🧬 Mark Kotter - bit.bio - Part 1 | Childhood Experiences in Different Countries | Overcoming Dyslexia & Developing Math Skills | Pivoting His Career to Science and Medicine | Facilitating Curiosity Via Research & Lab Experiences

The Biotech Startups Podcast

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My guest for this week’s episode is Mark Kotter, neurosurgeon, stem cell biologist, and CEO and founder of bit.bio. Bit.bio is an award-winning human synthetic biology company providing human cells for research, drug discovery, and cell therapy. Bit.bio applies a patented safe harbor gene targeting approach to inducibly express transcription factor combinations that reprogram human-induced pluripotent stem cells into highly defined and mature human cell types. Bit.bio spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 and has since raised approximately $200 million from Arch Ventures, Foresight Capital, Milky Way, Charles River Laboratories, National Resilience, Tencent, and Pulau Capital, among others.

In addition to bit.bio, Mark is also the co-founder of Meatable, scientific founder and chairman of rejuvenation startup clock.bio, and co-founder and trustee of Myelopathy.org, the first charity dedicated to a common yet often overseen condition causing a slow-motion spinal cord injury. Mark has also been a professor and researcher at Cambridge for more than 15 years. His diverse experience as an academic and serial entrepreneur offers a wealth of insights aspiring scientist founders can draw from.

Join us this week and hear about:

• Mark's upbringing as a curious child in Canada and his exposure to a broad range of cultures and perspectives
• His experiences growing up with dyslexia and how it led him to focus on science and mathematics at an early age
• His experience as a researcher and PhD student at Cambridge, where he transitioned from medicine to synthetic biology and stem cell research
• And much more!

Please enjoy my conversation with Mark Kotter.

Find Our Guest, Mark Kotter, at these links:

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mark-kotter

https://www.bit.bio/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

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

https://www.excedr.com

Timestamps:

00:28 Intro

2:42 Episode starts, early days experiencing different countries and cultures, family influence as entrepreneurs, growing up with dyslexia

7:14 Despite strong mathematical skills, Mark’s desire to make an impact leads to a pivot to medicine

10:38 The impact of experiences in other countries while overcoming the struggles of dyslexia

12:29 Developing a passion for science and medicine, Mark’s exposure to spinal cord injuries as a nursing assistant

14:39 Changes in academic career at the University of Graz in Austria to pursue medicine

18:26 Experience at the University of Cambridge as a researcher

23:21 The culture at Cambridge supporting a sense of curiosity, lab experience as a PhD student

28:45 Understanding your purpose while navigating unique opportunities

30:52 Outro

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Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

What is Dyslexia?

https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-basics/

Spinal Cord Injuries

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/spinal-cord-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20377890

University of Graz

https://www.uni-graz.at/en/

University of Cambridge

https://www.cam.ac.uk/

Single Cell Analysis: Considerations & Applications

https://www.excedr.com/blog/single-cell-analysis-101

Lab Equipment for Genetic Engineering Research

https://www.excedr.com/blog/lab-equipment-list-for-genetic-engineering-research

What is Live-Cell Imaging & How Does It Work?

https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-live-cell-imaging

Common Lab Equipment for Life Sciences Research in 2024 https://www.excedr.com/blog/common-lab-equipment

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