Discovery Engines – with Nabil

AI for Physics Discovery - Jesse Thaler of NSF's IAIFI, MIT's Center for Theoretical Physics

Jesse Thaler is Director of the National Science Foundation's AI for Physics "Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions" (IAIFI), and Professor of Physics at MIT's Center for Theoretical Physics. In this episode we explore how AI is reshaping physics, how physics is reshaping AI, and mind-bending implications of theoretical physics. Join us!"

See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.

Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Preview & Introduction
(04:00) - Jesse's Journey Into Physics
(05:49) - Curiosity For Understanding The Nature Of Reality
(07:27) - What Is A Theoretical Particle Physicist?
(09:34) - Quantum Field Theory
(11:05) - Particle-Wave Duality
(12:53) - What is the Large Hadron Collider?
(15:04) - Data Generated From Particle Collisions
(17:52) - How LHC Experiments Are Scheduled
(19:24) - The Future of the LHC and Particle Colliders
(26:29) - National Science Foundation's Institute for AI and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI)
(30:52) - How AI Is Accelerating Physics Discovery
(40:42) - How Physics is Accelerating AI Discovery (Diffusion models and beyond)
(48:27) - Physics Popcorn! – Einstein on Time
(49:32) - Donald Hoffman's Interface Theory of Perception
(50:48) - Many-Worlds Theory of Quantum Mechanics
(53:12) - DeepMind's Demis Hassabis on Superintelligence for Science
(54:03) - Human-Style Intelligence Alone Is Not Enough
(55:17) - Advocate For Curiosity-Driven Research, Hire IAIFI Talent, Engage With AI

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

Featured Images:

"Standard Model of Elementary Particles", Cush, Public Domain
"First proton-lead ion collisions at the LHC", Pcharito, CC BY-SA 3.0
Book cover: "The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes", by Donald Hoffman
X Screenshot, Demis Hassabis, @demishassabis

3 months ago

58 minutes 39 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

Universal Lab Automation - Rick Wierenga of PyLabRobot

Rick Wierenga is creator of PyLabRobot, an open-source, hardware-agnostic Python SDK that's lowering the barriers to lab automation for scientists, startups and hackers.

See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.

Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Preview & Introduction
(03:33) - Rick's Serendipitous Foray Into Lab Automation
(07:00) - Why AWS for Biology
(09:17) - Understanding Liquid Handling Robots
(10:49) - Generic Robotics Stack
(13:20) - Robot Automation With PyLabRobot
(15:07) - The Community Building PyLabRobot
(16:54) - Why A Big Pharma Would Support PyLabRobot
(18:36) - PyTorch: An Open Source Inspiration
(20:32) - Sharing Technology In A Competitive Industry
(23:11) - Supported Device Ecosystem
(25:49) - Surprises in Device Integration
(27:54) - Reverse Engineering 101
(31:26) - How Useful Are Github CoPilot, Codex, LLMS for Reverse Engineering
(34:34) - How Device Manufacturers, Automation Experts, Are Reacting to PyLabRobot
(39:17) - Open Source Efforts and Device Safety
(41:11) - How PyLabRobot Enables Sharing Protocols, Reproducibility
(45:03) - Creating a 3D Scanner From a Liquid Handler
(48:49) - Supporting Self-Driving Labs
(54:49) - How PyLabRobot Will Evolve
(55:40) - Automating Flow Cytometry
(58:17) - How To Contribute and Connect

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

4 months ago

1 hour 1 minute 10 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

Breaking Into AI for Science - Alishba Imran of UC Berkeley BAIR, Arc Institute, CZ Biohub, Voltx

Alishba Imran is a deep learning researcher at UC Berkeley's BAIR AI Lab, a Research Fellow at the Arc Institute, a former Research Intern at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, co-founder of battery tech startup Voltx, and co-author of "AI for Robotics: Toward Embodied and General Intelligence in the Physical World"

See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.

Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Preview & Introduction
(05:02) - Why AI for Science?
(10:34) - Bootstrapping Your Own Learning
(16:02) - Why Battery Testing Matters: Launching Voltx
(20:19) - Batteries, Raw Earth Minerals: Incremental vs Transformative Chemistries
(23:54) - The Business Side of Deep Tech Entrepreneurship
(29:14) - The State of Battery Tech Today
(30:50) - Working with Chan Zuckerberg Biohub
(33:37) - DynaCLR For Contrastive Learning of Cell State Dynamics
(36:21) - Why Self-Supervised + Contrastive Learning
(41:06) - Generalizing to Different Cells Contexts With Embeddings
(42:06) - Microscopy or ML Advancements for Unlocking Progress
(43:54) - Managing Terabytes of Data
(46:51) - Arc Institute: Collecting Largest Single Cell Dataset
(48:40) - Role of Tech-Founder Funded Institute To Advance Foundational Work
(50:41) - Book Launch! Merging Classical Robotics Methods With Cutting-Edge Deep Learning
(53:42) - Robotics Progress: Hype vs Reality
(57:09) - Robotics for Science
(58:54) - Future Trends: Automation, Foundational Single Cell Models, Protein and Genome Language Models, Transcriptomics
(01:00:41) - Pivoting into AI for Science Early, Mid, or Late Career
(01:02:49) - Exchanging Ideas; DynaCLR Paper; AI for Robotics Book

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

6 months ago

1 hour 5 minutes 38 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

Unleashing Scientific Data - Nicholas Larus-Stone of Sphinx Bio, Bits in Bio

Nicholas Larus-Stone is the Founder & CEO of Sphinx Bio, a startup helping life science labs unlock the full potential of their data to accelerate discovery. He’s also the Founder of Bits in Bio, a global community advancing science through software.

See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.

Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Preview & Introduction
(04:34) - Why Biotech & Life Science
(07:33) - About Small Molecule Discovery Companies Octant & Benevolent AI
(11:47) - Why Is Software Second in Biotech?
(14:35) - What Engineers Bring to Biotech
(16:00) - Is Science Data-Starved or Data Rich?
(19:23) - How Scientists Work With Data
(28:10) - Observations That Led to Founding Sphinx Bio
(31:48) - AI Co-Scientists
(37:57) - How Platforms like Sphinx Are Powered
(40:31) - Foundation Model Companies' Interest in Science
(43:58) - How Sphinx Leverages AI Models
(45:59) - Managing Hallucinations
(47:52) - Scientists: Give AI Another Try
(49:02) - The Business and Cycles of TechBio
(53:32) - Google's Co-Scientist, Notebook LM, and Other Science Ventures
(57:43) - Protein Folding Playground
(00:58:58) - "Wrapper" Companies In Era of Foundation Model Commoditization
(01:01:56) - Bits in Bio Community & Growth
(01:04:25) - Try Sphinx's Platform; Work for Sphinx; Support Your Local Scientist

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

6 months ago

1 hour 6 minutes 15 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

Inside the DOE's Autonomous Lab for Materials Discovery - David Milsted, Lab Systems Engineer

David Milsted is a postdoctoral researcher at the “A-Lab” for autonomous materials discovery, located at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Please note: The views expressed in this video by David are his own and not those of his colleagues.

See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.

Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Preview & Introduction
(04:37) - LBNL Fun Facts
(05:40) - David’s Journey Into Lab Automation (Wood Science, Automation Engineering)
(10:26) - Why Wood Science
(14:54) - Journey From Brazil To LBNL
(25:50) - Material Discovery Process Steps
(29:37) - Predicting Materials Properties
(35:07) - Synthesizing Materials With Automation
(43:21) - Testing Novel Materials
(44:58) - Orchestrating Automated Labs (A-Lab OS)
(49:14) - Shifting From Independent to Team-Based Projects
(53:28) - University-Government Lab Structure
(57:41) - What Inspired A Lab’s Vision
(01:02:40) - Growth in Autonomous Lab Investment
(01:05:34) - Future of Characterization Via Microscopy
(01:10:22) - A Lab Tour (Core Components)
(01:15:44) - Vendor Support: Mitsubishi, Labman, MTI, etc
(01:18:58) - Managing Input Inventory For Runs
(01:20:12) - Furnace Deep Dive
(01:24:06) - Parallel Processing
(01:25:43) - Vendor Automation Out of the Box; Importance of Societal Awareness

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

7 months ago

1 hour 29 minutes 36 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

Unlocking Cancer Priming Therapies (& Lab Tour) - Transon Nguyen of Eigen Therapeutics

Transon Nguyen is the CEO and Co-Founder of Eigen Therapeutics, a biotech startup leveraging AI and lab automation to develop priming therapies that make cancer easier to find and eliminate.

Hosted by Nabil Laoudji. My guest co-host is Jimmy Sastra! This episode is sponsored by Monomer Bio. See below for episode links, chapters, and how to connect with us.

Thanks for watching 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Teaser
(00:36) - Introducing My Guest Co-Host: Jimmy Sastra of Monomer Bio
(11:24) - Introducing Transon Nguyen, CEO of Eigen Therapeutics
(12:54) - Transon's Path Into Biomedical Engineering
(15:45) - Science In Industry vs Academia: Importance of Culture
(18:27) - Co-Founding Eigen Tx: A Confluence of Factors
(24:27) - How to Find New Ideas
(25:15) - Cost of ADCs and Radioligand Therapies
(27:00) - Testing The Effectiveness of Priming Therapies
(31:23) - How Patients Take Priming Therapies
(33:19) - Importance of Empathy In Multidisciplinary Teams
(37:54) - Lab Tour: Intro, Flexible Design
(39:33) - Different "Homes" / Areas of The Lab
(43:32) - Custom Built LIMS
(48:54) - Robot Test Suite Demo
(51:41) - A Look At Custom-Built LIMS
(55:56) - Favorite Instruments
(57:44) - Business of BioTech: Making The Numbers Work
(59:09) - Don't Over-Automate
(01:01:13) - Keeping The Lab Clean
(01:03:01) - Moving Beyond Just Solving Problems
(01:05:05) - Reframing Personal Identity and Seeing the Whole System
(01:08:31) - Relevance of AI Foundation Models, Virtual Cells to Eigen's Mission
(01:12:50) - Contact Transon to Learn More About Priming Therapies

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

7 months ago

1 hour 15 minutes 11 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

Unlocking Lab Automation - Sudha Gollapudi & Madeline Wolf of The Automated Lab

Sudha Gollapudi & Madeline Wolf (ex Genentech, Ginkgo Bioworks, Calico/Alphabet) are lab automation experts and co-founders of The Automated Lab: an open resource and contract engineering service for building automated labs. See below for episode links and chapters.

Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter.

Thanks for watching 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Teaser
(00:54) - Episode Introduction & Preview
(05:38) - Sudha and Madeline’s Academic + Professional Experience
(06:53) - Madeline’s Path Into Biotech Lab Automation
(09:40) - Sudha’s Path Into Biotech Lab Automation
(10:55) - Career Pathways Into Lab Automation
(15:38) - What Encompasses Lab Automation?
(17:29) - Lab Automation Example: Workcell for ELISA Immunological Assay
(22:19) - Environmental Impact of Lab Automation
(27:31) - SLAS Conference Hot Takes; Move to Smaller Footprint Products
(36:28) - Modular-First Design In Lab Automation
(41:51) - LIMs, ELNs, And Making Data More Accessible
(46:10) - Solving the Human-Robot Interface With NLP, Flexible Data Infrastructure
(52:23) - Automation For R&D vs Manufacturing
(57:07) - Adapting The Culture of Science To Increased Automation
(01:00:29) - Standardizing Scientific Language
(01:08:02) - How To Partner With The Automated Lab

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

8 months ago

1 hour 10 minutes 36 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

Accelerating Cancer Research - Hani Goodarzi of Arc Institute, UCSF, Exai Bio

Hani Goodarzi is Quantitative and Computational Biologist, Core Investigator at the Arc Institute, Associate Professor at UCSF, and co-founder of Exai Bio and Vevo Therapeutics. Episode links and chapters below.

Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Teaser
(02:12) - Episode Introduction & Preview
(07:35) - Hani’s Path Into Quantitative and Computational Biology
(11:55) - The Emerging Promise of Foundation Models Such as Evo 2
(15:53) - Dry Side vs. Wet Side of Biology
(22:23) - Pivoting Into AI for Life Science From Unrelated Domains, and the Importance of Culture in Cross-Functional Teams
(27:28) - How to Develop Multidisciplinary Teams: Brutal Honesty
(30:07) - How Arc Institute’s Org and Funding Structure Enables Innovative Science
(36:24) - How Tech Founders Are Pushing Biotech Innovation
(39:07) - Hani’s Collaboration with NVIDIA and Greg Brockman of OpenAI
(43:57) - The Science Behind Exai’s Early Cancer Detection Platform
(52:05) - DNA Methylation to Improve Cancer-Specific Signals From Blood
(55:25) - UCSF’s Application of This Technology for Breast Cancer Detection
(58:34) - How Startups Help Bridge the Science “Valley of Death”
(01:04:24) - Supporting Hani’s Work Through Scientific Contributions, Evangelism, and Applying the Scientific Method Across Disciplines

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

8 months ago

1 hour 7 minutes 3 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

Accelerating Scientist Founders - Hemai Parthasarathy of Google X, Thiel Foundation, Nature, MIT

Hemai Parthasarathy is a neuroscientist (Johns Hopkins, MIT), Editor (Nature, PLOS), and expert at helping deep tech startups build and scale (Thiel Foundation, Google X, MIT The Engine). See below for episode links, chapters, our socials, and how to send us feedback. Want to dig deeper? Check out our newsletter. Thanks for hanging with us 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Preview & Introduction
(04:36) - Hemai’s Experience: Google X, Breakout Labs, PLOS, Nature
(05:40) - Starting As A Scientist
(07:02) - How Science Actually Happens
(10:02) - Why Science Communication
(14:59) - PLOS Founding Story & Publishing Pledge
(18:24) - Current State of Open Science & Scientific Publishing
(23:37) - Founding Mission of Thiel Foundation’s Breakout Labs
(27:36) - What Breakout Labs Got Right
(29:54) - Protecting IP As A Deep Tech Startup
(34:29) - Patient Capital and Corporate Innovation at Google X
(41:02) - Bridging the Startup Valley of Death
(44:11) - Factoring In Politics As A Deep Tech Founder
(47:11) - New Entrants to Deep Tech
(50:48) - E11’s Breakthroughs as a Focused Research Organization
(54:55) - MIT’s The Engine for “Tough Tech”
(56:43) - Annual Reviews & Helping Society Benefit from Scientific Knowledge
(01:00:04) - Opportunities to Partner, Invest, and Mentor

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

9 months ago

1 hour 2 minutes

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

Inside Biotech Lab Automation - Luis Villa of Bay Area Lab Automators

Luis Villa co-founded Bay Area Lab Automators, and is a Senior Automation engineer at cell therapy manufacturing startup Cellares. See below for episode links, chapters, our socials, and how to send us feedback. Want to dig deeper? Check out our newsletter. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Preview & Introduction
(04:28) - Choosing Lab Automation Engineering as a Career
(08:19) - Day in the Life of an Automation Engineer
(13:41) - Where Automation Engineers Sit Within an Org
(15:28) - Culture of Lab Automation Community
(20:16) - Pro Tips for Networking
(22:46) - How to Advance the Biotech Industry
(24:20) - Segmenting the Lab Automation Market
(28:28) - Estimating the Size of the Lab Automation Market
(30:49) - Building a Business in Lab Automation
(34:17) - Closed vs. Open Systems
(39:55) - Accelerating the Drug Discovery Process
(44:55) - Challenges of Manufacturing Cell Therapies
(51:26) - Rise of Autonomous/Closed-Loop Labs for Science
(56:53) - Onshoring for National Security
(1:03:23) - Evaluating Startup Pitches in Lab Automation
(1:09:20) - Resources for Lab Automation
(1:10:34) - Getting Involved with Lab Automators

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

9 months ago

1 hour 13 minutes 21 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

AI-Powered Animal Research - Michael Kaca of Olden Labs

Michael Kaca is Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Olden Labs, a startup bringing animal research into the modern age through a suite of custom hardware and ML algorithms. See below for episode links, chapters, our socials, and how to send us feedback. Want to dig in deeper? Check out our newsletter. Thanks for hanging with us 🙏

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Preview & Introduction
(03:07) - Why Animal Studies?
(06:24) - Artificial Organs and Modeling Complexity
(08:19) - Ethics of Animal Testing
(12:52) - Olden Labs’ Origin Story
(16:40) - A Roboticist in Life Science
(21:08) - Enabling Longevity
(21:58) - DOME Smart Cage Overview
(24:03) - Hands-On Hardware Walkthrough
(28:50) - Challenges and Pivots in Hardware Design
(32:06) - Software Walkthrough
(38:46) - ML Model Visual Overlays
(39:13) - DeepLabCut Comparison
(42:24) - Metrics Tracking and Industry Standards
(45:44) - High Fat Study Example
(47:16) - Getting Customer Feedback
(50:10) - Enabling Data-Driven Science
(52:55) - Genetic Engineering Future
(55:24) - Partnership Opportunities and Hiring

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

10 months ago

57 minutes 12 seconds

Discovery Engines – with Nabil

The Startup Building AI Scientists - Cristian Ponce & Théo Schäfer of Tetsuwan

Cristian Ponce and Théo Schäfer are the co-founders of Tetsuwan, a startup building AI scientists to accelerate life science research. See below for episode links, chapters, our socials, and how to send us feedback. Want to dig deeper? Check out our newsletter. Thanks for hanging with us 🙏🤙

Episode Links:

Chapters:

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:44) - Why AI Scientists
(06:48) - Founding Story
(13:50) - First Customer Delivery
(22:06) - Building in EU or US
(24:43) - State Of Life Science Robots
(29:50) - Emerging Technological Enablers
(41:44) - Rules-Based vs ML-Based AI
(49:40) - Lab Automation Industry Today
(57:38) - Addressing Safety
(1:07:12) - How To Join Tetsuwan

Connect With Us:

Platforms:

10 months ago

1 hour 9 minutes 32 seconds