Best of 2021 – FYI Podcast Compilation

As the year comes to an end, we would like to thank everyone who listened to the FYI — For Your Innovation podcast. 2021 was another up and down year, as the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. In this final episode of 2021, we compiled some of our most interesting podcast episodes for you. Please enjoy this summary and tune back in when we return in 2022 with a new and improved version of FYI.

1. Understanding mRNA. Conversations with Moderna and Arcturus Therapeutics (EP 89)
Alexandra Urman, interviews Stéphane Bancel and Joseph Payne, CEOs of Moderna and Arcturus Therapeutics respectively about mRNA technology and its possibilities for the future. We discuss how mRNA can be used as a vaccine to combat SARS-CoV-2, its benefits, challenges, intellectual property landscape, and how it can be used for oncology and rare diseases.
(Listen to the Full Episode)

2. Autonomous Vehicles Powered By End-To-End Deep Learning with Alex Kendall, Wayve.ai (EP 90)
Tasha Keeney invited Alex Kendall, Co-Founder and CEO at Wayve.ai onto the show to speak about how the company is differentiating itself and solving some of the problems to wide adoption of self-driving cars. The private company Wayve.ai aims to build scalable, adaptable robotics for learning algorithms for self-driving cars.
(Listen to the Full Episode)

3. The Terra Blockchain with Do Kwon (EP 98)
Frank Downing spoke with Do Kwon, the founder and CEO of Terraform Labs and the Terra blockchain, as well as former ARK analyst James Wang. Terra is in the top 30 of the thousands of different blockchains that currently exist, and as Do explains in the conversation, it has some interesting features that set it apart from its so-called peers. (Listen to the Full Episode)

4. Competitive Mobile Gaming with Andrew Paradise, CEO and Founder of Skillz (EP 100)
ARK analysts, Nick Grous and Andrew Kim sat down with Andrew Paradise, CEO and Founder of Skillz Inc., a publicly traded company[1] and mobile games platform that connects players and developers, enabling competitive social games. They discussed his thoughts on the mobile gaming market, the technology stack necessary for mobile gaming platforms, monetization of mobile gamers, the importance of social experiences within and outside of games, and the rise of casual and professional esports. (Listen to the Full Episode)

5. Therapeutic Human Gene Editing with Dr. David Liu (EP 106)
Alexandra Urman interviewed Dr. David Liu to discuss exciting developments in therapeutic gene editing. Dr. Liu is a Richard Merkin Professor, Director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies and Healthcare, Vice-Chair of the Faculty at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and the Co-founder or Founder of nine biotech or therapeutics companies. He’s published over 195 scientific papers and is the inventor of over 75 issued patents. (Listen to the Full Episode)