First Rounders

Good Bye May 04, 2022

Brady Huggett signs off.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay Keasling Apr 01, 2022

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 Feb 01, 2022

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 Dec 01, 2021

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.

Hope Lies in Dreams Chapter 1 Sep 08, 2021

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 Sep 01, 2021

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 Jul 01, 2021

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 Jun 01, 2021

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 May 01, 2021

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 Mar 01, 2021

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 Jan 02, 2021

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 Nov 01, 2020

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 Sep 01, 2020

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 Jul 01, 2020

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 Jun 22, 2020

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 May 01, 2020

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.

Bonus: Jeremy Levin Apr 22, 2020

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 Mar 02, 2020

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.

Forum: Schneeberger on Clavien Jan 14, 2020

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 Jan 02, 2020

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.

First Rounders: Samantha Du Oct 29, 2019

Samantha Du is founder, CEO and chairman of Zai Lab. In her conversation with Nature Biotechnology she discusses her thoughts on the US-China trade war, what makes Zai Lab a success, and her family's experience during the Cultural Revolution in China.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounders: Pardis Sabeti Oct 01, 2019

Pardis Sabeti is a co-founder of Sherlock Biosciences, the head of the Sabeti Lab, and a co-author of Outbreak Culture. Her conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers her family fleeing the Iranian revolution, the Sabeti Lab's role in the Ebola outbreak of 2014-2016, and the ATV accident that nearly killed her.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounders: Nina Tandon Aug 23, 2019

Nina Tandon is co-founder and CEO of EpiBone. Her First Rounders conversation covers growing up on Roosevelt Island in New York City, witnessing September 11, and tackling her company's first Phase 1 trial.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounders: Cigall Kadoch Jul 01, 2019

Cigall Kadoch is a co-founder of Foghorn Therapeutics and assistant professor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where she runs the Kadoch lab. In her talk with Nature Biotechnology, she discusses launching Foghorn, how geography affects biotech success, and the link between interior design and scientific rigor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounders: Robert Langer May 07, 2019

Robert Langer is the David H. Koch Institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also runs the Langer Lab and is co-founder of more than 40 biotech companies. His talk with Nature Biotechnology covers the death of his father, his experience teaching high school science and math, and the requirements for launching a successful biotech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounders: George Church Mar 01, 2019

George Church is professor of genetics at Harvard University, and professor of health sciences and technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also co-founder of more than 20 biotech companies. His talk with Nature Biotechnology covers being held back in 9th grade, launching the Human Genome Project, and the necessity of surveilling synthetic biologists.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounders: Chad Womack Jan 01, 2019

Chad Womack is senior director of STEM initiatives at UNCF. The episode covers Womack's path to HIV research at Harvard, his experience founding a biotech just before the Great Recession, and what the election of President Barack Obama meant to African Americans.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounders: Christoph Lengauer Nov 01, 2018

Christoph Lengauer is a venture partner at Third Rock Ventures, the president of Celsius Therapeutics, and executive vice president at Blueprint Medicines. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers growing up in Austria, why he nearly gave up research for a career helping settle refugees, and his role in the Henrietta Lacks story.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First rounders: Feng Zhang Sep 06, 2018

Feng Zhang runs the Zhang Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He's also a faculty member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and has co-founded several biotech companies, including Editas Medicine. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers immigrating to America as a boy, his moment of discovery with CRISPR, and what massive success before the age of 35 does to a researcher.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: John Maraganore May 07, 2018

John Maraganore is CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. In his talk with Nature Biotechnology he discusses his decade at Biogen, running an RNAi company when skepticism covered the field, and growing up the son of Greek immigrants in Chicago.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Jeff Leiden Feb 20, 2018

Jeff Leiden is chairman, president and CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers rebuilding Vertex toward cystic fibrosis, competing for talent in the innovation economy and dropping out of high school to enter college early.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Susan Windham-Bannister Dec 18, 2017

Susan Windham-Bannister is president and CEO of Biomedical Growth Strategies and was the founding president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC). Her conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers her childhood in segregated St. Louis, her work at MLSC helping grow the life sciences sector in Massachusetts through Governor Deval Patrick's $1-billion initiative, and race relations in Boston and the United States.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Stelios Papadopoulos Oct 26, 2017

Stelios Papadopoulos has been a biotech analyst, investment banker, and company founder. He's the current chairman of the board at Biogen. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology touches on his reasons for leaving Greece to come to the United States, how he made his mark in the nascent biotech analyst field, and his participation in late '60s radicalism.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Greg Winter Aug 18, 2017

Greg Winter is the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a serial entrepreneur, who co-founded Cambridge Antibody Technology. Much of his career was spent at the Medical Research Council, and his research led to humanized monoclonal antibodies. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers growing up in west Africa, how suffering an attack in the street led to a breakthrough in the lab, and the state of UK biotech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Jan Vilcek Jun 08, 2017

Jan is the co-founder, CEO and chairman of the Vilcek Foundation, and also a long-time researcher and professor at New York University's School of Medicine. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers his harrowing childhood in Czechoslovakia during the rise of Nazi Germany and World War II, his escape from communist Czechoslovakia through defection, and his role in the discovery of the blockbuster drug Remicade.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Rachel Haurwitz Apr 26, 2017

Rachel Haurwitz is co-founder, president and CEO of Caribou Biosciences. In her discussion with Nature Biotechnology, she explains what drew her into the sciences, how her father's journalism career brought their family to Austin, Texas, and how she found herself at the cutting edge of CRISPR technology.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Stephen Quake Feb 23, 2017

Stephen Quake is a professor in the department of bioengineering at Stanford University and a serial founder of biotech companies. His talk with Nature Biotechnology covers launching Fluidigm, being chosen as copresident of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and what it was like to be one of the first people to have their genome sequenced.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Jeremy Levin Dec 20, 2016

Jeremy Levin is chairman and CEO of Ovid Therapeutics, formerly president and CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and former member of the executive committee at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he led that company's 'string of pearls' strategy. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers shifting his mindset from treating patients to business development, his youth in South Africa, and how his past influences his view of the 2016 US presidential election results.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Anu Acharya Nov 17, 2016

Anu Acharya is founder and CEO of Mapmygenome, a co-founder of Ocimum Biosolutions and a leading light for life science entrepreneurship in India. Her discussion with Nature Biotechnology covers the importance of mentorship, running a consumer genomics company, and grieving the death of a parent.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Nancy J Kelley Sep 22, 2016

Nancy J Kelley, founder and chief executive of Nancy J Kelley + Associates, a consultancy creating and developing projects and institutions for science and medicine, touches on establishing the East River Science Park, excelling at Yale as a young mother of three and why one must take risks in life.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: David Baltimore Jul 19, 2016

David Baltimore, president emeritus of the California Institute of Technology, discusses his parents moving him from New York City to Great Neck, Long Island, as a child; his initial interest in animal virology; and getting that Nobel call from Sweden.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Tom Maniatis May 26, 2016

Tom Maniatis is a founder of Kallyope, and head of the Maniatis lab at Columbia University. Among other things, he's founded several biotechs and authored a manual nicknamed 'the bible of cloning.' His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers being the first in his family to go to college, the moratorium on recombinant DNA research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his long relationship with Jim Watson at Cold Spring Harbor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Daniel Cohen Mar 10, 2016

Daniel Cohen is chairman and CEO of Pharnext. He was also co-founder of CEPH, Genethon and Millennium, and an early leader in the genomics field. His talk with Nature Biotechnology covers the industrialization of genomic sequencing, his part in founding Millennium and why the conductor has the most difficult job in an orchestra.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: James Wilson Dec 22, 2015

James Wilson is the director of the Gene Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a founder and chief scientific advisor at Regenx Bio, as well as founder and chairman of scientific advisory council at Dimension Therapeutics. Wilson's conversation covers his love of motocross racing, the triumphs and tribulation of gene therapy (including the Jesse Gelsinger tragedy), and the future of drug pricing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Bill Rutter Oct 22, 2015

Bill Rutter is founder, chairman and CEO of Synergenics, which manages a consortium of biotech companies. He was also a founder of Chiron and is credited with bringing the University of California at San Francisco to its prominent position in life sciences research. His discussion with Nature Biotechnology covers building out the labs at UCSF, sequencing the hepatitis C virus and his short stint in the Navy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Stan Crooke Aug 20, 2015

Stan Crooke is the founder, chairman and CEO of Isis Pharmaceuticals. Nature Biotechnology spoke with Crooke about his troubled youth, the crests and valleys of antisense, and the skills needed to be a good leader.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Rachel King Jul 23, 2015

Rachel King is president and CEO of GlycoMimetics and former chairwoman of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. Talking with Nature Biotechnology, King discusses gene therapy, how a CEO handles layoffs and growing up with chickens.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Colin Goddard May 28, 2015

Colin Goddard is former CEO of OSI Pharmaceuticals, and current chairman and CEO of Coferon. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology details the history behind OSI's blockbuster drug Tarceva (erlotinib), the benefits of having a British accent in the United States and how to survive a hostile takeover.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Kari Stefansson Mar 28, 2015

Kari Stefansson's conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers the founding of deCODE, his love for literature (and his favorite poet), plus his encounter with the tortured chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Carl Feldbaum Jan 22, 2015

Carl Feldbaum was the founding president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and he is the current chairman of the Life Sciences Foundation. His podcast conversation with Nature Biotechnology touches on his assistance in prosecuting Watergate, his visit to Saddam Hussein's palace and how he built BIO from the ground up.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Daphne Zohar Dec 05, 2014

Daphne Zohar is the founder, CEO and managing partner at PureTech, a venture creation company with a new approach to building biotechs, and she sits on the board of several life science firms. Her conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers starting her first company (in high school), the usefulness of Bioentrepreneur courses, and women in venture capital. (Updated February 6, 2015).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Mary Tanner Sep 18, 2014

Mary Tanner details the Amgen-Immunex buyout, defines 'wildcatting' and suggests the years in which children most need a parent around the house.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Focus issue podcast Aug 07, 2014

Anthony Davies discusses the past, present and future of stem cell therapies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Julian Davies Jul 24, 2014

Julian Davies takes us through his long research career in Madison, Wisconsin; Paris and Geneva. He also discusses wrecking his motorcycle and how he met his wife.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounder: Leroy Hood May 22, 2014

Leroy Hood talks through the founding of Applied Biosystems, the beginnings of the Human Genome Project and what drew him to mountain climbing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounders: Michael West Mar 20, 2014

Nature Biotechnology talked to West about his initial love for physics, scoring the first funding for Geron and the future of regenerative medicine.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Rounders: Harvey Berger Dec 19, 2013

Nature Biotechnology spoke to Harvey Berger about developing Iclusig, the difference between managing a patient's health and running a company, and how a public entity deals with bad news.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.