Lever

Lever Substack explores the intersection of leadership, innovation, and investment in the biotech and life sciences sector, featuring insights from founders, scientists, and investors. It covers themes of bioengineering, synthetic biology, company building, investment strategies, and cutting-edge technologies aimed at addressing complex medical and scientific challenges.

Leadership in Bioengineering Investment in Life Sciences Synthetic Biology Bioimaging and Fluorescent Dyes Biotech Entrepreneurship Protein Engineering and Immunotherapy Neuroscience and Chemistry Proteomics and Deep Learning Microbiome's Effect on Health Antibody Discovery AI in Drug Development AgTech and Crop Protection Drug Discovery Technologies Software as a Service (SaaS) in Biotech Autonomous Microscopy

The hottest Substack posts of Lever

And their main takeaways

High-Throughput Chemistry and Engineering with Kadi Saar

19 implied HN points • 24 Oct 24
🔬 Science Chemistry Biotechnology Engineering Research Health
  1. Kadi Saar has an impressive background in both chemistry and engineering. She excelled in academics and sports, even winning a talent show in mental arithmetic.
  2. Her research focuses on combining high-throughput structural biology with computational chemistry to help develop new drugs. She has shown that analyzing diverse ligand structures can lead to better drug design.
  3. Kadi emphasizes the importance of enjoying the people you work with when choosing projects. Collaborating with good people makes the journey more fulfilling.

Machine Learning-Assisted Directed Evolution with Bruce Wittmann

19 implied HN points • 16 Oct 24
🔬 Science Biotechnology Machine Learning Research Methods Protein engineering
  1. Bruce Wittmann's journey in science started from pre-med and led him to research at notable institutes like Caltech.
  2. He worked on machine learning to improve protein engineering, building tools that can help many people in the field.
  3. His collaboration with renowned scientists and contributions to published research highlight the exciting potential in protein design and computational biology.

Lever

59 implied HN points • 17 Dec 23
  1. Lever focuses on surveying great inventors and businesses.
  2. Axial partners with and invests in early-stage life sciences companies.
  3. Axial is interested in working with inventors who have great ideas in life sciences.

Leadership and Bioengineering with Omar Ali

59 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
  1. Omar Ali shares leadership lessons from his 2 decades in bioengineering and drug development.
  2. Axial partners with founders in life sciences, investing early in companies like Appia Bio and Simcha Therapeutics.
  3. Omar Ali's expertise spans biomaterials, immunotherapy, drug delivery, cancer vaccines, and chemistry, with a focus on managing interdisciplinary teams.

Synthetic Biology and Rapid Evolution with Chang Liu

59 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
  1. Chang Liu pioneers rapid evolution in synthetic biology and protein engineering.
  2. His lab focuses on creating living cells that accelerate evolution and reinterpret genetic code.
  3. Applications include discovering biomolecules, studying molecular evolution, and creating synthetic life.
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Imaging Dyes and Microscopy with Luke Lavis

39 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
  1. Luke Lavis develops small-molecule fluorescent dyes for biological imaging
  2. Lavis' lab creates novel fluorescent labels using modern organic chemistry
  3. Advances in bioimaging techniques are achieved by combining new compounds with instrumentation and genetic manipulation

Founding Unlearn and Revolutionizing Clinical Trials with Charles Fisher

19 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
  1. Unlearn utilizes digital twins with AI to make clinical trials more efficient
  2. Digital twins are created using patient baseline data to predict trial progress
  3. Unlearn's approach leads to fewer subjects required for trials and reduced costs for drug development

Autonomous Microscopy with Kevin Dean

19 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
  1. Kevin Dean pioneers autonomous microscopes for studying rare biological events like metastatic colonization.
  2. Kevin's research focuses on developing technologies to identify and study very rare biological occurrences.
  3. Axial partners with early-stage life sciences companies to invest and support them in building enduring businesses.

Biotech Company Building, Partnering, Investing Towards Better Medicines with Vikas Goyal

19 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
  1. Axial partners with early-stage life sciences companies to invest and help build enduring businesses.
  2. Vikas Goyal has a successful history in biotech, blending investing, operations, and company building.
  3. Vikas Goyal's career journey includes working with start-ups, earning an MBA, and founding Trekk Venture Partners.

Founding Hoxton Farms and Creating the Future of Food with Max Jamilly

19 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
  1. Max Jamilly is the Co-Founder and CEO of Hoxton Farms.
  2. Hoxton Farms is developing cultivated fat as an ingredient for the meat alternatives industry.
  3. Max Jamilly's journey from scientist to founder includes a background in synthetic biology and experience in venture capital.

Founding Y-Trap and Protein Engineering with Rishi Bedi

19 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
  1. Rishi Bedi is the Co-Founder and CEO of Y-Trap, a biotech company focusing on cancer immunotherapy.
  2. Y-Trap develops multifunctional fusion proteins for cancer treatment.
  3. Rishi Bedi has a background in machine learning, immuno-oncology, and drug development.

Founding AgBiome with Eric Ward

19 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
  1. Eric Ward co-founded AgBiome, an agtech company focusing on analyzing crop microbiomes to create crop protection products.
  2. AgBiome uses its platform Genesis to integrate plant genomics with breeding and gene editing for characterizing plant microbiomes.
  3. The products Howler and Theia are two major fungicides developed by AgBiome to help growers protect crops from various threats.

Proteomics and Deep Learning with Melih Yilmaz

19 implied HN points • 07 Jul 23
  1. Melih Yilmaz is a PhD student at the University of Washington focusing on proteomics and developing deep learning tools.
  2. He was drawn to biology and deep learning during his journey to the United States, leading to research internships and work in protein sequencing.
  3. Melih Yilmaz's current research interests include building deep learning methods to analyze mass spectrometry data.

Becoming a World-Class Scientist & The Rules of Enzymes with Margaux Pinney

19 implied HN points • 06 Mar 23
  1. Margaux Pinney's journey to becoming a world-class scientist involved dedication and seizing opportunities.
  2. Her research focuses on enzyme evolution and the rules guiding enzyme adaptation.
  3. Margaux Pinney's work sheds light on enzyme function and adaptation, showcasing the importance of commitment and flexibility in scientific research.

Catalyzing Drug Discovery with AI and Scaled Chemical Libraries with Devon Cayer

19 implied HN points • 25 Feb 23
  1. Devon Cayer founded 1859, a biotech company merging pico-scale screening and AI for small molecule discovery.
  2. 1859 creates an ecosystem for small molecule discovery with various partnership models.
  3. The platform can screen millions of compounds every week and uses a workflow comprising target, compound libraries, screening, and machine learning.

Building a SaaS Company in Biotech with Abhishek Jha

19 implied HN points • 18 Feb 23
  1. Abhishek Jha founded Elucidata to improve data analysis efficiency in biotech.
  2. Startups in biotech need to focus on product-market fit and early customer relationships.
  3. Building a SaaS company in biotech requires balancing building versus buying and creating complementary products.

Let the Best Drug Win with Errik Anderson

2 HN points • 04 Jan 24
  1. Alloy Therapeutics focuses on democratizing access to drug discovery platforms and services
  2. Alloy's business model is built on platforms, services, and company creation to support global scientific community
  3. The company reinvests all revenues to develop new technologies and make them accessible to all