Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. R. Douglas Fields is Chief of the Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Adjunct Professor in the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. In addition, Doug is the author of numerous books and magazine articles about the brain, including the recently released book Electric Brain: How the New Science of Brainwaves Reads Minds, Tells Us How We Learn, and Helps Us Change for the Better. He received his B.A. in biology from the University of California, Berkeley, his M.A. degree in marine biology from San Jose State University, and his Ph.D. degree in marine biology from the University of California, San Diego, working jointly in the Medical School and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Afterwards, Doug conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University, Yale University, and the NIH before starting his research laboratory at the NIH in 1994. Doug is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of the scientific journal Neuron Glia Biology. In our interview, Doug tells us more about his life and science.

[Read more…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. Ayanna Thomas is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Graduate Program in Psychology at Tufts University. She was awarded her B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University and her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Washington. Afterwards, Ayanna conducted postdoctoral research at Washington University in St. Louis. She worked as an Assistant Professor at Colby College before joining the faculty at Tufts in 2007. In our interview, Ayanna tells us more about her life and science.

[Read more…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. Michael Hochella is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geological Sciences from Virginia Tech, and was awarded his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from Stanford University. Michael served on the faculty at Stanford University before joining the faculty at Virginia Tech. He has been the recipient of many awards and honors throughout his career. Michael is an elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Mineralogical Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the European Association of Geochemistry, the Geochemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Association of GeoChemistry, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He has also been awarded a Senior Fulbright Scholar Award, an Alexander von Humboldt Award, the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America, the Department of Energy Outstanding Research Award for Geosciences, the Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Research Excellence, the Virginia Scientist of the Year Award, the Distinguished Service Medal from The Geochemical Society, the George W. Brindley Lecture Award from the Clay Minerals Society, and most recently the Virginia Outstanding Faculty award in 2016. In addition, Michael is a former President of both the Geochemical Society, as well as the Mineralogical Society of America. In our interview, Michael shares more about his life and science.

[Read more…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou is the Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University. He is also Editor-In-Chief of The CRISPR Journal and co-founder of Intellia Therapeutics, Locus Biosciences, and TreeCo. Rodolphe received his B.S. degree in biological sciences from Rene Descartes University in France, a M.S. in biological engineering from the University of Technology in Compiegne in France, a M.S. in food science from North Carolina State University, and his Ph.D. in functional genomics from North Carolina State University. He worked as an R&D Director at Danisco (a company now affiliated with DuPont) before returning to school to earn his MBA in Executive Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has received numerous awards and honors for his research, including the National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences, the Award in Molecular Biology from the National Academy of Sciences, the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, and the Canada Gairdner International Prize. In addition, Rodolphe is an Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors. In our interview, Rodolphe shares more about his life and science.

[Read more…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. Natalia Vergara is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center, University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus. Natalia received her B.S. in biochemistry from the National University of the Litoral in Argentina. She worked as an instructor and research intern at the National University of Entre Ríos for about three years before beginning graduate school. Natalia was awarded her PhD in retinal regenerative biology from Miami University in Ohio. Afterwards, she conducted postdoctoral research at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She served as a Research Associate Faculty member at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for about two years before joining the faculty at the University of Colorado. Natalia has received awards for research and for mentoring, including the Ruben Adler Research Award from the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2012, and she was selected as an Emerging Vision Scientist to participate in the Third Annual EVS day on Capitol Hill by the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research in 2017. In our interview, Natalia tells us more about her life and science.

[Read more…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. David Sedlak is the Plato Malozemoff Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Co-Director of the Berkeley Water Center, Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Reinventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure, and Director of the Institute for Environmental Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition, he is author of the book Water 4.0: The Past, Present, and Future of the World’s Most Vital Resource. David earned his Bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Cornell University. After college, he worked as a Staff Scientist at Environ Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey. David then attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he was awarded his Ph.D. in water chemistry. Prior to joining the faculty at UC, Berkeley, David conducted postdoctoral research at the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology in Dübendorf, Switzerland. Throughout his career, David has received numerous awards and honors, including a National Science Foundation CAREER Development Award, the Paul L. Busch Award for Innovation in Applied Water Quality Research, a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, a Fulbright Alumni Initiative Award, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering Gilbreth Lecture Award, and the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for Excellence in Water Research. He has also been named an Elected Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, as well as a Rydell Distinguished Visiting Professor at Gustavus Adolphus College and the Francqui Foundation Chair, Ghent University. In our interview, David shares more about his life and research.

[Read more…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. Jonathan Toner is a Research Assistant Professor in Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington. He received his B.S. degree in Physics from The College of New Jersey and his PhD in Geophysics from the University of Washington. Jon next conducted postdoctoral research in three postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Washington, including a NASA Astrobiology Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2017, he accepted his current faculty position there. During our interview, Jon tells us more about his life and science.

[Read more…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. Crystal Marconett is Assistant Professor of Research Surgery in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. She received her B.S. degree in molecular, cell, and developmental biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Crystal next earned her Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley where she was awarded the Chancellor’s Predoctoral Award and the California Breast Cancer Research Program Dissertation Fellowship. Afterwards, Crystal was awarded an American Cancer Society and Canary Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research at the University of Southern California before joining the faculty there. In our interview, Crystal will tell us more about her life and science.

[Read more…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. David Weiner is Executive Vice President, Director of the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center, and the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Professor in Cancer Research at The Wistar Institute. He is also Emeritus Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. David received his B.S. in biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, his M.S. in biology from the University of Cincinnati, and his  Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Afterwards, David worked as a research fellow in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the faculty there. He held a joint position as Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at The Wistar Institute and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine from 1990-1993. David returned to The Wistar Institute in 2016 to accept his current positions. Among his many awards and honors, David has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the International Society for Vaccines. He has also received the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award, the Vaccine Industry Excellence Award for Best Academic Research Team, the prestigious Hilleman Lectureship from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a Stone Family Award from Abramson Cancer Center for his groundbreaking work on DNA vaccines for cancer immune therapy, and the Scientific Achievement Award from Life Sciences Pennsylvania. In addition, David was named a “Top 20 Translational Researchers” in 2016 by Nature Biotechnology.

[Read more…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Listen Free in iTunes 

Listen Free on Stitcher Radio

Dr. Ana Spalding is Assistant Professor of Marine and Coastal Policy and Affiliate Faculty at the Pacific Marine Energy Center at Oregon State University. She is also a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama as well as at the Coiba Research Station in Panama. Ana received her B.A. in Economics and International Studies from the University of Richmond, her M.A. in Marine Affairs and Policy from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami, and her Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Afterwards, Ana conducted postdoctoral research at the STRI in Panama before joining the faculty at Oregon State University.

[Read more…]