The Bits in Bio Podcast

Robbie Matthews and Vincent Alessi
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Hosts Robbie and Vince explore techbio’s hidden machinery—venture hype, lab experiments, and algorithmic dreams—to reveal what works, what spectacularly fails, and the stubborn realities of turning code into biology.

Épisodes

  1. 24 juin

    Biology's Data Problem is a Robotics Problem: Building the Physical AI Scientist with Michelle Lee

    Michelle Lee, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Medra, building a Physical AI Scientist platform where robotic agents and reasoning models run, optimize, and learn from wet lab experiments together. We discuss Medra Lab 001, the largest autonomous life sciences lab in the US, built in just 90 days, and the Vision-Language-Lab-Action model that powers it. Michelle breaks down Medra's "data foundry" thesis for foundation model teams, and why she made the deliberate bet to build in America after decades of automation work moved offshore. From a robotics PhD at Stanford to running production science for Genentech, Michelle shares why she believes AI won't transform drug discovery until it leaves the screen, and what it actually takes to build and fund a deep-tech, full-stack biotech from scratch.

    37 min

  2. 22 avr.

    Reinventing Drug Formulation: AI, Automation, and Self-Driving Labs with Pauric Bannigan

    Pauric Bannigan, co-founder and CSO of Intrepid Labs, is building one of the first AI-native platforms for drug formulation, combining machine learning, robotics, and experimental science to tackle one of pharma’s most complex bottlenecks. We discuss why drug formulation remains a critical but underexplored step in drug development, and how Intrepid’s “self-driving lab” integrates AI-driven decision-making with automated experimentation to accelerate formulation design. From academic research in pharmaceutical chemistry to founding an AI-first biotech company, Pauric shares lessons on building at the intersection of machine learning, robotics, and drug development, scaling interdisciplinary teams across computation and experimental science, and transforming formulation from a manual bottleneck into a data-driven system.

    31 min

  3. 5 mars

    Building Scientific Superintelligence: AI Science Factories and the Quest to Drug the Undruggable with Molly Gibson

    Molly Gibson, Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering, has co-founded some of the most ambitious AI-native life sciences companies of the last decade, including Generate Biomedicines, Lila Sciences, and most recently Expedition Medicines, where she serves as CEO. We discuss the Flagship model of company origination, how Lila Sciences is building AI Science Factories where AI runs the scientific method autonomously, and how Expedition Medicines is using AI and quantum chemistry to crack the undruggable proteome. From her PhD studying antibiotic resistance in preterm infant microbiomes to founding multiple AI-bio companies, Molly shares hard-won lessons on separating AI hype from real platform value, building cross-disciplinary teams, and what computer scientists need to understand before becoming biotech founders.

    37 min

  4. 31/12/2025

    Infrastructure for Pharma: Lessons from $2.5B in Research Procurement with Chris Petersen

    Chris Petersen, co-founder and CTO of Scientist.com, joins us to share lessons from almost two decades of building the world's leading research services marketplace for pharmaceutical R&D. We discuss pivoting from building a CRO lab to creating a B2E marketplace platform facilitating $2.5B in research procurement, the critical architectural decisions along the way, and deploying AI to streamline workflows for nearly all top 30 pharma companies. From a legendary Paul Blart Mall Cop rescue in the early days to recent acquisition by GHO Capital Partners, Chris shares hard-won insights on building for enterprise, hiring through community, and finding opportunities hidden in Excel spreadsheets.

    35 min

  5. 30/11/2025

    How AI-Driven Cell Therapy is Rewriting Regeneration with Frank Li

    Frank Li, founder and CEO of Stately Bio, joins us to unpack how AI-driven, label-free live-cell imaging is unlocking real-time insight into cell state and redefining what’s possible in regenerative medicine. We discuss his journey from co-founding a mobile payments startup through roles at Palantir, Google Brain, and Calico, to building Stately Bio’s ML imaging platform, and how surprising predictive power emerges when you stream and analyze living cells at scale. From three years in stealth to a $12M seed round, Frank shares lessons on bridging tech and biotech, building a world-class technical team, and applying AI to one of biology’s most complex frontiers.

    37 min

  6. 28/10/2025

    Redefining the Undruggable Through Proximity with Armand Cognetta

    Armand Cognetta, founder and CEO of General Proximity, joins us to explore how proximity medicine is revolutionizing drug discovery by targeting proteins once considered impossible to drug. We discuss the evolution beyond PROTACs, being a solo bio-founder in Y Combinator, and Armand's journey from imposter syndrome to raising $16M and winning a $3M ARPA-H grant. From nearly running out of money to building breakthrough platform technology, Armand shares hard-won lessons on fundraising, team building, and maintaining startup speed in an industry known for decade-long timelines.

    36 min

  7. 23/09/2025

    The Future of Federated Learning in Life Sciences with Robin Roehm

    Robin Roehm, CEO and co-founder of Apheris, joins us to explore how federated learning is transforming data collaboration in life sciences. We discuss its impact on drug discovery and clinical trials, the balance between IP protection and AI innovation, and Robin’s journey at the crossroads of tech and healthcare.

    43 min
  8. Multimodal AI Data Architecture in Healthcare with John Axerio-Cilies

    21/08/2025

    Multimodal AI Data Architecture in Healthcare with John Axerio-Cilies

    Join us for a deep dive into multimodal AI data architecture with John Axerio-Cilies, Chief Data Technology Officer at Tempus AI and former CEO/CTO of Arterys. John shares insights from building the first FDA-cleared deep learning algorithm in healthcare and now leading data integration across imaging, text, and molecular modalities at scale.

    27 min
  • 8 épisodes

À propos

Hosts Robbie and Vince explore techbio’s hidden machinery—venture hype, lab experiments, and algorithmic dreams—to reveal what works, what spectacularly fails, and the stubborn realities of turning code into biology.

Informations

  • Création
    Robbie Matthews and Vincent Alessi
  • Années d’activité
    2025 - 2026
  • Épisodes
    8
  • Classification
    Tous publics
  • Copyright
    © Robbie Matthews and Vincent Alessi
  • Site web de l’émission
    The Bits in Bio Podcast

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