Ep#027: Finding the Best Possible Treatment for Each Cancer Patient with Dr. Dan Rhodes

06/15/21 • 48 min

This Podcast episode cannot get any closer to what personalized medicine is really about. Welcome Dr. Dan Rhodes, the founder and CEO of Strata Oncology, a leading precision oncology company leveraging state-of-the art genomics tools for more efficient cancer diagnostics and treatment. Dan is a bioinformatician by training and spent his entire career applying genomics to solving complex problems in oncology. Dan founded two very successful startups in this field and also has gathered vast experience working as a VP of Oncology Strategy at large corporations (Life Technologies and Thermo Fisher). This interview is full of deep insights on the state of genomic testing in cancer treatment and reflections on the future of precision oncology.
◦ Tune into this episode to learn more about:
◦ Dan’s journey from a PhD student to a serial biotech entrepreneur
◦ Differences between working in a small start-up vs large organizations
◦ Strata’s mission to determine best possible treatment for each cancer patient
◦ Role of RNAseq in precision oncology
◦ Approaches for highly-sensitive NGS of solid tumors
◦ Paradigm shift in clinical trials for personalized therapeutics
◦ Reimbursement landscape in cancer genomics
◦ Potential of asymptomatic NGS screening in oncology
◦ Dan’s vision for the future of precision oncology
Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

Previous Episode

Ep#026: Bringing Protein Biomarkers Closer to Clinics with Dr. Sophia Doll

In this episode, we return to our beloved field of proteomics. This time we focus on answering a question on how automation and AI can improve biomarker discovery and ultimately benefit patients. Our guest is Dr. Sophia Doll, co-founder of OmicEra Diagnostics, one of the most exciting startups in the field of proteomics today.
Sophia did her Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich where she studied translational protein biomarkers of cancer in the lab of Mathias Mann. She conducted part of her graduate research at the University of California in San Francisco and worked for Genentech where she analyzed epigenetic and proteomic alterations in lymphoma. In 2019 Sophia started OmicEra Diagnostics and together with her co-founders they aim at maximizing insights that we can obtain from analyzing various biological samples.
Together with Sophia, we discussed:
◦ Sophia’s motivation behind starting OmicEra Diagnostics
◦ Rise of open-source tools for analysis of omic data
◦ Role of protein biomarkers in diagnostics of the future
◦ Technological advancement in mass spec based proteomics
◦ Struggles in biomarker discovery
◦ How proteomics can help us understand the severity of COVID
◦ The upcoming developments in the field of mass spec-based proteomics
◦ Sophia’s advice to young biotech founders
Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

Next Episode

Ep#028: Applying Laser Physics to Enable Personalized Stem Cell Therapies with Dr. Nabiha Saklayen

In this Podcast episode we return to the topic of stem cells. We discussed that autologous stem cells can be a powerful therapeutic tool for Parkinson’s disease in our interview with Professor Jeanne Loring. The challenge however is to manufacture those therapies at scale. Our guest on this episode is taking a major step in alleviating this hurdle. Meet Nabiha Saklayen, the co-founder and CEO of Cellino, a company that merges stem cell biology, laser physics and machine learning to make autologous stem cell therapies possible.
Together with Nabiha, we discussed:
◦ Her personal career story from physics to biotech
◦ Role of finding product/market fit early in a deep tech startup journey
◦ Importance of founding team for any startup
◦ Challenges in manufacturing of autologous cell therapeutics
◦ Cellino’s approach for automated selection and expansion of iPSCs
◦ Applications of stem cells in drug discovery
◦ The future of personalized stem cell therapies
Get in touch with Nabiha:
◦ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nabihasaklayen/
◦ Twitter: @nabsicle
◦ Website (Cellino): https://www.cellinobio.com/
Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com