Once a Scientist

Episode 79. Sammi Sison is co-president of Nucleate, an international student-led organization designed to help scientists kick off careers in entrepreneurship, business development, and venture capital. Sammi is a PhD student at UC San Diego where she studies translational processing in the brain. 

Episode 78. Kim Edwards, my partner, is the guest interviewer. We talk about motivations for starting a company. Check out the journey in real-time on my newsletter: 

transitionstates.substack.com

Episode 77. Jun Axup is Chief Operating Officer at E11 Bio, a Focused Research Organization. She is an entrepreneur and former Chief Scientific Officer and Partner at IndiBio. She's also a musician, artist, and community builder. Jun completed her PhD in Chemical Biology at Scripps Research. 

Check out some of her awesome projects at her personal website: 

https://junaxup.com/

Episode 76. We turn the table in this episode. William Marks, a longtime friend, interviews me in 2020 on the motivations behind getting into neuroscience and starting a podcast

Episode 76. Aiden Aceves is a Vice President at Insight Partners, an investment firm. Prior to entering VC, Aiden completed his PhD in Bioengineering at Caltech and a bachelor's degree at UC Riverside. 

Episode 75. Andrew Akbashev is a Scientist and Principal Investigator at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. He holds a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University and completed a postdoc at Stanford University. If you're not already, follow him on LinkedIn, X or YouTube for insights into navigating academia and science careers

Timestamps: 

00:15:14 How to pick a thesis advisor

00:28:06 Evaluating student-advisor compatibility

00:36:31 When doing a postdoc makes sense

00:52:15 How to offer more career opportunities to PhDs

01:12:01 How to incentivize higher risk research

01:20:27  Increasing communication skills among scientists

01:25:21 Role of social media in science

01:26:32 The pressures many group leaders face

01:34:00 Importance of mentorship and the need for strong mentors in public forums

01:41:31 Fostering a collaborative (rather than competitive) mindset

Episode 74. Clarice Aiello is the Principal Investigator of the Quantum Biology lab at UCLA. She completed a PhD in Electrical Engineering at MIT and did postdoctoral fellowships at Stanford and UC Berkeley. 

Check out this article she wrote about quantum biology for the American Physical Society: 
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v16/79

To learn more about quantum mechanics, click here:  
https://www.qubitbyqubit.org/

Episode 73. Julio de Unamuno IV is the Founder & CEO of LabFellows and Executive Director of HomeLab, the biotech accelerator at UC San Diego's Center for Novel Therapeutics. He did his undergrad in Biochemistry at the University of San Diego and an MBA at the UC San Diego, Rady School of Management. 

Episode 72. Gertrude Nonterah is a Medical Communications professional at Thermo Fisher and the creator of The Bold PhD, where she helps PhDs navigate non-academic careers. Gee did a postdoc at UC San Diego, PhD at Temple University, and undergrad degrees at Virginia Commonwealth University and PennWest Edinboro. 

Check out her blog and newsletter at: www.theboldphd.com

Episode 71. SK Sharma is the Chief Analytics and AI Officer at Universal Music Group and an Entrepreneur in Residence at UC San Diego. SK completed his PhD at Caltech in Biophysical Chemistry and Biological/Chemical Physics. He has held senior executive roles across investment banking, strategy consulting and venture capital. Remarkably, SK continues to publish biomedical research in academic journals. Make sure to check out some of his other media appearances mentioned in the show:

• Billboard 40 Under 40 - How a Scientist is Helping the Music Biz Unlock the Power of Data 
• UCSD Commencement Keynote (1hr, 16min in) 
• Ideas in StemEd Podcast 
• The MBW Podcast