The quest to stop cancer before it destroys the health and well-being of people around the world isn’t new. Medical researchers spend years trying to unlock the secret of cell deterioration and cellular mutations. Progress is slow, but researchers now know there’s more than one type of cancer. And researchers also know everyone who has cancer deals with the disease in different ways.
One way researchers are dealing with this multi-faceted disease is by accumulating data so cancer patients can get the help they need at the molecular level. One company that is leading the charge to understand all types of cancer is Tempus. The Tempus genomic tests analyze proteomic data as well as RNA, and DNA. Plus, the company organizes and ingests lab reports, pathology images, clinical notes, and radiology scans to get a complete picture of various patient cases. The mission is to connect doctors with the latest molecular and clinical data as well as give doctors the insight they need to treat patients using up-to-date treatment options. According to the CEO and the founder of the company, Eric Lefkofsky, data-driven healthcare is the future, and he is putting his money, reputation, and soul into this incredible data collecting company.
Eric Lefkofsky is an overachiever by anyone’s standards. Eric got his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Michigan. He’s an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago, and he wrote the book, Accelerated Disruption. Accelerated Disruption is the foundation of our capitalistic system, according to Lefkofsky, and other noteworthy entrepreneurs and economists. The concept of accelerated disruption is new ideas, technology and trends force some businesses out of business. Those businesses don’t react fast enough to changes in their industry, and the changes that impact the buying habits of other businesses and consumers.
But it’s not just Lefkofsky’s teaching and writing skills that make Eric such a driving force in several industries. He is a Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, trustee, as well as a Chicago’s Art Institute and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry trustee. And his love for the arts prompted him to accept the role of Chairman of the Board of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater. Eric reached the pinnacle of success in his mind when he started to collect molecular data. But before that amazing accomplishment, he founded Groupon, and he co-founded Lightbank, Mediaocean, Echo Global Logistics, and Inner Workings. And he was one of the first investors in Uptake Technologies. His strong social media presence keeps him in the social spotlight for good reasons. He shares pertinent information on social media sites so people who suffer from cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological disorders can find the information they need to deal with those medical issues in different ways.
According to a recent Chicago Tribune article, Mr. Lefkofsky wants to expand Tempus technology and data, so people on other continents can benefit from the data and research information the company collects and organizes. That expansion is a future project, but the future is right around the corner thanks to the rapid growth of his three-year-old company. Eric employs 500 researchers and data gathering health conscious people, and the company hires 20 or 30 people almost every month. Even though expansion in other parts of the world is still in the preparation phase, Lefkofsky’s medical startup has an office in New York, and the home office is in the old Montgomery Ward building in Chicago. Eric plans to open offices in Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles next.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Lefkofsky’s medical startup is worth $2 billion. At the beginning of 2018, Eric raised $80 million from investors. That fundraising project gave his research and data collecting company a key spot on Chicago’s “unicorn” list.
