Philip Hockberger

Phil is an experienced scientist, teacher, speaker and administrator. He has held numerous leadership roles at Northwestern University since joining the faculty in 1987.

Currently, Phil is Associate Vice President for Research overseeing the $800M research portfolio of the University. He is uniquely responsible for: (1) developing, maintaining and advancing state-of-the-art research (core) facilities; (2) planning, coordination, construction and renovation of research space; (3) developing and coordinating research partnerships with academic institutions, industry and national laboratories.

Prior to his administrative roles, he taught and ran a research lab in the Department of Physiology of the Feinberg School of Medicine for 22 years. His has published 70+ papers and book chapters on research in live cell imaging, membrane biophysics and signal transduction, cell adhesion and migration, photobiology and phototoxicity. He has served on numerous national review panels and study sections, has received several prestigious awards including the ABRF President’s Special Recognition Award (2017), and has given over 100 invited seminars and keynote presentations to national and international audiences.

Recently he founded the Chicago Biomedical Innovation Alliance to foster communication and coordination among stakeholders interested in building innovation districts in Chicago. He was recently appointed to the Mayor’s Healthcare and Life Sciences Working Group charged with contributing to the 10-yr economic development plan for the City of Chicago.

Before joining the faculty at Northwestern, Phil received his Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and did postdoctoral research at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ.