The Bits in Bio Podcast

Robbie Matthews and Vincent Alessi
  • 5.0 (2)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

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.

Episodes

  1. 12/31/2025

    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

  2. 11/30/2025

    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

  3. 10/28/2025

    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

  4. 09/23/2025

    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
  5. Multimodal AI Data Architecture in Healthcare with John Axerio-Cilies

    08/21/2025

    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
  • 5 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Robbie Matthews and Vincent Alessi
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Robbie Matthews and Vincent Alessi
  • Show Website
    The Bits in Bio Podcast