Facetime with Scientists

fromthelabbench
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Science
  • Updated Weekly

This show dives into the world of science (and art!) with behind-the-scenes chats with researchers in their natural habitats. Get ready to hear and see the scientific process in new detail!

  1. 3d ago

    How Drugs Are Formulated and Tested, with Amanda Plunze

    This FaceTime With Scientists episode covers everything you might not know about how drug molecules are formulated into the final products you get from your local pharmacy. You'll learn why formulation is critical to how well a drug works.Dive into a fascinating discussion about how pharmaceutical drugs are formulated into dissolvable tablets, time-release pills, inhalers, and more, with research scientist Amanda Plunze. Amanda works for an organization (a CDMO) that partners with pharma companies to formulate and test drug molecules across stages from early discovery to commercial manufacturing to ensure these drugs are safe, stable, and work as intended.In this episode, watch Amanda perform stability testing and potency/impurity analysis of an intermediate powder drug formulation designed to help poorly water-soluble molecules (more like pepper than sugar) dissolve in the stomach. She uses high-performance liquid chromatography to measure how well drug molecules in powder formuations stay intact once exposed to different temperature and humidity conditions. Amanda explains key formulation priorities—manufacturability, performance in the body (and how she tests how well drugs dissolve in simulated gastric fluids), and shelf-life stability. She also covers what's new and exciting in drug formulation, including efforts to create dry-powder inhaled vaccines. We also talked about why you shouldn't be afraid to ask your doctor and pharmacist questions about your medications, and common misconceptions about what goes into making effective tablets, pills, and inhalers. Watch now to learn more!00:00 Meet Amanda Plunze00:21 What a CDMO Does01:10 The Pipeline of Drug Development02:16 Inside Today’s Lab Test - Testing Drug Stability02:37 Why Drug Water-Solubility Matters03:46 Stability Testing Basics08:58 HPLC Explained: How Amanda Tests Drugs for Degradation11:29 Drug Powder Handling Safety16:39 Traceable Weighing Labels18:10 Food vs Pharma Grade Drug Testing21:05 Sample Prep Bench Skills28:57 How Well Do Drugs Dissolve in the Stomach? In Vitro Dissolution Testing31:49 Designing Inhaled Medicines33:37 Inhaled Vaccine Breakthrough35:00 Why Drug Delivery Methods Matter35:45 Formulation Stability Basics36:57 The Jenga Game Model of How Drugs Dissolve39:08 Partnering With Pharma41:40 Testing Drugs From Lab To Market43:35 Lab Walkthrough44:30 Helping People Better Understand Their Medicines48:41 Why Drug Instructions Get Ignored - Storytelling Matters53:22 Food Effects on Drug Absorption56:46 Overcoming Pharma Mistrust01:02:24 Supplements Versus Medicines01:04:45 Regulation And Better Formulations01:06:22 Big Picture Wrap Up

  2. Sep 5

    What We Breathe Can Impact Asthma Risk Across Generations: Dr. Noel Explains!

    In this episode of Facetime with Scientists, I interview Dr. Alexandra Noel, an inhalation toxicologist at LSU’s vet school. Dr. Noel studies how inhaled pollutants—air pollution, wildfire smoke, cigarette smoke, vaping aerosols, workplace nanoparticles, and microplastics—affect lung health.  Smoke, whether it is cigarette smoke or wildfire smoke, contains particulate matter as well as gases. Noel explains why particle size matters (PM10 vs PM2.5 vs ultrafine) and how smaller particles reach deeper regions of the lungs, worsening conditions like asthma. But she also points out that one of her recent studies found that the gas phase of wildfire smoke is toxic on its own, especially to the lungs, while particulate matter is toxic systemically across the body.  Noel discusses research on vaping, cigarette smoke, microplastics, and occupational nanoparticles, and how findings can inform public health policy. She also outlines in utero mouse studies linking gestational e-cigarette exposure to worsened allergen-triggered asthma via epigenetic methylation changes (in the IL-10 cytokine pathway). She notes transgenerational asthma risk from a smoking grandparent, highlights potential paternal transmission, and shares how you can protect your own health and manage your asthma triggers even if you have an epigenetic predisposition to asthma.  Finally, Noel discusses her career path and offers advice about perseverance in scientific research. 00:00 Asthma Across Generations 00:42 Meet Dr Alexandra Noel 01:54 Inside Inhalation Toxicology 05:37 Wildfire Smoke and PM Sizes 10:46 Teasing Apart Smoke Chemistry 15:19 Surprising Gas Phase Findings 17:17 From Research to Policy 19:53 Staying Hopeful and Finding Treatments 25:00 In Utero Exposure and Epigenetics 31:05 Second Hit Timing and Real Life Exposure 33:29 DOHAD and fetal windows 34:47 Nutrition and lifelong risk 35:55 Transgenerational asthma links 38:26 Wildfire exposure mitigation 40:08 Career path in toxicology 43:53 Microplastics inhalation sources 46:37 Personal exposure choices 50:45 Individual vs public health 52:49 Science setbacks and funding 56:47 Why academia is rewarding 59:13 Closing thanks and outreach

  3. Aug 30

    This Acoustician Solves Deep-Sea Mysteries... with Sound!

    Haley Glasmann is an acoustician. If it sounds a bit like a superhero label, well, maybe it is. Haley is a PhD student studying the power of sound to "see" to the darkest depths of the ocean! She recently joined deep-sea biologists on an expedition to an area off the coast of the Grand Cayman Islands where hydrothermal vents on the seafloor are home to some very interesting shrimp. Researchers are interested in studying their eyesight - do they see visible light spectra? Black body radiation? What do they use their eyes for in the pitch black? Learn more about acoustics, how sound can "see" creatures in the ocean, and what it's like to live on a research vessel for a month and watch the famous Alvin submarine explore the depths in this podcast episode with FIU PhD student Haley Glasmann! *Video correction: Podcast intro type to name; last name is spelled "Glasmann"

  4. Aug 22

    Physicist Professor Diva Makes Celebrities of Scientists

    Reres Fota is a theoretical physicist who also goes by another name: Professor Diva! The Diva was born when Reres started combining his two loves, in the classroom and on social media: physics and heels dancing! Reres is a PhD researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he also teaches a wildly popular class on quantum mechanics. His mission is to make physics accessible to anyone and everyone! In this podcast episode, we talk about his journey, his philosophy on teaching and science communication, the value of visuals, making of celebrity scientists, and more!

  5. Aug 17

    Dissecting Fruit Fly Brains to Understand Microcephaly

    Taylor Hailstock recently defended her PhD at Emory. Her study organism? The fruit fly! Her study target? Microcephaly and brain development! You'd be amazed what we can learn about human diseases from studying the brains of flies. In fact, Taylor recently connected a gene called Orb2 for the first time to microcephaly. Learn more in this podcast episode with Dr. Hailstock!

  6. Aug 7

    This biochemist helps natural killer cells fight cancer

    For Zee, turning the body's own immune system into a more efficient killer of cancer cells isn't science fiction; it's what she works on daily! Zainab Hakeem is a PhD candidate in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department at the University of Georgia. She is working with the immune cells with the most bad-a** name—Natural Killer cells—to help them kill cancer cells more efficiently by binding tightly to antibodies that, in turn, find and latch onto specific molecules on the surface of cancer cells. Zee uses biochemistry, tuning molecular receptors and proteins to control their interactions, to help the immune system in its fight against cancer. Learn more with Zee in this podcast from her work in the lab!

  7. Jul 27

    A Scientist with Type 1 Diabetes Aims to Cure this Disease with Beta Cells in a Dish

    Caterra Leavens in a cell and molecular biologist who is studying type 1 diabetes. Specifically, she is creating gene-edited insulin-producing beta cells from stem cells in the lab. One day, these cells may be transplanted into humans to treat this disease! Oh yes, Caterra also has type 1 diabetes herself, which is why she has a particular passion for developing a cure. Learn more about her PhD research in this podcast episode where I interview her in the lab!

  8. Jul 18

    Mini Spinal Cords in a Dish Help Neuroscientist Nuri Study ALS

    Nuri Smith is a researcher working to better understand ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease)... by growing tiny spinal cords in a dish! By studying balls of neurons, motor neurons, and muscle cells, Nuri is learning more about how ALS progresses and produces symptoms -- and eventually how we might treat this disease in a targeted way. Listen to Nuri talk about organoids, her experiences in the lab, her commitment to communicating brain science, and more in this podcast!

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Ratings & Reviews

5
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3 Ratings

About

This show dives into the world of science (and art!) with behind-the-scenes chats with researchers in their natural habitats. Get ready to hear and see the scientific process in new detail!

Information

  • Creator
    fromthelabbench
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © fromthelabbench
  • Show Website
    Facetime with Scientists