Olga Troyanskaya, a professor in the department of computer science at Princeton and Deputy Director for Genomics at the Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Biology, joins Vijay Pande, founding partner of a16z Bio + Health. Together, they talked about Olga's background and how she got involved in genomics, as well as how evolving biotechnologies have improved scientists’ ability to see different views of the cell. They also discussed social determinants of health, and how, in the futur...
Oct 24, 2023•24 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast Peter Shalek, a Chief Product Officer, currently at Stellar Health and formerly at AbleTo, and Reena Pande, currently a strategic advisor and formerly the Chief Medical Officer of AbleTo, join Julie Yoo and Justin Larkin of a16z Bio + Health. As Julie mentions during the episode, there’s international relations, and then there’s CMO/CPO relations. Peter and Reena talked about working together to improve their relationship and the outcomes of their teams, and they get granular about what worked a...
Oct 17, 2023•29 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast Note that due to technical difficulties, the audio quality of this episode may vary. Surya Ganguli, PhD, an associate professor at Stanford University and a neural dynamics researcher, joins Vijay Pande of Bio + Health. Together, Surya and Vijay chatted about the interpretability of AI and how the AI black box could someday become a "clear box." They also talk through a future of AI-augmented humans, and where humans might excel compared with AI.
Oct 10, 2023•25 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is live from our recent AI Revolutionaries (AIR) conference. In this episode, Daphne Koller, founder and CEO at insitro and AI expert, chats with Vijay Pande of Bio + Health. You can check out the full conversation with video and transcript at https://a16z.com/digital-biology/.
Oct 03, 2023•22 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features Aviv Regev, PhD, the Head and Executive VP of Genentech Research and Early Development, and founding co-chair of the Human Cell Atlas. She is joined by Vijay Pande of Bio + Health. Together, Aviv and Vijay talk about how Aviv's love of both abstractions and details led her to biology, how CRISPR really set the field into motion, and how AI could transform the process of biological and medical discovery.
Sep 26, 2023•30 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast Andrew Ng, PhD, a distinguished authority in the field of AI, is known for founding DeepLearning.AI and multiple other ventures. He also co-founded and led Google Brain and serves as an Adjunct Professor in Stanford University's Computer Science Department. In this episode, he is joined by Vijay Pande, founding partner of a16z Bio + Health. Andrew has thought deeply about the implications of integrating AI into many areas of our lives, going so far as to put out a public social media call for pe...
Sep 19, 2023•31 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast Carl June, MD, an immunologist and oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania, joins Jorge Conde, general partner at a16z Bio + Health. Together, Carl and Jorge talked about Carl's pioneering work in CAR T therapy — including the terrifying moment where he thought he had accelerated one of his patient's deaths, how he started working in human immunology, and his take on where cancer treatment is headed next.
Sep 12, 2023•28 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast Dan Nomura is a distinguished professor at UC Berkeley and an Investigator at the Innovative Genomics Institute, specializing in Chemical Biology and Molecular Therapeutics. He serves as the Director of the Novartis-Berkeley Translational Chemical Biology Institute and founded Frontier Medicines and Vicinitas Therapeutics. He’s also a16z Bio+Health’s newest advisory partner. In this episode, Dan joins general partner Jorge Conde and investment partner Becky Pferdehirt to discuss how he got start...
Sep 05, 2023•21 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast In this exclusive conversation from the Bio + Health BUILD summit, founding partner Ben Horowitz sits down with general partner Jorge Conde. They discuss everything from the inspiration behind Ben’s book The Hard Thing About Hard Things, how the open Internet was secured, the difference between wartime and peacetime CEOs, scaling culture, and understanding how bio and healthcare differs from other forms of technology.
Aug 29, 2023•36 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast Together, Lloyd and Vijay chatted about how AI could change the practice of medicine, and what the implications are for medical students now and in the future. join Lloyd and Vijay as they discuss AI and medical education—from how students learn to how doctors become licensed.
Aug 22, 2023•26 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast Together, Margaret and Julie chatted about Margaret’s background — and how she taught herself to program — her time at Devoted, and the advice she gives to healthtech CEOs. Join Margaret and Julie as they discuss building a developer-friendly environment in healthcare, introducing engineers to the complexity of the industry, and how AI might affect engineering in healthcare.
Aug 15, 2023•29 min•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast Together, Vijay and Zak talked about having been through AI winters and hype cycles before, and why they think this time could be different. They also talked about how AI could revolutionize the healthcare model — what Zak calls the “flipped clinic.” Join Zak and Vijay as they talk about how AI could flip the clinic, how foundation models could quickly transform the discovery and development of drugs, and how Zak thinks about the future.
Aug 08, 2023•28 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast Dan Rosenthal, a provider network expert and the newest advisory partner for a16z Bio + Health, joins Julie Yoo, general partner. Together, they talk about the 101 and 201 of provider networks, tactical advice for digital health builders, and how AI could theoretically change the way networks are constructed.
Aug 01, 2023•26 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast The holy grail of company building is finding product-market fit. But what most people don’t tell you is that once you’ve found it, product-market fit brings its own set of challenges, particularly when it comes to scaling rapidly and hiring the right executives at the right time. Drawing from their extensive experiences, a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Databricks cofounder and CEO Ali Ghodsi sit down with Steph Smith of the a16z podcast to talk about the hardest things about executive hiring an...
Jul 25, 2023•39 min•Ep 100•Transcript available on Metacast When Greg started out in science, he heard other researchers referring to certain targets as “undruggable.” In response, he’s devoted his life to drugging the undruggable, cofounding the field of chemical biology along the way. After a robust career founding multiple biotechs and serving as the cofounder, chairman, and CEO of FogPharma, he is the newest venture partner at a16z Bio + Health. Join Greg, Vineeta, and Jorge as they talk about Greg's upbringing and career, and how he thinks about the...
Jul 20, 2023•40 min•Ep 99•Transcript available on Metacast After his own health scare, Jeffrey got obsessed with how MRIs work—and decided that they were too unscientific to really track human health over time. In response, he built a new kind of imaging, creating a “digital twin” that can be tracked over time. And if health can be tracked over time, in theory it could eventually become as forecastable as the weather. Join Jeffrey and Vijay as they talk about human imaging, health forecasting, and how a digital twin could change healthcare....
Jul 18, 2023•25 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast AI has the potential to save the world — that’s the thesis of Marc’s most recent article, linked below. This episode was recorded right after Marc published his article, live from a16z Bio + Health’s first summit. Join Marc and Vijay as they talk about how AI can save the world, and where it can go wrong. Additional reading: Why AI Will Save the World
Jul 11, 2023•31 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast AI is not just a sci-fi concept anymore; it's being woven into the fabric of healthcare, revolutionizing everything from research to patient care. It has the potential to create more streamlined and efficient processes. The challenge now is how we adapt and regulate this ever-evolving technology, while ensuring safety and trust. Amy Abernethy, former Principal Deputy Commissioner at the FDA and now the President of Product Development and Chief Medical Officer at Verily Life Sciences, joins Vija...
Jun 27, 2023•29 min•Ep 96•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, taken from a live a16z event, Bio + Health general partner Vineeta Agarwala moderates a panel of UCSF faculty founders, including Michelle Arkin, Jimmie Ye, and Natalia Jura (full bios below). Together, they discuss fundraising, the decision to stay in or leave academia after founding a company, and their tips for managing the IP process. Michelle Arkin is a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at UCSF, chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and a co-director of t...
Jun 20, 2023•13 min•Ep 95•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s episode is with Mark Cuban, founder of multiple businesses, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, one of the sharks on Shark Tank, and cofounder of the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. He is joined by Vijay Pande, founding partner of a16z Bio + Health. Together, they talk market forces in healthcare, the importance of trust to patients, and Mark’s ideas to tackle the Gordian knot that is American healthcare.
Jun 13, 2023•39 min•Ep 94•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s episode is a cross-post with the a16z podcast. It features founders—Chris Severn, Florian Otto, Andrew Adams, Jade Chan, Jimmy Chen, and Fay Rotenberg—chatting with a16z podcast host Steph Smith, about how they're trying to reinvent the healthcare system, using fintech. Additional reading: https://a16z.com/healthcare-meets-fintech/ https://a16z.com/2023/02/07/healthtech-x-fintechs-biggest-prize/ https://a16z.com/2022/06/01/payvidors-unbundled-opportunities-in-healthcare-fintech/...
Jun 08, 2023•36 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s episode is with Greg Meyers, EVP and Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Bristol Myers Squibb (or BMS). He is joined by a16z Bio + Health general partner Jorge Conde. Together, they talk about how AI could transform drug discovery and development at a large biopharma company—and how a company might have to adapt to harness AI; modalities they’re excited about; and Greg’s do’s and don’ts for startups looking to partner with a company like BMS.
Jun 01, 2023•33 min•Ep 92•Transcript available on Metacast Healthcare payments are difficult, confusing, and opaque. But Julie and David discuss the ways that technology could change that for the better, and where they see the greatest opportunity for founders to solve big challenges. Additional reading: https://a16z.com/healthcare-meets-fintech/ https://a16z.com/2023/02/07/healthtech-x-fintechs-biggest-prize/ https://a16z.com/2022/06/01/payvidors-unbundled-opportunities-in-healthcare-fintech/...
May 25, 2023•48 min•Ep 91•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, a16z Bio + Health investment partner Becky Pferdehirt chats with Robbie Majzner, an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Stanford, and co-founder of Link Cell Therapies. Together, they discuss Robbie's recent paper published in Nature . The paper outlines a new approach to develop logic gated intracellular network, or LINK CAR T cells, as a means to simultaneously enhance both the safety and efficacy of these novel cell therapies. Addit...
May 18, 2023•34 min•Ep 90•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s episode is with Magi Richani, founder and CEO of Nobell Foods. She is joined by a16z Bio + Health general partner Vijay Pande. Together, they talk about the details of engineering plants to create the future of food, why Nobell started with soybeans to produce their cheese, and her dream of finding a cheese pizza—with Nobell cheese—at any pizza shop across the country.
May 11, 2023•29 min•Ep 89•Transcript available on Metacast This is a crossover episode with The Bioverge Podcast, hosted by Neil Littman. Neil is joined by Vineeta Agarwala, general partner at a16z Bio + Health. Together, they chat about Vineeta's dual role as a clinician and investor, the adoption curve of digital therapeutics, how Vineeta thinks about platforms and a modular, engineering-driven approach to biotech, and much more.
May 04, 2023•48 min•Ep 88•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s episode is with a16z’s American Dynamism team: Katherine Boyle and David Ulevitch. Katherine is a general partner focused on national security, aerospace and defense, public safety, housing, education, and industrials. David is a general partner focused on companies promoting American dynamism, as well as enterprise and SaaS companies. They are joined by a16z Bio + Health general partner Vijay Pande, and editorial lead Olivia Webb. Together, we talk about the idea behind American Dynamis...
Apr 27, 2023•35 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s episode is with Sean Duffy, cofounder and CEO of Omada Health. He is joined by a16z Bio + Health general partner Julie Yoo and investment partner Jay Rughani. Together, they talk about Sean’s three rules of partnerships, how Omada plans for large-scale implementation, and how Sean thinks about structuring the economic model of the partnership. This episode was recorded as part of our research into our forthcoming Go to Market Playbook, focused on channel partnerships. Stay tuned for that...
Apr 20, 2023•24 min•Ep 86•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we’re releasing two episodes about all things channel partnerships. Today’s episode is with Florian Otto, cofounder and CEO of Cedar. He is joined by a16z Bio + Health general partner Julie Yoo. In today’s episode, Florian and Julie talk about how Cedar began engaging with channel partners, what happens when things go wrong, and how the Cedar team is structured to implement and nurture these partnerships. This episode was recorded as part of our research into our forthcoming Go to Mar...
Apr 19, 2023•27 min•Ep 85•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, Daphne Koller, founder and CEO of insitro—as well as the co-founder of Coursera, a MacArthur Award winner, and a former professor in the department of computer science at Stanford University—chats with a16z Bio + Health founding partner Vijay Pande. Together, they talk about Daphne’s career journey, how Daphne thinks about the last few decades of progress in AI, and how insitro leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to explore biology through new models of discov...
Apr 13, 2023•45 min•Ep 84•Transcript available on Metacast 
