Penn Undergraduate Biotech Society (PUBS) Podcast

In this episode, pediatric hematologist-oncologist Dr. Anjulika Chawla sits down with undergraduate Anisa Sharma to discuss her journey combatting sickle cell anemia through both clinical and biotech approaches. While practicing at Brown University, Chawla also leads sickle cell clinical research at bluebird bio, a Cambridge-based biotech developing gene therapies. The company’s therapy for sickle cell anemia received FDA approval this past year in December. Chawla addresses her experience shifting her focus from treating patients directly to overseeing medical research at bluebird. She also considers bluebird’s future in further improving their therapy’s impact.

On this episode, Jerry Cai and Dr. Fajgenbaum discuss his personal journey with his health and towards medicine. The conversation also covers the challenges facing rare disease therapeutics, the power of AI in drug discovery, and the current efforts of Castleman Disease Network. Please join us for this exclusive episode and conversation with our very own Dr. David Fajgenbaum.

Dr. Fajgenbaum, who has almost died five times from the rare disorder idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease, which he developed while in medical school, is now a physician and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Fajgenbaum has led research efforts into a cure for Castleman, discovering a drug that has kept him disease-free for eight years and is helping other patients. Dr. Fajgenbaum co-founded the CDCN in 2012 to accelerate research and treatments for Castleman disease through a ‘Collaborative Network Approach,’ a business-inspired approach to biomedical research, which has become a blueprint for advancing rare disease research

In this episode, Catherine Tang and Dr. Ravi Parikh, the Director of the Human-Algorithm Collaboration Lab at Perelman School of Medicine, discuss the opportunities and challenges of AI in medicine and offer potential policy solutions. 

In this episode, Risa Garg discusses biotech with Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO of Humane Genomics, a pioneering biotechnology startup dedicated to developing viral therapies for cancer. Peter, originally a physicist and tech startup founder, shares his journey into the biotechnology sector and discusses the interplay between technology and biotech. He also provides insights into the startup culture craze that is currently taking over young people, particularly in academic environments like the University of Pennsylvania, and offers valuable advice for college students interested in launching their own ventures. Join us to hear about Peter's unique perspective on innovation and entrepreneurship in the biotech landscape.

In this episode, Divyash Shah and Mr. David Cronan delve into the complicated web that is insurance-hospital relationships and the role technology plays in addressing the problems the current healthcare system faces. David Cronan is the Vice President of Reimbursement Strategies at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP) but has also spent years leading insurance companies as well. With his dual expertise, he spends time discussing how technology has helped advance health systems to where they are now but also discusses the shortfalls that still need to be addressed. It is well known that healthcare lags behind other fields in terms of modernization and this episode talks about what the future may hold to improve patient experience. 

Medical technology, like MRI machines and specialized surgical kits, has become such a ubiquitous part of healthcare delivery that one often takes it for granted. However, who makes the decision to phase out older technology and bring in newer devices? Physicians? Payers? What goes into these decisions? In this episode, Neil Tangal and Dr. Guy David will delve into trends in medical technology adoption, disadoption, and the reasoning behind all of this.

Dr. Guy David is the esteemed chair of the Healthcare Management department at the Wharton School of Business and a professor of medical ethics and health policy at the Perelman School of Medicine.

ToxiSense is genetically engineering a greener world by developing bioluminescent plants to detect endotoxin on medical products and drinking water. Biopharmaceutical products and drinking water must be tested for endotoxins, the sickness-causing molecule from bacteria. The current method relies on expensive horseshoe crab blood and is environmentally damaging. ToxiSense genetically engineered the Arabidopsis plant to luminesce at different intensities based on the endotoxin concentration applied to it, serving as a sustainable, cost-effective solution.

Dr. Ben Doranz co-founded Integral Molecular in 2001. He has led all aspects of the company’s growth since its inception, bringing 5 different technologies from research to market and growing the company into a profitable commercial entity. He is an inventor on over 10 of the company’s patents, the principal investigator on over 30 NIH grants, and an author on over 100 publications, including articles published in Cell, Science, and Nature.

Dr. Doranz is an established life science entrepreneur, previously responsible for directing the biotechnology program at the Port of Technology business incubator in Philadelphia and helping create startups at the Center for Technology Transfer at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he led the discovery of the coreceptor CCR5 for HIV. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, where he co-founded the Penn Biotech Group and won the Wharton business plan competition, and a B.A. from Cornell University.

In this episode, Grace Dai and founder of Nucleus Kian Sadeghi (who studied Computational Biology at Penn!) delve into a discussion about the power of thinking forward as an entrepreneur, staying inspired and passionate as a Penn student, using genetic testing to give people more power over their personalized health, and raising money as a biotechnology startup. 

In this special episode, Jerry Cai and Dr. Thomas Mallouk, a renowned Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, explore current approaches to scaling up hydrogen fuel production and long-term storage, desalination approaches to supplement potable water, and Dr. Mallouk's interests in guitars and glassblowing.