First Rounders

Brady Huggett signs off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay Keasling is a professor in the College of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, where he runs the Keasling lab. He’s also the CEO of the Joint BioEnergy Institute, and has been involved in several startups. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers growing up on the family farm in Nebraska, how Genentech led him into biotech, and the future of biofuels. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ingmar Hoerr is a co-founder and former CEO of CureVac. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers his initial discovery with RNA while in his PhD program, the struggle to find venture financing for CureVac, and how a brain aneurysm changed his view on life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lita Nelsen is the former long-time director of the Technology Licensing Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her talk with Nature Biotechnology covers her father’s life designing television antennas, what drove her to the chemical engineering program at MIT, and the ingredients required to create an entrepreneurial environment on campus (and beyond). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stan Crooke is born ⬩ A tenuous existence ⬩ Life with his mother ⬩ The Tech Corner ⬩ Arsenal Tech High School ⬩ Nancy ⬩ Hoodlum ways ⬩ Off to Purdue Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anthony Atala is the director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University. He is also a co-founder of Precise Bio. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers implanting the first tissue-engineered bladder into a patient, Wake Forest’s plans for fostering entrepreneurship, and how he was coerced into a research career by a mentor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nancy Simonian is president and CEO of Syros Pharmaceuticals. Her conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers going against the advice of her mentor to take a job at Biogen; the long, winding path to approval for the multiple myeloma drug Velcade; and assisting her father in the operating room as a girl. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carl June is a co-founder of Tmunity Therapeutics, and a professor in immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also runs the June Lab. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology includes how a boyhood fractured arm led him to his first scientific experiment, his years of service with the Navy, and his groundbreaking work with CAR T-cells. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Craig Mello is co-founder of Atalanta Therapeutics and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he runs the Mello Lab. He is also a Nobel Laureate. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers the lure of conspiracy theorists, the state of RNA therapeutics, and getting that call from the Nobel committee. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil Kumar is a co-founder and CEO of BridgeBio Pharma. He discussed with Nature Biotechnology his youth in the Midwest, the founding principles behind BridgeBio, and understanding where your strengths lie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grace Colón is president and CEO of InCarda Therapeutics. Her conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico; her love of musical theater; and how grad school at MIT guided her toward a career in entrepreneurship. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tillman Gerngross is the CEO and co-founder of Adimab, and a professor of bioengineering at Dartmouth College. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers his years at GlycoFi, the nature of problem solving in entrepreneurship, and Adimab’s paper last year challenging the work of MIT researcher Ram Sasisekharan. Editor's note: Ram Sasisekharan has since been cleared of these charges. Please see https://www.statnews.com/2023/06/14/ram-sasisekharan-mit-vindicated-fraud-investigation/ and https://www.wsj.com/articles/mit-drug-researcher-cleared-in-research-probe-3d050624?utm_source=headtopics&utm_medium=news&utm_campaign=2023-06-15 for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Noubar Afeyan is the founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers his family fleeing the Lebanese Civil War when he was a boy, how a chance encounter at a scientific meeting opened his mind to entrepreneurism, and why immigrants (and entrepreneurs) benefit from having a “paranoid optimist” mindset. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katrine Bosley is former CEO of Editas Medicines and Avila Therapeutics. She discusses growing up in Ohio, her first job in biotech (as an administrative assistant) and why her five years at CRISPR company Editas felt more like 1,000. This episode is part of Nature Biotechnology 's focus issue on translating the CRISPR technology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ted Love is the president and CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics. In his conversation with Nature Biotechnology , he discusses why his time at Haverford College was transformative, why he views Global Blood Therapeutics as a social justice company, and what might be gained from the “racial catharsis” happening in America after the police killing of George Floyd. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alexis Borisy is CEO and Chairman of EQRx, and a long-time biotech builder with Third Rock Ventures. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers growing up as a “faculty brat” in Wisconsin, dropping out of his PhD program at Harvard and why, even as an investor, biotech cannot be all about the money. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A conversation with Jeremy Levin, chairman of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and CEO of Ovid Therapeutics, about industry versus government responses to covid19, the split within biotech on how to address charges of high prices, and why the biopharma industry is so disliked. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bassil Dahiyat is co-founder, president and CEO of Xencor. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers his parents emigrating from Jordan, how Xencor has survived (and changed) over the past 22 years, and when it’s necessary for a CEO to speak out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Senior Editor Irene Jarchum talks to Stefan Schneeberger about the significance of a recent Nature Biotechnology paper describing a sophisticated perfusion machine to keep human livers alive for a week. The work was carried out by Pierre-Alain Clavien and colleagues from ETH Zurich. Read the paper here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greg Verdine is a professor at Harvard University, and CEO and president of FogPharma and LifeMine Therapeutics. He is co-founder of more than 10 companies. His talk with Nature Biotechnology covers growing up in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, the importance of excelling in the lab versus the classroom, and drugging the undruggable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.