English. She loves yoga, reading and making artisan fudge and caramels. She loves when her college-age son comes home to cook amazing dinners.