Once a Scientist

Renee Wegrzyn, PhD, is co-founder of Transfyr AI. Recognized as a TIME 100 Innovator, Rock Health Top 50 Digital Health Innovator, and recipient of the Superior Public Service Medal, Renee holds a BS and PhD in Applied Biology and Bioengineering from Georgia Tech. She spent over a decade at DARPA, including as a program manager focused on gene editing and biomanufacturing and as a technical advisor to IARPA, where she ran "moonshot" programs. She later became VP of Business Development & Head of Innovation (Biosecurity) at Ginkgo Bioworks.Anna Marie Wagner is co-founder of Transfyr AI. She holds a B.A. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She spent nearly a decade at Bain Capital Private Equity, eventually focusing on vertical software, before joining the executive team at Ginkgo Bioworks. She built out Ginkgo's AI team and oversaw major strategic transactions, including the 2021 IPO (raised $1.6B — reportedly the largest-ever go-public raise in biotech).Learn more about Transfyr in the recent NYTimes feature: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/science/scientists-experiments-replication-ai.html

Ron is Co-Founder and CEO of NOETIK, a next generation precision oncology company using multimodal foundation models pre-trained on large-scale human tumor data to discover cancer therapeutics. He holds an MD and PhD from Stanford University School of Medicine, where he completed his doctoral work in Neuroscience, and has a MA in History of Medicine from UCL. Prior to founding Noetik, Ron was Senior Vice President, Head of Research and acting-CSO at Recursion, where he led the company’s scientific organizations and portfolio strategy. At Recursion, he led portfolio and platform builds across rare disease, neuroscience, oncology, and immunology, and was responsible for advancing multiple therapeutic programs from discovery to clinical development.

Chris Anderson currently serves as an advisor at Pillar VC and Renaissance Philanthropy. He was editor of WIRED and spent seven years at The Economist, where he worked as editor of both the technology and business sections. Anderson holds a degree in physics from UC Berkeley, has conducted research at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and has done stints at the leading journals Nature and Science.

Stacie Calad-Thomason is Head of BioPharma Labs and Manufacturing Business Development at NVIDIA. She has a PhD in Chemistry from UC Irvine and a B.A. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley.Topics & Timecodes:Physical AI Tools (Omniverse, Cosmos, Isaac, Groot) [04:46]Lab Automation Bottlenecks [06:20]Simulation vs Physical AI in Biology [09:42]Stacy's PhD Journey & Serendipitous Discovery [13:21]Transition from Academia to GSK Industrial R&D [19:15]Early AI Adoption in Drug Discovery (ADAM Consortium) [23:57]Efficiency as Career Motivation [27:14]Leadership at Atomwise During COVID [29:02]Biosymetrics & Phenomics Work [33:31]Vision for AI Scientists [35:11]AI Impact on Research Workflows [38:09]Career Advice: Perseverance, Adaptability & Skill Breadth [41:10]

Ira Hoffman is the CEO of HighRes. He has a M.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Physics/Mathematics from the University of Vermont. OUTLINE:[00:00] - Introduction to collaborative robots and safe human-robot coexistence[01:52] - CEO of Hi Res (formerly Hi Res BioSolutions), 20-year journey in lab automation[03:36] - Deep diving into AI strategy and product development[05:23] - From large-scale automation to accessibility for scientists[06:45] - How robots safely coexist with humans in labs[09:19] - Too many unvalidated hypotheses from AI tools[09:39] - Moving from high-throughput screening to prescriptive hypothesis testing[11:21] - Physical and digital integration challenges[15:46] - How chaos in early research differs from standardized processes[19:17] - Why fully autonomous labs are still far away[21:09] - Identifying automation opportunities vs. necessary human involvement[22:13] - Why large molecule biologics are easier to automate[23:36] - A leading example of closed-loop design-make-test-analyze[27:22] - AI-powered products enhancing automation workflows[28:47] - How to upskill teams in using AI tools effectively[31:44] - 3D visualization, AR overlays, and workflow simulation[36:36] - Why capturing contextual data is critical for consistent results[39:43] - Leadership approach under pressure and creativity[41:57] - Find your passion in science and technology -

Episode 93. Jason Kelly is the co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks. He has a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.References:https://www.ginkgo.bio/autonomous-labOUTLINE:00:00 – From Jurassic Park Pilled to MIT03:00 – Founding Ginkgo During the 2008 Crash07:00 – Tom Knight & Thinking About Biology Like Software11:00 – Why Biology Lacked Abstraction (Until Now)16:00 – The Foundry Model: Centralizing Biology20:00 – The 5 Levels of Lab Automation23:00 – Automation vs. Autonomy (Subway vs. Waymo)27:00 – The Technical Bottleneck: Connecting 150+ Machines34:30 – The Zymergen Acquisition & Strategic Pivot38:00 – Level 4 & 5 Labs: The Future of Programmable Biology

Episode 92. Ashlee Vance is a renowned tech and science reporter, filmmaker, and founder of Core Memory, a podcast and blog that chronicles the lives and discoveries of scientists and engineers (https://www.corememory.com/). He wrote the definitive biography on Elon Musk and has been documenting the modern space race and recent developments in AI, among other things.

Episode 91. Michael Koeris is the Director of the Biotechnologies Office at DARPA. Michael completed his PhD at Boston University and did postdoctoral research in synthetic biology at MIT. He spent time early in his career at Flagship Pioneering, is a former founder and executive of multiple biotechs,  and was formerly a professor at the Keck Graduate Institute.

Episode 90. Barry Bunin is the CEO and President at Collaborative Drug Discovery, which he founded 20 years ago. Prior to that, Barry was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Eli Lilly. He completed his PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry at UC Berkeley and his bachelor's degree in chemistry at Columbia University. To learn more about CDD: https://www.collaborativedrug.com/ai-drug-discovery#Bioisosteric-Suggestionshttps://www.collaborativedrug.com/curves#Calculationshttps://www.collaborativedrug.com/automation

Seemay Chou is co-founder and CEO at Arcadia Science, Board Member at Astera Institute, and Board Chairperson at The Navigation Fund. Seemay was previously an assistant professor at UCSF and completed her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley.

Episode 88. Eugene Yeo is a Professor at UC San Diego and is building a scientific ecosystem in San Diego. He runs the Innovation Center at Sanford Stem Cell Institute, is Scientific Director at the Sanford Consortium, Chief Scientist at the Sanford labs for Innovative Medicines, and Director of UC San Diego’s Center for RNA Technologies and Therapeutics.

Episode 87.  Sudarshan Pinglay is a researcher at the University of Washington and faculty at the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology (SeaHub). He did his PhD at New York University and bachelor's degree at Johns Hopkins. Jesse Gray is a Senior Director at SeaHub. He previously worked in industry at Ascidian Therapeutics and as a professor at Harvard Medical School. Jesse completed his PhD at UCSF and his undergrad at University of Wisconsin.

Episode 86. Prachee Avasthi is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Arcadia Science and Head of Open Science at the Astera Institute. Prachee was previously a professor at Dartmouth and University of Kansas. She completed a PhD in Neuroscience at University of Utah and her bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Episode 85. Fay Lin is a Senior Editor at GEN Biotechnology. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular, and Structural Biology at UCLA and undergrad in Biology at NYU with minors in Computer Science and Chemistry.GEN Biotechnology website: https://home.liebertpub.com/genbioCall for Papers: Special Issue in AI in Biotechnology: https://home.liebertpub.com/cfp/special-issue-artificial-intelligence-in-biotechnology/497/

Episode 84. Maryann Martone is an emeritus professor of neuroscience at UC San Diego. She received her BA from Wellesley College in Biological Psychology and Ancient Greek and her PhD in Neuroscience from the UC San Diego

Anand Muthusamy is a Fellow at Convergent Research, where he's laying the groundwork for a focused research organization (FRO) to monitor the real-time activity of biomarkers in humans. Anand is a chemist and neuroscientist. He recently completed his PhD at Caltech, worked at Janelia Research Campus, and did his undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania. Check out his recent paper on bioRxiv: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.15.584894v1Defense talk on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OK1kBOKsaawFRO proposal overview: https://fas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Muthusamy-Garrett-Molecular-Modeling.pdf

Episode 82. Alexander Titus is a professor at USC, doing research at the intersection of biology and AI. He completed his PhD in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences at Dartmouth. He's also the founder of Bioeconomy.xyz and advises the U.S. Government on AI and national security. Titus spent time at McKinsey and Google and helped build Colossal Biosciences and Form Bio. 

Episode 81. Ashley Ruba is the founder of After Academia and a Human Factors Engineer at Arthrex. Ashley did her PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Washington and her  undergrad degree at Duke University.  Show Notes: Infant language and emotional development lab  [02:00]NIH NRSA Institutional Postdoc Training Grant (T32) [03:48]Ashey’s academic story [01:45]Leaving academia [07:12] Human Factors Engineer [9:35]Arthrax [10:37]Working in augmented reality  [10:43]Attachment styles [13:10]How do you get your first job out of academia [16:05] Pivoting into UX research and Human Factors Engineering and the process of making the change [24:21]Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive  [28:44]Pivoting from big tech for stability and more growth opportunities  [29:40]Career coaching [32:22] Getting over self doubt, internal roadblock, and imposter syndrome [34:39]How do I get recruiter to look at my resume [38:32]Tactical tips on how to structure a resume [40:08]Motivating factors beyond salary and benefits [44:22]Being honest with yourself [47:11] Core values - growth  [48:21]Most unexpected change and realization [49:37]Listen to yourself [52:57]What advice would you give to your younger self? [54:09]The myth of being stuck in academia [57:06]

Episode 80. Amy Kruse is Chief Investment Officer at Satori Capital and a Venture Partner at Prime Movers Lab. Amy completed her PhD in Neuroscience at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After leaving the bench, Amy spent time as a Program Manager at DARPA and has worked in various operating roles in the neurotech industry.

Episode 79. Sammi Sison is co-president of Nucleate, an international student-led organization designed to help scientists kick off careers in entrepreneurship, business development, and venture capital. Sammi is a PhD student at UC San Diego where she studies translational processing in the brain. 

Episode 78. Kim Edwards, my partner, is the guest interviewer. We talk about motivations for starting a company. Check out the journey in real-time on my newsletter: transitionstates.substack.com

Episode 77. Jun Axup is Chief Operating Officer at E11 Bio, a Focused Research Organization. She is an entrepreneur and former Chief Scientific Officer and Partner at IndiBio. She's also a musician, artist, and community builder. Jun completed her PhD in Chemical Biology at Scripps Research. Check out some of her awesome projects at her personal website: https://junaxup.com/

Episode 76. We turn the table in this episode. William Marks, a longtime friend, interviews me in 2020 on the motivations behind getting into neuroscience and starting a podcast

Episode 75. Andrew Akbashev is a Scientist and Principal Investigator at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. He holds a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University and completed a postdoc at Stanford University. If you're not already, follow him on LinkedIn, X or YouTube for insights into navigating academia and science careersTimestamps: 00:15:14 How to pick a thesis advisor00:28:06 Evaluating student-advisor compatibility00:36:31 When doing a postdoc makes sense00:52:15 How to offer more career opportunities to PhDs01:12:01 How to incentivize higher risk research01:20:27  Increasing communication skills among scientists01:25:21 Role of social media in science01:26:32 The pressures many group leaders face01:34:00 Importance of mentorship and the need for strong mentors in public forums01:41:31 Fostering a collaborative (rather than competitive) mindset

Episode 74. Clarice Aiello is the Principal Investigator of the Quantum Biology lab at UCLA. She completed a PhD in Electrical Engineering at MIT and did postdoctoral fellowships at Stanford and UC Berkeley. Check out this article she wrote about quantum biology for the American Physical Society: https://physics.aps.org/articles/v16/79To learn more about quantum mechanics, click here:  https://www.qubitbyqubit.org/

Episode 73. Julio de Unamuno IV is the Founder & CEO of LabFellows and Executive Director of HomeLab, the biotech accelerator at UC San Diego's Center for Novel Therapeutics. He did his undergrad in Biochemistry at the University of San Diego and an MBA at the UC San Diego, Rady School of Management. 

Episode 72. Gertrude Nonterah is a Medical Communications professional at Thermo Fisher and the creator of The Bold PhD, where she helps PhDs navigate non-academic careers. Gee did a postdoc at UC San Diego, PhD at Temple University, and undergrad degrees at Virginia Commonwealth University and PennWest Edinboro. Check out her blog and newsletter at: www.theboldphd.com

Episode 71. SK Sharma is the Chief Analytics and AI Officer at Universal Music Group and an Entrepreneur in Residence at UC San Diego. SK completed his PhD at Caltech in Biophysical Chemistry and Biological/Chemical Physics. He has held senior executive roles across investment banking, strategy consulting and venture capital. Remarkably, SK continues to publish biomedical research in academic journals. Make sure to check out some of his other media appearances mentioned in the show:Billboard 40 Under 40 - How a Scientist is Helping the Music Biz Unlock the Power of Data UCSD Commencement Keynote (1hr, 16min in) Ideas in StemEd Podcast The MBW Podcast

Episode 70. Aditya Mahara is a Senior Product Manager at Medable and has worked in product management at AstraZeneca and Siemens Healthineers. Aditya completed a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Dartmouth College and a Bachelor's degree in Physics at Rollins College. He's also the creator of the PhD to Industry blog, where he provides career advice to PhDs. Check it out at https://phdtoindustry.substack.com/

Episode 69. Tatiana Novobrantseva is the Chief Scientific Officer of Immuno-Oncology Research at Moderna Therapeutics. She has worked at multiple biotech companies including Verseau Therapeutics (co-founder), Third Rock Ventures/Jounce, Alnylam, Biogen, and others. Tatiana completed a PhD in Genetics at the University of Cologne and a postdoc at Harvard Medical School before jumping into the world of biotech.

Episode 68. Jake Haworth is an Associate Director of Research and Early Development Operations at Moderna. Jake did an undergraduate degree at the University of New Mexico and spent time as a researcher at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute before managing operations in a series of biotech startups.

Episode 67. Aadeel Akhtar is CEO of PSYONIC, a neuroprosthetics company. Aadeel did his undergraduate degree and first master's degree at Loyola University Chicago. He completed a second master's degree and a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Episode 66. John Lubin is a Director of Business Development at Science Exchange. After completing his PhD in Molecular Biology at the Salk Institute, John spent time working as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group.

Episode 65. Tari Suprapto is a Director of Search and Evaluation at Novo Nordisk and Board Chair at the San Diego Innovation Council. Tari completed her PhD at The Rockefeller University in Cellular and Structural Biology and has worked in technology transfer and business development at The Rockefeller University and Salk Institute.

Episode 64. Cara Altimus is a Senior Director at the Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Managing Director at BD2 Discoveries. She completed her completed a PhD and postdoc in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University and is a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow.

Episode 63. Ariane Tom is the Founder and Managing Director at Kaleida Capital. She completed her undergraduate, Master's, and PhD degrees at Stanford University, focusing on Materials Science and Bioengineering.

Episode 62. Anupam Chakravarty is a Senior Scientist at Guardant Health. After doing a postdoc at Stanford, Anupam spent time as an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan. Anupam completed his PhD from Cornell University and did his dissertation research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. 

Episode 61. Adriana Bankston is a Principal Legislative Analyst at the University of California Federal Government Relations. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology at Emory University and her bachelor's degree at Clemson University. This episode represents the individual's personal views and not the views of their employer.  https://adrianabankston.com/

Episode 60. Jenny Ro wears many hats. She is currently a Senior Market Development Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Jenny is the founder of Curious Reactor and Flidea. She completed her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Michigan and a postdoc at Harvard Medical School.

Episode 59. Chris Conner is a storyteller, podcaster,  and documentary filmmaker. He runs Life Science Marketing Radio. Chris completed his Master's degree in Genetics at the University of Utah and a Bachelor's degree at University of Colorado Boulder.

Episode 58. Philip R. La Porta is an instructor and professor of physics at Rowan University and host of The Whiparound podcast.  He completed his PhD in physics at Lehigh University and bachelor's at Muhlenberg College. 

Episode 57. Kyle Frankovich is an Engineering Project Manager in Data Science at Apple. During the recording of this episode he was a Data Scientist at Insight Data Science. Kyle completed his bachelor's degree at University of Pittsburgh and his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at University of California, Davis.

Episode 56. Nicole Parker is a Principal at Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC where she serves as a government relations associate. Nicole completed a PhD at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health and a bachelor's degree at the University of Maryland Baltimore County

Episode 55. Ulyana Desiderio is Director of Life Sciences at Maryland Department of Commerce. She did her PhD at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and was the Chief Scientific Officer for the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Episode 54. Julie Kauer is a professor in the Stanford Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She completed her PhD at Yale and did postdoctoral work at UCSF and Stanford.

Episode 53. Shaena Montanari is an Investigative Reporter at Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. She completed her PhD in Comparative Biology at the American Museum of Natural History and undergrad at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also completed a Master's degree in Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University.

Episode 52. Neal Bloom is CEO at Rising Tide Partners, Managing Partner at Interlock Capital, and Founder and CEO at Fresh Brewed Tech. He's also a UCSD graduate, San Diego evangelist, and host of the Tacos & Tech podcast.

Episode 51. Kunal Ghosh is Founder and CEO at Inscopix. Kunal completed his Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering at University of Pennsylvania and a Master's degree and PhD in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University.

Episode 50. Alisa Atkins is a technical sales consultant at Miltenyi Biotec. She completed her undergraduate in Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley and her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

Episode 49. Richard Ransohoff is a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures and interim Chief Medical Officer at Abata Therapeutics. Richard is a physician-scientist. He completed his undergraduate degree at Bard College and his MD at Case Western Reserve University.