Lab Rats to Unicorns

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns, John Flavin sits down with Dr. Richard Pazdur, one of the most influential figures in modern oncology and cancer drug development. As the founding director of the FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence and former director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products, Richard has helped shape the regulatory pathways behind many of today's breakthrough canc...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns, John Flavin sits down with Dr. Tejal Desai, Sorensen Family Dean of Engineering at Brown University and a nationally recognized leader in biomedical engineering, tissue engineering, and translational medicine. A member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine, Tejal has spent her career developing technologies that im...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin sits down with Heather Turner, CEO of LB Pharmaceuticals, a late-stage clinical biotechnology company developing differentiated therapies for patients with serious psychiatric and neurological disorders. Heather’s path into biotech was anything but traditional. Trained as an attorney, she began her career advising startup companies at Cooley be...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin sits down with Dr. David Gunnarsson, Chief Business Development Officer at Bluefors, the global leader in cryogenic measurement systems powering the future of quantum technology. With a background spanning quantum physics, low-temperature research, and commercialization, David has spent his career helping transform quantum computing from a theo...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin sits down with Dr. Trevor Martin, Co-Founder and CEO of Mammoth Biosciences, a company at the forefront of next-generation CRISPR technologies. Co-founded alongside Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jennifer Doudna, Mammoth is building a platform to both detect and cure disease by harnessing the natural diversity of CRISPR systems. Trevor’s journey...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin sits down with Dr. Gene Robinson, a pioneering scientist in the biology of social behavior and a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Widely recognized for his groundbreaking work in genomics and neuroscience, Dr. Robinson has spent decades uncovering how genes influence behavior—using the complex societies of honeybees as...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin sits down with Dr. Robert Califf, physician-scientist and two-time Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. A cardiologist by training and longtime leader in clinical research, Dr. Califf has spent his career at the intersection of medicine, technology, regulation, and public service. Fr...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin speaks with Dr. Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist and University of Minnesota professor whose work explores one of science’s biggest questions: what is life — and can we build it from scratch? As a leader in the International Build-a-Cell Collaboration, Kate is helping drive global efforts to construct synthetic living systems from nonliving...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin sits down with Dr. Andrew Pelling—trailblazing biophysicist, artist-trained scientist, and Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of Spiderwort Biotechnologies. Andrew is best known for reimagining living systems, most famously by using decellularized apples and other plants as scaffolds to grow human tissue—work that helped spark an entirel...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin sits down with Christy Wyskiel, a nationally recognized leader in translational science, startup acceleration, and innovation ecosystem building. As a longtime architect of university-based commercialization programs, Christy has helped shape how academic discoveries become venture-backed companies with real-world impact. Christy shares her jou...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns, John Flavin sits down with Dr. Xiao Han, Co-Founder and CEO of Clarix Imaging, a pioneering medical device company spun out of the University of Chicago. Xiao is transforming the world of cancer surgery with real-time, high-resolution 3D imaging that helps surgeons visualize tumors more clearly and make more precise decisions in the operating room.&nbs...

In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin sits down with Dr. Joseph Leventhal, Professor of Surgery and Director of Living Donor Kidney Transplantation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. A pioneer in the field of organ transplantation, Dr. Leventhal’s research is redefining what’s possible in immune tolerance—an area often described a...

In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin is joined by Chris Paladino, President of the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO)—a nonprofit real estate development organization that has played a central role in revitalizing New Brunswick, New Jersey. Under Chris’s leadership since 1994, DEVCO has overseen more than $3.5 billion in projects spanning education, healthcare, housing...

In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin is joined by Todd Manjuck—Associate on JPMorgan’s Innovation Economy team and former U.S. Navy SEAL. Todd supports venture-backed companies across the life sciences sector, helping founders and executives navigate the unique challenges of scaling healthcare businesses. From capital access to operational strategy, Todd serves as a connector bet...

In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin is joined by Dr. Hide Goto, Head of Open Innovation Japan at Astellas. With more than 27 years of experience in drug discovery and research, Dr. Goto has journeyed from molecular biology and small-molecule drug development to leading-edge work in regenerative medicine, cell therapy, and now, ecosystem building.  After three years in Bosto...

In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin is joined by Jonathan Gluck—award-winning writer, longtime magazine editor, and now author of the deeply personal memoir  An Exercise in Uncertainty: A Memoir of Illness and Hope . For more than two decades, Jonathan helped shape cultural conversations at  New York Magazine ,  Vogue ,  The New York Times , and  The Washington Post . But in his...

In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin is joined by  Jeffrey Gray , Founder & CEO of AgeTech Connect, and  Dr. Daniel Cottmeyer , a physical therapist and PhD researcher at Georgia State University.  Together, they explore how science, entrepreneurship, and storytelling are coming together to change the way we age. From wearable diagnostics and remote rehab to system-level...

In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , John Flavin is joined by Donnie Beamer, Atlanta’s first-ever Senior Technology Advisor, appointed by Mayor Andre Dickens. Donnie brings a unique blend of experiences—as an entrepreneur, investor, corporate innovator, and civic leader—making him the perfect connector for Atlanta’s growing innovation ecosystem.  From launching an AI-driven robotic bart...

WATCH FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns, John Flavin is joined by Dr. Kate Rubins, NASA astronaut, microbiologist, Army Major, and the first person to sequence DNA in space. With a PhD in cancer biology from Stanford and groundbreaking research on viruses like Ebola and smallpox, Dr. Rubins has spent her career at the intersection of biology, innovation, and explora...

Kathleen Sebelius has led a career defined by public impact—first as Governor of Kansas and then as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, where she helped steer one of the most significant healthcare reforms in American history. In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , Sebelius unpacks the leadership lessons she’s learned across government and health systems, including the rollout of the...

In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , host John Flavin speaks with Dr. Geoff Duyk, co-founder and CEO of Grove Biopharma. Geoff brings over 35 years of experience across academia, biotech leadership, and venture capital. From his early work in human genetics at UCSF to co-founding Millennium Pharmaceuticals and leading R&D at Exelixis, Geoff unpacks the evolution of biotech from the 1970s...

In this episode of  Lab Rats to Unicorns , we sit down with two powerhouse leaders advancing the life sciences movement in Atlanta: Dr. Steven Goudy, a pediatric otolaryngologist at Emory University and founder/CEO of Oridivus, and Ashley Cornelison, Executive Director of Portal Innovations Atlanta and a longtime champion of biotech startups in the Southeast. Together, they explore the unique...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns, we delve into the groundbreaking work of Dr. Anant Madabhushi, a distinguished professor at Emory University and a driving force in the application of artificial intelligence to healthcare. As the founder and executive director of the Emory Empathetic AI for Health Institute and the founder of Picture Health, Dr. Madabhushi is revolutionizing the field of o...

Dr. Anh Nguyen has built a career at the intersection of medicine, biotechnology, and public policy, bringing a unique perspective on how scientific innovation translates into real-world impact. As the co-founder and CEO of Alnair Therapeutics, Anh is leading the development of a novel drug delivery platform designed to transform cancer treatment, ensuring that therapies reach their targets more e...

In this episode of Lab Rats to Unicorns , we welcome Dede Willis, co-founder and CEO of Orbit Genomics, a trailblazer in the field of diagnostics and life sciences. With a background in engineering and over 25 years of leadership experience, Dede shares how her engineering mindset and entrepreneurial resilience have driven her to build impactful startups that tackle complex challenges.  Dede...