Engineering the Future through Synthetic Biology feat. Shalini Yadav ’24

In this episode, we welcome Shalini Yadav, a 2024 Executive MBA graduate and visionary leader in the field of synthetic biology. With over 22 years of research experience, including a decade in leadership, Shalini has a deep expertise in synthetic biology, immuno-oncology, and therapeutics. She now serves as the Executive Director of Rice's Synthetic Biology Institute, where she spearheads cutting-edge research, fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, and drives the institute’s mission to unlock synthetic biology’s transformative potential.

Host Maya Pomroy ’22 speaks with Shalini about her inspiring journey from growing up in Allahabad, India, to leading translational cancer research at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Shalini reflects on how her early experiences with infectious diseases and her education, from New Delhi to Stony Brook University, shaped her passion for synthetic biology. She also shares her thoughts on the field’s potential to revolutionize science and the critical role of integrating business strategy into scientific innovation.

We Want Your Feedback
Whether you’re a regular listener of Owl Have You Know or just tuning in, we want your feedback. Take our quick survey to let us know what topics and stories you want to hear more of — your input will help shape future episodes just for you. Click here to share your thoughts!

Episode Guide:

02:39 Early Life and Education

04:13 Challenges and Adventures in the US

07:08 Groundbreaking Research and Discoveries

10:00 Transition to Translational Research

14:23 Journey to MD Anderson and Houston

17:17 Why Pursue an MBA Now?

27:16 Synthetic Biology: The Next Scientific Revolution

37:48 Future Aspirations and Conclusion

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

How a serendipitous opportunity brought Shalini to Houston

14:09: [Maya Pomroy] So what brought you to Houston? Was it MD Anderson that brought you to Houston?

14:35: [Shalini Yadav] When I got an opportunity, again grateful to the PCF Young Investigator Award that I got, this network of people that I met, and through that, I was able to connect with Dr. Allison, and it, again, serendipitously, happened that he, looking at my expertise and things that I had done, said, “Would you like to do this work, which is a lot of scientific management and administrative?” [15:06] I thought, okay, as long as I found it interesting and exciting, because, again, I was handling multiple stakeholders and trying to work with multiple pharmaceutical companies, different departments, different kinds of experts, working together with all of them to handle a scientific problem, which will actually help to learn something new. So that was very satisfying to do that.

How an MBA gave Shalini a new perspective on impact

32:42: I would like to say that scientists in general are passionate about what they do. It's the leap that you have to take that overcome, and your perspective changes after MBA. I never had this perspective. The way I understand things now are completely different than I would have done two years back.

33:18: So if community matters to you and if you're bothered by things around you, which you want to change and you think with this you cannot. I think taking that leap where you will learn things, which I think basically as a scientist, our training as graduate students, or even medical studies, we are taught to be very focused. So having to come out of that shell and embrace this bigger picture and having the strength to think about what impact I can have because if you understand both sides of it, what you can