The Lonely Pipette : helping scientists do better science – Details, episodes & analysis

This month Alicia Rojas tells us about her journey from Costa Rica to Israel and back, in search of pathogens and parasites

• Alicia shares the personal difficulties of being far from home and how she missed family and food
• She reflects on coming back to Costa Rica to explore its rich biodiversity
• She recalls the challenges of returning from a luxurious postdoc at the Weizmann Institute to setting up her own lab in Costa Rica during a pandemic
• She discusses the need to be resilient and creative and build collaborations
• She is proud to be “doing the best we can with the limited resources we have”
• As a mentor, she stresses that every student is different and she tries to keep a helicopter-view of everything that is going on 
• Alicia gets up really early to complete work and make time for her family in the afternoon
• She recommends to finish one task before you start the next one

She mentioned these labs, scientists and institutions
University of Costa Rica : https://www.ucr.ac.cr/
Hebrew University of Jerusalem : https://en.huji.ac.il/
Neta Regev-Rudzki laboratory : https://www.weizmann.ac.il/Biomolecular_Sciences/regev/
Weizmann Institute of Science: https://www.weizmann.ac.il/pages/
Research Center for Tropical Diseases.  : http://www.ciet.ucr.ac.cr/en/about-ciet

To find out more about Alicia visit these links
Alicia’s lab : https://www.thetropicalwormlab.com/
Alicia’s LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-rojas-30215b1aa/
On Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thetropicalwormlab_ucr/
On Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/thetropicalwormlabUCR/

You want to support our work ? Buy us a coffee !  ==> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lonelypipette

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

This month Hans Clevers talks to us about his productive career and his pioneering work on organoid technologies.

Hans admits that he initially found biology frustrating and disappointing

• But then he learnt to enjoy the rare spark of excitement from discoveries
• He managed to get his PhD in just one year!
• You need to trust yourself and learn to share with others
• Hans warns new group leaders not to expect too much from younger colleagues
• It’s important to give your students their own space
• He paints a metaphoric image of research - Push against the dark wall until the window opens on a new valley
• His search for stem cells in the gut led his lab to develop organoid approaches and 3D culture technologies
• Hans describes his unexpected move to Roche and “large pharma”
• He describes his role bridging the gap between scientists and industry leadership
• Hans talks about the benefits of interacting with artists
• He warns about being too attached to your hypothesis and the importance of being wrong

He mentioned these labs, institutions and companies

Roche Pharma R&D (pRED):  https://www.roche.com/innovation/structure/pred
Utrecht University : https://www.uu.nl/en
Dana Farber Cancer Institute :  https://www.dana-farber.org/
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences : https://www.knaw.nl/en
Cox Terhorst :  https://immunologyphd.hms.harvard.edu/people/cox-terhorst

To find out more about Hans visit these links   
X-Twitter https://x.com/hansclevers?lang=en
Hubrecht Institute
https://www.hubrecht.eu
https://www.hubrecht.eu/research-groups/clevers-group/
Wikipedia page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Clevers
Utrecht University
https://www.uu.nl/staff/JCClevers
Google Scholar
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jTAHhTQAAAAJ&hl=en

You want to support our work ? Buy us a coffee !  ==> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lonelypipette

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

This week, Ana-Maria Lennon-Dumenil tells us about her passion for science interfacing with physics and her journey from Santiago to Paris

• Ana-Maria was inspired from a very young age by her namesake Ana-Maria Lenon
• She quickly left genetics because ‘DNA doesn't move enough’
• She stresses that every Principal Investigator needs to find their own way and warns against trying to imitate others
• Ana-Maria feels that the biggest mistake is to think that everyone in the lab is like you (instead of appreciating how different they might be)
• She stresses the need for optimized communication in the lab and the need to clearly articulate expectations
• She learnt the hard way that ‘management is not natural’
• Ana-Maria laughs about the fact that she was too short to be a chemist
• She describes the challenges of finding a common language in interdisciplinary research collaborations
• She also insists on the role of parents in giving confidence to girls at an early age to become scientists

She mentioned these institutions, researchers and resources

• Pasteur Institute : https://www.pasteur.fr/en
• Harvard University : https://www.harvard.edu/
• Curie Institute : https://institut-curie.org/
• European Research Council (ERC) : https://erc.europa.eu/homepage
• Hidde Ploegh : https://www.childrenshospital.org/research/labs/ploegh-lab-research/hidde-ploegh
• Catherine Alcaide : https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-alcaide-5b165856/
• Matthieu Piel : https://curie.fr/personne/matthieu-piel
• Guillaume Dumenil : https://research.pasteur.fr/fr/member/guillaume-dumenil/
• If you are interested in buying a “zester” : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zester
• She is currently reading “Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernardine Evaristo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl,_Woman,_Other

To find out more about Ana-Maria visit her websites or follow her on Twitter : 

• Lab website : https://institut-curie.org/personne/ana-maria-lennon
• An interview with Ana-Maria in JCB : https://rupress.org/jcb/article/215/1/2/38770/Ana-Maria-Lennon-Dumenil-A-dynamic-career
• Her Wikipedia page : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana-Maria_Lennon-Dum%C3%A9nil
• on Twitter @LennonLab

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

In this episode, we talk to George Church about his successful career in DNA repair and his entrepreneurial adventures translating research findings into biotech companies

• George proudly describes himself as a biologist-engineer
• He ponders whether his dyslexia may have helped him by making him realize he was different from others when he was growing up
• He looks for projects in ‘exponential fields’ that combine pure scientific interest, technology breakthroughs and bring societal benefit.
• George cautions against using the word ‘impossible’
• He talks about how he has contributed to scientific and technology revolutions
• He emphasizes the important of considering ethics, safety and security at the outset of ambitious science projects
• George remembers how he reacted to having his genome sequenced and speculates about the future of digital genomics and NFTs
• When recruiting, he looks for people that are ‘nice’ and have deep knowledge in at least two different fields
• George gets up at 4:30 a.m. and his head is immediately whizzing with new ideas
• He tells us how much he learns from his grandchildren (and even mends their party dresses) 

He mentioned these projects, institutions, companies

• Harvard Medical School : https://hms.harvard.edu/ 
• Duke University: https://duke.edu/
• Harvard University : https://www.harvard.edu/
• NIH Brain Initiative : https://braininitiative.nih.gov/
• NIH Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS)  : https://www.genome.gov/Funded-Programs-Projects/Centers-of-Excellence-in-Genomic-Science
• Wyss Institute  : https://wyss.harvard.edu/
• Personal Genomes : https://www.personalgenomes.org/
• TIME 100 Most Influential People : https://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4742749/george-church/
• Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves : https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/george-m-church/regenesis/9780465038657/
• Nebula Genomics : https://nebula.org/george-church/
• 23andMe : https://www.23andme.com/
• Biogen : https://www.biogen.com/
• Gail Martin : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_R._Martin

To find out more about George :

• Church Lab Website : https://arep.med.harvard.edu/
• George on Twitter : https://twitter.com/geochurch

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

In this episode, we talk with the multi-talented Jenny Rohn about her journey zig-zagging from academia to a biotech-startup, to science publishing and then back into academia.

• She tells us about her unconventional path and how she decided to go to a start-up and then come back to academic research
• She made long, agonizing lists about pros and cons of leaving or staying in academia
• This period of indecision led her to start writing novels
• Jenny admits that it was not easy to get back on to an academic path
• She warns people against giving negative advise and she always tries to be honest, but positive feedback
• Jenny says that In the ‘old days’ there used to be a myth that there was only one way to do science. She says that somewhere in the ‘90s there was a shift but it took a while for the old-guard to notice.
• “Do not ever turn away from an opportunity to network. You need to get out and talk to people”
• She tells us how she came up with the idea of ‘lab-lit’ and recommends some of her favourites
• “If you want to be a writer… you need to write a lot and read a lot”
• Jenny shares her thoughts about the place of narrative in scientific writing 

She mentioned these labs, resources and lab-lit authors

• University College London (UCL) : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/
• The Lab Lit website : http://lablit.com/
• Science is Vital : https://scienceisvital.org.uk/
• Jenny’s blog ‘Mind The Gap’ : https://occamstypewriter.org/mindthegap/
• White Coats At Dawn on the Cosmic Shambles network : https://cosmicshambles.com/words/blogs/jennyrohn
• Her first novel ‘Experimental Heart’ : https://jennyrohn.com/exheart
• Her second novel ‘The Honest Look’ : https://jennyrohn.com/honestlook
• Her third novel ‘Cat Zero’ : https://jennyrohn.com/catzero
• Barbara Kingsolver : http://barbarakingsolver.net/books/
• Carl Djerassi : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Djerassi
• Allegra Goodman : https://allegragoodman.com/
• John William Waterhouse : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Waterhouse

To find out more about Jenny visit her website or follow her on Twitter

• https://jennyrohn.com/
• https://twitter.com/jennyrohn
• Orcid : https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8766-6056
• https://www.instagram.com/jennifer.rohn.3/

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

Get ready for 2023 ! In this special episode, we're going to change the narrative. We're going to dive into this original narrative-interview with 4 scientists who experienced an original meeting with us. Invited by Jean-Leon Maître in the south of France  at the fondation Les Treilles, are you ready to ask yourself why you go to science conferences?

Our special guests are : 

• Jean-Léon Maître, the organizer of the meeting, CNRS research director at the Institut Curie, at Paris, France
• Rita Mateus, group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (TUD) in Dresden, Germany. 
• Mariaceleste Aragona, associate professor and group leader of the tissue architecture lab at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, reNEW at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Tim Saunders, associate professor and group leader of an interdisciplinary group of the Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology at Warwick University in England.

This episode is linked to an article published by Jean-Léon Maître on The Node : https://thenode.biologists.com/present-and-future-of-quantitative-developmental-biology-in-les-treilles/events/ 

Note : The constraints of this episode allowed us to focus only on small-scale conferences. It goes without saying that none of the guests, nor we, think that this format should replace the classic meeting format which has other advantages. This episode only aims to bring a new perspective on how we interact as scientists. Small-scale formats are a way to inspire other ways of connecting the scientific community.

We thanks Jean-Léon Maître and the Fondation Les Treilles for the invitation.

To find out more about the guests : 

• Jean-Léon Maître : https://institut-curie.org/team/maitre 
• Rita Mateus : https://www.mpi-cbg.de/research/researchgroups/currentgroups/rita-mateus/research-focus 
• Mariaceleste Aragona : https://renew.ku.dk/research/reseach-groups/aragona/ 
• Tim Saunders : https://mechanochemistry.org/Saunders/MainSite/Saunders_lab_v4_3.htm 

To find out more about Renaud :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/

To find out more about Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

To learn more about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

• Matthew comments on the usefulness of healthy competition in science
• Matt compares the joy of running a lab to cooking in the kitchen
• He loves the flexibility of science and constantly stimulated by interactions with colleagues and young scientists and new ideas
• Matt makes a strong argument for peer-to-peer mentoring, cascade mentoring and seizing constant casual mentoring opportunities
• He comments on the advantages of going to a small lab for graduate school and he advises students to look carefully at the type of scientific questions, the environment of the lab and the chemistry of the PI/mentor relationship
• Matt describes his pioneering Grant Proposal Success (GPS) grant-writing program and the importance of collective, grant-writing communities. Matt dissects the grant structure and tells us what funding committees are looking for
• He suggests that staggering projects and having work at different stages can help to integrate life and manage the lab

• University of Leeds, UK : https://www.leeds.ac.uk/
• University of Pennsylvania : https://www.upenn.edu/
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) : https://www.chop.edu/
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) : https://www.nih.gov/
• Salk Institute for Biological Studies : https://www.salk.edu/
• University of California San Diego : https://ucsd.edu/

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

This week, we talk with Ashani Weeraratna about her inspiring path from apartheid South Africa to director, professor and activist.

• Ashi cites good advice that she remembers “ read voraciously … and be engaged with the literature”
• She insists that mentoring is all about the trainees and hearing their individual needs
• Ashi believes that diversity of thought needs diversity of population and stresses the importance of welcoming different groups into the lab
• For her, representation matters and it is key to achieving full equity
• She also comments on the importance of the microenvironment (for cancer cells and for researchers)
• She shares her thoughts about juggling a life in two cities
• And she encourages us to remember that “the most important trait is kindness”
• And Ashi concludes by telling us to enjoy the journey

She mentioned these institutions, people and resources

• St. Mary's College of Maryland : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary%27s_College_of_Maryland
• George Washington University : https://www.gwu.edu/
• Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center : https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_center/
• National Institutes of Health : https://www.nih.gov/
• Wistar Institute : https://wistar.org/
• University of Pennsylvania : https://www.upenn.edu/
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health : https://publichealth.jhu.edu/
• National Cancer Institute : https://www.cancer.gov/
• Steven Patierno : https://medicine.duke.edu/profile/steven-patierno
• Jeff Trent : https://www.tgen.org/faculty-profiles/jeffrey-trent/
• National Cancer Advisory Board : https://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/ncab/ncab.htm

To find out more about Ashi visit her websites or follow her on Twitter

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/3918/ashani-t-weeraratna
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/ashani-weeraratna
https://research.jhu.edu/members/ashani-weeraratna/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashani_Weeraratna
on Twitter : @AshaniTW

“Is Cancer Inevitable?” by Ashi : https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12767/cancer-inevitable

To find out more about Renaud :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

In this episode, we speak with André Choulika about his exciting journey from a bench scientist to a biotech entrepreneur taking genomic engineering to the clinic

• André shares his fascination about the logic of biological systems and his admiration for experimentalists
• “You can always do something else if it fails” insists André
• André stresses that the boss has to take responsibilities for decisions
• “You don’t hire people to tell them what to do, but they should tell you what needs to be done”
• “Cash is more important than your mother”(we hope Andre’s mother isn’t listening)
• “Success has thousands of fathers but failure is lonely” (lonelier than a pipette!)
• André is modest about success; “None of us are VIPs” and he insists that the people who wash the dishes are as important as the CEO of the company
• He describes the collective contributions and the shared success that characterize the biotech industry 
• For André “Leadership is more important than management”
• He insists that a successful meeting is one than lasts less time than allocated

He mentioned these labs, scientists, institutions and companies

• Richard Mulligan : https://genetics.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/richard-charles-mulligan
• Institut Pasteur : https://www.pasteur.fr/en
• Maxime Schwartz : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxime_Schwartz
• Margaret Buckingham : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Buckingham
• HEC Business School : https://www.hec.edu/en
• New England Biolabs (NEB) : https://international.neb.com/
• Steve Jobs : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs
• Bernard Dujon : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Dujon

To find out more about André visit his website and his companies :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Choulika
https://www.linkedin.com/in/choulika/
Cellectis : https://cellectis.com/en
Calyxt : https://calyxt.com/

To find out more about Renaud :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/

To find out more about Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

To learn more about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/

In this episode, we step beyond the life sciences to talk with Jen Heemstra, a professor of chemistry who brings much energy to thinking about mentoring and improving academic culture

• Jen tells us how early failures drove her to strive for success in science
• She shares how she overcame early doubts about an academic career
• She talks about how different students need different mentoring styles and how important it is to adjust each time
• She admits that she is so excited about all her roles that she struggles with focusing and setting priorities
• Great teams are made up of people with different perspectives and different ways of seeing the world - and they are a group of equals
• Jen has a lot of thoughts about how to embrace failing and taking comfort from failures
• She thinks it’s important to recognize cognitive distortions to overcome imposter syndrome narratives
• Jen shares personal thoughts about her approach to self care practices and to improving academic culture for others
• Don’t make your decisions based on other people’s expectations

She mentioned these institutions, people and resources

• Washington University in St Louis : https://chemistry.wustl.edu/people/jennifer-heemstra
• Emory University : https://www.emory.edu/
• Jen’s Blog - Things that change the way I think : http://thingsthatchangethewayithink.blogspot.com/
• Lynn Hill : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Hill

To find out more about Jen visit her website or follow her on Twitter
https://chemistry.wustl.edu/people/jennifer-heemstra
https://www.heemstralab.com/
https://twitter.com/HeemstraLab
https://twitter.com/jenheemstra

To find out more about Renaud :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/

To find out more about Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

To learn more about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler
https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/
https://twitter.com/amariamusique

To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

More about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/