In this episode of the Addgene podcast, we sit down with Addgene’s Founders - Melina Fan, Ken Fan, and Benjie Chen. We learn what it was like to get Addgene off the ground and what the founders hope to see in the repository’s future. If you’ve ever been curious about what it takes to start your own nonprofit, this is the episode for you.
Listen to the interview with Addgene's founders
Podcast breakdown
Intro
Chapter 1 - Who are Addgene's Founders?
Chapter 2 - The process of founding Addgene, where the idea for Addgene came from and how the idea got off the ground
Chapter 3 - Addgene as a leader in standardized tech transfer and the adoption of the UBMTA
Chapter 4 - Developing Addgene as a modern e-commerce company and establishing credibility
Chapter 5 - Realizing that Addgene would be successful and the importance of lentiviral vectors in ensuring that success
Chapter 6 - Developing Addgene’s Brand and culture
Chapter 7 - Building Addgene as a global organization (now with more than 50% international plasmid distribution!)
Chapter 8 - Opportunities to create repositories with other materials
Chapter 9 - The Founders' current roles at Addgene and beyond - Ginkgo, Tufts Launchpad, and more
Chapter 10 - Addgene's Future, the research team, and the importance of sharing information/knowledge
Outro
Many thanks to our guests, Melina Fan, Kenneth Fan, and Benjie Chen!
Melina Fan is a co-founder of Addgene. Melina received her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Harvard University, where she studied diabetes and metabolism. Melina has worked at Genetics Institute in Cambridge, MA and Sequana Therapeutics in San Diego, CA. She earned a B.S in Biology from MIT.
Kenneth Fan is a co-founder of Addgene. Kenneth received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Tufts University and his Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy, with a focus on international technology management, from the Fletcher School at Tufts. From 2004 to 2015, Kenneth led business efforts at Addgene as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to Addgene, Kenneth was an investment banking analyst at Credit Suisse’s Technology Group in Palo Alto, CA.
Benjie Chen is a co-founder of Addgene and received his PhD in Computer Science from MIT. His research focused on computer systems and networks. Benjie was Addgene's Director of Technology for 7 years, and is now Chief Software Engineer at Ginkgo Bioworks. He also holds a SB and a Masters in Engineering from MIT, both in Computer Science.
Special thanks to our sound engineer/producer, Eddy Page!
Edward B. Page is a Digital Media Production Specialist at Addgene. He is the audio engineer and producer for the Addgene Podcast.
Additional Resources from the Addgene Blog
- Addgene's a nonprofit?
- Get an Inside Look at Addgene's NGS Quality Control
- Addgene's Viral Service - Why Virus? Why Now?
Resources at Addgene.org
Topics: Addgene News, Podcast
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