Episode 17: NCI Tech Transfer Program: Innovation through Collaboration
In this episode of Inside Cancer Careers, we will learn about the technology transfer training opportunities available at the NCI. Dr. Laura Prestia, the Senior Innovation Manager, and Dr. Laurie Whitney, the Supervisory Technology Transfer Manager at NCI's Tech Transfer Center, will share their insights on the process and value of a tech transfer career. Later, we will hear from Dr. Trang Vu, a Research and Development Scientist at viTToria Biotherapeutics, and Dr. Sabina Kaczanowska, a Staff Scientist in the Pediatric Oncology Branch at NCI's Center for Cancer Research, who will share their experiences as Tech Transfer alums.
Listen and Subscribe to Inside Cancer Careers
Laura Prestia, Ph.D.
Dr. Laura Prestia received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Syracuse University at Utica College and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University. As the Senior Innovation Manager in NCI’s Technology Transfer Center (TTC), she designs and leads training programs that support NIH invention development and career advancement in technology transfer and industry.
Laurie Whitney, Ph.D.
Dr. Laurie Whitney received her undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from Syracuse University and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University, Syracuse (formerly, the SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse). Dr. Whitney obtained her post-doctoral training at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), NIH under a grant from the MS Society. She subsequently joined the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Technology Transfer Center as a Technology Transfer Manager. Dr. Whitney is currently a Supervisory Technology Transfer Manager at NCI’s Technology Transfer Center. She is also a registered Patent Agent.
Sabina Kaczanowska, Ph.D.
Dr. Sabina Kaczanowska received her undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics from the University of Maryland and her Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology & Immunology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Dr. Kaczanowska was a postdoctoral fellow and a Transition to Industry (T2I) fellow in the Pediatric Oncology Branch in NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR). Dr. Kaczanowska is now a staff scientist in the Pediatric Oncology Branch in NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR)
Trang Vu, Ph.D.
Dr. Trang Vu is a Research and Development Scientist at viTToria Biotherapeutics, a clinical stage company based in Philadelphia. In this role, she works to develop gene-editing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for cancer therapy and played a pivotal role in the successful Investigational New Drug (IND) submission for the company. Prior to joining viTToria Biotherapeutics, Dr. Vu received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Rowan University and joined Dr. Peng Jiang lab at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for her postdoctoral training. As the first wet-lab postdoc at Jiang Lab, Trang worked to develop gene-editing approaches, guided by big-data integrative models, to potentiate cellular immunotherapies in solid tumors.
She was awarded the NCI Intramural Continuing Umbrella of Research Experience (iCURE) fellowship in 2020 and the NCI Transition to Industry (T2I) fellowship in 2022.
Show Notes
Laurie Whitney, Ph.D.
Laura Prestia, Ph.D.
NCI Technology Transfer Center (TTC)
The NIH Catalyst Newsletter
US Patent and Trademark Office
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
TTC Fellowships & Training
Technology Analysis and Marketing Unit
Cancer Research Training Award (CRTA)
Technology Transfer University (TTU)
Technology Transfer Ambassadors Program (TTAP)
Transition to Industry Program (T2I)
Foundation for Advanced Education in Sciences (FAES)
Sabina Kaczanowska, Ph.D.
NCI's CCR Pediatric Oncology Branch
Trang Vu, Ph.D.
viTToria Biotherapeutics
NCI Center for Cancer Research (CCR)
Advancing Innovations through Mentorship (AIM)
Intramural Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (iCURE)
Transition to Industry Program (T2I)
Your Turn Recommendations:
Utica Coffee Roasting Company
Wegmans Grocery Store
Lessons in Chemistry Book (Streaming on Apple TV)
NIH All About Grants Podcast
Transcript
Oliver Bogler
Hello and welcome to Inside cancer careers a podcast from the National Cancer Institute. I'm your host, Oliver Bogler. I work at the NCI in the Center for Cancer Training. On Inside Cancer Careers we explore all the different ways that people join the fight against disease and hear their stories. Today we're talking about tech transfer. Listen through to the end of the show to hear our guests make some interesting recommendations and where we invite you to take your turn.
Scientific discovery has inherent value in advancing knowledge and understanding, often represented in scientific papers, sometimes in scientific textbooks, and in rare instances in popular books. But in order for it to have an effect on the broader society, discoveries are launched out of academia into the private sector, where they form the basis of new products that can be offered broadly, to meet the needs of the people who can benefit from them. An important early step in this path is technology transfer, itself a body of knowledge and skills. Today, we're speaking with experts in this area, and are going to hear about programs that were created to help anyone interested in such work learn about it. With me in this first segment, our two colleagues from NCI’s Technology Transfer Center. Dr. Laura Prestia, Senior Innovation Manager.
Laura Prestia
Hello.
Oliver Bogler
And Dr. Laurie Whitney, Supervisory Technology Transfer Manager.
Laurie Whitney
Hello there.
Oliver Bogler
Welcome to you both. So let's start with the fundamentals. What is technology transfer? And why is it important in today's cancer research and innovation landscape?
Laura Prestia
So I'll take this one, this is Laura. So tech transfer is the transfer of knowledge, data, information from one organization to another, and it can involve collaborations and managing the agreements between those two collaborators. It can involve patenting and protecting new discoveries, intellectual property, and inventions. And it can involve licensing out those patents or technologies by companies who can take them to the next level and commercialization. And I think also marketing is in there and making sure everyone is aware of the inventions and discoveries that you're creating. And I think in a nutshell, that's it… Laurie, do you have any additional… did I miss anything?
Laurie Whitney
Yeah, and good luck to everybody with Laurie and Laura, that that should be real fun here today. I think yeah, just in a broad perspective, is that academic and government organizations do very basic research, we do preclinical research, some clinical research, but at some point, it has to go out to a company to get developed and made into a therapeutic or diagnostic or that sort of thing. And in order to get there, it has to be transferred in some way and at some stage, and that's what we help with, and all those things that Laura just talked about the agreements and the licenses, patenting, those are the sorts of tools that we use to get it out to the outside to companies for development
Oliver Bogler
So we'll talk a little bit about your education training programs in a little bit. But am I right, in understanding that part of your work is to look for technologies that are being developed within the research program at NCI that are suitable for such transfer.
Laurie Whitney
Yeah, that is correct. And they come in all different stages, like I said. Some labs do very, very basic research, which is amazing and cool science and but maybe not so applicable or ready yet to be moved to the outside. But then we do all different stages. So we have preclinical stuff going on and clinical research. So yeah, at some point, you know, they interact with us because they, the investigators really want to see their research turned into something that can be valuable for patients. And so they come to us to help figure out the path to get it there.
Oliver Bogler
So what are the strategies that you use to find this kind of research? How do you learn about it? Or how do how do the investigators at NCI learn about you so that they make the connection at the right time?
Laurie Whitney
That's a really good question. So basically, it comes in in every different way. So sometimes we do a lot of outreach in our office. So we'll go to lab meetings that the investigators have on a regular basis and we interact. Basically face time is really a great thing, whether it's over Zoom in the modern world or just going to the lab and interacting with them a lot. So you're there and it sparks there. They think about it, they think ‘oh she does technology transfer’ and it sparks something in there and they are ‘oh we have a question’. And then it starts a conversation. They also have may have collaborators on the outside companies that they meet at meetings that come to them and say, ‘oh, you know, we're really interested in this. Can you tell us more about your technology? And how might we interact more with you regarding it?’ So then they come to us, because they don't know how to do that. Or they may come and say, you know, ‘we think we have an invention. Can you look at this new manuscript, we're about to have published and tell us, do you think there's an invention here? And if so, how do we go about, you know, getting a patent application filed on that? And where do we go from here’. So it really comes at us in a myriad of different ways, and through a lot of different avenues. And I think one of the biggest things which Laura can attest to, because she works in communications is just keeping lines of communication really open and having good relationships with your investigators.
Laura Prestia
Yeah, we also try to write up some success stories about transfer of different technologies, and how we've worked with the research labs to make that happen. So we'll publish some different stories in the NIH Catalyst, which is one of our internal newsletters, and a bunch of different places. Our website has success stories that you can read about different ways partnerships have transferred technologies, and we also do a lot of advertising for our training programs. And I think maybe some labs that may not do a lot with tech transfer, they hear about it from their trainees who are interested in learning more. And so that information trickles up.
Oliver Bogler
So Laurie, you said something, I think important a moment ago, which is, someone contacts you when they are just about to have a manuscript published. So I think commonly people think that if someone publishes something, or even gives a presentation at a conference or you know, at a seminar that precludes effective tech transfer, is that correct?
Laurie Whitney
Yes, that is correct. And, you know, sometimes that's the first way that investigators figure out about patenting is because they publish something, or they present something or they have a conversation, and then they tell us about this publication that they had. And then it's unfortunate, right, because it's out in the public and it's publicly disclosed, and then you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot for getting an issued patent on it. So they like sometimes they stumble across it, and then they learn and then the next time it rolls around, that it's in their head, and they think, oh, you know, I got burned before. So now I really need to pay attention to that. And then it gets their attention, and they then are more likely to come to you. So they kind of sometimes they stumble upon us. And so, you know, whatever avenue they can get to us is great.
Oliver Bogler
So I guess just for our listeners, then I guess if in doubt reach out to you, and ask you to take a look at something at the earliest point.
Laurie Whitney
Absolutely. I think again, it goes back to communication and as much communication as you can have with the lab and keeping track of what they're doing and having conversations with them about their research. And as it progresses. And you know, they're always super excited to talk about it, which is what the fun part is for me. So they love to have those conversations. And if you can engage them in those conversations, then you can sort of sort through where their research is at and sort of pathways they can go from there. And one of those might be patenting. So keeping open, the communication is just really important.
Oliver Bogler
All right, so someone brings something to you, shows it to you. How are you assessing the market potential suitability for patenting? What are the thoughts and criteria that you look at?
Laurie Whitney
And that's a really great question, too. Because I think even within our office, sometimes in tech transfer professionals, you know, they … there's always sort of things you think about when you look at a maybe a new employee invention report that you get when you're considering a new technology. And there are certainly those things that you want to think about the standard sorts of things. But as the colleague of mine, always says, every technology is its own beautiful snowflake. And so I think you really have to very much look at what comes to you, look at what stage of development it is at, is it only in vitro? Is it in vivo? Is it clinical? Where is that at? What unmet need, is it filling, which is really the most important thing, I think when we ask an inventor to fill out an employee invention report is, you know, report to me where what the stage of technology currently is, and then tell me where yours is, and tell me what niche or unmet need it fills. So we definitely have that conversation. We talk about whether it's been disclosed or not like we mentioned, which might preclude the ability to get an issued patent on it. We talk we think about what resources we have internally at the NIH where we could help the inventors get directed to the right other sorts of collaborations or resources they might need to develop it. So the feasibility of its development, you know, the market, is there a market for it, which kind of goes back to that ‘is there an unmet need’, competing technologies. That sort of thing, to figure out where to go with that.
Oliver Bogler
That's the conversation at the beginning, then you apply for a patent. The patent is not like a manuscript, right? I wonder if people are like concerned, oh, my, you know, it's like writing a whole nother paper, you know, with all the sort of elements that are that a scientific research paper has. But my understanding is that a patent is something slightly different. It's, it's really some demonstration, some data, and then a discussion of how it might be applied to real world problems, is that right?
Laurie Whitney
So yes, it is different in that sense, because you're really trying to capture the scope of what the technology that you're trying to describe in the patent application. So it's really focused around, you know, what the invention is, and being very broad and giving a broad description of it. So it's written differently than, you know, a manuscript would be written. So there's the big broad description of it. And then you're going to have some claims, obviously, some very broad, some more narrow as you go, that are directed to, to the technology, but we always give a sort of a rule of thumb to investigators is once you get to the point of where you have like a first draft of a manuscript, it doesn't have to be a finished draft, just your first draft of your manuscript, where it definitely lays out what the idea is, the background, and you know, what the, what the technology is, and where you're going with it, and have some figures and some legends and that sort of thing. So that we can have a really good sense of what the invention and what the investigator thinks the invention might be, then we work from that, and then pull from that. And then those things go into the patent application. So it's not like, you know, you have to redo a whole bunch of writing in the sense of redo a whole bunch of experiments, you pull from the manuscripts, usually, when they're at that stage,
Oliver Bogler
And patents are not peer reviewed in the same way that manuscripts are.
Laurie Whitney
Right. No, they go to the, in our case for the US to the US Patent and Trademark Office and are reviewed by a patent examiner there. And it's a very different sort of procedure.
Oliver Bogler
And then it can take a while before a patent might be awarded. Right.
Laurie Whitney
Yes, quite some time. And of course, there are several stages, you know, and it's always, for new inventors. It's always an education, because it is, you know, a lengthy process between the time when you file a patent application, and the time when you get an issued patent. So yeah, it can take quite a bit of time to get there.
Oliver Bogler
And just like with publication, there are costs as well.
Laurie Whitney
Yes, very expensive. So, yeah. So you start out again, it's sort of an education for new inventors, you start out typically we’ll file a provisional patent application. And then in a year, if things look good, we'll go on to file a PCT application.
Oliver Bogler
Can you expand that acronym, sorry?
Laurie Whitney
Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, Patent Cooperation Treaty, PCT, it's an international application. So and then, year and a half later, if we're still looking good, and this technology is still moving forward, and we want to proceed, then you file a national stage patent application, and that would be … you pick the different countries you want to file in. And each of those stages can be very expensive. So it's not a cheap endeavor. And so, you know, the NCI probably, and I can say unequivocally, doesn't file patent applications at the rate that like a company does. So we really tend to file when we know that the technology is going to need some help from industry to get it where it needs to be. So filing patent applications really act as an incentive for development of the technology by companies,
Oliver Bogler
Right? Because if it isn't patented, then it's really not attractive to a company to develop because they can't protect their IP.
Laurie Whitney
Exactly.
Oliver Bogler
So, tech transfer offices exist at most universities and research institutes right now.
Laurie Whitney
Correct. Yeah.
Oliver Bogler
So I wonder what the trends are. I wonder, you know, looking back or maybe over the last 10 or 20 years and looking forward for that length of time, are you seeing any shifts and what kinds of inventions you're getting the nature of what's being protected and commercialized?
Laurie Whitney
I think it here at NCI, we've seen a shift in that, you know, immunotherapy has become certainly a very hot topic in the last 10, 15 years. So a lot of you know, we're at the NCI, we're a cancer institute, but we certainly see a lot of immunologically associated filings going on. So a lot of immuno-oncology. So yeah, that's a hot space. But we do research in all sorts of areas. So we look at everything.
Oliver Bogler
All right. Thanks, Laura, maybe turn to you. You've created a series of fellowship opportunities at the NCI in the tech transfer center. And I wanted to talk a little bit about those. Can you tell us what kind of fellowships exist?
Laura Prestia
Sure. So I haven't created the tech transfer fellowships themselves. They were here long before I came around. I think they may be at least 30 years old.
Laurie Whitney
We have a very, very old and active fellowship program in our office, where I think one of the things we're most proud of - we love our fellowship program.
Laura Prestia
Yes, for sure. And actually, our previous director was a fellow I was a fellow, Laurie you were a fellow.
Laurie Whitney
I think a lot of our directors have been a fellow and a lot of people in our office are fellow or have been fellows.
Laura Prestia
Yeah, so we have maybe 10 or so fellows in our office of about 70 or so people, total. And the fellowship program is a fully paid fellowship. So the stipend covers the fellows salary, as well as they have health insurance. It's a typical job. So at this point, if they were to join the fellowship with their interest in tech transfer, and following that as a career, they would be fully full time working in tech transfer, learning how to draft these different agreements and learning how to protect technologies and the whole thing,
Oliver Bogler
So what's the background of people who come to this fellowship,
Laura Prestia
They can have an advanced degree in the sciences, business, law, typically, people will have a PhD and in science, so you think, oh, tech transfer, maybe it's a lot of lawyers or business people, but it's really heavy on those with a science background. And then we kind of teach what's needed from the business and law sides.
Oliver Bogler
And I guess that's because ultimately, they'll be looking at the science that is being discussed in the context of transfer.
Laura Prestia
Right. So having that ability to dive into certain experiments and understand what pieces of those inventions will become the claims and the patent and understanding what's necessary for invention development and drawing those connections with maybe the standard of care in the field and trying to see like where this science that we have here sets that apart from what's already out there
Oliver Bogler
Strikes me as sort of similar to the kind of program and review work that a lot of people at NCI do as well, you get to stay in touch with the science, you get to read a lot of cool science think about science, but you're not yourself primarily doing research.
Laura Prestia
Exactly. It's a really nice way to stay with the science even though you're not in the lab.
Oliver Bogler
So I understand that the tech transfer fellowship has three different tracks. Is that the right way to describe it?
Laura Prestia
Yes, yeah. So typically, the more traditional track is the negotiator track. And we also have a business development and marketing fellowship. And then within the past couple of years, we have an Innovation Fellowship. So that negotiation is one where the fellow focuses on the typical duties of a tech transfer manager. So everything that Laurie was talking about, from meeting with the labs, learning about what work they're doing, helping identify whether a new discovery could be an invention, and whether or not we should patent those and make those recommendations. And they do a lot of interacting with the patent law firms, the PTO and drafting agreements with collaborators. If there's a lab that wants to work on a project with a company, they'll interact with that company and helped draft the terms of the agreement and working on the different licensing, if we have a patent and there's a company that wants to come in and take that patent as a license and commercialize it, then they'll draft the terms of that license as well. So they do the typical tech transfer duties.
Oliver Bogler
What about the business development and marketing group?
Laura Prestia
We have a special unit in our office called Technology Analysis and Marketing Unit. And in that group, they analyze the market space for the technologies that we have patents on. So they identify potential partners that might be interested in working with us. And they essentially help spread the word about tech transfer to companies who may not know they can work with the NCI, and let them know, here's who you would contact, if you're interested in a technology, if you want to look at what technologies we have, here's where you would find them. And they really go out and do a lot of that outreach at conferences and meetings.
Oliver Bogler
That kind of makes the point that it's not as if you're, you're done when say the patent is issued or applied for. You're then also shepherding that technology into the marketplace. Is that correct?
Laura Prestia
Right. We want to make sure that it gets out there. And actually, the inventors themselves do a lot of that marketing just by virtue of going to conferences themselves, and, and having, you know, their own presentations. I think that's one of our top ways that we get partners for these technologies through the inventors.
Oliver Bogler
And then there's the third track the innovation track. That sounds cool.
Laura Prestia
Yeah, this one's relatively new. And this kind of stemmed from where my career trajectory has has taken me. So I have a PhD in neuroscience moved into tech transfer through one of these tech transfer fellowships, specifically the negotiator role. And then I dabbled in marketing and invention development for a little while. And all along the way, I had this passion to help spread awareness about tech transfer to scientists, because as a scientist in grad school, I had no idea what tech transfer was. And one of the ways I found out was, I had had one I'd have I think I presented at a conference, my graduate work, and one of the one of the tech transfer officers from the university came and spoke to me. And he was like, ‘Hey, have you talked about patenting this?’ And I was like, ‘oh, no, I did not know that was a thing’. So I kind of learned by being burned. And I didn't, I didn't want that to happen to others. So as I was learning about it, I moved into the field. And so this Innovation Fellowship is really helping to create more awareness about tech transfer to scientists, and helping to create new programs that can help train scientists who want to move into tech transfer, help train scientists who want to stay in the lab, but know about tech transfer and learn more about what's important to develop their technologies.
Oliver Bogler
Very cool. And the, the eligibility criteria, they're similar for across all these three different tracks in your in your fellowship. Right,
Laura Prestia
Right. Yeah, so an advanced degree in the sciences, law business. And then also just our Cancer Research Training Award, this the CRTA fellowship that we have, that eligibility includes receiving their most current degree within the last eight years, and US citizenship or permanent residency eligible for citizenship within four years. So those are our requirements across the three,
Oliver Bogler
But people outside the NCI can also participate, right.
Laura Prestia
Yeah, that's primarily … we do a lot of marketing to graduate schools, and also postdocs and anywhere. So yeah, there's a lot of availability.
Oliver Bogler
And is there just one one application cycle a year or how does that work,
Laura Prestia
The admission is rolling. So they can apply at any time, but we do post on our website when we have current openings? Like, we do now.
Oliver Bogler
And we'll be putting links in the show notes so people can find your website and see what's going on right now. Great. So in addition to these fellowships, you also have training opportunities, right? You have the Technology Transfer University.
Laura Prestia
Yeah, so that's an internal-to-NIH program available to NIH staff. And it talks about all of the different processes of tech transfer, so goes into … its seminar based over maybe a couple of months. And it's taught by NIH tech transfer staff for scientists, for tech transfer managers who are just joining NIH and the community.
Oliver Bogler
So it's kind of a good starting point. If someone is sort of curious about this domain.
Laura Prestia
Yes. There's no application for Tech Transfer University.
Oliver Bogler
Got it. And then there's an Ambassador Program as well.
Laura Prestia
Yeah, so the Ambassador Program, that was the passion project that I started with two other fellows when I was a fellow here, and we all had that same thought process. Why don't scientists know about tech transfer? So we started this program to help spread more awareness about tech transfer and how that could be useful to scientists in the lab and also as an alternative career.
Oliver Bogler
And then, last, but by no means least, there's a relatively new program, right? The Transition to Industry Program, which do you help develop? Right?
Laura Prestia
Yeah, I worked. I worked to implement it. It was not my brainchild. But yeah, so that is for NCI Center for Cancer Research postdocs or research fellows who are already here working on an invention and working on that in the lab. So they have a patent application has either been filed or is pending, or our office has recommended that a patent be filed for the technology they're working on. And they're interested in further developing this technology, taking it to market and they can, they have a goal to work in industry themselves, or maybe even start their own company. So we kind of help teach them more about tech transfer. We teach them about Small Business Innovation Research Development grants. I recently heard Michael Weingarten in a previous podcast. Anyone wants to go back and hear more about SBIR. So we have, it's half tech transfer half SBIR training for fellows who want to move into industry.
Oliver Bogler
Great, and we're gonna learn more about that after the break. But lastly, then I'm curious. Laurie, and Laura, what led you into science? What led you into this particular line of work? I wonder if you might share with our audience a little bit about your journeys?
Laura Prestia
Yeah, so I already alluded to I kind of learned by being burned. But when I became interested in learning more about tech transfer, I asked my PI in the lab, and I was like, What have you heard about this? And you know, how can I learn more? I'm really interested in it. And he said, Well, maybe you should talk to Laurie Whitney. I was like, Oh, okay. And it turns out, Laurie was in… She was a neuroscience graduate student back when at my university. So I reached out, she was at NCI as a supervisor, in tech transfer at the time. And I just asked her all of the questions. We had and a really nice informational interview, and she let me know everything that you know, I should do to really learn whether or not I wanted to move into tech transfer. So I started working in the tech transfer office at my university to gain experience and really see if this was what I wanted to do. After my PhD, I took a class at the law school next door and tech transactions and intellectual property. And I worked with our business incubator that was attached to the school to learn about the business side. And eventually I ended up joining NIH as a tech transfer fellow.
Oliver Bogler
Now, here you are.
Laura Prestia
And here I am.
Oliver Bogler
What about you, Laurie?
Laurie Whitney
Yeah, so we spring from the same sort of roots, Laura, and I do. So yeah, we I was the generation ahead of her and graduate school. And we both got our PhDs in neuroscience from the same place. And I when I was in graduate school, ended up doing a postdoc at NINDS here at NIH. And so I worked as a postdoc for three years, and really enjoyed it. But you know, a lot of the great things about working at the NIH, and there are many, one of them is that they have things like this that we're doing right here. And one of them back then was that they would have seminars on alternative careers in science. And so my fellow postdoc, and I would go and listen to the seminars, and one day I came away and had heard one given on tech transfer. And I kind of turned to the other postdoc I was with and was thinking, what is this tech transfer thing? And she said, ‘Oh, I know. Because back in my, when I was in grad school, I did a little rotation in our tech transfer office’. And so she explained to me what it was. And I said, ‘Oh, that sounds kind of interesting’. So I went and I got to here at NIH, we have this wonderful organization called the Foundation for Advanced Education in Sciences or FAES. And they offer classes and so back then there was one technology transfer class offered, now I don't even know how many there are, probably 12 or something. They're amazing. So I took that one class and it was, you know, Wednesdays, I think from like, 6 to 9pm or something. And I took it and thought you know, after working in the lab all day, I'd be kind of like ugh, and I loved every bit of the class, I stayed fully awake for all of it, enjoyed the content immensely. And through the class, like Laura mentioned, a lot of the tech transfer profession, professionals at NIH, teach the classes and so got to know them and ask a lot of questions and got introduced to the fellowship program at NCI in our office and then became a fellow and then stayed because it's awesome and wonderful and I can't imagine working anywhere else because it's fabulous.
Oliver Bogler
Fantastic, thank you for sharing. Closing, then I wonder what advice you might give to people who are listening who are perhaps, focused primarily on research at this stage in their careers, but are thinking about other things to do maybe tech transfer, what's your advice,
Laura Prestia
The advice I would give is just talk to people and try to experience the the work that you might be doing in whatever field it is, whether it's tech transfer, or something else. And I think too, if an opportunity does not exist, try to create it, because none of the internships or experiences that I had in grad school, toward tech transfer existed before I found them and worked with people to give me a chance to take them. So I think, you know, just because something isn't there doesn't mean that you can't still get the training and create something out of nothing for yourself.
Laurie Whitney
I would agree, I think the most important thing for anyone not just in tech transfer is if you know you think or you think you're interested in a field is to do informational interviews. People who work in the field are almost always thrilled to have conversations with people to share their knowledge and share their enthusiasm. And it gives, really gives you a flavor for the job. And I think especially technology transfer is this huge field. It's not you know, it's just such a broad field and our office, I would sell our office and a fellowship in our office on the fact that we do soup to nuts tech transfer, we do patenting, we do licensing, we do collaborative agreements. MTA, CDAs, cooperative agreements, we do marketing, we do just everything you can imagine. So you really get a good sense of what goes on in each of those areas, get some experience at it. Because you might decide that you really enjoy you know, patenting more, and you want to go work at a law firm or something. So you can sort of find the area that you really love. Or maybe you decide you love all of them and you want to stay, which happens a lot in our office. So really doing informational interviews, I think is really important.
Oliver Bogler
I will take that as an offer to put your contact information in the show notes.
Laurie Whitney
Absolutely.. We'd love to chat with people and like I say most of the people and not boast but a good, fair number of the people in our office were fellows at some point. So we really enjoy it. Yeah.
Oliver Bogler
Great. Well, thank you both for coming on the pod and sharing about this important work.
Laura Prestia
Thanks for having us.
Laurie Whitney
It was fun.
[music]
Oliver Bogler
The NCI wants to hear from you about what we are doing to support early career cancer investigators.
We have released a new Request for Information or RFI.
It is entitled Inviting Comments and Suggestions on the National Cancer Institute’s Support of Early Career, Mentored Cancer Researchers and Trainees.
NCI is committed to supporting the training and development of the next generation of the cancer research workforce. We are seeking input on our existing approaches and your ideas for innovations we might explore - all designed to improve how we support you.
We invite suggestions and comments on all the career stages we support from middle school, high school, undergraduate and graduate studies through postdoc and fellowship to early research independence.
NCI is interested in your opinion on how our grant awards are structured and positioned and whether they could be improved to meet the needs of a diverse cancer research workforce.
Your feedback on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Responses are due by December 29, 2023.
We’ll put a link in the show notes, but for questions, please contact nci_earlycareer_rfi@mail.nih.gov.
We look forward to hearing from you.
[music]
Oliver Bogler
Welcome back. We're now going to turn our attention to the transition to industry or T2I fellowship, an exciting program in the tech transfer center. To talk to us about this we are welcoming Dr. Trang Vu and Dr. Sabina Kaczanowska to the podcast. Welcome to both of you.
Trang Vu
Yeah, thank you so much for having us here today.
Oliver Bogler
Also still with us is Dr. Laura Prestia from Before the Break. So Dr. Vu is a research and development scientist at viTToria Biotherapeutics, where she's developing CAR T-cell therapies for cancer. Before that, she was a postdoc at NCI and a T2I fellow. And Dr. Kaczanowska is a staff scientist in NCI's Pediatric Oncology Branch. Before that, she was initially a postdoc fellow and then a T2I fellow in the same group. But let's start with Laura. Please give us a description of the goals of the T2I and how it works.
Laura Prestia
Sure. So this program was started in 2020, back when we were really hearing a lot of interest in postdocs wanting to move into industry or get more experience in translational research and development, but still remain in the lab and have that additional training on the side.
So we worked across various offices in the National Cancer Institute to create this specialized fellowship for them. And it allows a postdoc in the Center for Cancer Research to continue working in the lab about 80% of their time focusing on invention development research to really move along the progress of an NCI invention. And they have an interest in either working in industry or moving their invention towards industry where it can be commercialized and then reach patients. So they spend 80% of their time in the lab working on this translational research and then the other 20% of their time is spent learning about entrepreneurship, tech transfer, commercialization, small business, innovation, grantsmanship, and all sorts of different things that will help them not only move the technology towards industry, but also help them in their career, whether or not they want to go into industry themselves, maybe they wanna start a company, maybe they want to work in biotech, or even if they want to remain in the federal government academia and really do that translational type of work. So the curriculum really focuses on translational research and development over the two years.
Oliver Bogler
And just to make sure I'm clear on this. It's restricted to fellows and graduate students and research fellows and postdoctoral scientists and visiting fellows in the Center for Cancer Research, NCI, is that correct?
Laura Prestia
Yes, that's correct.
Oliver Bogler
So if you find this program interesting listeners, maybe think about joining CCR for a postdoc.
Laura Prestia
Exactly.
Oliver Bogler
Great, I'd like to turn to our two alums now. And let's start with you please, Trang. How did you first hear about T2I and what made you think that this might be for you?
Trang Vu
Yeah, so I think that it was probably October or November of 2021, I think. So when I was reading just the daily email from the NCI or the CCR in there, there was like this awesome new fellowship that's going on and basically just like what Laura just gave the short description about. And I thought it is really neat because my background was an engineer. So I went for undergraduate and graduate in chemical and biomedical engineering. So I always think of how do I make a product and how do I bring something into reality and help people. And so at the time I was working on a very interesting project and Dr. Peng Jiang’s lab and we just about to publish at the time. And we also file a patent for that novel genes that we found and we think it would be so cool if we can bring that into CAR T-cell and make CAR T-cell much better for solid tumor. And that was the base of the start for my proposal for the NCI fellowship, because the whole thing about NCI, the T2I fellowship that was very appealing to me was that the opportunity to gain more industry knowledge and try to push your project from bench top to bedside.
Oliver Bogler
Sabina, same question for you.
Sabina Kaczanowska
Thank you, Oliver. It's great to be here. I actually am part of the inaugural T2I class. So I heard about the program initially through email announcements, and I went to an information session that was run by Sabina. And it sounded really interesting because similar to Trang, I've always had an interest in translational research and taking technology from the bench, and bringing it to the community and trying to develop new therapies. So I applied and we had, we were in a similar position. We had just put in an invention update report and we're going through the process of submitting a patent application for our technology. And it was kind of a black box, like neither myself nor my PI really knew what the technology transfer process entailed and how a patent became a patent and how all the intellectual property protections worked. So it was just really interesting for us as we were starting this project and thinking about bringing it to the clinic, how we can kind of look to the future and plan for translating it beyond just a clinical trial at the NCI, but into a technology that could one day be taken up by a company and actually commercialized into a product.
Oliver Bogler
So Sabina, when you became aware of this opportunity, did you immediately bring it to the attention of your PI? Is that part of the process?
Sabina Kaczanowska
I did, yes. And she was very supportive and she had tried to kind of submit invention update reports in the past and hadn't had a lot of success moving forward through the patenting process. And I think for us, and especially for me, I didn't learn about intellectual property at all in graduate school. I didn't know what technology transfer was. So even knowing what is patentable, what's not patentable, what you can do before you submit a patent versus what information you have to kind of keep close to your vest before that application is submitted. All of that information was brand new to us. So I think it was very helpful because my PI is also very passionate about bringing new technologies into the pediatric oncology space and how to bring that research forward.
Oliver Bogler
So, Trang, what about you? Did you have conversations with your mentor early on?
Trang Vu
Yeah, I did. So it's similar to Sabina. When I saw the email and thought it was interesting, I showed it to my PI and he was very supportive because at the time we also trying to explore that new genes that we found and the function of that and having all the potential. So the T2I program is really great because it's not just helping the fellow, but it's also an opportunity for us to gain more traction in our research and getting our research out there, getting collaborations and feedback from all the experts in the field as well. So we both were really on board about this.
Oliver Bogler
And so what was it like to apply for the fellowship?
Trang Vu
So I remember, so at least for me it was coming up with like a full project proposal and just trying to come up with ideas and think of how I'm gonna make this happen. So it's not the first time I wrote a project proposal, but it feels like the most formal and the first time that it's like really more on me and I was like helping my PI so I thought it was really neat. Yeah.
Oliver Bogler
How about you Sabina?
Sabina Kaczanowska
I believe it was the same process at the beginning, but yeah, submitting a proposal for the research and specifically in a way that had clear milestones over the two years of the program. And it was very specific in terms of what you can accomplish in these two years and how those milestones will help you advance the technology.
So it was a little bit of a different way of thinking about a grant because you're not just, your end result isn't just, I want to publish a paper. It's how do we move this technology forward and make it more attractive potentially for company interests to do a CRADA or license the technology. And how can we generate data to attract those kind of industry partners?
Oliver Bogler
What about your own personal goals? Like in a fellowship often, the applicant is also talking about their own career. Was that part of the application?
Sabina Kaczanowska
Yes, it was. Thank you for that reminder. It's been a couple of years. But yes, we also have to write a personal statement. And I … I've always been interested in industry. Honestly, if you asked me 10 years ago, if I saw myself being at the NIH for so long, I would, I would have been surprised. But the NIH is a very translational place. So in that way, it's kind of similar to industry. But I've always wanted to go into industry and technology development to try to bring drugs to the public. And in terms of my background, I've always been interested in kind of that area. I also studied economics as an undergrad, and it's just a kind of came full circle of bringing the science and the business aspects together and learning more about them together, because biotechnology is kind of a unique field in terms of how you integrate the science into your business models.
Oliver Bogler
Trang, let's start with you. What was it like being in the T2I fellowship?
Trang Vu
Well, I guess the first one was surprisingly intense for me for the first month. Laura knows. So, I mean, because I've been on other fellowships before, but I think when I get into T2I, we started off with a boot camp right away. With a technology transfer boot camp. So, I think the whole experience was very immersive and is right on the very beginning. It's a get go, start learning, start putting yourself out there. And besides just tech transfer and learning about patent law and business, for me, T2I really helped pushing me out of my comfort zone and pushing my border. Um, cause what I like the most based on all the knowledge that we learn, is that the ability, the opportunity to meet fellows from different background, people who are doing just like tech transfer and people who are working at FDA, different institute as well, and talking to people in different path really helped to expand my horizon and helped me learn what I like and what I don't like. And Laura helped me here because I'm blanking right now, but I remember last year, in last November, September to November, we have a program, I forgot the name.
Laura Prestia
Yeah, it's called the Advancing Innovations through Mentorship or AIM program. It's our internal I-Corps, which is in a lot of academia, institutions and other organizations. So yeah, that's our internal version.
Trang Vu
Yeah, but that program, what I remember, one of the things I appreciate the most was that we, as part of the assignment, we have to reach out to 20, 30 experts in the field to talk about what is their experience and what they think is still missing or lacking in the field and how may our project or product fill the gap. And that helped me gain some like a new understanding in what I am trying to working toward in the cell therapy field, but also just the sheer skill of reaching out to people, cold email and talking to other people. I was very surprised to realize that most of the time people are super helpful and super friendly and yeah, I think this was a really nice experience.
Oliver Bogler
Sabina, you were part of the first class. Was your experience similar?
Sabina Kaczanowska
Yes, ours was a little different in that our program started January 2020. So our bootcamp started in person and then quickly everything switched to being virtual. But it was very quickly adapted. I thought the instructors … at that time we were in the technology transfer bootcamp part of the program. And the instructors really did adapt to the virtual format very effectively. So I thought it was very informative because all of that information, the patenting process, the types of agreements that NCI does through its tech transfer office, all of that was really new to me. So it was great to see what the technology transfer office does and what we're asking of our technology transfer manager on a daily basis, specifically in the context of our project and how we can best move our technology forward together through that process.
But the other really, key benefit, I think, from the program that I personally thought was really great networking. And Trang mentioned networking with peers, which was great to meet people that also have a similar interests on campus. But beyond that, being able to work with the SBIR or Small Business Innovation Research Development Center here on campus, as well as taking courses through FAES, which are run by local experts and leaders in industry, people who work for venture capital, they would bring in speakers from all different areas of industry, from the US Patent Office, from different institutions that fund biotech in Maryland. So it was a really great networking opportunity to interact with these people in a small group setting and really learn about all the different aspects that goes into starting a company. But beyond that, just moving a technology forward and all the different components and stakeholders that are involved in that process.
Trang Vu
Oh yeah, we're just about to mention, I was saying that I'm so glad that you mentioned about SBIR because it's such a very unique opportunity, I feel like, because most of the time as PhD and postdoc, we try to write grant and submit a grant, but for once we got to sit on the review board and be on the other side, see how the whole process going and shift our gear of thinking to become a reviewer. So yeah, I felt very privileged actually to be able to have that experience because it just changed your viewpoint a little.
Oliver Bogler
Yeah, you learn so much from being on the reviewer side, I think, when it comes to any kind of application. So, Sabina, you are still at the Pediatric Oncology Branch. So, I'm curious, how did the T2I fellowship equip you for doing what you are doing now? And what are you exactly, what exactly are you doing right now?
Sabina Kaczanowska
Yes, that's correct. So I am still in the same laboratory I was in when I participated in the T2I program. It's under the leadership of Dr. Rosie Kaplan for the tumor microenvironment and metastasis section. And we are developing technology using genetically engineered myeloid cells for the immunotherapy of cancer. And that's the technology that my T2I program revolved around and that we're trying to move forward into the clinic. So as you know, that is a very long process. We've been working closely with Eric Cheng in the tech transfer office to file multiple patents at this point from an intellectual property standpoint. But then clinically we're working on the development of the manufacturing process with the Center for Cell Engineering and trying to put together our IND package to start a first in human trial of these genetically engineered myeloid cells.
Oliver Bogler
Just expand that acronym for us, our IND.
Sabina Kaczanowska
Oh, sorry, investigational new drug application. And that's a filing that you need in order to perform a clinical trial in human patients.
Oliver Bogler
It's quite a major milestone for any new therapy, right?
Sabina Kaczanowska
Yes, yes, it is. And there are a lot of components that go into it. And the technology transfer really has to happen in parallel with that. So while we're moving that the research part for it in the science forward, we also need to move forward with our intellectual property filings, as well as trying to gain kind of industry support. So at the NIH, we can do a phase one clinical trial. But really most things beyond that, once you go, especially the phase three, and we're gonna need industry partnership to really move the technology forward. So we're trying to look ahead, engage where, where we can get those industry partners and try to license the technology. And a big success story from the NCI that has done this effectively is from Steve Rosenberg's group in the surgery branch. They were able to take their T-cell technologies and work with Kite Pharma and really bring that to a product that is now available. These CAR T-cells are now available to patients. So that's kind of the big pie in the sky - is trying to get our science to a point where we can partner with industry and bring a new drug to patients who really need it.
Oliver Bogler
That's a fantastic goal. So Sabina, are you then, is it fair to say you're the local expert in this tech transfer process on the lab side?
Sabina Kaczanowska
I wouldn't say expert, but definitely an ambassador. I think learning and working with the Technology Transfer Center has really improved my confidence in talking about their mission and really getting other people excited about what their office is doing. So I think it's so important. And at least in my science training, there is a big gap in terms of knowing about what you have to do to be successful in this process.
The fact that you have to file before you have any public disclosures and thinking about what about your science could lead to a patent. And you really have to think about that early on in your project. And then as you develop your project in the lab, thinking about what indications you want to go into becomes really important and different milestones like that. I think it really does come back to the lab and how we design our experiments moving forward.
Laura Prestia
And Sabina, I remember you had several offers from industry at the end of T2I too, right? So you had your choice if you wanted to come…
Sabina Kaczanowska
That is true. I, um, I was very fortunate to have people approach me after, um, talks at meetings, uh, and after our paper was published, especially, and, um, and try to recruit me to industry and, uh, part of me wanted to go, but on the other hand, I was really invested in the, in this project and I think I have a really unique opportunity to help bring this forward. So industry will be waiting for me, but right now, um, I'm here at the NCI and I'm excited to try to push this forward. And I don't think that would be possible without the tech transfer office and all the information from the T2I program that I can now bring back to my PI. And we kind of, she is an honorary T2I member. She was very involved in the process and very supportive of me being in this program. So I think we both gained so much from participating.
Oliver Bogler
So Trang, you took your T2I experience into the private sector, into a small biotech company, I understand, viTToria. Tell us what made you take that path.
Trang Vu
I feel like it took me a while to actually know what project and exactly what field do I want to be for my career until I started the project with CAR T-cell. And I think since the day that we started working on it and started talking about it, it just clicked to me that I want to be in this field and this is where I want to grow my career in. So I was very excited and engulfed in the project that we were working on for the T2I program, which was a gene-edited CAR T-cell. And it was so happening by chance for me that a couple months ago around in March or so I got approached by a company wishing for my current company right now through LinkedIn and they are looking for a scientist with gene editing a CAR T-cell background So it's exactly the same everything exactly the same as always ways wanted and I knew that I always want to go back to Philadelphia as well because my family is here and Philadelphia is developing as a cell, cell and gene therapy bio-hub of the northeast. So the company that I'm working in is called viTToria biotherapeutics and when it was founded, co-founded by Dr. Marco Ruella and Dr. Carl June in UPenn. So everyone know Dr. Carl June and Dr. Rosenberg. And I gotta say, I was a little star struck when I look up the company and I saw Dr. Ruella and Carl June as scientific advisors on the company. And I was really interested in the product itself.
So when I started at the company, this is a very small company, we are a startup with less than 10 people. And when I joined in the Spring, we are in the process of filing an IND as well. And in fact, that what I was working on in the past six, seven months, and as of this Monday, the past Monday, we are officially a clinical stage company.
Oliver Bogler
Congratulations.
Trang Vu
Yeah thanks. So this is a, it's been a whirlwind because I feel like, I feel very lucky cause I knew I want to work in the CAR T in the CAR T space. And then this job just transitioned so smoothly with what I've been working on and trying to push in the T2I, which is bringing a gene edited CAR T-cell into the clinical trial. And I want, so I want to say like my current experience right now is not really a transition, but rather like an extension of my T2I program, I feel like, because previously I keep thinking of what kind of study do I need to do to show efficacy, how much better it is and all of that. But the past six months, what it's really taught me during the IND is that how safe the product is, what are the toxicity and all type of different hurdle or even as trying to think in the business side of how much lentivirus do we need and all of that in relation to like the capital of the company. So. Yeah, I thought it's been a real eye-opening experience so far.
Oliver Bogler
Great. Well, thank you for sharing that. I'd like to take a small step back. Since we're a career-focused podcast, I'm always interested in learning how people first became interested in science. Trang, why don't we start with you? I know you've talked about your engineering background, but even before that, what made you think engineering was something you wanted to do?
Trang Vu
If you ask me maybe 12, 13 years ago, I would never think I'll become a scientist, let alone, be a cancer scientist. Because I immigrated here when I was 18 with my dad and no one in my family was in college before. So I was the first one to go to college. And I remember that when, before I leave, I had a conversation with my grandfather who was actually in the hospital for a couple weeks at that point. And he told me that ‘when you go to the US, do not give up on your education. Like go to college. If you cannot get into college, try to go to a community and work your way up. Just don't give up’. So that become like a real big motivation for me.
And when I come to the US, everything is very different. And I don't really know which career to pick, really. I just know math and chemistry was my strength. So I chose chemical engineer. But the more I go deep into my study, I realized that I really want to help people and have a stronger impact on the healthcare. So yeah, so that made me do research in biomedical engineer and then I got a fellowship, worked in a cancer center in Amsterdam for a couple months and I saw like all the patients and get all those work there. So that made me apply into the NIH, which I think was an unmatched opportunity. And that in a short time, like changed my life because I just feel so lucky to get all the opportunity at NIH and feel like everyone is just very open about collaborating and helping each other and my two fellowship that I have at NIH, the iCURE program and T2I have gave me a tremendous just mentorship and support. So yeah, I feel like it's not a straightforward path, but I'm really happy with my career right now.
Oliver Bogler
Yeah, it sounds like you have, you know, you found your way to a great project and a great pathway. So that's fantastic. Sabina, what about you? How did you first get interested in science?
Sabina Kaczanowska
Yes. So, um, I think my interest stemmed from, from nature. I mean, growing up with my family, we went camping a lot. We went hiking. We traveled over the country to the National Parks. Um, and my parents are very knowledgeable about just the natural world. They would know what kind of tree something was, and we'd learn about the animals. And I was just really into biology, uh, from that sense. And then going through school. In high school, I took every biology class I could. And originally, I wanted to be a marine biologist, orca whales were my favorite animal. But kind of the day-to-day lifestyle of that, I don't think I would have enjoyed very much. So I kind of tuned my passion for biology and I really wanted to do something that was impactful to the world and to healthcare. So I think that really drove me towards biomedical research.
And I knew just personality wise, like I really didn't want to be a doctor from the physician aspect of things. So that really drew me towards research. And I went to University of Maryland, College Park for my undergraduate work. I did a double degree in biology and economics. And then I went to graduate school up in Baltimore with the University of Maryland Medical School and that was my first really translational lab experience in a cancer immunotherapy lab. And I loved it. I thought it was very exciting and interesting and relevant. And it was right, not quite at the beginning, but it was still pretty early kind of in the immunotherapy field. And it's really exploded so much over the last decade with the different types of approaches and technologies that are being applied to cancer immunotherapy.
So I was just really excited about the science and about the outcomes. I mean, you look at some of the responses that you get from immunotherapy and it's really just mind blowing what kind of differences can make for patients. So, and that's kind of my career trajectory is pretty straightforward, but still excited about it nonetheless.
Oliver Bogler
No, for sure. I mean, when I was 12, I knew I wanted to do biology. So I get that totally. In closing then, I wonder if you have any advice. Let's start with you, Sabina, for our listeners who are perhaps themselves not yet familiar with the world of tech transfer, but interested in it. What would you suggest to them?
Sabina Kaczanowska
I would suggest to look into it and learn as much as you can and take advantage of these opportunities at the NCI or outside the NCI. Every major university has a technology transfer office. When I was in grad school, I didn't know that existed, but they do. So if you're interested in anything, just go out and talk to people. And I think as Trang mentioned, that was a big kind of skill that I think a lot of people
learned through the AIM program is just not being afraid to contact people and talk about, to ask them questions and learn from their experiences. And that can apply to advancing your science, but I think that can also apply to advancing your career. So just get out there, talk to people, apply to programs, and learn as much as you can to find out what you like and what you don't like.
Oliver Bogler
Trang any advice for our listeners?
Trang Vu
Yeah, I would say my advice is quite similar to Sabina. I think nobody knows exactly what they want to do when they grow up or 10 years from now. And the only way you learn from it is, expose yourself as much as you can and gain experience and talk to people. And maybe something that is such a dream to you, well, after you expose it, you don't like it anymore and vice versa. So just put yourself out there in all the experience, all valuable experience in my mind.
Oliver Bogler
So Laura, we've heard about this great program at NCI inside the Center for Cancer Research. Are there programs like this elsewhere at other universities? Sabina mentioned that all universities have tech transfer offices, but do they all have T2Is?
Laura Prestia
That's a great question. I know for the NIH, we are one of the first, maybe only, programs. I know the National Institute on Aging saw our program and started to try to create something similar over there. I'm not sure … I haven't kept up with it to see where they're at. So I don't know if maybe we're the trailblazers here, but we usually only have funding for two fellows each year and so it's still quite small. We do put a lot of training into those fellows. So there's a lot of preparation that goes on and coordinating amongst the different offices SBIR and TTC.
Yeah, I think that, you know, I hope that maybe others out there will hear this podcast and learn more about the program and the success of it, not only for the career development of the fellows, but of the translation of the discoveries and new inventions coming out of their labs and maybe incorporate some similar trainings at their organizations or universities.
Oliver Bogler
And if they are listening and are interested, I guess it'd be okay if they reached out to you, Laura, to learn about how you built this program and maybe how they could build one of their own.
Laura Prestia
Of course, yeah, it was definitely a collaboration across like multiple people and offices and I'm happy to share how we made it happen.
Oliver Bogler
Great, well thank you, all three of you, for sharing about the T2I. Really appreciate it.
Laura Prestia
Thanks for having us.
Sabina Kaczanowska
Thank you, Oliver.
Trang Vu
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Oliver Bogler
Now it's time for a segment we call your turn because it's a chance for our listeners to send in a recommendation that they would like to share. If you're listening, then you're invited to take your turn. Send us a tip for a book, a video, a podcast, or a talk that you found inspirational or amusing or interesting. You can send those to us at NCIICC@nih.gov. Record a voice memo and send it along, we may just play it in an upcoming episode. Now I'd like to invite our guests to take their turn, Laura.
Laura Prestia
So I love coffee. And in particular, there is this little coffee shop in my hometown of Utica, New York, that has the most delicious coffee. It's called Utica Coffee Roasting Company. And you can order it online. I'm not paid by them for anything. I just love their coffee. And if I could recommend a flavor, the cannoli is really good
Oliver Bogler
Okay. So if you're in Utica, that's where you need to get your coffee.
Laura Prestia
Yep. Or find them online, which we still we ordered my husband and I order from Maryland.
Oliver Bogler
Fantastic, Laurie?
Laurie Whitney
Well, so Laura and I were joking about this a little bit before we got here about, you know, what do we love and what might we recommend? And so we're really solid upstate New York girls were really ra ra upstate New York girls. And so I think I would go to Wegmans because I grew up with Wegmans. And, you know, they're a good upstate New York group. So unlike others in my office, I don't love to cook and so I love to go there because I love all of their food and all their prepped food and I love their pesto sauces. So there it is a weird fact. So good.
Oliver Bogler
And that's the grocery store I imagine?
Laurie Whitney
Yeah. Wegmans, you should know that. Everybody should know that.
Oliver Bogler
Everybody should know that even if they've never been to upstate New York. [laughs]
Laurie Whitney
Yeah, even though I'm from Corning. I'm still going to plug a Rochester group. So I guess that's okay.
Oliver Bogler
Well, thank you for bringing that regional flavor to our show. Thanks very much.
Laurie Whitney
Thank you.
Oliver Bogler
So go ahead, Trang, what book are you recommending and what's it about?
Trang Vu
Well, I'm recommending the book called A Lesson in Chemistry, and I believe it just has become a show on Apple TV, I think. And it's just talking about being a woman in science, and it was back on Sabina. When was that? Was that in the 1950s, I think?
Sabina Kaczanowska
I'm not sure about the time frame. Yeah.
Trang Vu
Yeah, but I thought it was quite a fun read and also it's just very relatable.
Oliver Bogler
Interesting. Yeah, thank you very much. I appreciate that recommendation. I'm going to make a recommendation of my own as well, just to close out. I'm going to be recommending the All About Grants podcast from the NIH. It's from NIH's Office of Extramural Research and has a ton of information about how to apply for grants and put your best application forward. If you check out their website, you can see the episodes arranged beautifully by area and stage of grant applications. So you can listen to all the episodes, but you can also zero in on the content that's most relevant to what you're working on right now. Shout out to the host, Dr. David Kosub and his producer, Omar McCrimmon, for leading the way here at NIH in all things podcast. A link will be in the notes.
That’s all we have time for on today’s episode of Inside Cancer Careers! Thank you for joining us and thank you to our guests.
We want to hear from you – your stories, your ideas and your feedback are always welcome. And you are invited to take your turn to make a recommendation we can share with our listeners. You can reach us at NCIICC@nih.gov.
Inside Cancer Careers is a collaboration between NCI’s Office of Communications and Public Liaison and the Center for Cancer Training.
It is produced by Angela Jones and Astrid Masfar.
Join us every first and third Thursday of the month when new episodes can be found wherever you listen – subscribe so you won’t miss an episode. I'm your host Oliver Bogler from the National Cancer Institute and I look forward to sharing your stories here on Inside Cancer Careers.
If you have questions about cancer or comments about this podcast, email us at NCIinfo@nih.gov or call us at 800-422-6237. And please be sure to mention Inside Cancer Careers in your query.
We are a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. Thanks for listening.