The Biotech Startups Podcast is brought to you by Excedr. Excedr provides life science startups with equipment leases on founder-friendly terms to accelerate R&D and commercialization. Lease the equipment you need with Excedr. Extend your runway, hit your milestones.
Know anyone who needs lab equipment? Join Excedr’s Referral Program.
Give Your Friends $1,000, and
Earn $1,000 for Each Qualified Referral 💸.
Get your unique referral link by going to refer.excedr.com/ZTHETY.
Part 2 of 4.
My guest for this week’s episode is Barbara Alcaraz Silva, Executive Director of Early Stage Life Sciences and Healthcare, Startup Banking at J.P. Morgan. She is also a former scientist-entrepreneur whose graduate studies focused on Telomeres and DNA Repair. Barbara has worked with many startups, including co-founding her own company, BioChron. While at the Manos Accelerator, she worked as an advisor for Biotech and Medtech companies, providing mentorship in business, fundraising, and capital, and offering guidance to startup companies. Additionally, Barbara worked as a Senior Investment Fellow at Life Science Angels, investing in up-and-coming biotechs and managing investor relationships.
After her time at Life Science Angels, Barbara became the Director of Early-Stage West Coast Life Science and Healthcare banking at SVB and is currently the Executive Director of Early Stage Life Sciences and Healthcare, Startup Banking at J.P. Morgan, where she is leading the national life sciences and healthcare practice. Barbara’s dedication to building a strong community in the biotech space and her expertise in science, management, and investing make her conversation one that founders don’t want to miss.
Join us this week and hear about:- Barbara’s academic journey and graduate school lab experience at UC Irvine
- Her insights from her time at the Beckman Laser Institute and her groundbreaking research on DNA repair using lasers
- Her international fellowship at King's College London, where she explored stem cell biology
- How her transition to entrepreneurship was shaped by navigating different lab environments and overcoming funding challenges
Please enjoy my conversation with Barbara Alcaraz Silva.
Find Our Guest, Barbara Alcaraz Silva, at these links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbarasilvaucsf/https://www.jpmorgan.com/global
Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheehttps://www.excedr.com
Social & WebsiteLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
Enriched Notes
Topics Mentioned:UC Irvine: https://uci.edu/ Minority Science Program: https://msp.bio.uci.edu/What Is Molecular Biology? https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-molecular-biologyLab Equipment List for Synthetic Biology: https://www.excedr.com/blog/lab-equipment-list-for-synthetic-biology-research Types of Equipment Used in Molecular Biology Research: https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-type-of-equipment-is-used-in-molecular-biology-research National Autonomous University of Mexico: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Autonomous_University_of_Mexico Beckman Laser Institute https://www.bli.uci.edu/King’s College London https://www.kcl.ac.uk/Guy's Hospital https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/guys-hospital
People Mentioned:Fiona Watts https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-watt-a45a44b5/?originalSubdomain=ukJohn Murnane https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-murnane-b57340179/
Timestamps:00:28 Intro01:59 Episode starts, applying to grad school06:07 Starting at the Beckman Laser Institute12:18 Barbara’s first time managing a team during her PhD16:24 Fellowship at King’s College London, postdoc experience at UCSF19:31 Barbara shares her outreach efforts for postdoc positions and responses she received23:46 Barbara discusses her experience at UCSF and the differences in lab culture26:36 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business
and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.
View all episodes
