LabOps Leadership_Nimish Gera: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Samantha Black:
By building a platform to share challenges, network, and thoughts from leaders, the LabOps Leadership Podcast is elevating LabOps professionals as well as the industry as a whole. With the intent of unlocking the power of LabOps, we deliver unique insights to execute the mission at hand, standardize the practice of LabOps, their development, and training. Welcome to the LabOps Leadership Podcast.
Kerri Anderson:
Welcome to the LabOps Leadership podcast. I’m Kerri Anderson. I’ll be your co-host for today and I am the co-founder of the LabOps Unite Group.
Samantha Black:
Awesome, thanks, Kerri. So today, we’re so excited to have Nimish Gera with us. He’s the Vice President of Biologics at Mythic Therapeutics, and we’re just really excited for this conversation. So let’s go ahead and jump right in. Welcome, Nimish!
Nimish Gera:
Thank you, Samantha and Kerri, for inviting me.
Samantha Black:
Awesome, so first thing we want to know is just like who you are. So can you give us a little bit about your background and how you got to where you are today?
Nimish Gera:
Sure, just like you mentioned, I’m the Vice President of Biologics of Mythic Therapeutics. We’re a small startup company based in the Waltham area in Massachusetts, and we’re focused on making cancer biologics. I’ve been with the company for about five years. My background is mostly in antibody engineering, and I’m a chemical engineer by training. I’ve been in the industry for many years, mostly working on cancer therapeutics, but I’ve also worked on some rare diseases in the past. And I have a Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering, was always interested in the sciences, and during my Ph.D. work, I got really interested in the translational part of everything, so making medicines that would help patients. And that is what brought me to the biotechnology biopharma industry and I’ve been in it for several years now.
Samantha Black:
Yeah, go pack! By the way, I also went to NC State, so I have to throw that in there. Yeah, love, love, Raleigh, it’s a great area, it’s a great school, so I know your foundation is strong there, so that’s amazing. Can you just tell us a little bit more about what you’re doing at Mythic now in terms of the science and what’s the really cool parts about it?
Nimish Gera:
Yeah, no, that’s a great question. So Mythic is a company that I joined five years ago. I was actually the first employee and the scientific co-founder of this company. So I, as I mentioned, the company is focused on cancer medicines. And what I do here is I manage a group that works on discovering those medicines. And what’s unique about Mythic’s medicines is that in cancer, as you know, chemotherapy is used for a lot of treatment, and what Mythic does is we try to combine that chemotherapy with another molecule, which is called an antibody. The antibody allows us to target chemotherapy to a certain place in the human body. So we want to minimize any toxicities, we wanted the drug to go where it’s supposed to go, and kill only the cells that are supposed to kill. So what Mythic does is making sure that this molecule can deliver more to the tumor and kill the tumor and not affect the normal tissues, and that’s our major technology here. We are very focused on cancer, but we are agnostic to the type of cancer. So some of our lead molecules are in lung cancer, but we are also looking at many other types of cancer. So that’s the work that Mythic does. We are currently working on a number of different programs in many different cancers and I’m very, very excited about these molecules moving forward and helping patients and helping potentially cure some of the cancer there.
Kerri Anderson:
That’s great. I think it’s fascinating that your background is in mechanical engineering because that’s something that’s very different that we don’t see in this industry often. How do you think it helps with enabling the drug development and contributes to the drugs that you’re producing?
Nimish Gera:
Yeah, I just want to clarify, maybe I wasn’t clear before, my background is in chemical engineering.
Kerri Anderson:
Chemical.
Nimish Gera:
But, yes, yes, but I think it does help. So I would say I’m one of the few chemical engineers that stayed in research. A lot of the chemical engineers end up in process development where you manufacture the molecule and how we scale it up, how you make large quantities of it. But at NC State, I was fortunate that our department not only worked in the traditional chemical engineering areas but also worked on the interface of chemical engineering and biotechnology, where I got the chance to work with a professor that was more focused in the biotechnology and biomolecular sciences field. So along with my training in chemical engineering, I also learned a lot about biotechnology and biology and how that interfaces with chemical engineering, and I got sucked into that in my career and that’s sort of where I went. But I’m still very much in sync with what happens with our CMC folks where we manufacture the drug. I think the background that I have sort of has brought the understanding that we always need to focus on making drugs that can also be scaled up into large amounts and then be distributed to the patients. So I try to bring that in my work as I work to discover these cancer medicines as well.
Kerri Anderson:
Yeah, yeah, that’s great that it gives you that insight.
Nimish Gera:
Great.
Samantha Black:
Yeah, it’s so cool. I think that you know, having both sides of the equation is really unique. And I think, from an engineering standpoint, I think being somebody who’s working in the lab, that’s a really unique experience. And so, you know, I’m just curious how closely you work with scientists and how closely you work with everybody in the lab and how do the different team members that you work with help in the science? Because obviously you’re taking a very broad view, but there’s a lot of key people that go into making the science successful.
Nimish Gera:
Yeah, so I basically signed my, I started my career as a lab scientist, so I was working in the lab myself. Even when I started at Mythic, for the first year or so, I was working in the lab, and all of my team worked in the lab, so I very closely work with them. I would say because this is a LabOps podcast, for the first few years, I was also sort of helping on the LabOps side to manage that part of the lab. Now we have a full-time person who helps us with the lab operations, but I work very closely with folks to help design their experiments, to help analyze their data, to help troubleshoot any issues that they would see in their experiments, and also to discuss the relevance of those experiments in the larger picture of what that would mean for a patient. So I do very closely work with all the scientists and also have a big role on the operations side, working with our lab manager, making sure that everything sort of goes smoothly, especially during the last two years, in the pandemic, it’s been quite difficult to make sure that we get the resources that we need from a supply chain perspective because things have been so difficult to grab. I mean, it’s not just things that you find in the store, it’s also the lab supplies have been very difficult to get because, you know, understandably, a lot of resources have gone through the COVID-19 testing and the COVID-19-based therapies, and some of those industries have gotten priority over other works as well. So now I think we’re starting to catch up with some of those supply chain issues and getting better, but I’m staying right on top of a lot of these things and working very closely with the lab folks on these.
Kerri Anderson:
That’s great to hear you’re working closely with the lab operations team. I mean, I think it’s something that we need and is really important for moving science along, to be able to have the scientists working directly with the LabOps folks and making sure it’s not too siloed and that there’s good communication there. Having done LabOps a little bit yourself as a scientist and also now working with the team, what’s something you’ve seen that lab operations does that can help enable drugs to be made and produced faster?
Nimish Gera:
Yeah, I mean, I think, I have realized, having done it myself and also working with the team right now, that it’s a critical part of what we do on a daily basis. I mean, operations not only makes sure that we have the resources that we need to do these critical experiments but also at the same time, the equipment that we use is working. And if you’re doing anything to ship the material to a partner or ship the material to another lab that is going to be working with our molecules, that’s important. Making sure how much of the molecule we have in stock and how much we need to make more to support our future studies is also very important. So, I mean, I would say it is, it appears to be an ancillary thing that supports research, but it very much is part of our day-to-day function on how we operate as a company and how we operate even as an industry because I think it is so important to make sure that all those pieces are there. And like I mentioned before, you know, it couldn’t have been more clear during the COVID-19 pandemic how important it was to make sure that the lab scientists had what they needed in the critical time. So I think it plays a key role on a day-to-day basis.
Samantha Black:
Yeah, can I follow up with one question on that? So COVID was one challenge, and we saw, you know, especially with supply chains. So now we might be in a different period, right? And there’s maybe like an economic recession going on. So I think in this time, like lab operations is especially important for a different reason maybe, and that’s like for efficiency and making sure that your cost is in control in the lab. So can you, have, like, have you noticed anything with, that in your labs recently because of the macroeconomic situation?
Nimish Gera:
Yeah, I mean, I would say that’s something that has always been important at MedTech. We, you know, being a small startup company, we want to use our cash judiciously, so we have always kept that in mind. We’ve looked at a number of different vendors when selecting who to go with and from time to time make sure that we are getting the best price in the market and we’re trying to save what we can for our research because, you know, it’s not like we can’t spend the money, yes, we can, but then what could we redirect that saving towards could be redirected towards buying more of the reagents that we need that would enable us to do more critical experiments, and we always keep that in mind. I think we continue to monitor the market conditions and see how things are changing. Sometimes there are some vendors that have a larger stock and might be able to provide the same supplies at a lower price compared to something else. I mean, we also keep an eye on, you know, unfortunately, there are a lot of companies that aren’t able to continue because of funding reasons or something else and we keep an eye out on that. And sometimes we get some supplies or some reagents from them because they are not going to be in the building anymore or they’re going to be moving to a different building and they can’t take everything with them there. And sometimes for these lab reagents, shipping them is more expensive than actually buying them because of the hazardous nature of those materials. So we keep an eye on all of that and try to make it more efficient for us and also for them and also for the environment. We want to use them judiciously and make sure that we don’t keep ordering the same thing again and again, but we can get it from a different source and fulfill our needs.
Kerri Anderson:
Yeah, that’s great to hear because I think that’s something people often don’t think about is the waste that’s produced in the science that we’re doing. And so it’s good to hear people are thinking about that.
Nimish Gera:
Yeah, yeah, no, that’s a critical piece of it. I think we’re still, as an industry, we still need to figure out a way to minimize on the plastic waste that we generate. I mean, unfortunately, a lot of that is still critical and important and folks are trying to find ways to do that, but it’s difficult. We try to recycle where we can. We have vendors that have worked in the past that would pick up specific waste related to their brands. So we’ve been able to recycle things that way as well.
Kerri Anderson:
Yeah, it’s good to hear. It’s something I hope to see in the coming years that we make more improvements in that area. So what’s something, I’m curious here, what’s your biggest lesson that you’ve learned in your career, and what’s advice that you have to offer to our listeners?
Nimish Gera:
Wow, that’s a great question. I would say overall, it’s, for me, the most important learning has been the people that I work with. It is so important to make sure that you work with the right people, that you like to go into work every day to meet with those people. I mean, as many of us say, you know, we spend more time at work sometimes than we spend at home, and it’s so important to work with the right team, to work with the right people. And I’m very fortunate that I do that at Mythic, and I really love coming to work every single day. And on top of that, I also get to work on cool technologies that hopefully will help patients someday and be better than some of the drugs that are out there. So that will be my advice. I mean, I would say work with the right people, always have a learning mindset, make sure you continue to learn from everyone around you, and continue to value the contributions of people that are around you. That would be my biggest learning.
Samantha Black:
I think that’s some really solid advice. I think having a people-first approach is always a good thing and especially that’s great to hear, like coming from a leader as well, because I think especially in LabOps, people tend to feel like, you know, maybe they’re like stuck in the lab and don’t, you know, it’s a new career path, right? Especially for like dedicated LabOps professionals. And so they do need that advice and they do need to learn and expand and grow. And so I think it’s just good advice. And it’s nice to know that, you know, leaders in different organizations have that as a priority as well. So, yeah, so I guess, Kerri, do you have any other things that you want to pick Nimish’s brain about?
Kerri Anderson:
You know, I’m loving everything we’ve covered so far. I guess I’m wondering, is there anything we haven’t covered that you would want to talk about or anything else going on at your company that’s exciting, that we should look forward to seeing?
Nimish Gera:
I mean, I think I was just going to talk a little bit more about what Samantha was saying around LabOps being a new career path. I think, like I said, you know, I’ve worked with a lot of small companies and I also was the first student of my advisor in my Ph.D. program at NC State, so I pretty much did part of the LabOps job, setting up the lab and helping making sure that we have all those resources. And I think I’ve also grown to appreciate that a lot having done that myself, and it is so critical to do that. I also think for us leaders, it’s important to make sure that the LabOps personnel continue to be involved and be aware of the research that scientists are doing and the research that they are impacting because I think that that really gives them the reason for why they’re supporting all of what they’re supporting. And I think it’s our responsibility as leaders to make sure that this new field or new group of people who are taking this career path are motivated and understand the value of the work that they do. So I think, like you said, Samantha, sometimes they’re lost. But I think, just as important, it is for them to, you know, keep themselves motivated and stay on track. It’s also a responsibility for leaders to make sure that we continue to support this crop of people who really are the foundation for the scientific work that we do on a day-to-day basis. So those would be my last words for the LabOps community.
Kerri Anderson:
Yeah, I absolutely agree with that. Yeah, I mean, I was just going to say, I know for me when I was just starting out, I also came from the bench, I worked as a chemist and then transitioned to LabOps. And it is something that when you understand your why and when you’re more involved with the research and you really know what’s going on, you are more motivated. And I feel just as a part of getting our drugs to market and helping our patients because I do understand what we’re doing. And I always tell members of my team, it’s to know your why, because it’s your motivation, and even then it can help with you understanding maybe how to improve a process if you don’t really know what you’re doing, maybe there’s a better way to do it.
Samantha Black:
Pretty awesome, yeah, I love that. I think that you guys are both like leaders in your space. And I think that, you know, the mindset is so important and it’s just like really encouraging to hear that people are thinking about it and that, you know, I think even since I’ve been involved with LabOps, I think there’s been a lot of strides made. So I think, you know, the next year, the next five years, it’s going to be really exciting time for the field, and, you know, we’re all be a part of it, so I think that’s incredible. Okay, Nimish, so the last question I have for you is just if people want to keep up with you and keep up with your science, keep up with what you’re doing, how can they find you after this podcast episode? How can they keep up with you?
Nimish Gera:
Yeah, so I would say you can connect with me on LinkedIn for sure. I do host, I’m a guest host for some of the podcast episodes on The Chain, which is a protein engineering podcast by Cambridge Health Tech Institute. So if you looked up The Chain Podcast online, you’ll probably find a couple of episodes for me, but I’m also always ready to network and help folks if they want to get advice or want to know more about my career or want to know more about what we do. So feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn and I’ll be happy to help out there.
Samantha Black:
Awesome, so listeners, you heard it here. Reach out to Nimish and he’s really willing to connect with you guys. So get ready, I’m sure your inbox is going to be full.
Kerri Anderson:
I’m excited for this podcast. We’ll have to check it out.
Samantha Black:
Yeah, we don’t get many people who have actually been on a podcast before, so it’s really exciting actually. But thank you so much, we wish you the best and thank you again so much for joining us.
Nimish Gera:
Well, thank you so much for inviting me. I really had a fun time talking to both of you.
Samantha Black:
Awesome, thanks Nimish.
Samantha Black:
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the LabOps Leadership Podcast. We hope you enjoyed today’s guest. For show notes, resources, and more information about LabOps Unite, please visit us at LabOps.Community/Podcast. This show is powered by Elemental Machines.
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