Speaking of Mol Bio - Molecular Biology for hire – the CRO experience

Molecular Biology for hire – the CRO experience

03/15/24 • 31 min

Contract Research Organizations (CROs) are a resource that most scientists know about but relatively few have first-hand, internal experience with. In this episode our hosts speak with Saboor Hekmaty, Director of Laboratory Operations at Avrok Biosciences, who pulls back the curtain to illuminate what CROs do, and the skills required for them to be successful in supporting diverse projects for their customers.

We hear about the work Saboor and their team do in biospecimen processing, biobanking, clinical studies, and lots of sample analysis, all tailored to meet the unique needs of the challenges they face each day.

Join us for a casual, insightful, and educational conversation that will leave you with a deeper understanding of CROs and what it’s like to work for one customer. Saboor highlights the importance and ubiquity of molecular biology in their projects and the personal traits required for him and his staff to be successful and enjoy the diverse work

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For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Previous Episode

High-throughput transcriptomics and AI for drug discovery

Doing something complex and meaningful in a new way requires thinking and acting a bit differently. This is the case with how Dr. Joey Azofeifa, from Arpeggio Bio, is using systems biology to discover new drug candidates.

Join us in this Season 2 kickoff episode where we dive headlong into transcriptomics, systems biology, machine learning, and learn how they’re being used to innovate drug discovery. We learn about 3’-end mRNA barcoding and in-cell reverse transcription methods that allow the pooling of up to 1,536 samples so that only a single library preparation is required while still allowing the deconvolution of RNAseq results. This reduces their RNAseq costs by up to 400-fold, which enables them to generate enormous transcriptomic data sets. We also learn about how they’re using generative adversarial AI networks to use this transcriptomics data to design potential drug candidates. We even hear how one of their drug candidates, which targets iron homeostasis pathways, has progress to successful testing in mice.

To access the transcript for download, please visit - https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/brands/invitrogen/molecular-biology-technologies/speaking-of-mol-bio-podcast.html

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Next Episode

Unsung heroes of food health and safety

When you buy chicken or turkey from the grocery store, you might not give it much thought, but there is an entire network of people working to ensure the health of the animals in our food supply chain and your health. In this episode, we talk with an unsung hero, Beverly Wood, supervisor of the molecular diagnostics lab at the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, who works tirelessly to ensure the health and safety of poultry and livestock animals in our food supply chain.

Our conversation delves into the types of samples and volume of testing that Beverly and her team do on a routine basis uncovers how their work changes as they move between surveillance and outbreak modes of operation, and gets into the molecular testing workflows they use. Given that her lab analyzes more than 30,000 samples a year, the discussion also touches on advancements in sample preparation and PCR that help enable this level of throughput, while delivering the rigor and reliability their lab requires.

Join us to learn about the unsung heroes, both people and molecular methods, that deliver food health and safety.

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.