People Behind the Science Podcast

Dr. Michelle Starz-Gaiano is Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and her PhD in Developmental Genetics from New York University. Afterwards, Michelle completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She […] Th...

Dr. Maureen (Mo) Donnelly is a Professor of Biology and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida International University (FIU). She is also a Research Associate in the Department of Herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Maureen received her PhD in Biology […] The post 819: Dr. Maureen Donnelly: Making Great Leaps St...

Dr. Mark Saffman is a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received is B.Sc. with honors in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology. Mark worked as a Technical Staff Member at TRW Defense and Space systems and subsequently an Optical Engineer at Dantec Electronics Inc. in Denmark before […] The post 818: Dr. Mark Saffman: Shini...

Dr. Luiz E. Bertassoni is the founding director of the Knight Cancer Precision Biofabrication Hub and Professor in the Division of Oncological Sciences at the Knight Cancer Institute, where he is also co-section head for Discovery and Translational Oncology. He is also faculty in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research […] The post 817: Dr. Luiz...

Dr. Shannon Manning is a Michigan State University (MSU) Foundation Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. She earned her B.S. in biology from the University of Michigan, her M.P.H. in Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology, and her Ph. D. in Molecular Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. Afterwards, Shannon was awarded an Emerging […] The post 81...

Dr. Adam Summers is a Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences and Department of Biology at the University of Washington, and he conducts research in his lab within the Friday Harbor Laboratories there. He completed his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and engineering at Swarthmore College, and afterwards worked as a SCUBA instructor […] The post 815: Dr. Adam Summers: Fasci...

Dr. Sarah Gabbott is a Professor of Palaeontology in the School of Geography, Geology, and the Environment at the University of Leicester. She is also Director of Green Circle Nature Regeneration CIC, a non-profit organization in the UK, and she is co-author of the recently released book Discarded: How Technofossils Will be Our Ultimate Legacy. […] The post 814: Dr. Sarah Gabbott: Uncovering...

Dr. Jennifer Wargo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a Stand Up To Cancer researcher. She received her A.S. degree in nursing and B.S. degree in biology from Gwynedd-Mercy College. Afterwards, Jennifer attended the Medical College of Pennsylvania where she earned her M.D. Jennifer completed […] The post 8...

Dr. Joseph Ryan is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience at the University of Florida. Joe received his PhD in bioinformatics from Boston University. Afterwards, he was awarded a research fellowship at the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health and subsequently worked as a […] The post 812: Dr. Joseph Ryan: St...

Dr. Jingchun Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, and she is the Curator of Invertebrates at CU Boulder’s Museum of Natural History. She is also a Packard Foundation Fellow and a National Geographic Explorer. Jingchun completed her B.S. in Biological Sciences at […] The post 811: Dr. Jingchun Li: Investigati...

Dr. Christine Drea is the Earl D. McLean Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, as well as Professor in the Department of Biology, the University Program in Ecology, and the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences at Duke University. Christine completed her undergraduate training in zoology at the University of Maryland College Park. She earned her M.A. and […] The post 810: Dr. Christine Drea: S...

Dr. Kevin France is an Assistant Professor in the Department for Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences as well as an investigator within the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He received his bachelor’s degree in Physics and Astronomy from Boston University, and he was awarded his Ph. D. in Astrophysics from Johns […] The post 809: Dr. K...

Dr. Keshav K. Singh is the Joy and Bill Harbert Endowed Chair and Professor of Genetics, Dermatology and Pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Mitochondrion Journal. In addition, Keshav is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the company Yuva Biosciences. Keshav began his studies […] The post 808: Dr. Keshav Singh: Unravel...

Dr. Luise Hermanutz is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Memorial University in Canada. She received her PhD in Plant Ecology from Western University in London, Ontario. Afterward, She taught as an Instructor in the Geography Department at Memorial University and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Wollongong in Australia, before joining the […] The post 807: Dr. L...

Dr. Jia “Leo” Li is an Associate Professor of Physics at Brown University. He completed his undergraduate studies at Tsinghua University in China, and he received his MS and PhD degrees in Physics from Northwestern University. Afterwards, Leo worked as a postdoctoral researcher in physics at Columbia University before joining the faculty at Brown University […] The post 806: Dr....

Dr. Eric Kmiec is Director of the Gene Editing Institute of the Helen F. Graham Cancer and Research Institute at Christiana Care Health System. He also holds faculty appointments at the University of Delaware and the Wistar Institute. He Received his B.A. in Microbiology from Rutgers University, his M.S. in Cell Biology and Biochemistry from Southern […] The post 805: Dr. Eric Kmiec: Creatin...

Dr. Andrew Felton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences within the College of Agriculture at Montana State University-Bozeman where he is Principal Investigator of the Felton Lab. He completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota, majoring in Biology, Society, and Environment. Afterwards, he was awarded his […] The post 804:...

Dr. Edward DeLong is a Professor in the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawai’i Mānoa as well as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. Ed received his B.S. in Bacteriology from the University of California, Davis and his Ph. D. in Marine Biology from the Scripps Institute of […] The post 803: Dr. Ed DeLong: Conducting Research o...

Dr. Emma Louise Spanswick is an Associate Professor and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Tier II Canada Research Chair in Geospace Dynamics and Space Plasma Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary. She completed her undergraduate studies in physics and was awarded her PhD in physics from […] The post 802: Dr. Emma Spanswick: Using Re...

Dr. Kyle Cromer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He completed his BS in Animal & Poultry Sciences at Virginia Tech and his PhD in Genetics at Yale University. Afterwards, he conducted postdoctoral research in Genetics at Harvard Medical School. Next he […] The post 801: Dr. Kyle Cromer: Using Gene Ed...

Dr. Philip J. Landrigan is a pediatrician and a public health doctor. He is Professor of Biology, Director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good, and Director of the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society at Boston College. He is also Professor Emeritus […] The post 800: Dr. Philip Landrigan: Protecting Childr...

Dr. Karen Strier is the Vilas Research Professor and Irven Devore Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Karen received her B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology and Biology from Swarthmore College, and she was awarded her M.A. and Ph. D. in Anthropology from Harvard University. After completing her Ph. D., Karen served as a lecturer at Harvard University […] The post 799...

Dr. Joseph S. Takahashi is Professor and Chair of Neuroscience and the Loyd B. Sands Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He is also an Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Joe received his B.A. in biology from Swarthmore College and he was awarded his Ph. D. in neuroscience […] The post 798: Dr. Joseph Takahashi: Researc...

Dr. Michael Treadway is the Winship Distinguished Research Professor in Psychology and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at Emory University. He is also affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory. Michael received his PhD in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University and completed his clinical internship and post-doctoral fellowshi...

Dr. Marcia Bjornerud is Professor of Geology and the Walter Schober Professor of Environmental Studies at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. In addition, she is a writer for “Elements”, the New Yorker’s science and technology blog, and she is the author of the textbook The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science, the popular science book Reading the Rocks: […] The post 796: Dr. M...