The Chain: Protein Engineering Podcast

With the whirlwind development of AI, it can be difficult to keep track of its uses in both research and the market. In this episode of The Chain podcast, host Ben Hackel, Professor of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science at the University of Minnesota, speaks with Enkelejda “Ledi” Miho, Professor of Digital Life Sciences at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, who breaks down the current state of AI and its role in drug development. She talks about the opportunities of AI and drug discovery and how digital biomarkers and molecular data are helping with personalized medicine. Miho also discusses the challenges of advancing AI, why having an “adisciplinary” approach is the key to assembling the right team, and how to design studies to be as broadly robust as possible, as well as the advancements of her and her team’s own research. 

What is the first step of getting into biotech? How do you make real progress in research? In honor of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, host Nimish Gera discusses these topics and more with Jonathan Sockolosky, PhD, Director of CSO Partner Team at Curie.Bio, in this special episode of The Chain. Jonathan details how he got started in biotech, what inspires him to keep going, his personal interests in ovarian cancer treatments, and what he does to raise funds to further ovarian cancer research. Jonathan also offers advice on how others can get involved in causes they are passionate about and how to give back to the community, as well as the progress that has been made in ovarian cancer therapy. Links from this episode:  Curie.Bio Mythic Therapeutics  

In this episode of The Chain, Brandon Dekosky, Associate Professor at MIT, speaks with Adrian Bot, Founding Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of R&D at Capstan Therapeutics, about his experiences in leadership roles, his scientific journey, and how he started work on immunotherapy for cancer. Bot also shares what it's like to be a “serial scientific entrepreneur” and the importance of networking to assemble a team that shares mutual interests, as well as how to motivate young scientists and researchers coming into the biotech industry. Finally, he discusses why he finds flat organizational structures with smaller teams more effective and what he does to maintain innovation. 

In this special episode of The Chain, G. Jonah Rainey, Senior Director of Protein Engineering at Eli Lilly and Company, hosts a panel at PEGS 2023 to discuss strategies to engineer parameters for solid tumor-targeting T-cell-engagers. Guests Stephen J. Demarest from Tentarix Biotherapeutics, Michelle Morrow from F-Star Therapeutics, Inc., and Dario Neri from Philogen provide their insights and experiences on navigating challenges, researching treatments, and the positives and negatives of certain targeting strategies. They also answer questions from the audience and share their perspectives on the future of tumor-targeting and what technology can do to help with developing effective cures. Links from this episode:  PEGS Boston Conference & Expo Engineering Bispecific Antibodies Eli Lilly and CompanyTentatrix Biotherapeutics   F-Star Therapeutics, Inc. Philogen 

In this month’s episode of The Chain, Greg M. Thurber, associate professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, sits with moderator Nimish Gera, vice president of biologics at Mythic Therapeutics, to talk about the development of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). Thurber details the history of ADCs and the skepticism facing the field during the mid-2010s, despite showing great promise in anticancer treatment. He also discusses how recent FDA approvals and breakthroughs have reignited interest and pivoted research toward designing more successful ADCs. Finally, he shares his thoughts on the exciting developments in the field in the next few years, including how ADCs could play a key role in polytherapy.  

Kyron.Bio is revolutionizing drug production with its Next Generation Bioproduction Platform that will make the production of therapeutics easier, cheaper and faster. Voldborg and McLaughlin talk about their shared vision for using synthetic biology to improve the production of therapeutic proteins.   Kyron.Bio: https://kyron.bio/  

In this month’s episode of the Chain, guest Peter Tessier, Albert M. Mattocks pharmaceutical sciences and chemical engineering professor at the University of Michigan, speaks with moderator Tariq Ghayur, scientific advisor and entrepreneur in residence at FairJourney Biologics, about expediting the developability of antibodies. He discusses the characteristics that best predict a molecule’s drug-like properties, the different assays used for various intended outcomes, and why every scientist must assess the “greatest potential impact” before embarking on a new experiment. Tessier also talks about the core traditions that help him lead students in the lab while fostering a learning environment of ownership, integrity, and self-motivation. Last, he shares his predictions on how computational data will advance antibody discovery and developability in the future.  

Dr. Andrew Anzalone, head of the Prime Editing Platform and scientific co-founder at Prime Medicine, is the winner of the PEGS Boston 2023 Young Scientist Keynote. He was invited to sit down with Brandon DeKosky, assistant professor of chemical engineering at MIT, to discuss prime editing and its precision in treating inherited genetic mutations. Anzalone outlines the next generation tool’s advantages over traditional CRISPR methods and the mechanism creating fewer gene editing errors. He also discusses his clinical training and background, the ongoing projects at Prime Medicine in engineering proteins for cell-based therapeutics, and his thoughts on the current challenges and future developments in gene editing and precision medicine. Links from this episode:  Prime Medicine PEGS Boston Conference & Expo   

Jan Terje Andersen, professor of biomedical innovation in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oslo and research group leader in the Department of Immunology at the Oslo University Hospital, has spent nearly two decades studying neonatal Fc receptors (FcRns) and their interactions with prominent blood proteins albumin and IgG. He sits down with moderator Nimish Gera, vice president of biologics at Mythic Therapeutics, to discuss the unique properties of FcRn and how it can be leveraged for novel therapeutic development. Additionally, Andersen details the mechanics of FcRn binding, why it prolongs albumin and IgG half-lives, and notable FcRn technological advancements and research findings in animal and human models. He also talks about engineering blood proteins for optimal function and launching his new venture, Authera, the preclinical stage biotech company using an FcRn-centered platform to study the receptor’s versatility across multiple cell types. Links from this episode:  University of Oslo Mythic Therapeutics Authera 

In this month’s episode of the Chain, Jim Wells, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and cellular and molecular pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco, sits down with moderator Ben Hackel, associate professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the University of Minnesota, to discuss Wells’ work in advancing targeted protein degradation. Wells outlines the key design elements of targeted protein degraders and their general mechanism of action, how his lab developed antibody-based PROTACs—also known as AbTACs—to target extracellular proteins, and the innovative work from industry leaders that inspired his lab’s discoveries. He also speaks about the lingering questions driving ongoing and future projects, the challenges facing the protein degradation space, and why he considers himself a “pirate of biology” rather than an inventor. Links from this episode:  University of California, San Francisco University of Minnesota Development of Antibody-Based PROTACs for the Degradation of the Cell-Surface Immune Checkpoint Protein PD-L1 PEGSBoston Conference and Expo