Once a Scientist
Once a Scientist
Nick Edwards
Unfiltered career discussions with scientists
94. Ira Hoffman, CEO of HighRes on robots, digital twins and how we will speed up science
Ira Hoffman is the CEO of HighRes. He has a M.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Physics/Mathematics from the University of Vermont. OUTLINE: [00:00] - Introduction to collaborative robots and safe human-robot coexistence [01:52] - CEO of Hi Res (formerly Hi Res BioSolutions), 20-year journey in lab automation [03:36] - Deep diving into AI strategy and product development [05:23] - From large-scale automation to accessibility for scientists [06:45] - How robots safely coexist with hum...
May 6
43 min
93. Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks, on the future of autonomous laboratories
Episode 93. Jason Kelly is the co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks. He has a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. References: https://www.ginkgo.bio/autonomous-lab OUTLINE: 00:00 – From Jurassic Park Pilled to MIT 03:00 – Founding Ginkgo During the 2008 Crash 07:00 – Tom Knight & Thinking About Biology Like Software 11:00 – Why Biology Lacked Abstraction (Until Now) 16:00 – The Foundry Model: Centr...
Feb 25
42 min
92. Ashlee Vance, tech reporter and filmmaker, on storytelling, science funding, and interviewing billionaires
Episode 92. Ashlee Vance is a renowned tech and science reporter, filmmaker, and founder of Core Memory, a podcast and blog that chronicles the lives and discoveries of scientists and engineers (https://www.corememory.com/). He wrote the definitive biography on Elon Musk and has been documenting the modern space race and recent developments in AI, among other things.
Jul 23, 2025
1 hr 2 min
91. Michael Koeris, Director of DARPA BTO, on autonomous science to accelerate discovery
Episode 91. Michael Koeris is the Director of the Biotechnologies Office at DARPA. Michael completed his PhD at Boston University and did postdoctoral research in synthetic biology at MIT. He spent time early in his career at Flagship Pioneering, is a former founder and executive of multiple biotechs, and was formerly a professor at the Keck Graduate Institute.
Apr 23, 2025
55 min
90. Barry Bunin, CEO at Collaborative Drug Discovery, on tapping into the collective consciousness of science.
Episode 90. Barry Bunin is the CEO and President at Collaborative Drug Discovery, which he founded 20 years ago. Prior to that, Barry was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Eli Lilly. He completed his PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry at UC Berkeley and his bachelor's degree in chemistry at Columbia University. To learn more about CDD: https://www.collaborativedrug.com/ai-drug-discovery#Bioisosteric-Suggestions https://www.collaborativedrug.com/curves#Calculations https://www.collaborativedrug....
Dec 18, 2024
1 hr 17 min
89. Seemay Chou, CEO of Arcadia Science, on metascience and rethinking the structure of science
Seemay Chou is co-founder and CEO at Arcadia Science, Board Member at Astera Institute, and Board Chairperson at The Navigation Fund. Seemay was previously an assistant professor at UCSF and completed her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley.
Oct 30, 2024
1 hr 4 min
88. Gene Yeo, professor at UC San Diego, on team science and building a training playground
Episode 88. Eugene Yeo is a Professor at UC San Diego and is building a scientific ecosystem in San Diego. He runs the Innovation Center at Sanford Stem Cell Institute, is Scientific Director at the Sanford Consortium, Chief Scientist at the Sanford labs for Innovative Medicines, and Director of UC San Diego’s Center for RNA Technologies and Therapeutics.
Oct 1, 2024
1 hr 13 min
87. Jesse Gray and Sud Pinglay, at SeaHub, on recording cellular activity and making big bets
Episode 87. Sudarshan Pinglay is a researcher at the University of Washington and faculty at the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology (SeaHub). He did his PhD at New York University and bachelor's degree at Johns Hopkins. Jesse Gray is a Senior Director at SeaHub. He previously worked in industry at Ascidian Therapeutics and as a professor at Harvard Medical School. Jesse completed his PhD at UCSF and his undergrad at University of Wisconsin.
Aug 30, 2024
1 hr 4 min
86. Prachee Avasthi, CSO at Arcadia Science, on exercising agency and doing science differently
Episode 86. Prachee Avasthi is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Arcadia Science and Head of Open Science at the Astera Institute. Prachee was previously a professor at Dartmouth and University of Kansas. She completed a PhD in Neuroscience at University of Utah and her bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Jul 17, 2024
1 hr 8 min
85. Fay Lin, science journalist and editor, on seeking out diverse voices and learning from experts
Episode 85. Fay Lin is a Senior Editor at GEN Biotechnology. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular, and Structural Biology at UCLA and undergrad in Biology at NYU with minors in Computer Science and Chemistry. GEN Biotechnology website: https://home.liebertpub.com/genbio Call for Papers: Special Issue in AI in Biotechnology: https://home.liebertpub.com/cfp/special-issue-artificial-intelligence-in-biotechnology/497/
May 29, 2024
46 min
Load more