Episodes

Dr. Adi Lavi is a bioinformatics and fermentation scientist that decided to explore a career path in biotech, San Francisco. Adi shared how to find a job quickly using LinkedIn, how he builds his career trajectory, what helped him being prepared to make his company transitions and his take on training in academia towards being a PI or industry, ohh ... and he had done this during a global pandemic. Join our mAcademia Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/macademiacast Share your t...

In this special one year anniversary episode, Estherina Trachtenberg is learning more about Ofer and Lena, mAcademia podcast hosts! Join this fun conversation about the podcast, science and careers. Join our mAcademia Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/macademiacast Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mAcademiaP Episode music - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama License: http://creativecommons.org/licen...

Sahar is a Computational and Statistical Geneticist and currently acts as the manager of Neuroscience & Ophthalmology Genetics at Regeneron. Instead of advancing a career in hi tech, then the soon to be Dr. Sahar Gelfman, choose to harness his skills in computer science to get his Ph.D. in human molecular genetics. After a successful postdoc and facing another life-changing decision, Sahar chose a non-academic career path at Regeneron's Genome Research Center instead of a faculty position back i...

Dr. Christian Tidona is a biotech entrepreneur, an angel investor, and the founder of BioMed X Institute in Heidelberg, Germany. He is also a molecular biologist, educated in the academic hallways like many of us. When he found out he is passionate about both science and entrepreneurship to the same extent, he started a lifelong journey of carving out career paths that drive innovation. He founded the BioMed X Institute - where academic talent and the needs of the pharma industry meet, thrive, a...

Dr. Elisabeth Bik is an independent Science Integrity Consultant. She is also an image sleuth, investigating independently into image manipulations in scientific publications and publically publishing her findings. Dr. Bik is a microbiologist that worked in the public sector in the Netherlands, was a research associate at Stanford University, and as a scientific editorial director at uBiome, a microbiome startup before opening her consultancy. We touched base on her transition from academia to ...

Amir is an interdisciplinary scientist, doing his PhD at the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology in Jena, Germany. His work on using spectroscopy to diagnose drug-resistant bacteria brings together biology, chemistry, engineering, and computer science. We talked with Amir about the critical role online networking has in career development. We shared stories of connections through networking that led to some exciting opportunities, gave tips for efficient networking on LinkedIn and other pl...

Linda Rubinstein is studying how isolation and radiation are affecting physiology on the molecular level at the NASA Ames Research Center, California. We talked about the collaborative spirit and the feeling of unity around a mission at NASA and how it is different from regular laboratories in academia. We also talked about brave decisions and the value of a supportive network when you face challenges. NASA Postdoctoral Program Opportunities: https://npp.usra.edu/opportunities/ Episode music - ...

Prof. Oded Rechavi, professor at the Department of Neurobiology at Tel Aviv University. His lab challenges basic dogmas regarding inheritance and evolution, using simple powerful genetic model organisms. Oded is very active over social media, mostly Twitter, and brings the new media twist towards communicating science and the life of a scientist. Among other things, he organized the first Twitter scientific conference "WOODSTOCK.BIO" He brings great fresh views on the new era of social communic...

Tal has a Ph.D. in Biotech and Food engineering, but that is only part of a long story that landed her as Phytolon co-founder and acting CTO. Tal brings a fresh look at career planning for a scientific track, where she had asked herself all the required questions, drew a path to fit her answer, and walked it with pride. At Phytolon she brings all her savvy scientific thinking and desire for execution and plays a critical role in the company's growth. Phytolon utilizes current scientific advanc...

Anat Bohme-Cagan finished her Ph.D. in neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. Yet, even though she is very passionate about science, she realized an academic path is not for her. An ad on the radio, yes, radio, brought her to a new path towards the Israeli ministry of health. She is now a multidisciplinary policymaker in the field of medical technologies and regulation at the Israeli ministry of health and an avid advocate for collaborative multifaceted work. Do Ph.D.s have what it takes to make i...

With an extensive scientific background in neurodegeneration, and especially in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Kim is driven to move safe and effective therapies to people with ALS or with other rare diseases across the globe. After two postdocs in academia, Kim set out to provide science consultancy to biotech, academia, and patient organizations. In addition, as a career coach, she feels strongly about inspiring and empowering academic scientists to obtain the careers that they want, eit...

Orly Levitan is the Chief Scientific of a cool startup called HyGIeacare Inc. While being in charge of the growing company's scientific program, she maintained her affiliation with Rutgers University. Post leaving her full-time research professor appointment with the university, she also co-created the curriculum and course work of the Project Management Consortium (PMC) of the Cheeky Scientist Association (CSA). In this episode, we talk about her transition to industry, keeping in touch with wh...

Maria Blekher, PhD is a startup value accelerator , behavioral researcher and the founding Director of Innovation Lab at Yeshiva University, New York. Maria created a borderless New York City-based hub that connects startups based in New York City and Israel with students and experts who are passionate about Israeli Tech and innovation. We discussed her unique career development, the initiation and development of this unique platform that drives innovation and supports student development. https...

Natalie Yivgi-Ohana, PhD, started a postdoc in Canada, yet decided to come back after just two and a half months, realizing it is not working for her and her family. For some, this could be the end of their scientific careers, but not for Natalie. After a short postdoc at Weizmann Institute, Natalie thought of an ingenious idea that changed her life and has the potential to save many children around the world. In this episode she shares her story, the story of Minovia. EPISODE IS IN ENGLISH Ep...

Beatrice brings her worldwide experience in business and getting great technology into the real world by creating applications. Her current mission is to make great minds interact, get to know each other, and eventually work together. SmartTribe, her latest venture, enables networking between individuals in academia and industry, building their mutual networks that empower scientists. Some useful links: https://smarttribe.io/community/ https://smarttribe.io/category/from-scientist-to-executiv...

Joanne Kamens runs every molecular biologist's favorite non-profit organization, Addgene. They distribute 90,657 plasmids on behalf of 4,366 labs from around the world and to more than 100 countries. Joanne made the journey from an academic research training, through long years of applying her skills in the biotech industry, and now running a non-profit aimed at making research and discovery more streamlined. She shares excellent insights on MUST DO step in the career planning phase of young PhD...

Just before releasing some of our newest interviews, Lena and Ofer share what they had learned thus far and where they want to expand in the upcoming season of mAcademia. We are excited to bring new stories, new bridges being formed, and great insights to career planning for the academic researcher. Enjoy :-) Episode music - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ --- Send in a voice message: htt...

Dvir went against the mainstream route of academia and choose a postdoc that had opened him up towards truly "translational research". From a postdoc under a world-leading figure in this emerging concept to leading a data science research team in one of the largest medical insurance companies in the US, and from there to lead a new lab at the Technion in Israel. Dvir shares his view that a researcher's career path is not choosing between two sides of the coin, you could, and maybe should, experi...

Yoni Bhonker was a talented PhD student, and as one, he asked important questions, about his work at lab of course, but moreover, about his career path. Yoni took his acquired skill school from a PhD in human genetics, all the way into tech and acts as a product manager at Contentsquare ... yes he is in tech. We got to go with Yoni through his course of decision making and more important his course of pursuing his career ambitions. Yoni had given us a glimpse at to a long reach transition from l...

Being a good scientist isn't enough to cut it as a good teacher, in order to stand in front of a classroom of teenagers you need to WANT to be there with everything you got. Yair Pozniak took the leap from benchtop to teaching a high school science class. He had shared with us the internal dilemmas he faced early on, how he sought advice, devised a plan, and acted upon it on the course of several years. Warning, you would either want to go back to high school or go teach after hearing Yair's pas...

Dan G. Blumberg is a VP and professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the Department of Geography and Environmental Development. He currently serves as Vice-President for Regional and Industrial Development after serving five years as Vice President and Dean for Research and Development. We had an honest talk about academia, industry and bridging between them. EPISODE IS IN HEBREW * We had some sound issues so the volume is a bit low, bear with us you won't regret it * Episode music: "D...

Gabriella went through 15 years at the bench with every intention to become a PI in academia. She looked for the impact the coincide with her core values. From being in charge of the MIND course at UCSF, she is now acting as Assistant Dean for Postdoctoral Scholars at UCSF, a world leading biomedical research institute with over 1100 postdocs and many more grad students. How did her PhD prepare her for this career? What is policymaking? and of course how her job affects the training of many many...

Adi Zief-Balteriski is a behavioral science expert in the field of community, technology and consumer behavior. She is a researcher in the field of well-being and holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, L.L.B in Law and B.A in Business and IT. Adi states that making a positive impact on people’s lives has been her life-long passion. She spent the past few years building products to increase people’s well-being and positive experiences. She has been advising startups in well-being sphere and recent...

Yair had started early on and had a very successful Ph.D. experience. Yair was drawn towards the private sector, translating his scientific skills to industry requirements while enhancing his toolkit along the way. Yair is the Director of Research at SpacePharma. Yes ... Space ... Pharma. Listen in to learn more about the transition and what it is like going to space. 3... 2... 1... lift-off! EPISODE IS IN HEBREW Episode music: "Dream Catcher", Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Cr...