Avsnitt

  • This month we talk with Ana Boskovic about her experience of setting up her own lab and hiring a new team

    Ana began studying languages and literature
 but found it too easy, so she switchedShe questions whether you are ever ‘ready’ to set up your own labIt’s important that you find the right ‘fit’ for the place you want to work and this should be a supportive environmentShe learnt early that it is important to hire people with diverse personalities who each fill a gap in the skills the lab needsAna also says it’s important to always be yourself and not pretend to be something you are notShe remembers that hiring was the biggest challenge in setting up her own teamThey need to be dedicated but also well-integrated into the team and the lab cultureShe balances ambitions with pragmatic considerations to avoid biased approachesAna loves ‘to do’ lists as a source of satisfaction and to help planningShe says you need to be able to trust and respect your mentor because you know they want you to succeedMentors need to learn to have a conversation and be sensitive to mentees’ needsAna insists that mentors need to be able to apologize if they get it wrongAna uses her train ride to plan her day and write her To-Do listShe tells us about her favourite Roman emperor, DiocletianShe reminds us that “The plural of anecdote is not data”


    She mentioned these labs, scientists and institutions

    University of Zagreb https://www.unizg.hr/homepage/
    EMBL Rome https://www.embl.org/research/faculty/rome/
    Maria Elena Torres-Padilla (podcast episode from Season 1)
    https://www.buzzsprout.com/1356877/episodes/6624301-tlp-6-just-go-for-it-following-your-curiosity-and-excitement-maria-elena-torres-padilla
    Maria Elena Torres-Padilla (lab)
    https://www.helmholtz-munich.de/en/ies/pi/maria-elena-torres-padilla
    Oliver Rando
    https://www.umassmed.edu/randolab/
    Edith Heard (podcast episode from Season 2)
    https://thelonelypipette.buzzsprout.com/1356877/episodes/11387623-tlp-12-science-without-frontiers-edith-heard
    F Scott Fitzgerald
    https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._Scott_Fitzgerald
    Diocletian
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian
    Split, Croatia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split,_Croatia

    To find out more about Ana visit these links

    You want to support our work ? Buy us a coffee !  ==> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lonelypipette

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This month Ivan Oransky joins us to talk about his work as a journalist and advocate for monitoring scientific misconduct.

    Ivan confesses about his beginnings as a young playwright of the immune systemHe discusses how and why he left medicine to become a journalistIvan’s mentors encouraged him to develop by getting experience as a journalist and editorIvan reflects on how his training as a physician was helpful and allowed people to trust himHe stresses how important it is to read in order to develop story-writing skillsIvan explains that curiosity and attention can help to hunt for good storiesHe thinks the trend to ‘weaponization’ is central to what’s wrong in science and science communication todayHe suggests that going ‘upstream’ might help to explain the methodology and not just the results of scienceIvan describes the origins of Retraction Watch and looking for the stories behind the retractionsHe also insists that we need to look upstream to understand what leads to the fraud (or sloppiness) behind the retractionsFinally, learning to say NO is an important skill to keeping focused


    Ivan mentioned these scientists, writers and institutions
    Harvard University : https://www.harvard.edu/
    The Harvard Crimson https://www.thecrimson.com/
    Yale University https://www.yale.edu/
    The Scientist https://www.the-scientist.com/
    Journal of American Medical Association https://jamanetwork.com/
    New York University’s Carter Journalism Institute https://journalism.nyu.edu/
    The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com
    Lawrence Altman MD https://www.nytimes.com/by/lawrence-k-altman
    George Lundberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_D._Lundberg https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1114712/


    To find out more about Ivan and his work visit these links
    at NYU https://journalism.nyu.edu/about-us/profile/ivan-oransky-md/
    on Twitter/X https://x.com/ivanoransky
    Retraction Watch https://retractionwatch.com/
    The Transmitter /Spectrum magazine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Transmitter
    Ivan’s first play about the Immune System (aged 11) https://theoranskyjournal.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/immune-system-play.pdf

    You want to support our work ? Buy us a coffee !  ==> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lonelypipette

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

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  • This month we enjoyed talking to Arjun Raj about his interdisciplinary approaches to studying biological systems

    Arjun shares how he almost became a truck driver and experimented with a career in an (unnamed) rock bandHe tells us about his journey from mathematics to quantitative biology and he shares thoughts about comparing biology with physics and what they can learn from each otherHe says we all struggle with how to teach creativity and how to evaluate the most promising ideas.Arjun discusses how to improve mentoring and practical auto-mentoring. He gives specific examples about learning how to peer-review papers.He recommends a narrative-based approach to science communication so that you can leave the audience with a feeling of wonderHe is inspired by Star Wars storytelling as a science communicatorHe says it's important to go through a period of really paying attention to the small detailsArjun argues that scientists have become overburdened and that increasing scope creep creates a lot of pressure


    He mentioned these labs, scientists and institutions
    University of Pennsylvania https://www.upenn.edu/
    UC Berkeley https://www.berkeley.edu/
    Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University https://cims.nyu.edu/dynamic/
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology https://www.mit.edu/
    Fred Kramer https://phri.njms.rutgers.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty/fred-russell-kramer/
    Sunjay Tyagi https://phri.njms.rutgers.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty/sanjay-tyagi/

    To find out more about Arjun visit these links
    Raj Lab https://rajlab.seas.upenn.edu/
    on Twitter/X https://x.com/arjunrajla
    Random musings Blog https://rajlaboratory.blogspot.com/
    Tools for Science resource https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jBGk-u5auVCvI5EMaQnptMWbxHHl3ncIhKgIgEzjylw/edit

    You want to support our work ? Buy us a coffee !  ==> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lonelypipette

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This month Alicia Rojas tells us about her journey from Costa Rica to Israel and back, in search of pathogens and parasites

    Alicia shares the personal difficulties of being far from home and how she missed family and foodShe reflects on coming back to Costa Rica to explore its rich biodiversityShe recalls the challenges of returning from a luxurious postdoc at the Weizmann Institute to setting up her own lab in Costa Rica during a pandemicShe discusses the need to be resilient and creative and build collaborationsShe is proud to be “doing the best we can with the limited resources we have”As a mentor, she stresses that every student is different and she tries to keep a helicopter-view of everything that is going on Alicia gets up really early to complete work and make time for her family in the afternoonShe recommends to finish one task before you start the next one


    She mentioned these labs, scientists and institutions
    University of Costa Rica : https://www.ucr.ac.cr/
    Hebrew University of Jerusalem : https://en.huji.ac.il/
    Neta Regev-Rudzki laboratory : https://www.weizmann.ac.il/Biomolecular_Sciences/regev/
    Weizmann Institute of Science: https://www.weizmann.ac.il/pages/
    Research Center for Tropical Diseases. : http://www.ciet.ucr.ac.cr/en/about-ciet

    To find out more about Alicia visit these links
    Alicia’s lab : https://www.thetropicalwormlab.com/
    Alicia’s LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-rojas-30215b1aa/
    On Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thetropicalwormlab_ucr/
    On Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/thetropicalwormlabUCR/

    You want to support our work ? Buy us a coffee !  ==> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lonelypipette

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This month Hans Clevers talks to us about his productive career and his pioneering work on organoid technologies.

    Hans admits that he initially found biology frustrating and disappointing

    But then he learnt to enjoy the rare spark of excitement from discoveriesHe managed to get his PhD in just one year!You need to trust yourself and learn to share with othersHans warns new group leaders not to expect too much from younger colleaguesIt’s important to give your students their own spaceHe paints a metaphoric image of research - Push against the dark wall until the window opens on a new valleyHis search for stem cells in the gut led his lab to develop organoid approaches and 3D culture technologiesHans describes his unexpected move to Roche and “large pharma”He describes his role bridging the gap between scientists and industry leadershipHans talks about the benefits of interacting with artistsHe warns about being too attached to your hypothesis and the importance of being wrong

    He mentioned these labs, institutions and companies

    Roche Pharma R&D (pRED): https://www.roche.com/innovation/structure/pred
    Utrecht University : https://www.uu.nl/en
    Dana Farber Cancer Institute : https://www.dana-farber.org/
    Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences : https://www.knaw.nl/en
    Cox Terhorst : https://immunologyphd.hms.harvard.edu/people/cox-terhorst

    To find out more about Hans visit these links
    X-Twitter https://x.com/hansclevers?lang=en
    Hubrecht Institute
    https://www.hubrecht.eu
    https://www.hubrecht.eu/research-groups/clevers-group/
    Wikipedia page
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Clevers
    Utrecht University
    https://www.uu.nl/staff/JCClevers
    Google Scholar
    https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jTAHhTQAAAAJ&hl=en

    You want to support our work ? Buy us a coffee !  ==> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lonelypipette

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • Today we chat with postdoc Nour El Houda Mimouni about her passionate commitment to improving womens’ health.

    Nour urges young scientists to get themselves a support group from the beginningShe also insists on the importance of developing interests outside of the labAddressing womens’ health issues is ‘not just a job’ for NourShe recommends students to not alway blindly follow other people's adviceShe discusses her advocacy work at the European Health ParliamentShe thinks that every scientist should play a role in public outreach, from a young age


    She mentioned these labs, scientists, institutions and companies

    CitĂ© des sciences et de l'industrie https://www.cite-sciences.fr/fr/accueilZuckerman Institute https://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/Columbia University https://www.columbia.edu/Bianca Marlin Jones https://www.biancajonesmarlin.com/L'ORÉAL-UNESCO Programs for Women in Science https://www.forwomeninscience.com/European Health Parliament https://www.healthparliament.eu/Collectif de Femmes de SantĂ© https://www.femmesdesante.fr/JoĂ«lle Cohen-Tannoudji https://bfa.u-paris.fr/equipe-3/team-members/?lang=enSimone Veil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_VeilJacinda Ardern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacinda_Ardern

    To find out more about Nour visit these links
    X-Twitter https://twitter.com/NourMimouni5
    Nour’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nour-el-houda-mimouni-2b9933a4/
    Nour in the lab https://www.biancajonesmarlin.com/nour-mimouni

    You want to support our work ? Buy us a coffee !  ==> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lonelypipette

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • In this episode, we kick off our Season 3 guests with David Fajgenbaum who shares his extraordinary journey to cure himself from Castleman disease.

    David shares his very personal story of searching for a cure to his own diseaseHe describes how having a vision for the future helped him to surviveHe insists that patients can be part of the process and can be active collaborators in the search for curesHe pleads for a shift from an Investigator initiated model to a Community initiated model involving collaboration between researchers, clinicians and patientsDavid also insists that approved drugs could be used to treat additional diseasesHe tells us about why and how he wrote a book, “Chasing My Cure” about his journeyHe describes the value that good mentors bringHe advises to keep focused, surround yourself with good people, learn to delegate and to take important recruitment decisionsDavid recommends getting as much feedback as you can from many people


    He mentioned these labs, scientists, institutions and companies

    University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine : https://www.med.upenn.edu/Georgetown University : https://www.georgetown.edu/Castleman Disease Collaborative Network : https://cdcn.org/Castleman Disease : https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/castlemans-disease/University of Oxford : https://www.ox.ac.uk/National Institutes of Health (NIH) : https://www.nih.gov/Janet Woodcock from the FDA : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_WoodcockBrian Wallach : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_WallachI am ALS : https://www.iamals.org/Frits van Rhee : https://cdcn.org/leadership-team/frits-van-rhee/ | https://uams-triprofiles.uams.edu/profiles/display/127377Sharon Terry : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_F._TerryArthur Rubenstein : https://www.med.upenn.edu/endowedprofessorships/arthur-h-rubenstein-university-professorship.htmlBenjamin Castleman : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Castleman


    To find out more about David and Every Cure visit these links
    X-Twitter : @DavidFajgenbaum
    Every Cure https://twitter.com/EveryCure
    David’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfajgenbaum/
    Every Cure’s LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/every-cure/
    David’s Book “Chasing My Cure: A Doctor's Race to Turn Hope Into Action” : https://chasingmycure.com/

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • In this episode Renaud and Jonathan share their excitement about the launch of Season 3 of The Lonely Pipette podcast. BUT this time, they are not the ones asking the questions.

    💌 Subscribe and receive the next season in you mailbox

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • Dear Lonely Pipetters,
    Season 2 has been an amazing journey, BUT Season 3 will be awesome. We are so proud to be still here, with you supporting us. Thank you! In this final episode, we take the chance to give you untold stories about Season 2 making-of, personal stories and what you can do to help us build Season 3. Don’t miss it out !

    Subscribe to be updated when Season 3 starts : https://bit.ly/NLTLP

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This week, we talk to Maria Leptin about her path to the head of the European Research Council

    Maria claims she didn’t receive any formal mentoring advice, but rather absorbed and learnt along the wayAgainst the perceived wisdom, Maria warns against the advice to be continually networking. She advises to listen to what others say and then add your own thoughts.Maria is sure that if you really enjoy the stuff you're doing, then you will do it well and you'll get something out of it.She says that sabbatical breaks can be good to ‘put your brain to air a little bit’She says the ERC aims to select the very best researchers across Europe, across all disciplines, and allow them to make wonderful discoveries. To attract ERC funding, organizations or countries or regions need to create an environment where researchers are happy to work and have good conditions.Maria makes a passionate plea for fundamental research and better access for science journalistsAfter a lie-in, Maria starts the day with a coffee and a cookie in the officeMaria likes our question “if you had $100 million or euros to spend in science, how would you spend it?” She uses it herself in interviews.

    She mentioned these institutions and researchers

    University of Bonn : https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/university/universityUniversity of Heidelberg : https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/enBasel Institute of Immunology : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel_Institute_for_ImmunologyMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology : https://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology : https://www.mpg.de/151769/biology-tuebingenEuropean Molecular Biology Organization : https://www.embo.org/ European Research Council (ERC) : https://erc.europa.eu/homepageFritz Melchers : https://www.tbvi.eu/team/prof-georg-friedrich-fritz-melchers/

    To find out more about Maria visit her websites or follow her on Twitter

    Website : https://erc.europa.eu/erc_member/maria-leptinWikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_LeptinORCID : https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7097-348XMaria on Twitter :https://twitter.com/mleptin

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This week, we meet our first philosopher guest - Thomas Pradeu tells us what scientist can learn from philosophers

    Thomas shares his journey navigating from philosophy to immunology and biologyHe explains the difference between ‘philosophy IN biology’ compared to ‘philosophy OF biology’He mentions ‘mutual ignorance’ - that scientists often don’t know about philosophers who would be interested in their scienceThomas argues that philosophers should be brought in at the beginning of a project rather than at the end. He describes his model for embedding philosophers within a biology research environmentHe gives lots of specific examples, from immunology and beyond, where philosophers made an impact on science by intervening upstreamThomas stresses the importance of challenging the foundations (in the lab and at home)He also stresses the importance of reading every dayThomas talks honestly about the difficulties of improving life-work balance and gender balance in academiaThomas is proud of his success in creating examples of the Philosophy IN Biology networks as a model for interdisciplinary collaboration

    He mentioned these researchers/philosophers

    Jean Gayon : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_GayonEdgardo Carosella : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgardo_D._CarosellaDavid Hull : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hull_(philosopher)Elliott Sober : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_SoberErnst Mayr : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_MayrRichard Dawkins : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_DawkinsStephen Paget : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_PagetLucie Laplane : https://www.cnrs.fr/fr/personne/lucie-laplaneFrancis Bacon : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_BaconDick Lewontin : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lewontin

    To find out more about Thomas visit his websites or follow him on Twitter

    Website : https://www.u-bordeaux.fr/universite/espace-presse/repertoire-dexperts/thomas-pradeuImmunoConcept Lab : https://immunoconcept.cnrs.fr/conceptual-biology-medicine/PhilInBioMed: Institute for Philosophy in Biology and Medicine : https://www.philinbiomed.org/Thomas on Twitter : https://twitter.com/pradeu?lang=en

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This week, Elphege Nora shares personal thoughts on his journey from Paris to California

    Elphege discovered at an early age that the best way to explain who we are is to look back at where we come from and our evolutionary trajectoriesFrom his earliest research experiences, Elphege was intrigued about the sociology of the lab and it’s unusual social etiquetteHe shares his memories of working with Edith Heard and what she taught him about mentoringHe claims that personality tests can be useful for understanding how to interact with colleagues and team membersElphege recommends that it is good to present your work early at conferences in order to gain visibility and attract recruitsHe shares thoughts about the different scientific approaches he has encountered in Europe and the United StatesElphege shares how his interaction with his (famous) father pushed his to think about the abstract and conceptual impacts of his workHe had to learn when it’s important to strive for perfection and when it is notHe stresses the importance of trust in mentoring relationshipsHe concludes ‘You need to understand what you're good at and what you suck at’

    He mentioned these institutions, researchers and resources

    Curie Institute : https://institut-curie.org/Gladstone Institute : https://gladstone.org/Edith Heard : https://thelonelypipette.buzzsprout.com/1356877/11387623-tlp-12-science-without-frontiers-edith-heardMax Greenberg : https://thelonelypipette.buzzsprout.com/1356877/5520439-tlp-1-navigating-the-path-to-team-leader-maxim-greenbergBenoit Bruneau : https://twitter.com/benoitbruneauMoshe Yaniv : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosh%C3%A9_YanivFrancois Jacob : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_JacobPierre Nora (Elphege’s father) : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Nora

    To find out more about Elphege visit his websites or follow him on Twitter

    Lab website : https://noralab.ucsf.edu/index.php/the-team/Twitter : https://twitter.com/elphegenoralab?lang=en

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This week, Christophe Lavelle shares his double passion for science and for cooking

    Christophe left engineering studies for the freedom of research science. And then he jumped from physics to biology for his PhD studiesHe thinks science makes him a better cook and cites lots of specific examplesHe describes his very free mentoring style and questions what makes a good mentorHe describes his chaotic ‘schizophrenic’’ interdisciplinary interestsWhat has to be done has to be well done - else don’t bother doing itHe tells us that the ‘wow’ in the lab is when you finally understand something, but the ’wow’ in the kitchen is when you don’t understand something.

    He mentioned these institutions, researchers and resources

    National Museum of Natural History : https://www.mnhn.fr/enHandbook of Molecular Gastronomy : https://www.routledge.com/Handbook-of-Molecular-Gastronomy-Scientific-Foundations-Educational-Practices/Burke-Kelly-Lavelle-Kientza/p/book/9781466594784Je Mange donc Je Suis : https://www.museedelhomme.fr/fr/je-mange-donc-je-suis

    To find out more about Christophe visit his websites or follow him on Twitter

    Food Lab 2.0 : https://food20.fr/chercheur/christophe-lavelle/Lab website : https://biophysique.mnhn.fr/fr/annuaire/christophe-lavelle-9027Twitter : https://twitter.com/kristoflav

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This week, Ana-Maria Lennon-Dumenil tells us about her passion for science interfacing with physics and her journey from Santiago to Paris

    Ana-Maria was inspired from a very young age by her namesake Ana-Maria LenonShe quickly left genetics because ‘DNA doesn't move enough’She stresses that every Principal Investigator needs to find their own way and warns against trying to imitate othersAna-Maria feels that the biggest mistake is to think that everyone in the lab is like you (instead of appreciating how different they might be)She stresses the need for optimized communication in the lab and the need to clearly articulate expectationsShe learnt the hard way that ‘management is not natural’Ana-Maria laughs about the fact that she was too short to be a chemistShe describes the challenges of finding a common language in interdisciplinary research collaborationsShe also insists on the role of parents in giving confidence to girls at an early age to become scientists

    She mentioned these institutions, researchers and resources

    Pasteur Institute : https://www.pasteur.fr/enHarvard University : https://www.harvard.edu/Curie Institute : https://institut-curie.org/European Research Council (ERC) : https://erc.europa.eu/homepageHidde Ploegh : https://www.childrenshospital.org/research/labs/ploegh-lab-research/hidde-ploeghCatherine Alcaide : https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-alcaide-5b165856/Matthieu Piel : https://curie.fr/personne/matthieu-pielGuillaume Dumenil : https://research.pasteur.fr/fr/member/guillaume-dumenil/If you are interested in buying a “zester” : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZesterShe is currently reading “Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernardine Evaristo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl,_Woman,_Other

    To find out more about Ana-Maria visit her websites or follow her on Twitter :

    Lab website : https://institut-curie.org/personne/ana-maria-lennonAn interview with Ana-Maria in JCB : https://rupress.org/jcb/article/215/1/2/38770/Ana-Maria-Lennon-Dumenil-A-dynamic-careerHer Wikipedia page : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana-Maria_Lennon-Dum%C3%A9nilon Twitter @LennonLab

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • In this episode, we talk to George Church about his successful career in DNA repair and his entrepreneurial adventures translating research findings into biotech companies

    George proudly describes himself as a biologist-engineerHe ponders whether his dyslexia may have helped him by making him realize he was different from others when he was growing upHe looks for projects in ‘exponential fields’ that combine pure scientific interest, technology breakthroughs and bring societal benefit.George cautions against using the word ‘impossible’He talks about how he has contributed to scientific and technology revolutionsHe emphasizes the important of considering ethics, safety and security at the outset of ambitious science projectsGeorge remembers how he reacted to having his genome sequenced and speculates about the future of digital genomics and NFTsWhen recruiting, he looks for people that are ‘nice’ and have deep knowledge in at least two different fieldsGeorge gets up at 4:30 a.m. and his head is immediately whizzing with new ideasHe tells us how much he learns from his grandchildren (and even mends their party dresses)


    He mentioned these projects, institutions, companies

    Harvard Medical School : https://hms.harvard.edu/ Duke University: https://duke.edu/Harvard University : https://www.harvard.edu/NIH Brain Initiative : https://braininitiative.nih.gov/NIH Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS) : https://www.genome.gov/Funded-Programs-Projects/Centers-of-Excellence-in-Genomic-ScienceWyss Institute : https://wyss.harvard.edu/Personal Genomes : https://www.personalgenomes.org/TIME 100 Most Influential People : https://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4742749/george-church/Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves : https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/george-m-church/regenesis/9780465038657/Nebula Genomics : https://nebula.org/george-church/23andMe : https://www.23andme.com/Biogen : https://www.biogen.com/Gail Martin : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_R._Martin

    To find out more about George :

    Church Lab Website : https://arep.med.harvard.edu/George on Twitter : https://twitter.com/geochurch

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • In this episode, we talk with the multi-talented Jenny Rohn about her journey zig-zagging from academia to a biotech-startup, to science publishing and then back into academia.

    She tells us about her unconventional path and how she decided to go to a start-up and then come back to academic researchShe made long, agonizing lists about pros and cons of leaving or staying in academiaThis period of indecision led her to start writing novelsJenny admits that it was not easy to get back on to an academic pathShe warns people against giving negative advise and she always tries to be honest, but positive feedbackJenny says that In the ‘old days’ there used to be a myth that there was only one way to do science. She says that somewhere in the ‘90s there was a shift but it took a while for the old-guard to notice.“Do not ever turn away from an opportunity to network. You need to get out and talk to people”She tells us how she came up with the idea of ‘lab-lit’ and recommends some of her favourites“If you want to be a writer
 you need to write a lot and read a lot”Jenny shares her thoughts about the place of narrative in scientific writing


    She mentioned these labs, resources and lab-lit authors

    University College London (UCL) : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/The Lab Lit website : http://lablit.com/Science is Vital : https://scienceisvital.org.uk/Jenny’s blog ‘Mind The Gap’ : https://occamstypewriter.org/mindthegap/White Coats At Dawn on the Cosmic Shambles network : https://cosmicshambles.com/words/blogs/jennyrohnHer first novel ‘Experimental Heart’ : https://jennyrohn.com/exheartHer second novel ‘The Honest Look’ : https://jennyrohn.com/honestlookHer third novel ‘Cat Zero’ : https://jennyrohn.com/catzeroBarbara Kingsolver : http://barbarakingsolver.net/books/Carl Djerassi : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_DjerassiAllegra Goodman : https://allegragoodman.com/John William Waterhouse : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Waterhouse

    To find out more about Jenny visit her website or follow her on Twitter

    https://jennyrohn.com/https://twitter.com/jennyrohnOrcid : https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8766-6056https://www.instagram.com/jennifer.rohn.3/

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • Get ready for 2023 ! In this special episode, we're going to change the narrative. We're going to dive into this original narrative-interview with 4 scientists who experienced an original meeting with us. Invited by Jean-Leon MaĂźtre in the south of France at the fondation Les Treilles, are you ready to ask yourself why you go to science conferences?

    Our special guests are :

    Jean-LĂ©on MaĂźtre, the organizer of the meeting, CNRS research director at the Institut Curie, at Paris, FranceRita Mateus, group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (TUD) in Dresden, Germany. Mariaceleste Aragona, associate professor and group leader of the tissue architecture lab at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, reNEW at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.Tim Saunders, associate professor and group leader of an interdisciplinary group of the Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology at Warwick University in England.

    This episode is linked to an article published by Jean-LĂ©on MaĂźtre on The Node : https://thenode.biologists.com/present-and-future-of-quantitative-developmental-biology-in-les-treilles/events/

    Note : The constraints of this episode allowed us to focus only on small-scale conferences. It goes without saying that none of the guests, nor we, think that this format should replace the classic meeting format which has other advantages. This episode only aims to bring a new perspective on how we interact as scientists. Small-scale formats are a way to inspire other ways of connecting the scientific community.

    We thanks Jean-LĂ©on MaĂźtre and the Fondation Les Treilles for the invitation.

    To find out more about the guests :

    Jean-LĂ©on MaĂźtre : https://institut-curie.org/team/maitre Rita Mateus : https://www.mpi-cbg.de/research/researchgroups/currentgroups/rita-mateus/research-focus Mariaceleste Aragona : https://renew.ku.dk/research/reseach-groups/aragona/ Tim Saunders : https://mechanochemistry.org/Saunders/MainSite/Saunders_lab_v4_3.htm


    To find out more about Renaud :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpreLinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/

    To find out more about Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/EpigenetiqueLinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    To learn more about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This week we have a surprise treat - a conversation with Jonathan’s twin brother, Matt. He discusses his energetic commitment to mentoring and grant-writing workshops. They share their genetics, but also a desire to “help scientists do better science”

    Matthew comments on the usefulness of healthy competition in scienceMatt compares the joy of running a lab to cooking in the kitchenHe loves the flexibility of science and constantly stimulated by interactions with colleagues and young scientists and new ideasMatt makes a strong argument for peer-to-peer mentoring, cascade mentoring and seizing constant casual mentoring opportunitiesHe comments on the advantages of going to a small lab for graduate school and he advises students to look carefully at the type of scientific questions, the environment of the lab and the chemistry of the PI/mentor relationshipMatt describes his pioneering Grant Proposal Success (GPS) grant-writing program and the importance of collective, grant-writing communities. Matt dissects the grant structure and tells us what funding committees are looking forHe suggests that staggering projects and having work at different stages can help to integrate life and manage the labHe mentioned these institutions :

    University of Leeds, UK : https://www.leeds.ac.uk/University of Pennsylvania : https://www.upenn.edu/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) : https://www.chop.edu/National Institutes of Health (NIH) : https://www.nih.gov/Salk Institute for Biological Studies : https://www.salk.edu/University of California San Diego : https://ucsd.edu/To find out more about Matt visit his website or follow him on Twitter :
    https://twitter.com/WeitzmanLab
    https://www.chop.edu/doctors/weitzman-matthew-d
    https://pathology.med.upenn.edu/department/people/517/matthew-d-weitzman

    30 Second Genetics : https://www.amazon.com/30-Second-Genetics-revolutionary-discoveries-explained/dp/1782405097


    To find out more about Renaud :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpreLinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/To find out more about Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/EpigenetiqueLinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20To

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • This week, we talk with Ashani Weeraratna about her inspiring path from apartheid South Africa to director, professor and activist.

    Ashi cites good advice that she remembers “ read voraciously 
 and be engaged with the literature”She insists that mentoring is all about the trainees and hearing their individual needsAshi believes that diversity of thought needs diversity of population and stresses the importance of welcoming different groups into the labFor her, representation matters and it is key to achieving full equityShe also comments on the importance of the microenvironment (for cancer cells and for researchers)She shares her thoughts about juggling a life in two citiesAnd she encourages us to remember that “the most important trait is kindness”And Ashi concludes by telling us to enjoy the journey

    She mentioned these institutions, people and resources

    St. Mary's College of Maryland : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary%27s_College_of_MarylandGeorge Washington University : https://www.gwu.edu/Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center : https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_center/National Institutes of Health : https://www.nih.gov/Wistar Institute : https://wistar.org/University of Pennsylvania : https://www.upenn.edu/Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health : https://publichealth.jhu.edu/National Cancer Institute : https://www.cancer.gov/Steven Patierno : https://medicine.duke.edu/profile/steven-patiernoJeff Trent : https://www.tgen.org/faculty-profiles/jeffrey-trent/National Cancer Advisory Board : https://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/ncab/ncab.htm

    To find out more about Ashi visit her websites or follow her on Twitter

    https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/3918/ashani-t-weeraratna
    https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/ashani-weeraratna
    https://research.jhu.edu/members/ashani-weeraratna/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashani_Weeraratna
    on Twitter : @AshaniTW

    “Is Cancer Inevitable?” by Ashi : https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12767/cancer-inevitable

    To find out more about Renaud :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

  • In this episode, we speak with AndrĂ© Choulika about his exciting journey from a bench scientist to a biotech entrepreneur taking genomic engineering to the clinic

    AndrĂ© shares his fascination about the logic of biological systems and his admiration for experimentalists“You can always do something else if it fails” insists AndrĂ©AndrĂ© stresses that the boss has to take responsibilities for decisions“You don’t hire people to tell them what to do, but they should tell you what needs to be done”“Cash is more important than your mother”(we hope Andre’s mother isn’t listening)“Success has thousands of fathers but failure is lonely” (lonelier than a pipette!)AndrĂ© is modest about success; “None of us are VIPs” and he insists that the people who wash the dishes are as important as the CEO of the companyHe describes the collective contributions and the shared success that characterize the biotech industry For AndrĂ© “Leadership is more important than management”He insists that a successful meeting is one than lasts less time than allocated

    He mentioned these labs, scientists, institutions and companies

    Richard Mulligan : https://genetics.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/richard-charles-mulliganInstitut Pasteur : https://www.pasteur.fr/enMaxime Schwartz : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxime_SchwartzMargaret Buckingham : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_BuckinghamHEC Business School : https://www.hec.edu/enNew England Biolabs (NEB) : https://international.neb.com/Steve Jobs : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_JobsBernard Dujon : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Dujon


    To find out more about André visit his website and his companies :
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Choulika
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/choulika/
    Cellectis : https://cellectis.com/en
    Calyxt : https://calyxt.com/

    To find out more about Renaud :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpreLinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/

    To find out more about Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/EpigenetiqueLinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    To learn more about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler

    To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

    Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

    More about the soundtrack :
    Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/