124. Dr. Chanfeng Zhao - Chemist; Chemical Engineer; Entrepreneur

Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM

Dr. Chanfeng Zhao is the VP of R&D Chemistry at TriLink BioTechnologies. She has over 25 years of experience in nucleotide and modified nucleotide chemistry for sequencing and genomics applications. She co-founded MyChem LLC, a company later acquired by TriLink, specializing in ultra-pure synthetic nucleotides. Chanfeng was the CSO and Co-founder of Sequlite Genomic (acquired by Fapon International), a company that was developing NGS instruments and reagents. Previously, Dr. Zhao was one of the first employees at Illumina, where she developed oligonucleotide attachment chemistry for BeadChip products. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from SUNY Buffalo and a B.Sc. in Petroleum Chemical Engineering. Dr. Zhao is an inventor on over 20 issued patents.

What do we talk about in this episode?

1. What are nucleotides & genomes?
2. The difference between chemistry and chemical engineering.
3. Chanfeng’s career path from chemical engineering to chemistry. Working at startups, starting her own company, and selling that company.
4. Her experience coming to the US and raising a son while going to grad school.
5. How her curiosity fuels her passion for science.

Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound Studio

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Resources

Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dimensional structural configuration. (Wikipedia)

Nucleotides are organic molecules composed of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid, both of which are essential biomolecules within all life-forms on Earth. (Wikipedia)

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez.

AGTC is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing genetic therapies for people with rare and debilitating ophthalmic, otologic and central nervous system (CNS) diseases. (https://agtc.gcs-web.com)