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This is the first half of a two-part interview with Vini Mani and Amy Gilson from Science in the News at Harvard University.

Effective science communication is required to promote public support for research and to keep useful discoveries coming. At Addgene, we’re huge supporters of science communication. To help you think about ways to effectively communicate your science, we sat down with Vini Mani and Amy Gilson from Science in the News, a graduate student organization that works to promote science communication. Science in the News hosts a podcast, seminars, a blog, conferences, and more for non-scientists. These programs are all run and organized by graduate student researchers. That’s right, #ActualLivingScientists, eager to communicate their science. In this first half of our two-part interview with Vini and Amy, we’ll discuss the types of programs SITN runs and learn how they think about communicating science.

Science rap mastermind, Tom McFadden, recently worked with high school students in the bay area to create a plasmid rap video for us (If you’re new to plasmids, we highly recommend checking out the video). Tom has made many more Science rap videos to teach students around the globe and is pushing SciComm further with his new company, Science with Tom. In this podcast, we learn more about Tom and pick his brain for advice on how to dive into new forms of science communication.

In this episode of the Addgene Podcast, we sit down with Kwabena Duedu, a researcher at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana. He’s done research at a number of institutions in Ghana and most recently got his PhD in cell and molecular biology at the University of Edinburgh where he worked on developing novel systems for bioconversion of cellulosic biomass to useful products under Professor Christopher E. French.

Dr. Duedu was recently awarded plasmids from Addgene as a successful applicant to the Addgene, Seeding Labs Plasmid Grant. For this grant, we’re working with fellow nonprofit, Seeding Labs, to distribute plasmids to researchers in developing regions and thereby accelerate their research. Kwabena came across the plasmid grant in Seeding Lab’s Newsletter and recently visited Cambridge to spend some time learning and doing research at Novartis.

Listen to learn how Kwabena plans to use his research experiences as well as plasmids from Addgene to bring new opportunities to Ghanaian scientists

In this episode of the Addgene podcast, we sit down with Alex Chavez, a Clinical Fellow in Pathology at Masachusetts General Hospital and Postdoctoral Fellow in the Church and Collins labs at the Wyss institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Alex is the first MD PhD we've had on the podcast, has worked extensively with CRISPR, and recently became a member of the Addgene advisory board where he will help shape Addgene's future. Listen to this episode for insights into the process of getting an MD PhD, the inside scoop on developing new CRISPR tools, and the potential uses of gene drives.

In this second episode of our two-part series, we continue our conversation with Niroshi Senaratne and Ben Vincent from the Biological and Biomedical Sciences program at Harvard University and pick their brains on how they've managed to keep themselves happy during their time in grad school. As you'll learn, grad school has its ups and downs for everyone but you can come out on top if you leverage your community, think hard about picking a good mentor, and begin considering career options early. Tune in for great advice on all of these topics.

Listen to Part 1 Here