Penn Undergraduate Biotech Society (PUBS) Podcast

In this episode, Abby Joseph speaks with Cameron Applegate, patent agent at NK Patent Law. They discuss how patent agents approach IP strategy, including what to protect, when to file, and how to think about freedom to operate. Cameron covers common early mistakes made by inventors, how patent strategy can influence business outcomes, and how AI is beginning to impact patentability and prior art....

Today, Adya Srinivasan sits with Dr. Prathap Jayaram, a clinician-scientist and Director of Clinical Regenerative Medicine at Emory University. His work sits at the intersection of biotechnology, regenerative medicine, and clinical care, focusing on translating emerging regenerative therapies into real-world patient treatments. Tune it to learn more about where this field is headed and how it is l...

In this episode, undergraduate Lola Mallela sits down with Jonathan D. Moreno PhD. Dr. Moreno, as of recording, was the Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, of History and Sociology of Science, and of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. He has written many books including Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die: Bioethics and the Transformation of Healthcare in...

Today, undergraduate Eshal Momin sits down with Hyun (Michel) Koo, DDS, MS, PhD. Dr. Koo is a dentist-scientist who is also a professor at the School of Dental Medicine and in School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. He also is the co-founder of the Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry (CiPD). In this podcast, Dr. Koo discusses how diseases of the mo...

In this podcast, Claire Tian, undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, sits down with Josh Schwartz MD, MBA who sits as the Vice President of Medical Affairs in North America at BeOne Medicines. Dr. Schwartz dives into his career but also the pipeline of developing drugs, specifically highlighting the oncology therapeutics that have made it to market from BeOne. Dr. Schwartz pulls on his k...

Today, Kevin Lee, an undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, talks with Dr. Theodore Drivas MD, PhD, assistant professor in Translational Medicine and Human Genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine. In this episode, Dr. Drivas talks about his path to clinical and research work, his passion in disease of the primary cilium, and current challenges in genetic analysis of rare and common disea...

In this episode, Suchi Patel sits down with Zarina S. Ali, MD, Chief of Neurosurgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Ali shares insights from her pioneering career in neurosurgery, discussing the clinical complexities in nerve surgery, and her research into optimizing patient outcomes through data-driven approaches...

In this episode, Arnav Gupta sits down with Dr. Mark Pauly, a health economist at the Wharton School, to discuss the economics of healthcare delivery, insurance market design, and the trade-offs between cost, access, and quality in the U.S. healthcare system. Dr. Mark Pauly is best know for writing one of the most influential pieces in health economics: "The Economics of Moral Hazard: Comment...

In this episode, Adarsh Ramamurthy talks with Bruce Levine PhD, Professor in Cancer Gene Therapy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In this unique sit down, Dr. Levine discusses his path into research, emerging trends and what the future holds for immunotherapy as a treatment modality and closes with his guidance and advice for younger scientists entering any fie...

In this episode, Abby Joseph sits down with Dr. Terry Bray. Dr Brady serves as Executive Director of Licensing for Physical Sciences & Engineering at the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI). With over 30 years spanning academia and industry, Dr. Bray brings a rare view of technology deals from both the inventor and the licensing side. In this episode, we dig into the mechanics of technology licen...

In this episode, Mary Zawalick sits down with Dr. Jonathan Steckbeck to discuss how he entered the biotechnology industry and created his company, Peptilogics. Peptilogics has gained popularity recently for their development of a peptide therapy for Periprosthetic Joint Infections (PJI). Steckbeck talks about the current projects his team is working on, the challenges of running a biotech company,...

Today, undergradute Abby Joseph sit down with Dr. Tomas Isakowitz from the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) which helps researchers at Penn move their discoveries out of the lab and into the real world through startups, licensing, and entrepreneurship programs. Listen in to learn about what it really takes to turn research into real-world impact, lessons learned from working with over 150 startup...

In this episode, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Mallory Evanoff sits down with University of Pennsylvania student Mary Zawalick to discuss her current research with CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology at the University of California, San Diego. She discusses her specific research focuses and how they can be applied clinically to cure genetic diseases. She will also provide insights into how she becam...

In this episode, we invite Dr David Schlesinger to speak with Lara Mizne about his experience as co-founder and CEO of Mendelics, the largest genomics lab in Latin America, exploring how it functions on a day-to-day basis, its growth over the past decade, and the impact of AI: both on the lab itself as well as on medicine as a whole.

In this podcast, Columbia University graduate student Sophia Windemuth sits down with Mary Zawalick and explains her journey in biomedical engineering, as well as how she became interested in this field of research. After completing her undergraduate degrees in BME and computer science at Cornell, she is now researching how bacteria can be genetically modified to target and cure glioblastomas. We...

In this episode, Risa Garg speaks with distinguished virologist, lead scientist, and entrepreneur Dr. Rupsa Basu. Dr. Basu has a deep passion for exploring the intersections of science, business, and advocacy. In addition to her groundbreaking research at Humane Genomics, she is deeply committed to advancing women's leadership. She serves as the Director at Large and Regional Vice President for th...

In an age of such rapid innovation, we are often so wrapped up in excitement for new science and flashy discoveries that we forget the implications of the technology itself and whom it affects: stakeholders, end users, and all those involved in its creation.    Dr. Brit Shields is a senior lecturer of Bioengineering and leader of the University of Pennsylvania’s Engineering Ethics Initiative. In t...

In this episode, Siddharth Adda and Dr. Sampath Rangasamy, Research Associate Professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute sit down to discuss his journey researching therapeutics for diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Rangasamy, a lifelong Type-I diabetic, reveals how the disease motivated him to conduct research on angiopoietin-2, and contribute towards a potential therapeutic.

In this episode, Neil Tangal and Dr. Christoph Thaiss, Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, sit and discuss the idea of the microbiome as a switchboard for the human body. Dr. Thaiss talks about his work exploring gut-brain signaling and interoception, as well as Spyridon Biotechnology, his new startup. Potential therapeutics are discussed, where this gut-brain ax...

In this episode, the CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Mr. Kevin Mahoney, sits down with undergraduate Divyash Shah to discuss his unique position in controlling one of the largest health systems nationally. While discussing the responsibilities he holds, he also discusses the effort required to create a health care system that promotes innovation and translational research whil...

In this episode, Jason Fang, an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, sits down with Dr. Nicholas Balderston, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine, to explore the science behind Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and its role in modern psychiatry. Dr. Balderston talks about his career path, from his early research interests to his ongoing work studyi...

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...

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 c...

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. 

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 h...