Being a Scientist

Women’s health has been under-prioritised for too long. What will it take to change that? All of us!

In this live podcast conversation, I speak with Ida Tin, co-founder of Clue and mother of the term "Femtech", about the past, present and future of women’s health.

We discuss the questions that have been neglected, why continuous hormone monitoring could transform how we understand health, and why this moment calls for bold thinking across science, technology, entrepreneurship, investment and public policy.

This conversation is an invitation to everyone, not only women’s health founders or researchers, to take part in building a more informed, equitable and innovative future for women’s health.

In this episode:

• Why women’s health innovation has taken so long
• The hormone data gap
• Continuous hormone monitoring and health technology
• The role of the Government program (SPRIND) in accelerating innovation
• What researchers, founders, investors and the public can do

#Womenhealth #Femtech #Healthtech #Innovation #Clue #Hormone #SPRIND #cycletracking

Can a game make children more curious about biology?

In this video podcast episode, I speak with Poorti Kathpalia - neuroscientist, science communicator and creator of The Gene Game - about making science more engaging for children in India.

Poorti shares how she noticed a gap: there were few playful, accessible ways for young learners to explore biology outside the traditional classroom. Rather than waiting for something to change, she created The Gene Game: a hands-on, curiosity-led way to bring scientific concepts to life.

We also discuss the changing field of science communication, why scientists are increasingly stepping beyond the lab to speak directly with the public, and how better communication can make science feel more relevant, approachable and exciting.

In this conversation:

• The origin story of The Gene Game
• Why science education needs play and curiosity
• From neuroscience to science communication
• Making biology more accessible for children
• The rise of science communicators in India
• Why scientists need to engage with the public

#ScienceCommunication #Neuroscience #STEMEducation #ScienceForKids #TheGeneGame #WomenInScience #Podcast

When a research award leads you to a new career path 💫During her MD, Dr. Karishma Kaushik worked on a research project studying chickenpox strains in India. At the time, adult soldiers in the Indian Army were experiencing outbreaks, raising important questions around transmission and the potential role of vaccination.Her work involved comparing circulating chickenpox strains with the vaccine strain. The project earned her the Ranbaxy Young Scholar Award - but what she chose to do with the prize became part of the bigger story 🌟She invested it in a Qiagen DNA extraction kit! That decision gave her access to a new skill: hands-on scientific research. It helped her discover something powerful about herself - she enjoyed the creativity, problem-solving and innovation of research, and she was good at it.For her, that moment became a career pivot. It led her towards a PhD and a future in science.Sometimes a career does not begin with a perfect plan. Sometimes it begins with following the work that makes you curious, capable and energised ❤️#womeninresearch #ikigai #scientificresearch #indianscientist #careerdiscovery #sciencepodcast

What happens when biology meets physics?

We often learn science as a collection of separate disciplines: biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering. But the problems scientists encounter in the real world rarely fit so neatly into those categories.

In this conversation, biophysicist Eszter Papp explains how bringing physics into biological questions can help us understand everything from the movement of proteins to the technology inside our smartwatches.

Think about your smartwatch measuring your heartbeat or oxygen levels. You might think of that as biology or medicine — but underneath it are physical principles that allow those biological signals to be measured.

And proteins are another fascinating example. We often see them represented as beautifully defined three-dimensional structures, but in reality, proteins are constantly moving. Their movement, interactions and behaviour are governed by physical principles.

As Eszter explains, “everything around us that is biology but moves, it’s physics.”

But this conversation is really about something bigger than defining biophysics.

It is about interdisciplinary science — and how some of the most interesting scientific questions emerge when we stop treating disciplines as isolated boxes.

What can physics teach us about biology? What can biology teach us about physics? And what happens when scientists bring different ways of thinking together to understand a problem?

In this episode of Being a Scientist, we explore the fascinating space between disciplines and why the boundaries we learn in textbooks do not necessarily reflect the way science is actually done.

Because perhaps science is not about choosing one box.

Perhaps it is about connecting the boxes.

🎧 Full conversation with Eszter soon on Being a Scientist, where we explore her journey into science illustration and what it is like to build a career communicating science.

#ScienceCommunication #SciComm #ScienceCommunicator #ScienceCareers #STEMCareers #ScienceOutreach #ScientificCommunication #SciencePodcast #beingascientist #videopodcast #biophysicist #interdisciplinarysciences

What if some of the women who helped shape modern medicine never made it into the history books?

While researching women in science, Nina kept encountering the same place: Harlem Hospital.

Again and again, accounts of remarkable medical breakthroughs contained a small reference to the hospital. But the more Nina discovered, the more she wondered: why had she never heard about this place, or about the women whose work helped shape medical history?

That question became the beginning of a five-year research journey — and eventually a book.

In this episode of Being a Scientist, Nina tells me about her journey researching women in science, women of color in medicine and the overlooked stories behind scientific and medical breakthroughs.

Her upcoming book, The Healers of Harlem, brings together the stories of pioneering women connected to Harlem Hospital, including women who made important contributions to medicine and scientific research.

But researching these women was about much more than reading old papers and books.

Nina travelled to archives, searched through historical records, followed clues across documents and eventually tracked down the descendants of the women she was researching. She describes what it was like to spend years reading about these women and then suddenly meet someone who carries their family history — sometimes even seeing the physical resemblance between a parent and their descendant.

It is a beautiful reminder that the people behind scientific discoveries do not simply disappear into the pages of history. Their families remember them. Their communities remember them. And sometimes, all it takes is someone being curious enough to go looking for their stories.

In our conversation, we also talk about:

• Why so many important women in science have been overlooked in the history we learn
• The remarkable scientific and medical history connected to Harlem Hospital
• The importance of telling the stories of women of color in STEM
• What it takes to research historical scientists and reconstruct their lives
• Nina's five-year journey from an idea to a published book
• What happens when researchers track down the descendants of historical figures
• Why science communication and storytelling matter for how we remember science
• And the scientists Nina wishes she had known about when she was younger

The Healers of Harlem is a story about medicine, science, history and the women who helped shape them — but at its heart, it is also about who gets remembered.

Because science is not just a collection of discoveries.

🎧 Full conversation with Nina soon on Being a Scientist, where we explore her journey into science illustration and what it is like to build a career communicating science.

#ScienceCommunication #SciComm #ScienceCommunicator #ScienceCareers #STEMCareers #ScienceOutreach #ScientificCommunication #SciencePodcast #beingascientist #videopodcast #scienceillustrator #harlemhospital #bookauthor #medicalhistory

What does it actually take to build a career in science communication?

Science communication is becoming an increasingly recognised career path, but getting started can feel like a classic catch-22: you need experience to get the job, but how do you get experience if nobody gives you the opportunity in the first place?

In this teaser from my conversation with Margot, we talk about exactly that.

Margot is an experienced science communicator who got into the field at a time when science communication was still far less established as a career. Her advice to anyone interested in entering the field is refreshingly practical:

Do it before someone hires you to do it.

Write a science blog. Make a video. Start a podcast. Experiment with different ways of explaining science. Find opportunities to communicate with audiences outside your immediate scientific community.

In our conversation, Margot shares how she began building her experience, including discovering opportunities such as ComSciCon and the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship, and how informal experiences can eventually become the foundation for a professional career in science communication.

We also talk about something that is particularly exciting about the field today: institutions are increasingly recognising the value of science communication and investing in it. From podcasts and digital media to public engagement, science outreach and accessible scientific storytelling, there are now more ways than ever for scientists and communicators to bring research to broader audiences.

And perhaps most importantly, this conversation highlights a shift in how we think about science communication. It is not simply about making complicated science “easy.” It is about helping people understand why research matters, connecting scientific discoveries with everyday life, and creating curiosity about the world around us.

If you are a scientist interested in science communication, a student wondering about careers beyond academia, or someone curious about becoming a science communicator, this conversation is full of practical advice and encouragement.

And if you have ever thought, “I would love to do science communication, but I do not have the experience yet,” perhaps the answer is to start creating your own experience.

Your first blog does not need to be perfect.
Your first video does not need to go viral.
Your first podcast does not need thousands of listeners.

You just have to start communicating.

🎧 Full conversation with Margot soon on Being a Scientist, where we explore her journey into science communication, what it is like to build a career communicating science, the changing landscape of science media, and why making science accessible matters coming soon!

#ScienceCommunication #SciComm #ScienceCommunicator #ScienceCareers #STEMCareers #ScienceOutreach #ScientificCommunication #SciencePodcast #beingascientist #videopodcast

In this episode, I speak with Joni Symon, co-founder of de novo Labs, about her journey from biochemistry to building a biotech startup in South Africa developing sustainable proteins through precision fermentation.

We explore how De novo Labs is creating animal-free lactoferrin, the realities of startup life, balancing science with business, and why biotech innovation is shaping the future of food.

Joni also shares valuable lessons for scientists - trust your expertise, build great teams, don’t try to do everything yourself, and always keep sight of the bigger picture.

Whether you’re a student, researcher, entrepreneur, or simply curious about biotechnology, this conversation offers practical insights and inspiration.

In this episode:

• Building a biotech startup from scratch
• Precision fermentation explained simply
• The future of sustainable proteins
• From academia to entrepreneurship
• Leadership and teamwork in science
• Life lessons for young scientists

What if I told you that stem cell clinics charging thousands of dollars might be selling false hope? Or that scientists can now grow mini organs in a dish, use AI to detect heart disease from mammograms, and are getting closer to engineering cells that can evade the immune system?

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Danielle Spice—stem cell biologist, science communicator, and one of my favorite creators who makes complex biology feel wonderfully simple.

We talk about how stem cells actually work, why embryonic stem cells are so powerful, organoids and organs-on-chips, the future of regenerative medicine, AI in healthcare, and why communicating science has become just as important as doing science itself.

If you’ve ever wondered how a single cell becomes an entire human being - or why science is far more fascinating than textbooks ever made it seem - this episode is for you.

What if science felt more like a game than a subject? 🎲

When Poorti Kathpalia finished her PhD, she noticed something interesting. There were plenty of games teaching physics, engineering, and robotics—but very few that made biology fun and interactive.

Instead of waiting for one to exist, she created it.

What started as conversations with teachers, students, and researchers eventually became a biology-based game designed to make scientific concepts more accessible and engaging.

I love stories like these because they remind us that innovation doesn’t always start with a grand plan. Sometimes it starts with noticing what’s missing and deciding to build it.

And sometimes, the best way to learn science is to play it.

#ScienceCommunication #SciComm #ScienceCommunicator #ScienceCareers #STEMCareers #ScienceOutreach #ScientificCommunication #SciencePodcast #beingascientist #videopodcast

Stress isn’t the problem. Staying stressed is.

As neuroscientist Erin Harris explains, our stress response is actually designed to help us. When we encounter a challenge—whether it’s a looming deadline, a difficult conversation, or, in our ancestors’ case, a bear—our bodies release cortisol to mobilize energy and help us respond.

The problem begins when that “on” switch never gets turned off.

When stress becomes chronic, our bodies remain in a constant state of alert, which can impact everything from our brain function to our metabolism.

One of the most interesting takeaways from this conversation? Cortisol isn’t the villain it’s often made out to be. It’s an essential hormone that helps us function. What matters is whether our bodies are able to switch out of stress mode when the challenge has passed.

A simple but powerful reminder from neuroscience: stress is meant to be temporary.

#videopodcast #stress #neuroscience #neuroscientist #research #beingascientist #sciencepodcast