Careers in Discovery

Jose Munoz-Olaya, Valink Therapeutics

"Science and technology have always fascinated me, and I've always been one to challenge the status quo."

This week on Careers in Discovery, we welcome Jose Munoz-Olaya, Chief Scientific Officer of Valink Therapeutics.

Jose shares his journey from an eager intern to a leader in biotechnology, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and the power of teamwork. He discusses his role at Valink, where he's spearheading the development of next-generation Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) for oncology using their innovative high-throughput screening platform.

Join us as Jose discusses:

• His early inspiration from a high school science teacher and his diverse family background
• The critical milestones of his career, including his influential roles at Cambridge Antibody Technology, F-star, and Adaptate
• Lessons learned about the importance of building strong teams and fostering a culture of continuous learning
• His advice for aspiring scientists: trust your mentors, be patient, and remain open to learning

Tune in for all this, and much more....

Mike Stubbington, CS Genetics

Mike Stubbington and CS Genetics are on a mission to democratise single cell genomics. We caught up with Mike recently and discussed what being kind really looks like as a scientist, why you should move on when the time is right, and a whole lot more.

Ben Cross, PhoreMost

We first interviewed Ben Cross five years ago, when he was the Head of Functional Genomics at Horizon Discovery, and we're delighted to welcome him back to the podcast as CTO of PhoreMost, an innovative target discovery company focused on drugging the undruggable.

Ben caught us up on what he's learned over the last five years, including why failing fast isn't a viable strategy in drug discovery, and introduced us to PhoreMost's brand new molecular glue platform, GlueSeeker.

Shane Hegarty, Axonis Therapeutics

Shane Hegarty is the Chief Scientific Officer of Axonis Therapeutics, a Boston-based Biotech targeting KCC2 to revive neurons and treat people suffering from neurological disorders.

Shane shared with us the story of his transition from academic to Biotech entrepreneur, why communication, persistence, collaboration and focus are critical skills for success, his amazing track record of securing grant funding, and much more.

Maude Tessier, Seismic Therapeutic

Maude Tessier is the Chief Business Officer at Seismic Therapeutic, the machine learning immunology company building a discovery platform centred on parallel drug development.

Maude joined us on Careers in Discovery to talk about the impact of machine learning on drug development, taking control of her career by literally knocking on doors, balancing humility and confidence, and much more.

Vern de Biasi, BenevolentAI

Vern de Biasi is VP of Business Development at BenevolentAI, one of the world's leaders in the application of cutting edge technology to drug discovery.

Vern's career has seen him travel the world, from the UK to Italy, China and the US, and he shared with us the key lessons he's learned along the way.

Jordan Lane, Ignota Labs

Jordan Lane is the Chief Scientific Officer of Ignota Labs, a company leveraging AI to rescue failed drug programmes.

 

Jordan joined us to talk about building conviction, seeking feedback & maintaining networks, the huge opportunity lying in failed research, and why risk is relative in your career.

Bill Eldridge, Isogenica

Bill Eldridge is an experienced scientific and commercial leader, one of the founding team members of the VHH antibody company Isogenica, and now their CEO.

Bill joined us to talk about his career, the huge potential that still exists within antibody discovery and the magic of seeing a 96 well ELISA plate turn blue after months of failure!

Enjoy...