Season One

Podcast: Science With a Twist

Podcast: Season 1

It’s almost impossible to overstate how many aspects of daily life are impacted by science. From technology that helps clean the water, we drink to identifying the remains of an unknown WWII soldier – it’s all thanks to science.

Each month, join Ron O’Brien, a science enthusiast from Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, as he talks to experts who are on the cutting-edge of redefining how we exist. This is Science With a Twist.
 

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

On this episode of Science With a Twist, Ron O’Brien interviews Matthew Moon, a CAR-T cell therapy recipient who was able to beat leukemia thanks to the advances in the field. Matthew and Ron discuss the timeline of health-related events that led to Matthew’s diagnosis and his unique journey to find a life-saving cell therapy clinical trial. After speaking with Matthew, Ron interviews Stephen Majors, Director of Public Affairs at the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. Stephen gives Ron an overview of the Alliance’s advocacy efforts to expand patient accessibility and their initiatives to fund cell therapy research.

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

On this special Earth-Day episode of Science With a Twist, Ron O’Brien speaks with Emelia DeForce, Field Applications Scientist for Laboratory Plastics & Essentials at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Emelia and Ron chat about sustainability, what it means, and why we should all care about it.

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

Manoj Gandhi, Sr. Medical Director at Thermo Fisher Scientific, interviews Dr. Stephen Morse, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. Manoj and Stephen address the doubts expressed by the general public regarding testing for COVID-19 and the need for continued testing even as vaccination rates continue to increase.

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

Billy Boyle, CEO of Owlstone Medical, sits down with Ron O'Brien to talk about breath biopsy. This technology provides an entirely new way to access this information by collecting and analyzing breath samples.

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

Social and economic inequality has made minority communities more prone to contracting SARS-COV-2; the virus that causes COVID-19. One of those severely affected is the black community in the United States. On this episode of Science With a Twist, Fred Lowery, Senior Vice President and President of Life Sciences Solutions and Laboratory Products at Thermo Fisher Scientific, interviews Dr. James Hildreth, American immunologist and academic administrator. Fred and James discuss the “Just Project,” a multipronged effort to help address the coronavirus crisis, which has disproportionately impacted communities of color.

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

Ron O'Brien speaks with Dr. Stephen Young, an expert in Microbiology, with a background in pathology, virology, and infectious diseases. They discuss what we should know during the potential viral storm produced by the collision of the seasonal flu and the COVID-19 pandemic.

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

Paolo Braiuca interviews Dr. Frank Leibfarth from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Frank talks about his group's exciting work in polymer chemistry as well as topics related to his collegiate football career and the challenges of managing an academic lab in the era of COVID-19.

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

On this episode of Science With a Twist, Paolo Braiuca interviews Dr. Steven Townsend. Through his research, Steven is trying to demystify the science of human milk. His work on human milk oligosaccharides, carbohydrates whose molecules are composed of a relatively small number of monosaccharide units, won him the consideration for the American Chemical Society Talented 12 program in 2019.

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

Ron O’Brien speaks with Mary Kay Bates, Senior Cell Culture Scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Mary gives us an inside look into the complex world of vaccine development and why developing one for COVID-19 has been so different. You can listen here or on your favorite podcast platform.

EPISODE SUMMARY

 

Water is everywhere, but accessible drinking water is not. In celebration of World Water Day (March 22), we’re tackling the importance of water preservation and why improving global access to clean water matters now.

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