Advertise on podcast: First Rounders

Brady Huggett signs off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jay Keasling is a professor in the College of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, where he runs the Keasling lab. He’s also the CEO of the Joint BioEnergy Institute, and has been involved in several startups. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers growing up on the family farm in Nebraska, how Genentech led him into biotech, and the future of biofuels. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ingmar Hoerr is a co-founder and former CEO of CureVac. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers his initial discovery with RNA while in his PhD program, the struggle to find venture financing for CureVac, and how a brain aneurysm changed his view on life.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lita Nelsen is the former long-time director of the Technology Licensing Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her talk with Nature Biotechnology covers her father’s life designing television antennas, what drove her to the chemical engineering program at MIT, and the ingredients required to create an entrepreneurial environment on campus (and beyond). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Stan Crooke is born ⬩ A tenuous existence ⬩ Life with his mother ⬩ The Tech Corner ⬩ Arsenal Tech High School ⬩ Nancy ⬩ Hoodlum ways ⬩ Off to Purdue See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Anthony Atala is the director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University. He is also a co-founder of Precise Bio. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers implanting the first tissue-engineered bladder into a patient, Wake Forest’s plans for fostering entrepreneurship, and how he was coerced into a research career by a mentor. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nancy Simonian is president and CEO of Syros Pharmaceuticals. Her conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers going against the advice of her mentor to take a job at Biogen; the long, winding path to approval for the multiple myeloma drug Velcade; and assisting her father in the operating room as a girl. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Carl June is a co-founder of Tmunity Therapeutics, and a professor in immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also runs the June Lab. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology includes how a boyhood fractured arm led him to his first scientific experiment, his years of service with the Navy, and his groundbreaking work with CAR T-cells. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Craig Mello is co-founder of Atalanta Therapeutics and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he runs the Mello Lab. He is also a Nobel Laureate. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers the lure of conspiracy theorists, the state of RNA therapeutics, and getting that call from the Nobel committee.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Neil Kumar is a co-founder and CEO of BridgeBio Pharma. He discussed with Nature Biotechnology his youth in the Midwest, the founding principles behind BridgeBio, and understanding where your strengths lie. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Grace Colón is president and CEO of InCarda Therapeutics. Her conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico; her love of musical theater; and how grad school at MIT guided her toward a career in entrepreneurship.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tillman Gerngross is the CEO and co-founder of Adimab, and a professor of bioengineering at Dartmouth College. His conversation with Nature Biotechnology covers his years at GlycoFi, the nature of problem solving in entrepreneurship, and Adimab’s paper last year challenging the work of MIT researcher Ram Sasisekharan.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.