Mendelspod Podcast
Mendelspod Podcast offers a front row seat to the Century of Biology, with veteran host Theral Timpson interviewing key figures in genomics and genomic medicine. The podcast provides insights into the latest developments and breakthroughs in the field. Listeners can learn about cutting-edge research and its implications for medicine and society.
Episodes
Agilent and Oxford Nanopore Discuss Bringing Long Reads to the Clinic with a Customer
Acute leukemia patients often wait days or even weeks for the full battery of molecular tests needed to guide treatment decisions. Dr. Parth Shah from Dartmouth believes long read sequencing can dramatically shorten that timeline. In this episode, Shah joins Agilent's Rita Shaknovich and Oxford Nanopore's Claire Attwooll to discuss some details of how long reads are beginning to move from research
Liquid Biopsy for the Tumor Microenvironment: with Vince Miller and Mirna Jarosz
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comWe’ve become remarkably good at reading cancer cells. Spatial biology enabled us to read them in context. Today we discuss a new Nature study suggesting that the tumor microenvironment—the immune cells, stromal cells, and surrounding biology that often determines whether a therapy succeeds or fails—can be measured fro
Can Liquid Biopsy Transform Chronic Disease? Hamed Amini and Soheil Damangir of Hepta
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comFor the past decade, liquid biopsy has largely been defined by oncology. Tumors shed DNA carrying mutations and epigenetic changes which allows researchers to detect cancer and monitor response. With this physicians are increasingly able to guide treatment. But chronic diseases are different. There is no tumor. Biolog
The UAE’s Big Bet on Genomic Medicine with Mohamed Alameri and Albarah El-Khani
The future of genomics has arrived in Abu Dhabi.On today’s show, Dr. Mohamed Alameri of the UAE Department of Health and Albarah El-Khani of M42 describe one of the most ambitious precision medicine efforts underway anywhere in the world: the Emirati Genome Program, which has already sequenced more than 900,000 genomes and is rapidly integrating that data into everyday healthcare.The UAE program i
Ryan Flynn of Harvard on Non-Coding RNA
On today’s show, Dr. Ryan Flynn of Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital takes us into a newly emerging layer of biology: the architecture of the cell surface itself. Flynn first gained attention for the discovery of glycoRNA — RNA molecules displayed on the outside of cells — a finding that challenged the traditional picture of the cell surface as a world composed primarily of pro
Gary Schroth on Connecting Cellular Behavior to the Transcriptome
For decades, biology has been driven by the powerful notion that if we could sequence enough genomes, transcriptomes, epigenomes, then we could finally explain the cell. On today’s show, Gary Schroth, the Chief Scientific Officer at Cellanome, argues that something essential was still missing.Schroth spent nearly two decades at Illumina helping build the sequencing revolution. He has now joined C
Two-Thirds of High-Risk Breast Cancer Patients May Avoid Chemotherapy According to Veracyte Data Presented at ASCO
Today on the show, we’re discussing a new study just presented at ASCO 2026 that could change how chemotherapy decisions are made for a large group of breast cancer patients.During ASCO we spoke with Phil Febbo, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at Veracyte, and John Leite, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, looking at the results from the OPTIMA study, a large prospective trial involving
Building the Diagnostic Layer of Modern Cancer Care with Rita Shaknovich and Karina Kulangara of Agilent
For years, precision oncology has largely been discussed through the lens of breakthrough drugs. But there’s another story running underneath modern cancer care: the quiet rise of companion diagnostics. These tests are increasingly deciding who receives those therapies in the first place. In many cases, the real bottleneck is no longer discovering a drug target. It’s building a reliable system fo
Mapping the Multi-Omic Era with Eric Green of Illumina
Dr. Eric Green returns to Mendelspod in a new role: Chief Medical Officer of Illumina. After more than three decades at the National Human Genome Research Institute, where he helped guide genomics from research initiatives to clinical reality, he now joins one of the industry’s most influential companies at a moment when the field is expanding beyond DNA alone.Green takes us on a tour around the w
Inside Proteomics at Thermo Fisher with Yan Zhang
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comFor years, proteomics was described as the missing layer of biology. Why missing? Because measuring proteins at scale turned out to be vastly harder than sequencing DNA.That may finally be changing.In today’s episode Theral speaks with Dr. Yan Zhang, President of Proteomic Sciences at Thermo Fisher Scientific, about t
Separating Epigenetic Signals Improves Early Cancer Detection with Rob Osborne, Biomodal
We’ve gotten very good at reading DNA. We’re just beginning to understand how to read its state.On today’s show, Rob Osborne, Senior Vice President of R&D at Biomodal, discusses new evidence that separating two epigenetic marks—5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine—can improve early cancer detection from liquid biopsy. In a recent Nature Communications Medicine study, his team showed that a
Digital Controls for Cancer Drug Trials? Irina Babina, Concr
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comOn today’s show, a fascinating discussion about digital twins for medical research— leading to the 64 million dollar question of how much of the current AI wave in healthcare may eventually prove real.Drawing on her background in cancer research and now as CEO of Concr, Dr. Irina Babina joins us to argue that the futu
Solexa Co-Inventor Shankar Balasubramanian on Six-Base Sequencing and What's Next in Genomics
An inventor of Solexa sequencing by synthesis has a new idea.On today’s show, Sir Shankar Balasubramanian revisits the accidental origins of Solexa sequencing, born not from a sequencing project at all, but from curiosity-driven experiments watching DNA polymerase at work. What followed helped transform DNA sequencing from a specialized pursuit into a routine engine of modern biology. But as Shank
The Next Frontier in Biology: Physics? Erdinc Sezgin of the Karolinska Institute
There’s a famous line attributed to Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics: “All science is either physics or stamp collecting.” It’s still provocative. But it’s unfair to biology. Long before today’s omics era, biologists were uncovering causality everywhere from evolution and natural selection to Mendelian inheritance. They have never merely catalogued life. They have explained i
The Case for a 6-Base Genome with Peter Fromen, CEO of Biomodal
You’ve heard of 5-base genomics. How about 6-base? It turns out that separating 5-methylcytosine (mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC) is pretty important.Peter Fromen has had a front-row seat to the evolution of sequencing, from the rise of high-throughput genomics at Illumina to long-read technologies at PacBio. Now, as CEO of Biomodal, he’s focused on integrating genetics and epigenetics into
The Eligible But Under-Tested: Genomic Medicine in 2026 with Damon Hostin, Illumina
What is the value of someone’s genome over their life? Is a genome today what it was 10 years ago? How does the adoption of genomic testing compare to other areas in medicine, such as imaging or electronic health records?Today we take a pretty comprehensive look at genomic testing in practice with Damon Hostin, Head of Market Access, Clinical Solutions at Illumina. Damon brings a rare perspecti
Spatial Transcriptomics Is Changing How We Do Biology: Fei Chen, The Broad Institute
Fei Chen of the Broad Institute describes the original problem simply: genomics gave us powerful inventories of gene expression, while microscopy gave us structure—yet the two lived in separate worlds. “You could either have your structure or you could have gene expression, but you couldn’t have both.”In this conversation, Fei walks us through how Slide-tags—now commercialized as Takara Bio Trekke
Beyond GLP-1: Why Peptides Are Back at the Center of Drug Discovery with Charlie Johannes and Tomi Sawyer
Peptides are having a moment. But beneath the market excitement and the GLP-1 headlines, something more interesting is going on. A field that for years seemed technically promising but perpetually constrained is becoming wide open.To see into that open terrain, we’re joined by Charlie Johannes, founder of EPOC Scientific and president of the Peptide Drug Hunting Consortium, along with Tomi Sawyer,
From the Archives: Inventor Mark Kokoris Debuts Roche’s New SBX Sequencer
It was the biggest story in sequencing last year: Mark Kokoris, head of SBX sequencing at Roche and inventor of the technology, joins Mendelspod to talk about how Sequencing by Expansion (SBX) works and why it may redefine the limits of genomics.* 0:00 A long journey inspired by PCR* 7:20 What is sequencing by expansion?* 14:00 On scale and accuracy* 19:40 Multi-omics vision?* 24:40 What will be t
Why Do Some Animals Live Ten Times Longer? Pursuing the Science of Aging with Steve Austad
Why do some animals live ten times longer than others?That question opens today’s interview with Steve Austad, Distinguished Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and one of the leading thinkers in the biology of aging. It quickly becomes clear why he’s been such an important voice in bringing aging research from the margins into the center of science. As he puts it, the field was o
MRD Testing: From Residual Disease to Real Decisions with Chris Hourigan and Gary Pestano
Molecular residual disease, or MRD, has been part of oncology’s vocabulary for decades. But knowing something is there and being able to measure it precisely are two very different things. In today’s show, we explore how MRD testing moved from a long-standing clinical suspicion to one of the most consequential tools in modern oncology.Joining us on the program are Chris Hourigan, Director of the
Early vs Late Recurrence: How Multimodal AI Is Changing Breast Cancer Prognosis with George Sledge, Caris Life Sciences
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comFor two decades, tests like Oncotype DX have helped oncologists decide which early-stage breast cancer patients should receive chemotherapy. But those tools were designed mainly to predict early recurrence, leaving physicians with far less clarity about the risk that cancer might return years later.For today’s program,
The Dark Genome with Author Sudhakaran Prabakaran
We began this podcast back around the time the ENCODE project announced that much of the genome was biochemically active. The big science project was undoing the tidy idea of “junk DNA,” and not without controversy. But activity is not the same as purpose. On today’s show, we move past the question of whether the non-coding genome does something and ask a more ambitious one: why has evolution re
Illumina's New Mapped Read Technology Provides Insights into Rare Disease: Stephen Kingsmore, Olivia Kim-McManus and Ali Crawford
“We have been talking now for 15, 20 years about the diagnostic odyssey. That shouldn’t exist anymore. The new odyssey is the therapeutic odyssey.”That’s Stephen Kingsmore, president and CEO of Rady Children’s Hospital (he just announced his retirement), explaining the impact of a new genome mapping technology from Illumina.Whole-genome sequencing has transformed diagnosis, but some of the hardest
CareDx’s Second Act with CEO John Hanna
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comCareDx is a company on the move. For years, they have been a bellwether in molecular diagnostics. Their early bet on gene expression testing in transplant medicine, their bruising fight over Medicare coverage, and their pivot into cell-free DNA monitoring have all reflected the growing pains of precision medicine itse
Inside GP2: Building a Global Genetic Map of Parkinson’s with Andrew Singleton and Ignacio Mata
Large-scale genomics is back — and this time, it’s global by design.In this episode of Mendelspod, we return to the kind of ambitious, shared genomics project that helped define the field a decade ago. The Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2) has now genotyped more than 100,000 participants worldwide, with roughly one third of samples coming from historically underrepresented populations. Tha
A Simple Sponge, a Big Shift in Cell Therapy with Yev Brudno, UNC
What if the hardest part of scaling cell therapy turned out to be a materials problem not a biological one—and the solution looked like a sponge?On today’s show, Theral speaks with Yev Brudno, Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy and also the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, about a deceptively simple technology that could dramatical
How Cellanome Is Changing the Way We Study Cell Function with Matthew Spitzer and Pier Federico Gherardini
For today’s show, we return to discussing the exciting new Cellanome platform. Joining Theral are Pier Federico Gherardini, VP of Computational Biology at Cellanome, and Matthew Spitzer, Associate Professor at University of California, San Francisco, whose lab is using Cellanome’s CellCage technology to study immune cells in dynamic, interactive contexts.0:00 From static snapshots to observing cel
From Hereditary Risk to Residual Disease: Natera’s Integrated Vision for Precision Oncology with Adam ElNaggar, MD
Half of oncologists in the U.S. are now ordering MRD testing, according to Adam ElNaggar, MD of Natera — but the other half, he says, “are still figuring out how to use it, or that it even exists.”In this episode, we talk with ElNaggar about the rapid rise of ctDNA-based monitoring and how it’s changing the very rhythm of cancer care. From Natera’s “tumor-informed” SignateraTM assay to its new “ti
The Rise of Geroscience with Alan Landay and Tom Blackwell, UTMB
Aging may be the last great frontier of precision medicine—not a single disease, but the slow re-patterning of immunity, metabolism, and resilience that determines how well and how long we live.In this wide-ranging and genuinely mind-bending conversation, Alan Landay and Tom Blackwell make a compelling case that aging itself is finally becoming a legitimate—and testable—target of medicine.For Land
Unlocking the RNA Revolution: How Self-Replicating RNA Could Transform Vaccines and Therapeutics with Andrew Geall, Replicate Bioscience
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comThe RNA revolution didn’t end with COVID. It’s only just beginning.Today Theral is joined by Andrew Geall, co-founder and Chief Development Officer of Replicate Bioscience, to explore why self-replicating RNA may represent the next major leap in vaccines and therapeutics. While first-generation mRNA proved what was pos
From Targets to Hits: The Emerging AI Ecosystem in Drug Discovery with Aqib Hasnain, Mithrl and Cheng Hu, Technetium Therapeutics
Perhaps more than in any other field, AI is impacting drug discovery and development. To begin the year we’re joined by two AI software-as-service companies, one on the target discovery side and the other built for new compound identification for those targets.Theral speaks with Aqib Hasnain, Product Lead at Mithrl, and Cheng Hu, co-founder and CEO of Technetium Therapeutics, about how scientists
Most Popular Show of 2025: How Certis Is Rewriting Cancer Models with CEO Peter Ellman
In our most listened to episode this year, Certis Oncology CEO Peter Ellman breaks down how his company is reinventing cancer research by building orthotopic patient-derived tumor models that more faithfully mimic human cancer — and using them to improve both drug development and treatment decisions. What is meant by orthotopic? That’s when patient tumors are placed in the “correct place” insid
Building the Front-End for Every Sequencer with Volta Labs CEO Udayan Umapathi
As sequencing continues to become cheaper, more attention is being paid to sample prep. Today we’re following up with the company, Volta Labs, a genomics applications company transforming sample prep for NGS by increasing robustness and precision, and lowering operating costs. CEO Udayan Umapathi reflects on what has been a breakout first commercial year for Callisto, the company’s sequencer-agn
A New Foundational Platform for Biology: Cellanome’s Debut with CEO Omead Ostadan
Few startups have launched with such quiet anticipation—or such a remarkable founding pedigree—as Cellanome. Backed by veterans of the genomics revolution, the company aims to do for cell biology what Illumina did for sequencing: make it measurable, dynamic, and multidimensional.In this debut conversation, Cellanome CEO Omead Ostadan traces his path from the early days of Applied Biosystems and So
The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Former NHGRI Director Eric Green on a Shaken NIH and Surging Genomic Science
At the end of each year we look for a guest who in many ways defines the year. Today we sit down former NHGRI director Eric Green to reflect on the most turbulent year in his 31-year career at NIH. After leading the National Human Genome Research Institute for more than 15 years, Green’s appointment was abruptly non-renewed—a decision he learned about with “two or three days notice that I was goi
From the Archives: Next-Gen MRD Testing: Foresight’s Leap in Sensitivity with Jake Chabon and Dave Kurtz
Note: This show was originally published on September 11, 2025. In light of the recent acquisition of Foresight Diagnostics by Natera, we’re re-publishing the interview with co-founders Jake Chabon and David Kurtz.Catching a cancer relapse before any scan could see it is the ultimate goal for minimal residual disease or MRD testing. And it’s the promise behind Foresight Diagnostics, a Stanford sp
Petter Brodin of Karolinska: How Spatial Interactomics Could Transform Autoimmune Therapy
This week on Mendelspod, we speak with Petter Brodin, Professor of Pediatric Immunology at the Karolinska Institutet and Director of Systems Immunology at Imperial College London, about his pioneering work in childhood immune development and his new spatial-proteomics investigations into lupus.Petter shares how a single lecture on natural killer cells pulled him into immunology, and how early twin
From GWAS to EWAS: Chirag Patel and and Gary Miller on the Rise of Exposomics
What if the next leap in human health isn’t hidden in our genes, but in everything that happens to them? In this week’s truly groundbreaking Mendelspod episode, we open a new chapter for the show: our first deep dive into exposomics—the study of all the physical, chemical, biological, and social exposures that shape the human body across a lifetime.To guide us, we welcomed two leaders at the cente
Agilent Partners with PacBio to Speed Adoption of Long Reads into Diagnostic Testing
After more than a decade of success in research, long-read sequencing is more and more adopted into clinical testing. In today’s show, we speak with Rita Shaknovich, Chief Medical Officer at Agilent Technologies, and Sarah Kingan, Associate Director of DNA Applications at Pacific Biosciences (PacBio), about how their collaboration is speeding up this long-anticipated transition.* 0:00 Long read se
How AI Is Doing Science with Vivek Adarsh, CEO of Mithrl
What used to take months of bioinformatics analysis can now happen in minutes—and with greater biological insight than ever before. In this episode, Theral Timpson sits down with Vivek Adarsh, co-founder and CEO of Mithrl, an “AI science” company that’s bringing the power of vertical AI to the lab bench.Adarsh began his career at Nvidia, long before the company became synonymous with AI. “What I l
Inventor Mark Kokoris on Roche’s New Sequencing by Expansion
The biggest story in sequencing this year lives up to the hype. Mark Kokoris, head of SBX sequencing at Roche and inventor of the technology, joins Mendelspod to talk about how Sequencing by Expansion (SBX) works and why it may redefine the limits of genomics.* 0:00 A long journey inspired by PCR* 7:20 What is sequencing by expansion?* 14:00 On scale and accuracy* 19:40 Multi-omics vision?* 24:40
From Brewing Sake to Brewing Science: Takara Bio’s Bold New Chapter with CSO Andrew Farmer
What company began as a sake manufacturer over a century ago and went on to launch the world’s first single-cell kit in 2011? It’s Takara Bio—and their story is far from finished.In this episode, we talk with Dr. Andrew Farmer, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D at Takara Bio USA, about the company’s remarkable evolution from a Japanese enzyme maker to a global innovator in single-cell and
How Pathologists Can Lead in Precision Medicine with David Braxton
When should a genetic test be ordered—and who decides? It’s a question we are constantly asking on the program. Dr. David Braxton, Chief of Molecular Pathology at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Southern California, has built a system where the answer is simple: the pathologist decides. At Hoag, reflex testing protocols automatically trigger genomic tests when certain cancers appear under the microscop
From DNA to Proteins: Illumina Makes Its Proteomics Play - with Krishna Morampudi
Illumina has just made a bold move into proteomics.In this episode of Mendelspod, Krishna Morampudi, Associate Director for Product Management at Illumina, joins Theral to talk about the company’s recent definitive agreement to acquire SomaLogic and the new launch of Illumina Protein Prep, their new end-to-end proteomics solution.0:00 On the acquisition of SomaLogic4:30 Scoop: Illuminated Protein
Theranos Had the Vision. Truvian Has the Execution. Our Chat with CEO Jay Srinivasan
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comOn today’s debut interview with Truvian Health, CEO Jay Srinivasan lays out the company’s bold but grounded plan to radically decentralize blood testing. With over $150 million raised and a benchtop instrument already in FDA review, Truvian aims to run 34 lab-quality tests from just eight drops of blood—in under 30 min
Physicians Don't Want a Laundry List of Genes says Premal Shah, CEO of Myome
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comPremal Shah says that many companies in personal genomics have emphasized quantity over quality. Premal is the CEO of Myome, a company offering whole-genome interpretation built for the clinic rather than the consumer. Shah says Myome was founded on the belief that more data isn’t better data. “Physicians don’t want a
The Customer Case for iconPCR with Stefan Green and Yann Jouvenot
A few weeks back we featured a next gen PCR technology called iconPCR that carries the promise to dramatically impact research. Today we take a customer’s-eye view of the technology. Dr. Stefan Green, who directs the Genomics and Microbiome Core Facility at Rush University, has been putting the instrument through its paces on challenging projects ranging from pathogen surveillance in Chicago to u
Alex Dickinson on Long Read Sequencing, Multi Omics, and the Next Frontier in Genomics
Alex Dickinson, former Illumina executive and now host of The Geonomics Podcast, joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of DNA sequencing and its future. Known for his independent voice, Alex isn’t afraid to speak plainly about the industry’s biggest players and its shifting technology landscape.* 0:00 Squarely in the long read age* 6:10 When short reads, when long?* 9:20 Whole geno
Rapid Answers for Rare Disease: Katherine Stueland on GeneDx’s Mission
In a time when many diagnostics companies are struggling, GeneDx is thriving by focusing squarely on solving one of medicine’s most pressing problems: the diagnostic odyssey for rare disease. CEO Katherine Stueland explains why the company has committed to whole exome and genome testing as first-line answers for children, and how their recent acquisition of Fabric Genomics expands their reach into
Moran Snir's Vision for Making Genomic Care Routine across the U.S.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comFew founders get to build the future of genomics twice—Moran Snir is doing it a fourth time. After founding Clear Genetics and helping Invitae scale genetic services, she’s back with a new venture: Nest Genomics, a software platform aiming to make genomic care routine across U.S. health systems.* 0:00 Founder of four g
How Certis Is Rewriting Cancer Models with CEO Peter Ellman
The story of Certis Oncology begins with a patient. In 2012, Barney Berglund was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma. Standard treatments failed him, and though his doctors at UCLA tried to create mouse avatars of his tumor to test drugs, Barney passed away before the models were ready. Out of his family’s grief came a mission: to change the trial-and-error nature of cancer treatment. They joined with p
Myriad’s Next Chapter: New CEO Sam Raha on Growth, AI, and MRD Testing
For his first interview as CEO of Myriad Genetics, Sam Raha joined us to help kick off Mendelspod’s 15th season. Raha, who took the helm in April after serving as COO and holding senior roles at Illumina and Agilent, leads Myriad at a pivotal moment. While consumer genomics has faltered—23andMe filed for bankruptcy earlier this year—Myriad continues to double down on its clinical strategy with new
Next-Gen MRD Testing: Foresight’s Leap in Sensitivity with Jake Chabon and Dave Kurtz
Catching a cancer relapse before any scan could see it is the ultimate goal for minimal residual disease or MRD testing. And it’s the promise behind Foresight Diagnostics, a Stanford spin-out co-founded by scientist Jake Chabon and oncologist David Kurtz who say they have arrived at “next gen” MRD testing. In this debut interview, Jake and Dave walk us through their journey from academic research
Bodour Salhia and Danielle Goldberg: Rethinking Cancer Research with Illumina's 5-Base Solution
Epigenetics has emerged as one of the most revealing windows into cancer biology. Long before genetic mutations appear, changes in DNA methylation can initiate tumorigenesis, shape tumor diversity, and provide powerful clues for biomarker discovery.In this episode of Mendelspod, we explore Illumina’s new 5-base solution with Dr. Bodour Salhia, a cancer epigenetics researcher at USC’s Keck School o
Reinventing PCR: Pranav Patel, N6 Tec
Reinventing PCR, huh? That’s what we asked Pranav Patel, CEO and co-founder of N6 Tec, on today’s show. After all, PCR is one of the oldest tools in the molecular biology toolbox. Isn’t that field… done?Turns out, not at all.Patel — a veteran of PacBio, 10x Genomics, and founder of 2D Genomics — is back with a bold rethink of thermocycling itself. His new platform, IconPCR, isn’t just another blac
Making Whole Genome Sequencing the Universal Genetic Test - with David Ledbetter, Pediatric Rare Disease Institute, FSU
Today we sit down with renowned geneticist David Ledbetter, whose pioneering work helped uncover the chromosomal basis of Prader-Willi, Angelman, and Miller-Dieker syndromes. He served as Chief Scientific Officer at Geisinger, where he led the MyCode Community Health Initiative—one of the largest population genomic screening programs in the world. Now, he's bringing his decades of experience to b
Remembering Atul Butte with Marina Sirota, Chirag Patel and Mike Snyder
In this special tribute episode, Mendelspod honors the life and legacy of Dr. Atul Butte (1969-2025), a towering figure in big data and precision medicine who passed away earlier this year. Atul was more than a pioneer in translational bioinformatics—he was a mentor, a builder, and a boundless source of ideas. He sought to “lift all boats in the harbor.”Joining the conversation are three scientis
The Age of Digital Pathology with Andy Beck, PathAI
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comMost cancer biomarkers aren’t found in your DNA—they’re found on a microscope slide. And according to Dr. Andy Beck, CEO and co-founder of PathAI, that slide is undergoing a digital transformation.In this episode, Andy takes us behind the scenes of modern pathology to reveal how AI is reshaping not only cancer diagnost
What’s New for Regulatory Informatics in the Age of AI? Not Much—And That’s the Point with Raju Rayavarapu of DNAnexus
In this episode of Mendelspod, we’re joined by Raju Rayavarapu, bioinformatician at DNAnexus and former FDA data specialist, to discuss how regulatory science is adapting to the age of AI, big data, and cloud platforms.* 0:00 How has AI changed regulatory informatics?* 4:15 KISS* 12:50 On standards* 25:00 So nothing new about AI? The juicy question of the interview* 32:45 Raju’s life: good days a
From Illumina to Advocacy: Mike Kreitzinger on the Future of Clinical Genomics
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.com“Genomics works. Don’t be scared of it.” That’s the message from Mike Kreitzinger, a longtime Illumina leader now advising the Institute for Pediatric Rare Disease at Florida State University and stepping into a broader role as a genomics advocate.In this episode, Mike gives us an inside look at Florida’s newly funded
Amplifying the Expert: Jing Gao on Illumina's Connected Insights
Illumina’s new interpretation software, Illumina Connected Insights, signals a turning point in oncology genomics—where sequencing power meets end-to-end clinical utility. On this episode of Mendelspod, host Theral Timpson sits down with Jing Gao, VP of Software Engineering at Illumina, to explore how the company is extending its leadership from sequencers to software.“We’ve moved from offering mo
The End of Animal Testing? Vivodyne Scales Human Tissue with CEO Andrei Georgescu
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comCan we finally replace animal testing in drug development—and still know a drug is safe and effective?That’s the provocative question at the heart of this episode, as we sit down with Andrei Georgescu, co-founder and CEO of Vivodyne. The company is developing robotic, AI-enabled systems for growing living, biopsy-like
How Liquid Biopsy Is Becoming Standard of Care with Rita Shaknovich, CMO, Agilent
In this episode of Mendelspod, Theral welcomes Dr. Rita Shaknovich, Chief Medical Officer in Agilent’s Life Sciences and Diagnostics group, for a high-level and deeply insightful look at where liquid biopsy technology stands today.With her background in hematopathology and molecular diagnostics, Rita brings clarity to a field that has long promised transformation—and is now delivering. “It’s not t
Tracking GMOs in the Gene Editing Era: Frédéric Debode on the Science of GMO Detection
In this episode of Mendelspod, Theral speaks with Frédéric Debode, Scientific Director at CRA-W in Wallonia, Belgium, about the evolving landscape of GMO detection in the age of gene editing. From early work in real-time PCR to the latest in next-gen sequencing and target enrichment, Debode has been on the front lines of tracking genetically modified organisms—often when the modifications leave al
From Discovery to Translation: Bruker's Bold New Play in Spatial with Joe Beechem and Oliver Braubach
“We’re going to be rewriting the textbooks on how tissues work.”In this compelling reunion with spatial biology pioneer Joe Beechem and a first-time visit from Oliver Braubach, we explore the rapid evolution of spatial technologies at Bruker, a legacy instrumentation company newly resurgent in the spatial space. Following Bruker’s acquisition of Nanostring and Canopy, the company has emerged as a
Tagomics Wins NHS Grant, Unveils De-Methylation Platform for Early Cancer Testing with Rob Neely, CSO
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comIn this episode of Mendelspod, Theral sits down with Rob Neely, co-founder and CSO at Tagomics, to discuss how his company is fusing genomics, epigenomics, and fragmentomics into a single, assumption-free assay for early cancer detection. The conversation begins with breaking news: Tagomics has just received a new gran
From Paris to the Pentagon: Sophie Peresson Maps Biosecurity’s New Landscape
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comIn this premium episode of Mendelspod, we’re joined by one of the few people speaking clearly and globally about biosecurity in the era of synthetic biology and AI: Sophie Peresson.A consultant and leader in responsible innovation, Sophie brings an unusually broad and grounded perspective. With experience spanning inte
From Mitochondria to Protein Degradation: Mike Kiebish on BPGbio’s "Biology First" Vision
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comAs artificial intelligence continues to influence the life sciences, some researchers are questioning not just what it can predict, but what it can explain. On this episode, Mike Kiebish, VP of Platform and Translational Sciences at BPGbio, discusses the company’s “biology-first” approach to drug discovery—one that beg
The Grammar of RNA: Gavin Knott on Gene Editing and Structural Biology in the Age of AI
In this episode of Mendelspod, we plunge into the shape-shifting world of RNA with Dr. Gavin Knott, associate professor at Monash University and alum of Jennifer Doudna’s lab. Knott is part of a new generation of researchers setting structural biology ablaze with AI, decoding RNA-guided systems and expanding the CRISPR toolbox far beyond its original scope.Knott introduces the listener to RNA not
The Third Way: Christian Schafmeister’s Spiroligomer Revolution
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comFor decades, drug discovery has followed two main roads: small molecules that can slip into cells but often lack precision, and biologics that offer specificity but struggle with delivery and manufacturing. In this episode, Christian Schafmeister introduces us to a third path: spiroligomers—synthetic, fused-ring molecu
Can Math and AI Replace Some Biology in Drug Discovery? with Aridni Shah, Immunito AI
What if drug design didn’t depend on pre-existing biological data? In this episode of Mendelspod, Theral sits down with Aridni Shah, co-founder and CEO of Immunito AI, a Bengaluru-based biotech startup reinventing how we develop antibody therapies. Shah and her team are using artificial intelligence to design antibodies from scratch, bypassing traditional animal-based and data-heavy methods. “We n
$10 Genome, $8 Coffee: Rethinking the Economics of Life Science Tools with Stephane Budel, DeciBio
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comYes, the Trump economy has been tough on life science tools—but according to today’s guest, the business model was failing us anyway. It’s time to go back to rethinking the basics.Today we’re joined by Stephane Budel, founding partner at DeciBio, one of the leading market research and consulting firms focused on life s
Quantum Scale: A New Era for Single-Cell Analysis with Giovanna Prout
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comOn today’s episode of Mendelspod, Theral sits down with Giovanna Prout, CEO of Scale Biosciences, to explore a how the company is achieving new orders of magnitude of scale in the single cell space."In the past, single cell was one cell per well—maybe 96 cells per experiment," Prout explains. "Now, with our Quantum Sc
Building Intuition at the Nanoscale: Steve McCloskey of Nanome on the VR Future of Science
What if you could step inside a molecule? On today’s episode of Mendelspod, we talk with Steve McCloskey, founder and CEO of Nanome, the company bringing virtual reality into the world of drug discovery and molecular modeling. A former nanoengineering student at UC San Diego and a self-described futurist, Steve founded Nanome to create what he calls the "ultimate scientific interface"—a way for sc
Beyond the $100 Genome--the Everyday Sequencing Revolution You Missed: Mark Budde, Plasmidsaurus
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.mendelspod.comWait! What? Sequencing as a service?That was the reaction when Mark Budde first set out to upend a basic ritual in molecular biology—confirmation Sanger sequencing—with his company Plasmidsaurus. You’ve heard it many times: Illumina machines sequence around 80% of the bases in the world. But as Mark points out in to
What Next for LDTs? A Conversation with Sarah Overton of Velsera
Just weeks before the FDA’s sweeping rule to regulate laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) was set to take effect, a federal court struck it down. What does this mean for the field of precision medicine and for labs themselves? There are have been those on the side of regulation arguing its importance for reimbursement. Yet many, such as the plaintiffs in this case, the ACLA and AMP, have argued th
AI’s Quiet Revolution in the Pharma Supply Chain with Chris Petersen, Scientist.com
In today’s show, Theral is joined by Chris Petersen, Chief Technology Officer at Scientist.com, a company sometimes called the "Amazon for science"—though with a great deal more complexity. Chris pulls back the curtain on how AI is transforming the research services marketplace and offers a rare look into how AI is already reshaping the infrastructure of pharma and biotech.Calling this the "tinker
We've Been Misclassifying Childhood AML for Years: Jeffery Klco, St. Jude's
In today’s program, we continue our series on disease subtyping with Dr. Jeffery Klco, a pediatric pathologist and researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Klco joins us to discuss groundbreaking work recently published in Nature Genetics, which redefines the genomic landscape of childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML).Klco and his team have identified twelve novel molecular subtype
Aaron Viny: A 21-Year Leukemia Survivor on the Frontlines of Epigenetic Cancer Research
Dr. Aaron Viny, oncologist and researcher at Columbia University, begins today’s conversation with a personal milestone—he’s now been leukemia-free for 21 years. This experience gives his work on cancer a powerful human dimension that comes through in his interview with Theral today—not only in his dedication to patient care, but in his boundary-pushing research on the epigenetic roots of cancer.D
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