Episodes

  • Sought After Skills in the Transition to Industry

    Sought After Skills in the Transition to Industry
    Feb 25 2020
    We’ve reached the final installment of this special miniseries of the Get Science Podcast, featuring the exciting work of Pfizer’s postdocs. We recently attended Pfizer’s Annual Postdoc Symposium at our La Jolla, California research site, where we had a chance to interview a handful of next-generation scientific leaders.
    Show more Show less
    18 mins
  • The Power of the Mentor-Postdoc Relationship

    The Power of the Mentor-Postdoc Relationship
    Feb 14 2020
    Continuing our podcast miniseries from Pfizer’s Annual Postdoc Research Symposium, held this year at our La Jolla research site, we sit down with the next generation of scientific leaders to learn more about what drives their passion to advance research. In this episode, we’ll hear from a few postdocs and their mentors about navigating the transition from academia to industry, the importance of mentors to help prioritize research goals, and their scientific inspirations.
    Show more Show less
    25 mins
  • The Next Generation of Scientists Learn the Ropes of the Industry

    The Next Generation of Scientists Learn the Ropes of the Industry
    Jan 30 2020
    This week, we're speaking with Sydney Lavoie, a postdoc in the Inflammation and Immunology research unit based in Pfizer’s Cambridge, Massachusetts research site, who’s interested in the gut microbiome. Later in this episode, we’ll meet Sharon Campbell and her mentor, Orla Cunningham, who are based in the biomedicine design research group at Pfizer’s Dublin, Ireland research site. They’ll tell us an interesting story of how Sharon came to Pfizer with no experience in next-generation sequencing skills, but quickly got up-to-speed to make a big impact in her current research project.
    Show more Show less
    19 mins
  • Decoding the Complexity of the Immune System to Find Drivers of Disease

    Decoding the Complexity of the Immune System to Find Drivers of Disease
    Dec 12 2019
    Continuing on our theme of “rule-breaking” biology, Thomas Wynn shares his own insights on the the exciting and sometimes frustrating aspects of pursuing hypotheses that “don’t pan out” as you expect them to. And, given his knack for making the immune system understandable for non-scientists, we think you’ll especially enjoy tuning in to this episode.
    Show more Show less
    21 mins
  • An Urgent Quest to Bring 'True Relief' to Patients with Rare Diseases

    An Urgent Quest to Bring 'True Relief' to Patients with Rare Diseases
    Dec 6 2019
    In our latest episode of the Get Science Podcast, Seng Cheng, Chief Scientific Officer of the Rare Disease Research Unit at Pfizer, discusses his urgent mission to help find breakthrough treatments for rare genetic conditions, such a hemophilia, sickle cell anemia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. “There are many thousands of rare diseases,” says Cheng, who is based at Pfizer’s Kendall Square, Cambridge, Mass. research site. “For me, the challenge is to make sure we can develop medicines for as many different conditions as we can bring to bear, so we can provide not just hope, but true relief for these individuals.”
    Show more Show less
    20 mins
  • Pushing the Frontiers of Cancer Cell Biology

    Pushing the Frontiers of Cancer Cell Biology
    Nov 27 2019
    Continuing our series on “rule-breaking” science, we have a conversation with Mike White, Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer in the Tumor Cell Biology Group at Pfizer’s La Jolla Research site. For nearly two decades, White was based at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as an expert in cancer cell signaling. But in 2016, he joined Pfizer, making the leap from academia into industry. For White, the transition has been an opportunity to “go out onto into the wild frontier and be aggressive in finding new medicines for patients.” Listen to our latest episode to learn more about White’s passion for diving into the complexity of biology to uncover new pathways to fight cancer.
    Show more Show less
    30 mins
  • The Extended Reach of a Vaccine

    The Extended Reach of a Vaccine
    Oct 18 2019

    When babies are born, they are at their most vulnerable, as their immune systems are still developing and they are too young to be vaccinated. But thanks to the protection from antibodies they receive in the womb, through a process called maternal immunization, many babies arrive into the world with a special set of protections already circulating inside of them. Still, it’s a sophisticated process that can sometimes defy convention as these antibodies navigate their own unique path through the body.  

    In a special series of the Get Science Podcast, we’ll explore some of science’s unknowns with the scientists pushing the boundaries of biology as they travel into unchartered territory. For this episode, we chat with Kathrin Jansen, Pfizer’s Senior Vice President and Head of Vaccine Research and Development, who breaks down how the powerful tool of maternal immunization works, the challenges it presents and the steps being taken to broaden its reach.  

    Listen here for Kathrin’s insights.
    Show more Show less
    31 mins
  • A Scientist’s Instinct to Pursue New Treatment Pathways

    A Scientist’s Instinct to Pursue New Treatment Pathways
    Oct 9 2019

    In the latest series of the Get Science podcast, we’re talking to Pfizer researchers about how pursuing rule-breaking science can lead to new discoveries. Our next guest, Mike Vincent, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Inflammation and Immunology Research Unit offers a new twist on our theme. Being open to counterintuitive science is vital, says Vincent, but so is having “good instincts to know when to poke further into something that’s often the initial lead to something important.”

    Vincent, who began his career as a physician and academic researcher, had the instincts to specialize in the rheumatology and immunology when he saw how autoimmune diseases offered enough “clues” about what may be driving these conditions. “I thought If I spend a lifetime here, I can make some progress and figure things out,” he says.

    And indeed, he has. At Pfizer, he’s leading teams of scientists to better understand the immune system to develop new medicines for dermatologic conditions with critical unmet need such a atopic dermatitis, alopecia areata and vitiligo.

    Listen here to follow our full conversation.
    Show more Show less
    30 mins