Once a Scientist

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. 

Ashley Ruba, academic expat and career coach, discusses leaving academia, pivoting into UX research and Human Factors Engineering, and providing career coaching. They also touch on attachment styles, structuring a resume, and the myth of being stuck in academia.

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.