The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast – Christopher Woelk

Posted on January 13, 2026January 12, 2026 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 76 with Christopher Woelk

Christopher Woelk, an External Innovation Partner at Astellas, discusses his background in multi-omics and AI/ML and what he looks for in his current search & evaluation role embedded within therapeutic oncology research.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Christopher Woelk

Christopher Woelk is an External Innovation Partner at Astellas, which focuses on developing and supporting transformative disease therapies.

Transcript of Episode 76: Christopher Woelk

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.

Coming Soon…

Chris Yohn – The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Posted on December 30, 2025December 30, 2025 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 75 with Chris Yohn

Chris Yohn, leader of CompBio Bridge, discusses his current experience with computational biology contracting and consulting, what companies are doing with computational biology right now, and how to most effectively bridge the gap between data science and the wet lab.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Chris Yohn

Dr. Chris Yohn is a computational biologist who currently leads CompBio Bridge, which provides a fractional strategy and management practice to help biotech teams bridge data science with the wet lab.

Transcript of Episode 75: Chris Yohn

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.

Coming Soon…

Phillip Meade – The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Posted on December 16, 2025December 16, 2025 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 74 with Phillip Meade

Dr. Phillip Meade, a leadership and culture advisor at Gallaher Edge, discusses his experience evaluating organizational culture and how to diagnose culture problems and build lasting habits for high-performance organizations.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Phillip Meade

Phillip Meade is a leadership and cultural advisor at Gallaher Edge, which provides executive coaching, leadership development, strategic guidance and culture management services for businesses and organizations.

Transcript of Episode 74: Phillip Meade

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.

Coming Soon…

Nataraj Pagadala – The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Posted on December 9, 2025December 9, 2025 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 73 with Nataraj Pagadala

Nataraj Pagadala, founder, president, and CEO of LigronBio, discusses his company’s goal of using molecular glues to target traditionally undruggable proteins as a route to new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Nataraj Pagadala

Dr. Nataraj Pagadala is the founder, president, and CEO of LigronBio, which develops molecular glues to target traditionally undruggable proteins.

Transcript of Episode 73: Nataraj Pagadala

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.

Coming Soon…

Sophia George – The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Posted on December 2, 2025December 2, 2025 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 72 with Sophia George

Sophia George, professor in the Division of Gynecological Oncology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, discusses her research at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center investigating the genetics and biology of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and working at the intersection of genomics, health equity, and cancer.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Sophia George

Sophia George is a professor in the Division of Gynecological Oncology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the principal investigator of the George Lab at the university’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Transcript of Episode 72: Sophia George

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.

Coming Soon…

Christiaan Engstrom – The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Posted on November 18, 2025November 18, 2025 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 71 with Christiaan Engstrom

Christiaan Engstrom, founder and CEO of BLPN, discusses his experience building a space for authentic, non-transactional business networking in the life sciences.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Christiaan Engstrom

Christiaan Engstrom is founder and CEO of BLPN, an invite-only community for life science investors and senior executives to connect.

Transcript of Episode 71: Christiaan Engstrom

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.

Coming Soon…

Joanne Hackett – The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Posted on November 4, 2025 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 70 with Joanne Hackett

Dr. Joanne Hackett, VP of Health Systems Services at IQVIA and Chair of the Board at eLife, discusses her hopes for the future of healthcare.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Dr. Joanne Hackett

Dr. Joanne Hackett is VP of Health Systems Services at IQVIA and Chair of the Board at eLife.

Transcript of Episode 70: Joanne Hackett

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.

Coming Soon…

David Scieszka – The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Posted on October 21, 2025October 21, 2025 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 69 with David Scieszka

David Scieszka, founder and CEO of Vertical Longevity Pharmaceuticals, tells us about VeLo’s pioneering senolytic vaccine approach to clearing senescent cells and his quest for longer, healthier lives for everyone.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

David Scieszka

David Scieszka is founder and CEO of Vertical Longevity Pharma, which is currently pioneering a senolytic vaccine approach to targeting atherosclerosis and aging.

VeLo Pharma has just opened up a community investment round with no investor accreditation required: https://netcapital.com/companies/vertical-longevity

Vertical Longevity Pharma investment QR code

Transcript of Episode 69: David Scieszka

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.

Coming Soon…

Caspar Barnes – The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 68 with Caspar Barnes

Caspar Barnes, founder and CEO of AminoChain, tell us about his mission to make biospecimen sourcing transparent, ethical, and efficient.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Caspar Barnes

Caspar Barnes is founder and CEO of AminoChain, a decentralized biobanking protocol with a mission to make biospecimen sourcing more transparent, ethical, and efficient.

Transcript of Episode 68: Caspar Barnes

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.

Coming Soon…

Manos Metzakopian – The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Michelle Vesser

The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast

Episode 67 with Manos Metzakopian

Manos Metzakopian, co-founder and CEO of CellCodex, joins us to discuss CellCodex’s mission to provide high-quality, scalable cellular perturbation data, ready to train advanced AI models for biology.

On The Bioinformatics CRO Podcast, we sit down with scientists to discuss interesting topics across biomedical research and to explore what made them who they are today.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Manos Metzakopian

CellCodex is a CRO that generates AI-ready perturbation data at scale. Our founder and podcast host, Grant Belgard, is also a co-founder and the CTO of CellCodex.

Transcript of Episode 67: Manos Metzakopian

Disclaimer: Transcripts may contain errors.