The Biotech Startups Podcast 🧬 Inner Rebel: Art, Physics & Purpose-Driven Leadership | Judy Chou (Part 1/4)
Jan 19, 2026
01:37:35
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"Multidisciplinary is key. It's where the innovation really comes from."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast by Excedr, AltruBio President and CEO Judy Chou traces her journey from an arts-driven childhood in politically tense, conservative Taiwan to leading a clinical-stage biotech company in the U.S., sharing how an “inner rebel,” a love of physics, and two pivotal uncles redirected her from an elite engineering track into medicine and biology at National Taiwan University, where she hustled her way into research labs each summer. A heartbreaking encounter with a young boy whose mother was dying of leukemia convinced her that treating one patient at a time was not enough, propelling her to Yale for a PhD, where she earned five Honors in a single semester, dove into cutting-edge neuroscience and synaptic vesicle biology, and survived a “Home Alone” phase after her advisor left—pushing a cart of reagents between world-class labs and forging the resilience, independence, and multidisciplinary mindset that now underpin her leadership and her pursuit of first-in-class therapies for immune and inflammatory diseases.
Key topics covered:
- Inner Rebel & Upbringing: Growing up in conservative, politically tense Taiwan and developing an inner drive to follow expectations while quietly breaking traditions.
- Choosing Science Over the Arts: Moving from prodigy-level talent in painting, music, and writing to physics, and ultimately into medicine and biology after pivotal family conversations.
- The Longest Walk: How witnessing a young leukemia patient losing his mother in the ER catalyzed Judy’s decision to leave clinical practice and focus on finding real solutions in the lab.
- Yale & Neuroscience: Earning five Honors in one semester, entering a nascent neuroscience program, and working at the frontier of synaptic vesicle biology amid future Nobel-winning discoveries.
- Radical Independence in Training: Surviving after her PI left Yale, becoming a “homeless scientist” moving between elite labs, and how that forged the independence and multidisciplinary mindset she carries into biotech leadership today.
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Subscribe to the Podcast:
Find our guest, Judy Chou at these links:
Website: https://www.altrubio.com/altrubio/en
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:
SNARE Complex and Synaptic Vesicle Biology: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2013/summary/
James Rothman's Nobel Prize Research on Vesicle Trafficking: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrm3323
Rab Proteins and Intracellular Trafficking: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3146697/
Neuroscience Graduate Programs and Multidisciplinary Training: https://medicine.yale.edu/neuroscience/
CPG Column Technology for Protein Purification: CPG (Controlled Pore Glass) Synthesis Column, 0.2 ÎĽmol, 500 Angstrom Pore Size, T Each
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry: https://www.mpinat.mpg.de/en
Bone Marrow Transplantation in Acute Leukemia: Stem Cell Transplant for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) | American Cancer Society
​Howard Hughes Medical Institute Graduate Programs: Becoming an HHMI Scientist | HHMI Science Programs
High-Throughput Screening in Biologics Development: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd1470
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
Yale University: https://www.yale.edu/
​Max Planck Institute: https://www.mpg.de/en
Harvard Medical School: https://hms.harvard.edu/
National Taiwan University: https://www.ntu.edu.tw/english/
Reinhard Jahn https://www.mpinat.mpg.de/jahn
Pietro De Camilli https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/pietro-decamilli/
Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas https://www.gairdner.org/winner/spyros-artavanis-tsakonas
Manfred Eigen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Eigen
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
04:45 Growing Up in Taiwan: Living with Threats and Breaking Tradition
07:45 The Inner Rebel and Conservative Expectations
11:02 Artist Family Background: Parents in Literature and Library Sciences
12:19 From Arts Prodigy to Politics to Science
13:36 Falling in Love with Physics in Middle School
16:48 Two Uncles Change Everything: The Medical School Decision
25:21 Medical School Experience and Lab Work
29:59 Professor Chen and the Shadow of Limited Solutions
33:06 The Longest Walk: Emergency Room to Lab
38:03 Choosing Yale for PhD and Genuine Curiosity
41:45 Five Honors in One Semester at Yale
49:59 The "Home Alone" PhD: When the Lab Moved Away
55:40 Max Planck Postdoc: CPG Columns and Concert Halls
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.