🧬 Rafael Rosengarten - Part 1 | From Salt Marsh to Biotech CEO | Snorkeling into Science | Choosing Marine Biology Over Cooking on a Mediterranean Yacht

The Biotech Startups Podcast

Part 1 of 4: My guest today is Rafael Rosengarten, CEO and Co-Founder of Genialis, the RNA biomarker company. Genialis is reimagining biomarkers for every target, drug, and patient using a combination of precision oncology, RNA, and AI.

Rafael, a biomedical research veteran, combines academic excellence with industry innovation. A Dartmouth graduate with a Yale doctorate, he conducted postdoctoral research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he co-invented the j5 DNA assembly tool. As co-founder of the Alliance for AI in Healthcare, he advocates for responsible AI integration in medicine, drawing from his extensive background in evolution, immunology, bioengineering, and genetics.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Rafael's upbringing in rural South Carolina, influenced by his parents' intellectual hippie activist background and nature
• How his French cell biologist uncle sparked his love for science through snorkeling
• Rafael's journey at Dartmouth, initially pursuing chemistry but ultimately finding his passion in evolutionary biology and ecology
• His post-college experiences alternating between scientific research and culinary pursuits
• The pivotal decision to attend a marine biology program at Friday Harbor instead of accepting an offer to cook on a private yacht
  

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Find Our Guest, Rafael Rosengarten, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rrosengarten/

https://www.genialis.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee

https://www.excedr.com

Excedr Socials & Website

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr

Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

Dartmouth https://home.dartmouth.edu/

Bay Wolf https://www.berkeleyside.org/2015/07/01/oaklands-bay-wolf-restaurant-closing-after-40-years

Yale https://www.yale.edu/

Chez Panisse https://www.chezpanisse.com/1/

Friday Harbor Laboratories https://fhl.uw.edu/

People Mentioned:

Jay Keasling https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-keasling-6783754/

Mark McPeak https://biology.dartmouth.edu/people/mark-alan-mcpeek

David Peart https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-peart-251787302/

Carol Folt https://biology.dartmouth.edu/people/carol-l-folt

Leo Buss https://eeb.yale.edu/people/faculty/leo-buss

Alice Waters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Waters

Fanny Singer (Waters) https://thefoldmag.com/arts-culture/a-conversation-with-fanny-singer-about-her-mother-daughter-memoir-always-home

Jeremiah Tower https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremiah-tower/

Dan Barber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Barber

Thomas Keller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Keller

Timestamps:

00:49 Intro

02:48 Rafael's upbringing in rural South Carolina and early influences

05:50 Discussing the impact of Rafael's upbringing on his business philosophy

07:44 Rafael's decision to attend Dartmouth College

10:27 Family influence on Rafael's academic pursuits

12:04 Rafael's experiences at Dartmouth and choosing his major

14:30 Summer internship at Bay Wolf restaurant in Oakland

16:55 Influential professors and classmates at Dartmouth

18:22 Post-graduation experiences and working at Yale

23:20 Comparing cooking experiences on the West Coast and East Coast

26:38 Entering Yale's biomedical program and the Friday Harbor experience

29:48 Outro

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