BIOS

Dave Mooney is a leader in the fields of biomaterials, mechanotransduction, drug delivery, tissue engineering and immunoengineering. He is interested in understanding how cells sense signals in their environment and how this alters cell behavior. His laboratory develops biomaterials that exploit these signals to regulate specific cells and their function. They were the first to demonstrate in 3-D culture that the mechanical properties of a substrate regulated stem cell fate. His lab also developed the first implantable biomaterial cancer vaccine that contained biochemical cues to recruit and re-educate the immune system to destroy cancer cells. Mooney’s goal is to use our knowledge of cell biology in conjunction with materials to boost therapeutic effects.Mooney is the Robert Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a Core Faculty Member of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. He is a member of several national academies and has won numerous awards for his research and his mentorship/teaching. He has published over 400 articles and has been issued numerous patents, several of which have been licensed to companies, resulting in successful commercial products. He is also an active member in major engineering professional societies, an editorial advisor to multiple journals, and serves on several industry and government advisory boards.Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license) 

Tom lnsel, psychiatrist & neuroscientist, has been a national leader in mental health research, policy, and technology. From 2002-2015, Insel served as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). More recently (2015 – 2017), he led the Mental Health Team at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences) in South San Francisco, CA. In 2017 he co-founded Mindstrong Health, a Silicon Valley start-up building tools for people with serious mental illness. In 2019, Insel served as a special advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom, helping on behavioral health issues. In 2020, he co-founded Humanest Care, a therapeutic online community for recovery. He is currently Chair of the Board of the Steinberg Institute and serves on the boards of Fountain House, Foundation for NIH, and the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy as well as being an advisor to several mental health start-ups. He is the author of the forthcoming book Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health, to be published by Penguin Random House in February 2022. With journalist co-founders, he recently launched MindSite News (www.mindsitenews.org), a non-profit digital publication focused on mental health issues. Insel is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has received numerous national and international awards including honorary degrees in the U.S. and Europe.Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license) 

David Berry is Founder & CEO @ Valo. Since 2005, he has served as General Partner @ Flagship Pioneering, having founded over 25 companies including Indigo Agriculture, Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), Eleven Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: EBIO), T2 Biosystems (NASDAQ: TTOO), Evelo Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVLO), Axcella Health (NASDAQ: AXLA), and Joule Unlimited. David played an instrumental role in the conception and implementation of Flagship Labs, which is the foundation of all of its companies. David has been broadly recognized as a world-leading innovator: elected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, named as Innovator of the Year by Technology Review from amongst its Annual TR35 list, and selected as one of 12 Innovators Reshaping Reality by the U.S. State Department, alongside pioneers such as Tim Berners-Lee. He holds over 200 patents and patent applications. David and his companies have been awarded with over 150 additional awards and honors. David currently serves on the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN), where he was a Founding Leadership Council Member. David received his MD from Harvard Medical School and his PhD from MIT in Biological Engineering.David received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D. from MIT in biological engineering, through the Health Sciences and Technology program completing the fastest dual degree in the modern history of the program, during which he was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize award for the most inventive and innovative student at MIT.Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license) 

David Baker is the director of the Institute for Protein Design, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Henrietta and Aubrey Davis Endowed Professor in Biochemistry, and an adjunct professor of genome sciences, bioengineering, chemical engineering, computer science, and physics at the University of Washington. His research group is focused on the design of macromolecular structures and functions.He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry with Randy Schekman at the University of California, Berkeley, and did postdoctoral work in biophysics with David Agard at UCSF. Baker has received awards from the National Science Foundation, the Beckman Foundation, and the Packard Foundation. He is the recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Irving Sigal and Hans Neurath awards from the Protein Society, the Overton Prize from the ISCB, the Feynman Prize from the Foresight Institute, the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize, the Sackler prize in biophysics, and the Centenary Award from the Biochemical society. Sixty-five of his mentees have gone on to independent faculty positions, he has published over 500 research papers, been granted over 100 patents, and co-founded 13 companies.Baker is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a project leader with The Audacious Project.Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license) 

Jim Collins, a pioneer in synthetic biology and Professor at MIT, discusses his journey from physics to groundbreaking innovations in healthcare. He highlights the transformative potential of AI and CRISPR technology in addressing global challenges like antibiotic resistance and rapid diagnostics, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Collins shares insights on ethical leadership in biotech and the importance of empowering the next generation of innovators, emphasizing a future where synthetic biology revolutionizes sustainability and health.

Michael Snyder is the Stanford Ascherman Professor and Chair of Genetics and the Director of the Center of Genomics and Personalized Medicine. He is a leader in the field of functional genomics and proteomics. His laboratory study was the first to perform a large-scale functional genomics project in any organism, and currently carries out a variety of projects in the areas of genomics and proteomics both in yeast and humans. These include the large-scale analysis of proteins using protein microarrays and the global mapping of the binding sites of chromosomal proteins. His laboratory built the first proteome chip for any organism and the first high resolution tiling array for the entire human genome.He is a cofounder of several biotechnology companies, including Protometrix (now part of Life Technologies), Affomix (now part of Illumina), Excelix, and Personalis, and he presently serves on the board of a number of companies.Snyder received his Ph.D. training at the California Institute of Technology and carried out postdoctoral training at Stanford University. He is a leader in the field of big data and implementing it into healthcare.Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license) 

Alaa Halawa & Ayman AlAbdallah are two integral members of the Mubadala Ventures team & lead the firm’s efforts in TechBio. Alaa Halawa is the Co-Head of Mubadala Capital Ventures SF, where he focuses on investing in venture and early growth-stage companies at the intersection of life sciences and technology. Among other themes within life sciences investing, Alaa has concentrated on the following: how technology is enhancing the pharmaceutical industry, from drug discovery through clinical trials; and how technology - and in particular bio-informatics, artificial intelligence and machine learning - is enhancing disease diagnosis. Alaa joined Mubadala in 2009 where he worked on designing and implementing the strategy to develop a technology cluster in Abu Dhabi focusing on semiconductor research through partnerships with Silicon Valley companies and academic institutions. Alaa then moved to the Bay Area to support the transition of Executive Leadership in one of Mubadala's key assets in Silicon Valley, GlobalFoundries, where he worked on a series of strategic, corporate development and transformation initiatives. Alaa holds an MBA from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Jordan.Alaa sits on the boards of Recursion, Alloy Therapeutics, Outpace, Xilis, Innovaccer, among others. &Ayman AlAbdallah is a San Francisco-based investor at Mubadala Ventures. In his role, he focuses on early and growth stage investments in technology, healthcare, and life sciences. Prior to Mubadala, Ayman worked in corporate development at Tecan Group (SWX: Tecan) where he co-managed M&A and equity investment efforts in the US and Europe. He began his career as a management consultant at Accenture, where he helped businesses in Canada and the US solve critical strategy and operational challenges. He has also worked with the hedge fund team at OMERS Capital, where he focused on the intersection of machine learning and event-driven investing. In addition to his investing and consulting background, Ayman’s journey includes operating experience having been involved with a number of startups, including Sentinelle Medical (acquired by Hologics), Pullsar Technologies (acquired by Tecan), and Airo Health (Y Combinator, Summer 2016 batch). Ayman completed his M.B.A. and mechanical engineering studies at the University of Toronto where he received the Chalmers award and a fellowship for his engineering research thesis investigating novel Lab-on-a-Chip platforms.Ayman sits on the board of Xilis, Unlearn, & Ansa Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license) 

David Schaffer is a Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Bioengineering, & Neuroscience @ University of California Berkeley, he also serves as the Director of QB3 - Berkeley. At Berkeley, Schaffer applies engineering principles to enhance Stem Cell & Gene Therapy approaches for Neuro-Regeneration. This work includes mechanistic investigation of stem cell control, as well as molecular evolution & engineering of viral gene delivery vehicles. He has Co-founded six companies including: 4D Molecular Therapeutics - which uses a novel technology platform to engineer optimized, proprietary adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors for gene therapy, Ignite Immunotherapies, which is developing novel oncolytic virus technologies as cancer therapies in partnership with Pfizer, Valitor - which is developing a novel protein-polymer conjugation technology to develop greatly enhanced protein biologics for a range of disease targets, Axent focused on stem cell therapies, & two others in stealth. Schaffer graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering in 1993. Afterward, he pursued a PhD @ MIT with Professor Doug Lauffenburger & conducted a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Fred Gage @ The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, before moving to UC Berkeley in 1999. Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license) 

Jennifer Friel Goldstein is the Managing Partner for Life Science & Healthcare Practice @ SVB Capital and is a founding member of Venture Forward, a nonprofit that provides resources and education toward developing a diverse, equitable and inclusive venture capital (VC) ecosystem. She is also an advisory board member of Springboard Enterprises and the Women’s Health Innovation Coalition. Jennifer has more than 20 years of experience in the VC and startup market segments, including leading and building several teams over the past eight years at Silicon Valley Bank. Before that, she was a director on Pfizer’s VC team, where she helped lead or co-lead investments into several life sciences companies. She also led fund of funds investment decisions and independently managed Pfizer’s $250 million private equity (PE) portfolio. Jennifer served as a consultant on PE deals across Europe while at Bain & Company and held operational and research roles at Chiron, Genelabs, and Genencor. Jennifer graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering and a master’s degree in biotechnology from the University of Pennsylvania. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School, where she was named a Joseph Wharton Fellow. She also serves as an independent director at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Jennifer lives in the Bay Area with her husband and their twin children.W/ Special Guest Host: Nabiha Saklayen - Cofounder & CEO @ CellinoNabiha Saklayen is a bio-inspired physicist and Co-Founder & CEO @ Cellino. Nabiha launched Cellino to converge physics, biology, and machine learning to enable paradigm shifts in autologous regenerative medicine. Nabiha was recognized as a Pioneer in MIT Tech Review’s 35 Innovators under 35 list for her inventions in laser-based delivery methods and is on the 2019 Forbes under 30 List for Healthcare. She received her Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University as an HHMI International Fellow. She made significant scientific contributions to the field of pulsed-laser delivery to cells, with several peer-reviewed papers published, patents pending, and grants awarded. Nabiha grew up in Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Germany, and Sri Lanka and currently lives in Boston, MA.Cellino is on a mission to make personalized, autologous cell therapies accessible for patients. Stem cell-derived regenerative medicines are poised to cure some of the most challenging diseases within this decade, including Parkinson’s, diabetes, and heart disease. Patient-specific cells provide the safest, most effective cures for these indications. However, current autologous processes are not scalable due to extensive manual handling, high variability, and expensive facility overhead. Cellino’s vision is to make personalized regenerative medicines viable at large scale for the first time. Cellino’s platform combines label-free imaging and high-speed laser editing with machine learning to automate cell reprogramming, expansion, and differentiation in a closed cassette format, enabling thousands of patient samples to be processed in parallel in a single facility.Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license) 

Vijay Pande is a General Partner @ Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he focuses on investments in Biopharma & Healthcare. As the founding investor of a16z’s Bio Fund, Vijay leads the firm’s investments at the cross section of biology and computer science, including applications in computation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence in healthcare; digital therapeutics; diagnostics; and other novel transformative scientific advances applied to industry that take bio beyond healthcare. Op-eds by Vijay defining trends and issues in this emerging space have been published by The New York Times, Scientific American, and Forbes, among others. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University.Previously, Vijay was the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Structural Biology and of Computer Science at Stanford University, where he led a team of researchers pioneering computational methods and their application to medicine and biology (resulting in over 300 publications, two patents, and two novel drug candidates). Vijay was also concurrently the director of the Biophysics program at Stanford, where he led a team of more than 50 faculty members and propelled the program to the top in the country.During his time at Stanford, Vijay co-founded Globavir Biosciences, where he translated his research advances into a successful startup that aimed to discover cures for Dengue Fever and Ebola. Vijay also founded the Folding@Home Distributed Computing Project for disease research, which pushed the boundaries of computer science techniques (distributed systems, machine learning, and exotic computer architectures) into biology and medicine, in both research as well as the development of new therapeutics.Vijay holds a BA in Physics from Princeton University and a PhD in Physics from MIT. He has been awarded the DeLano Prize in Computation; a Guinness World Record for Folding@Home; the American Chemical Society Thomas Kuhn Paradigm Shift Award; and was selected for MIT TR10. In his teens, Vijay was the first employee at video game startup Naughty Dog Software, maker of Crash Bandicoot.Vijay serves on the board of the following Andreessen Horowitz portfolio companies: Apeel Sciences, BioAge Labs, Ciitizen, Devoted Health, Freenome, Insitro, Nautilus Biotechnology, Omada Health, Scribe Therapeutics, and Q Bio.Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license)