Xtalks Life Science Podcast

In this week’s episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid, Senior Life Science Journalist at Xtalks, spoke with Andrew Menzies-Gow, MBBS, PhD, Vice President Respiratory & Immunology, Global Biopharmaceuticals Medical, AstraZeneca, about innovations in respiratory and immunology drug development. Dr. Menzies-Gow is an expert in respiratory biologics and severe asthma resear...

In this week’s episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid, Senior Life Science Journalist at Xtalks, spoke with Peter Vanderklish, PhD, chief scientific officer at Spinogenix, a company developing therapeutics aimed at restoring synaptic connections for conditions such as ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and Fragile X syndrome. Dr. Vanderklish’s decades of research, from...

In this week’s episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid, Senior Life Science Journalist at Xtalks, spoke with Pol Boudes, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Rectify Pharma . Rectify Pharma is a biotechnology company pioneering a positive functional modulators (PFM) platform to address the root causes of genetic and protein folding diseases in the liver, cardio-renal-metabolic and n...

In this week’s episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid, Senior Life Science Journalist at Xtalks, spoke with Mike Denne, PharmD, Vice President of US Medical Affairs for Rare Disease and Plasma Derived Therapies at Takeda, to discuss the company’s approach to advancing patient care in the area of rare diseases through medical innovation and collaboration. With over 15 years...

In this week’s episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid, Senior Life Science Journalist at Xtalks.com, welcomes Mike Exton, PhD, CEO of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals , for a conversation about leveraging gene science to develop innovative medicines for serious chronic conditions. Dr. Exton discusses Lexicon’s growing pipeline, which includes promising therapies for diabetic periphe...

In this week’s episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid, Senior Life Science Journalist at Xtalks.com, spoke with R. Nolan Townsend, MBA, CEO of Lexeo Therapeutics , a company developing gene therapies for cardiovascular diseases as well as CNS disorders including Alzheimer’s disease. Lexeo recently announced a partnership to advance cardiac RNA therapeutics as well as $80 mi...

In this week’s episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid, Senior Life Science Journalist at Xtalks.com, spoke with Juan Domínguez-Bendala, PhD, Director of Stem Cell and Pancreatic Regeneration Programs, Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) at the University of Miami, to discuss his research team’s new research published in Nature Communications that could redefine diabetes treat...

In this week’s episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid, Senior Life Science Journalist at Xtalks.com, sits down with Paul Wotton, PhD, CEO of RBL LLC , a venture studio partially owned by Rice University. RBL’s mission is to transform groundbreaking research from the Rice Biotech LaunchPad into successful biotech startups. The company provides end-to-end support for early-st...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, Senior Life Science Journalist Ayesha Rashid speaks with Joel Latham, CEO, president and director of Incannex Healthcare , to discuss how the company is advancing cannabinoid and psychedelic therapies for chronic conditions like sleep apnea, rheumatoid arthritis and anxiety disorders. Joel has more than 20 years of senior management and operation...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid, speaks with Jeff Glazier, CEO and founding member of General Oncology. General Oncology is focused on advancing innovative therapies that address some of the greatest unmet needs in oncology. At General Oncology, Jeff has overseen everything from corporate strategy and clinical trial site selection to IP protection and IT infr...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, we dive into the cutting edge of cell therapy innovation with Ian Nisbet, PhD, chief operating officer (COO) and co-founder of Cartherics, an Australian biotech company developing next-generation cell therapies for difficult-to-treat diseases like cancer and endometriosis. Dr. Nisbet also acts as a director or advisor to several Australian and US...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Vera Kovacevic speaks with Rohan Palekar, CEO of 89bio, about one of the fastest-growing public health challenges: metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), also known as fatty liver disease. MASH is projected to affect more than 27 million Americans by 2030, yet it remains a largely “silent” epidemic. Palekar discu...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, Senior Life Science Journalist Ayesha Rashid connects with Bill Andriopoulos, PhD, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Galderma US, to discuss the future of patient-centered dermatology across both medical and aesthetic care. Galderma is focused on advancing science-based innovations in the dermatology space. Together, they discuss Galderma’s ap...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, Senior Life Science Journalist Ayesha Rashid speaks with Dr. Roger Cone, PhD, founder of Courage Therapeutics , professor at the University of Michigan, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a leading authority on the neuroscience of weight regulation. Dr. Cone shares insights from over 30 years of groundbreaking research on the brain’...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid speaks with Rob Armstrong, PhD, CEO of Artax Biopharma , a company pioneering a novel class of oral small molecule drugs known as Nck modulators to treat autoimmune diseases. Unlike traditional therapies that suppress the immune system, Artax’s approach aims to restore immune balance by modulating T cell receptor signaling. Dr....

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, Ayesha speaks with Craig Erickson, MD, chief medical officer at Spinogenix and a leading expert in translational neurodevelopmental research. Dr. Erickson shares insights into Spinogenix’s work on restoring synapses to reverse cognitive and motor decline in conditions like Fragile X Syndrome, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Dr. Ericks...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, Ayesha speaks with Michael Thurn, PhD, Managing Director & CEO, Neurizon Therapeutics , a company focused on advancing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS, with expansion efforts in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and others. With over 25 years of experience in biotech innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership an...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, Ayesha speaks with Stella Sarraf, PhD, founder, CEO and director of Spinogenix , a company pioneering neurodegenerative therapeutics designed to restore synapses with the potential to reverse cognitive and motor decline in conditions such as ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and other neurological disorders. Dr. Sarraf shares the scientific...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, Ayesha Rashid speaks with Laura Williams, MD, MPH, chief patient officer at Ardelyx, a company developing and commercializing first-in-class medicines for diseases like chronic kidney disease (CKD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Dr. Williams brings nearly 30 years of experience in clinical development, drug strategy and patient advocacy. Wit...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, Vera Kovacevic speaks with Gene Mack, CEO and President of Gain Therapeutics , a company focused on AI-driven small molecule discovery for diseases with high unmet medical needs. With over 25 years of leadership across biopharma, capital markets and corporate strategy, Gene shares his unique perspective on the intersection of artificial intellige...

In this episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast, host Ayesha Rashid speaks with Edwin Tucker, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Jasper Therapeutics, about innovative approaches to treating chronic mast cell diseases such as asthma, food allergies and IBS. Dr. Tucker has over 30 years of clinical drug development experience, with past roles as CMO at Goldfinch Bio and Mirum Pharmaceuticals...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Adam Grant, PhD, Principal Scientist at CancerVax , to discuss the company’s Universal Cancer Treatment Platform. The immunotherapy tool uses AI to train the immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells by modifying those cells to resemble known pathogens like measles. This innovative approach prompts a stronger and more effective immune response compare...

In this episode, Vera spoke with Dr. Alessandra Maleddu, a medical oncologist and sarcoma specialist at the University of Colorado. Dr. Maleddu specializes in soft tissue and bone sarcomas, with a particular focus on desmoid tumors and advancing clinical trials in this rare disease area. Desmoid tumors are locally invasive soft tissue tumors that present unique diagnostic and treatment challenges,...

In this episode, Vera spoke with Jay Hartenbach, President and Chief Operating Officer of Diakonos Oncology , a company developing cancer immunotherapies to address the critical and unmet medical need of late-stage and aggressive cancers like glioblastoma. Jay is a passionate advocate for wellness and innovative healthcare, bringing a unique blend of scientific knowledge, entrepreneurial enthusias...

In this episode, Vera spoke with Chris Ehrlich, CEO at CERo Therapeutics, a company developing next-generation T cell immunotherapies, called chimeric engulfment receptor T cells (CER T). Chris has extensive experience in biotechnology, venture capital and strategic transactions, currently serving as CEO and Chairman of the board since February 2024 and previously as CEO of PBAX. He has held leade...