Dr. Yaniv Erlich is the co-founder and CEO of Eleven Therapeutics. Prior, he was the CSO of MyHeritage, a consumer genomics company (acquired by Francisco Partners), an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University and a Principal Investigator at the Whitehead Institute, MIT.
We talked with Yaniv about his unique career that led him to leave academia and focus his efforts on building exciting biotech companies. Yaniv shared his insights into academic and non academic career development pathways for scientists, delved into the advantages of building a company in the UK as well as shed some light on how research is done at Eleven Therapeutics.
Tune in and join the discussion in our 'mAcademia podcast' group on Facebook.
Music
Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Dov Moran, Managing Partner of Grove Ventures, is one of the most prominent Israeli hi-tech leaders in the world. Dov is an investor, inventor, and entrepreneur, who is best known as the inventor of the USB flash drive. He founded M-Systems, acquired by SanDisk for $US 1.6 billion in 2006. He also served as the chairman of Tower Semiconductors, a developer and manufacturer of semiconductors and integrated circuits, in which he led a massive overhaul. Under Moran’s guidance, the company achieved a notable turnaround and became an enormous success. It was acquired by Intel in 2022 for 5.4 billion.
We talked about innovation, entrepreneurship, out of the box thinking and much more. We also mentioned Dov's first book ‘100 Doors - An Introduction to Entrepreneurship’ that was published in 2016 and included insights from his untraditional path.
Music:
Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Over two years have past since we started this podcast. We learned a lot! We also applied some key take home messages to our own lives and careers. Today we share our progress with you!
Corrie Painter is the Deputy Director of Count Me In and is a research scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. A trained cancer researcher with a Ph.D. in biochemistry, she completed her postdoctoral work in cancer immunology, focusing on melanoma. In 2010, Painter was diagnosed with angiosarcoma. She has combined her cancer advocacy and scientific background to engage with patients in order to build and carry out patient-partnered genomics studies. She is also the co-founder of Angiosarcoma Awareness Inc.
We talked with Corrie about her brave and determined journey, about how scientists can lead work of impact and change, about personal strengths, determination and appreciation of life. This is an inspirational conversation, demonstrating how much good can come out of adversity, how much impact can be achieved, when nothing else seems acceptable. Don't miss this conversation.
Music:
Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Running a team of diverse skills, and having them talk, learn, innovate and grow together while driving scientific breakthroughs? This is exactly what happens at the Satchi-Fainaro laboratory.
Ronit Satchi-Fainaro is a full Professor at Tel Aviv University, where she is head of the Cancer Research & Nanomedicine Laboratory, Director of Tel Aviv University Cancer Biology Research Center, Director of the TAU Kahn 3D BioPrinting Initiative, and holds the Kurt and Herman Lion Chair in Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies. She serves on the Board of Directors of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Blavatnik Center for Drug Discovery, the Israel Cancer Association, the University of Lisbon, the Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron - Institut de Recerca (VHIR), The Rothschild and Fulbright Fellowships Committees, several VCs, and editorial boards of scientific journals.
Her multidisciplinary research laboratory focuses on basic research elucidating the mechanisms underlying the switch from cancer dormancy leading to the discovery of new molecular targets to interrupt tumor-host interactions. Her approach is followed by the design of highly selective targeting molecules integrating biology, chemistry, medicine, data science, engineering and nanotechnology to selectively guide drugs into pathological sites. Throughout, she has maintained an interest in understanding the biological rationale for the design of nanomedicines suitable for transfer into clinical testing. She has published more than 150 manuscripts, 13 book chapters, edited two books, is named inventor on 60 patents, some of which were licensed to Pharmaceutical and Biotech companies, and has delivered over 500 lectures worldwide. She founded three spin-off companies and is actively engaged in translational research with several industry partners and in science outreach.
Music - Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Joe Brew is a data scientist with a background in public health. Joe has worked in infectious disease control surveillance, monitoring, and case-finding in places ranging from Nepal to Mozambique to Florida, USA (where he is from).
He now focuses on building Hyfe, an artificial intelligence company which aims to improve respiratory health, remote patient monitoring, and diagnostics by detecting and quantifying cough from ambient noise.
We talked about transdisciplinary research, science entrepreneurship, dedication and enthusiasm, impact and goals. Don't miss this!
Hyfe - Hyfe Cough Tracker | Stay on top of your health by tracking your cough (hyfeapp.com)
Music credits:
Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Dr. Gil Blander is internationally recognized for his research in the basic biology of aging and translating research discoveries into new ways of detecting and preventing age-related conditions. He leads a team of biology, nutrition & exercise physiology experts, and data scientists at InsideTracker, and has been featured in CNN Money, The New York Times, Forbes, Financial Times, The Boston Globe to name a few.
Dr. Gil Blander received a Ph.D. in biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science and completed his Post Doctoral fellowship at MIT, before going on to found InsideTracker. InsideTracker was founded in 2009 by top scientists from acclaimed universities in the fields of aging, genetics, and biology, InsideTracker is a truly personalized nutrition and performance system. Our mission is to help people add years to their lives and life to their years by optimizing their bodies from the inside out. By analyzing your body’s data, we can give you a crystal clear picture of what's going on inside you along with a science-backed action plan for improving your health and becoming your best self.
We talked about how he founded InsideTracker, who helped him along the way, how to innovate, why he founded ScienceAbroad and much more.
InsideTracker - Optimize wellness and performance through blood tests, nutrition and science. (insidetracker.com)
Music credits:
Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Or Ordentlich, PhD is an associate professor at the School of Computer Science and Engineering in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is also an Algorithms Architect at Weka.io. His research is mostly focused on information theory, and its applications to modern problems in communication, compression and data science. Omri Palmon, PhD is the founder and COO of Weka.io, with a PhD in computer science from Stanford.
We talked about innovation, product development, the difference between solving problems for research and product development and so much more!
Want to continue the conversation? Join our mAcademia Group on facebook. Music credits: Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Yulie Klerman solves puzzles of the complex healthcare ecosystem, helping health tech companies crystalize product/market fit and develop a go-to-market strategy for their innovative solutions. Yulie is a VP of Business Development at Rhino Health, an end-to-end Federated Learning and Privacy Preservation platform facilitating privacy-centric data collaboration. In her previous role, she launched a Health Data Connectivity Platform for the safe and effective incorporation of health, consumer, and digital data at Liveramp. Yulie is obsessed with data democratization, interoperability, and privacy.
We talked about how to develop a career starting with a science degree and get proficient in business, how to start in one country and move to a different one, how to start in one area and move to a different one. We talked about passion, curiosity and passion to what you do.
Want to continue the conversation? Join our mAcademia Group on facebook.
Music:
Music credits: Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Gavi Feuer’s life pursuit is to incorporate new and developing technologies into medical devices. As Engineering Director and Co-founder of Rafael Medical Devices, he takes surgical procedures to the next level in order to improve safety, efficacy, cost, and efficiency.
After receiving his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Cooper Union, Gavi earned his Ph.D. from SUNY Downstate studying bone tissue and the human skeleton as mechanical systems.
With his knowledge in both engineering and biomechanical systems, he spent the next years in the orthopedic device industry, first working with Monogram Orthopedics, a startup focused on surgical robotics and additively manufactured implants, then AM Surgical, a manufacturer of endoscopic surgical equipment. He currently leads engineering and product development efforts at Rafael Medical Devices, a new venture in the surgical device industry.
Music:
Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Dr. Assaf Zemach spent seven years as a professor at Tel Aviv university before he moved back to the US and joined Rinati skin as Head of Metabolic Engineering. We talked about Assaf's career as both a PI and scientist in industry, about the difficult task of navigating two careers and raising children abroad, about the differences and similarities of leading research in academia and industry, and much more.
Music credits: Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rachel Diamant co-founded Emendo Biotherapeutics in 2016 with a group of friends. Emendo is a next generation gene editing company developing genetic medicines for severe genetic diseases. Rachel completed biotech engineering studies from the Technion (Israel) in 2000 and MSc in Neuroscience from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2004. She is a serial entrepreneur in biotech and has been working in the field of IP strategy for over a decade.
We talked about the role IP has in building a company and how it can be used to develop interesting products. We talked about the culture at Emendo and how career development based on skills can be extended throughout the years.
Music:
Music credits: Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Prof. Karen B. Avraham, professor at the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University in Israel. She and her team lead the effort in the discovery of disease genes and the use of models for therapy, with an emphasis on precision medicine. Her laboratory of neural and sensory genomics focuses on deafness and developmental epileptic encephalopathies.
Karen takes great pride in the 135 undergraduate, MSc, PhD, MD-PhD students and post-docs she has mentored, both from Israel and abroad, and 60 junior faculty she has helped recruit to the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. She also works as a coordinator in research efforts for neurological diseases, as co-director of the Aufzien Family Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and of the Taube-Koret Global Collaboration in Neurodegenerative Diseases. She founded and directs the Biomed@TAU Research Hubs, whose mission is to gather together scientists and foster collaboration from across Tel Aviv University and affiliated hospitals who share overlapping research interests (https://en-biomed.tau.ac.il/)
Music:
Music credits: Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Ohad was trained as a computational scientist and is grateful to be able to apply these skills to improve patients' lives and outcomes. He lives in Seattle with his wife and two kids. Ohad is the Head of Computational Biology and Data Science at Century Tx and a Scientific Advisor for Drop Bio. When he's not working or thinking about science and data, he likes to spend time with his family enjoying what Seattle and the PNW has to offer, or zone out with some yoga or rock climbing for a mind-body workout.
Home | Century Therapeutics (centurytx.com)
(26) Ohad Manor, PhD | LinkedIn
Music credit:
Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Dr. Fried has created a unique initiative to bring high-level science to kids, especially those in elementary school. The program, called Biochemistry Literacy for Kids, uses molecular modeling tools and a unique philosophy of teaching to exceed typical expectations for learning. Elementary school students in the program learn in-depth about topics like protein folding and organic chemistry mechanisms. Several schools around the US have begun using the curriculum as a part of their standard courses, including elementary, junior high, and high schools. Around 500 homeschool families from around the world also use the curriculum as a part of their studies.
We talked about his journey to established this platform, the challenges and pitfalls as well as the strengths and promises. Thinking about making a project come true? This episode is for you!
Daniel Fried is an assistant professor of chemistry at Saint Peter's University in Jersey City. Dr. Fried grew up in New York's Hudson valley and attended SUNY Binghamton. In 2011, he completed a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Yale University in the laboratory of Alanna Schepartz. He then worked as a postdoc at the Weizmann Institute of Science in the laboratory of Ed Bayer.
Website: https://biochemistryliteracyforkids.com/
Music credit:
Funkorama Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Summertime ... a short break this week, and we had decided to bring you a rebroadcast of one of our favorite episodes - Joanne Kamens, PhD, former CEO of Addgene, and an experienced researcher and leader in biotech and pharma.
Take the time to re-listen and rethink the point Joanne make all through the interview
Enjoy