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2:23 Raj describes growing up in India as a land of hustlers and the importance of being aggressive to advance oneself.

6:37 Discusses the challenges of the current biotech funding environment and the importance of being capital efficient.

11:17 Explains his career transition from large pharma to biotech, highlighting his ability to translate breakthrough science into products.

21:11 Describes founding Rectify Pharmaceuticals and building a platform for positive functional modulators targeting membrane proteins.

25:08 Explains the company's pivot to focusing on hepatobiliary diseases, particularly primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

33:00 Emphasizes the importance of relationships, mentorship, and getting feedback from various stakeholders in building a successful biotech company.

56:46 Discusses how they initially vetted the Rectify platform by extensively researching ABC transporters and developing screening assays. 

1:05:21 Highlights the courage to explore broader applications of their platform beyond rare monogenic diseases.

1:12:44 Provides final advice for entrepreneurs, stressing the importance of having a detailed plan, being realistic, and building a strong founding team.

In this episode of the Nucleate Podcast, Aikium co-founder and CEO Eswar Iyer joins host Anastasia Janas to explore how drug discovery can move beyond structured targets to engage the disordered proteome. Aikium is developing SeqRs, programmable, sequence-specific binders that can selectively target intrinsically disordered regions of proteins, unlocking new therapeutic possibilities in cancer, neuroinflammation, and autoimmune diseases. Built using generative AI and screened with a proprietary trillion-scale mRNA display system, Aikium’s platform challenges the traditional assumptions of druggability and expands the therapeutic landscape into areas once considered inaccessible.

Beyond the science, Eswar reflects on the emotional realities of building a company at the frontier of biology, sharing lessons on believing in an idea before the world is ready, navigating failure and doubt, and sustaining conviction when there is no established path forward. If you are interested in the future of therapeutics, the evolution of protein engineering, or the personal journey behind pioneering biotech startups, this conversation offers a rare and honest perspective.

In this episode, Anastasia Janas and Paula Lengerke Diaz sit down with Dr. Uli Stilz, Head of the Bio Innovation Hub (BIH) at Novo Nordisk, to explore how strategic partnerships and emerging technologies are redefining the future of drug discovery. Uli reflects on his journey from chemistry and molecular biology to biopharma leadership, and shares how the BIH is accelerating breakthroughs in cardiometabolic diseases using emerging modalities like RNA editing, AI-guided drug discovery, and partnership-first science.

Whether you’re an aspiring innovator, translational researcher, or healthcare entrepreneur, this episode offers a candid masterclass in how bold ideas get translated into impact — especially in the space of chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity.

Show Notes

0:00 - 02:20: Uli’s early fascination with science (and a chemistry set mishap at home)

02:20 - 05:15: Transitioning from chemistry to biology to biophysics — and why it mattered

05:15 - 09:45: The value of speaking multiple “scientific languages”

09:45 - 13:00: Why Uli left academia for pharma, and what drove that leap

13:00 - 17:30: Founding the Bio Innovation Hub (BIH) at Novo Nordisk

17:30 - 20:00: Three big questions BIH is trying to solve in cardiometabolic disease

20:00 - 24:30: How programmable RNA editing is being applied to drug discovery

24:30 - 28:00: Why BIH funds early science without contracts — the Greenhouse model

28:00 - 33:00: How AI, human biology, and subtyping diabetes open new possibilities

33:00 - 36:30: What makes small biotechs a “superpower” in R&D

36:30 - 41:00: The role of trust, creativity, and iteration in building partnerships

41:00 - 45:20: Advice for young scientists: embrace discomfort, follow curiosity

45:20 - 49:30: What excites Uli most? The unknown. “I’m most excited about the things I don’t know today.”

In this episode of the Nucleate Podcast, Anastasia Janas sits down with Shelby Newsad, Partner at Compound VC, shares her journey from a small town in Appalachia to investing in some of the most transformative technologies shaping biotech and beyond. Starting as a first-generation college student with a pre-med background, she realized that commercialization is key to translating scientific research into real-world impact.

Shelby discusses her work at Compound, a thesis-driven, research-centric venture firm investing across AI, robotics, crypto, and biotech. She explains how Compound builds deep expertise in emerging fields — developing theses, connecting with researchers, and creating ecosystems around transformational areas — to become the highest-context investors for early-stage companies. When critical gaps in the market appear, Compound even incubates companies themselves, such as in plant engineering for high-value, lower-regulation products.

The conversation dives into emerging trends like autonomous science, science-driven consumer products, biohacking, and proactive healthcare. Shelby highlights the importance of individual health data ownership, the potential for brain modulation technologies, and why bold, contrarian founders are key to the future of biotech. She shares her optimism for the future, from conservation tech to cancer prevention, and invites listeners to think bigger, move earlier, and reach out with innovative ideas — and to get involved with Compound’s upcoming Research Days in San Francisco.

Time Stamps

00:04 - 00:27: Introduction about research days in San Francisco

00:27 - 01:11: Intro about Shelby 

01:11 - 03:06: Shelby’s background and fascination for science 

03:06 - 10:54: Discussion about translation from academia to real-world products

0:10:54 - 21:12: Compound's investment approach & what makes a good thesis 

21:12 - 24:15: Compound’s incubation model 

24:15 - 30:06: What Shelby looks for when meeting founders

30:06 -37:06: Conversation about biohacking and medical perspectives

37:06 - 40:09: Discussion about potential future technologies

40:09 - 41:32: Contact information and upcoming research days

41:32 - 45:32: Closing thoughts about scientific optimism

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02:16 - Dave discusses his early career path and how he got into science 

04:41 - Dave’s work on the Human Genome Project 

13:38 - Founding Cofactor Genomics

16:42 - Discussing Pioneer Fund and its investment approach 

48:58 - Thoughts on AI in health and biology 

58:27 - Advice for founders in the current challenging funding environment 

1:09:04 - How Pioneer Fund makes investment decisions 

1:14:16 - Most difficult advice for entrepreneurs 

1:16:47 - Final advice for founders: "Just go do it"

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Apply to the Entrepreneurial Fellows Program in Chicago with the CBC open from March 20-May 2,2025! https://chicagobiomedicalconsortium.org/awards/entrepreneurial-fellows/

In our latest podcast, hosted by Sam Kessel, Dr. Michelle Hoffmann discusses her unique journey from a PhD in molecular neuroscience PhD to a biotech consultant, and how her experiences shaped her passion for developing future leaders in the biotech industry in Chicago.

Dr. Hoffmann’s career path took her from academia to consulting, including a decade at Back Bay Life Science Advisors, where she used her scientific expertise to help biotech companies optimize their product strategies, secure funding, and build the biotech ecosystem via the Chicago Biomedical Consortium. She also discussed the Entrepreneurial Fellows program to train aspiring biomedical entrepreneurs in due diligence and company building within the Chicago ecosystem

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04:14 - Dr. Stehman-Breen discusses her decision to pursue a career in medicine.

05:49 - Dr. Stehman-Breen explains her specialty choice in internal medicine and nephrology.

08:09 - Skills and mindset that prepared Catherine for a career in industry.

13:53 - The critical impact that physicians can have in biotech

19:03 - Overview of epigenetic editing and Chroma Medicine's approach.

0:28:22 - Early days of building Chroma Medicine from the ground up.

0:38:22 - Merger with NVelop Therapeutics and future directions.

0:44:22 - Dr. Stehman-Breen offers advice for entrepreneurs and the value of an Entrepreneur in Residence role.

0:49:22 - Balancing her demanding career with personal hobbies and interests.

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02:18 - Eric Kelsic's background in physics and systems biology and how it shaped his approach to biological problems

03:57 - Differences in problem-solving between Kelsic's physics/systems biology background and traditional biology backgrounds

06:27 - Learning from working with George Church and his lab's approach to fostering innovation

10:02 - George Church's openness to exploring ideas

12:02 - How Kelsic's experience in George Church's lab led him to start Dyno Therapeutics

19:55 - Kelsic's process of validating the problem of AAV gene delivery and deciding to found a company

24:36 - Leveraging resources like Harvard, the Wyss Institute, and Lab Central in Dyno's early days

28:17 - Overview of AAV gene therapy and Dyno's machine learning-guided approach to engineering improved capsids

38:17 - Kelsic's perspective on partnerships and Dyno's collaborations with industry leaders

41:02 - Kelsic's vision for the future of Dyno and the potential impact of gene therapy

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Peter Barrett discussed his career journey, from starting in a technical role at Perkin Elmer to co-founding Celera Genomics and being part of the team that first sequenced the human genome. He then transitioned to venture capital, joining Atlas Venture, where he has focused on building and investing in innovative therapeutic and drug discovery companies. He shared insights on Atlas' approach, including their focus on targeted, therapeutics-only funds, their emphasis on diligence and de-risking early stage science, and their willingness to celebrate failures and redeploy talented founders. He also discussed Atlas' strategy of identifying platform technologies with broad applicability, like the cell therapy platform at Obsidian Therapeutics. He gives tips to founders to celebrate failures to learn from them and the importance of honesty and transparency rather than “faking it ‘til you make it”

02:42 - Peter discusses lessons from his early career at Perkin Elmer and transitioning from a technical to business role

07:57 - Peter talks about co-founding Celera Genomics and the experience of sequencing the human genome

14:41 - Peter describes his transition from Celera to venture capital at Atlas Venture

18:03 - Peter discusses learning about the drug development process and relying on expertise when making investment decisions

21:09 - Peter emphasizes the importance of "celebrating failures" and making informed decisions to avoid wasting time

26:37 - Peter explains Atlas Venture's investment strategy and approach during market downturns

29:30 - Peter discusses identifying platform technologies and de-risking early stage science

41:07 - Peter provides advice for entrepreneurs and reflects on balancing career and personal life

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• Jake Becraft, the co-founder and CEO of Strand Therapeutics, discusses his journey from pursuing a PhD in chemical engineering and synthetic biology at MIT to starting a biotech company focused on developing programmable mRNA therapeutics.
• At MIT, he worked on developing nanoparticles for DNA delivery and became interested in the challenges of mRNA delivery and therapeutic index. This led him to co-found Strand to engineer mRNA to amplify its signal in target cells while degrading quickly in non-target cells.
• Becraft discusses the importance of finding mentors and advisors, like his PhD advisor Ron Weiss, to help navigate starting a company as a graduate student. He emphasizes the need for more formalized programs and funding to support scientists in translating their research.
• Key skills he recommends for scientists interested in the business side include strong communication, the ability to build coalitions, and understanding the principles and goals that drive you rather than just pursuing a specific career path.