Talking Techniques

In this episode, the fifth in our miniseries covering the mAbs journal article collection on artificial intelligence and machine learning in antibody development, we speak to Aubin Ramon, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Sormanni Lab at Imperial College London (UK), about his paper in the collection: Prediction of protein biophysical traits from limited data: a case study on nanobody thermos...

In this episode, the fourth in our miniseries covering the mAbs journal article collection on artificial intelligence and machine learning in antibody development, we speak to Andrew Buchanan, Senior Vice President of Discovery at a biotech company currently in stealth mode, and former Principle Scientist at AstraZeneca, about his paper in the collection: How to think about designing smart antibod...

In Episode 3 of our AI in Antibodies mini-series, we speak to Peter Tessier, the Albert M. Mattocks Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, about his groundbreaking work in the application of machine learning to predict and improve the formulation and delivery of therapeutic antibodies. Subcutaneous delivery of antibody therapeutics offers patie...

In episode two of our AI & Antibodies mini-series, we speak to Ryan Emerson, Senior Vice President of Data Science at A-Alpha Bio, to discuss AlphaBind, A-Alpha Bio’s antibody-antigen binding-affinity prediction model. We discuss how this model was trained, how it operates and how it has enabled researchers to test mutations designed to optimize an antibody candidate for critical quality attri...

We have teamed up with the journal mAbs to cover their article collection on artificial intelligence and machine learning in antibody development. In this, the first episode of the series, we speak to Charlotte Dean, Professor of Structural Bioinformatics in the Department of Statistics at the University of Oxford, about her paper in the collection: Humatch - fast, gene-specific joint humanization...

In our third episode of the BRAIN (Black Researchers Addressing Inequalities in Neuroscience) podcast miniseries, we're exploring the research being done at the intersection of neuroscience, immunology and pharmacology to investigate HIV.  Our guest is Dionna Williams, an Associate Professor at Emory University whose research centers on the neuropharmacology and neuroimmunology of HIV, identi...

In our second episode of the BRAIN (Black Researchers Addressing Inequalities in Neuroscience) podcast miniseries, we explore the lab techniques and interdisciplinary approaches being leveraged to understand how vascular health impacts neurodegeneration, particularly in underrepresented populations.  Our guest is Cellas Hayes , a neuroepidemiologist and postdoctoral researcher...

In our first episode of the BRAIN (Black Researchers Addressing Inequalities in Neuroscience) podcast miniseries, we dive into the research world of neuroengineering to gain an insight into the innovative devices being developed to monitor neurological disorders in addition to highlighting organizations that are playing a crucial role in supporting Black academics. Our guest is De-Shaine Murr...

In this episode of Talking Techniques, Ritwika Biswas, Field Application Scientist at Sino Biological US Inc. (PA, USA), discusses the role of cytokines in autoimmune diseases, the techniques used to examine them and some emerging therapeutic innovations beginning to change the way we approach the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Contents Introduction: 00:00–02:06 The role of cytokines in a healt...

This episode of Talking Technique deviates slightly from specific lab technologies to instead discuss techniques and methods we use for teaching and testing life sciences. To do this, I’m speaking to two pioneers of unconventional teaching and testing approaches to STEM education. Angela Consani is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Bioscience Core Skills Institute (KS, USA). This skills-first microcre...

This episode of the Talking Techniques podcast dives into the realm of cancer immunotherapies, focusing on antigen discovery and T-cell receptor engineering for T-cell therapies. Guiding us through the field is Jim Heath, President of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, where he runs the Heath Lab, investigating fundamental immunology, and infectious and chronic diseases. Jim discusses t...

In this episode of Talking Techniques, Ritwika Biswas, Field Application Scientist at Sino Biological US Inc. (PA, USA), discusses the use of cytokines in immunotherapy. Ritwika details the role of cytokines in the body, before going on to discuss how they can be used as therapeutics and to guide treatment decisions. Ritwika also shares how she thinks these proteins will be used in the future. Con...

The cell-surface proteome plays a critical role in immune-cell function; however, our ability to examine its interactions and spatial organization has previously been limited by available proteomic techniques. This episode explores the function of immune-cell membrane proteins and how the latest developments in spatial proteomics have enabled more detailed interrogation of these proteins and their...

In this episode of Talking Techniques, we catch up with Michael Long, Principle Investigator of the Long Lab at New York University (NY, USA), where he investigates the neural circuits that underlie vocal communication. Through the examination of animal models, from songbirds to the rare singing mice of Costa Rica, with cutting-edge imaging techniques Michael reveals fascinating insights into voca...

Launching our fourth season of Talking Techniques, this episode, supported by the University of Cincinnati (OH, USA) we delve into rare disease research and pharmacogenomics, their intersection and the key techniques used to explore them. Guiding us through these fields is Brenna Carey, an Assistant Professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center whose research focuses on rare disease p...

In this episode of Talking Techniques, we talk to Andrew Lee, a senior research fellow in Queen’s University Belfast’s (UK) wastewater-based epidemiology group, about his work using wastewater to monitor and detect infectious diseases. Andrew discusses how wastewater surveillance acts as an early warning system, providing novel, unbiased insights into human and animal pathogens that are circulatin...

In this episode of Talking Techniques, we speak to two experts from Sino Biological US Inc. (PA, USA) about the latest developments in antibody technologies and how these developments have led to the next generation of antibodies that are revolutionizing therapeutic approaches to a number of diseases. With the guidance of Field Scientist Ritwika Biswas and Technical Account Manager Grace Liu, we e...

In this episode of Talking Techniques, Rachel Thijssen, an Assistant Professor at Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC; the Netherlands), discusses her research using single-cell analyses to investigate treatment-resistant leukemia cells. Rachel explains her single-cell technique called rapid capture hybridization sequencing (RaCH-seq), how she utilizes nanopore sequencing, and how she hopes...

In this episode of Talking Techniques, Ritwika Biswas, Field Scientist at Sino Biological US Inc. (PA, USA), walks us through the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) development process and how T and natural killer (NK) cells can be utilized to carry these modular synthetic molecules. Ritwika also addresses the safety and efficacy of these cell therapies as well as the ethical considerations around th...

In this episode, supported by Fortis Life Sciences, we delve into the relationship between mitochondria, inflammation and cancer, discussing the new techniques that are bearing fruit in this field, such as spatial analysis. Our expert insight for this episode comes from Phillip West, Principle Investigator of the West lab at Texas A&M Medicine (TX, USA). Philip explains the role mitochondria c...

In this episode, sponsored by Zymo Research, we explore the microbiome and how long-read sequencing techniques are changing our approach to the field and the exciting discoveries that they have led to. To do this we speak to Kris Locken, Molecular Biologist in the Research & Development department of Zymo Research (CA, USA), and Jeremy Wilkinson, Global Marketing Specialist for Microbial Genom...

This episode, our second recorded at Neuroscience 2022 (13-19th April 2022; San Diego, CA, USA), delves into the importance of open data in neuroscience and the FAIR guidelines, which encourage researchers to make their data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. Sharing her considerable expertise in this area is one of the authors of the FAIR guidelines, Maryann Martone, who provides s...

In this episode of Talking Techniques, we head to the Ecuadorian rainforest to chat about the use of sequencing in conservation with Zane Libke, a field researcher based at Sumak Kawsay In Situ (Pastaza, Ecuador). Zane discusses how he turned his fascination with nature into a career, his current work using nanopore sequencing technologies to find undescribed species and helping train future field...

In this special episode of Talking techniques, one of two recorded at Neuroscience 2022, we speak to Tim Harris (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, VA, USA). Tim is the creator of Neuropixels , neural recording probes inserted into the brains of animal models, which allow researchers to collect signals from hundreds of individual neurons in different brain regions simultaneously over extended period...

In this episode of the Talking Techniques podcast, we explore microbiomes and the techniques used to profile them. Get an overview of the different techniques’ working principles, their pros and cons and the different applications that they are best suited to. Providing an expert insight into this field is Annabelle Damerum, Microbiome R&D Scientist at Zymo Research. Annabelle reveals some key...