Paul Krzyzanowski
Paul is a computational biologist and writer living in Toronto. He’s been a contributor to Signals for three years, writing articles for the general public about how biotechnology and biomedical research can be used to solve pressing medical problems.
Alongside Paul’s experience in computational biology,
bioinformatics,
and molecular genetics, he’s interested in how academic research develops into real world, commercial technology, and what’s needed for the Canadian biotech industry needs to grow.
Paul is currently a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research. Prior to joining the OICR, he worked at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa, specializing in computational biology. And finally, Paul earned an H.B.Sc. from the University of Toronto a long time ago.
Paul’s blog can be read at www.checkmatescientist.net
Posts by: Paul
Why the pen is sometimes mightier than the pipette – Part 2
. Last week I posted a summary of the first half of a full day Communications for Scientists workshop organized by the Stem Cell Network. This post picks up where I left off, with a description of a “Dragon’s Den” style pitch session intended to introduce trainees to necessary communications skills within a commercialization context. The…Read more
Why the pen is sometimes mightier than the pipette – Part 1
. If Edward Bulwer-Lytton were a biologist two centuries ago, he might have quipped that the pen is mightier than the pipette instead of immortalizing the sword in his expression. Yet phrases emphasizing the power of words have been around for nearly three thousand years and are more relevant to your science than you might…Read more
Update: $600M insider trading fine is largest ever
. As a follow up to last month’s post describing how leaked information about an Alzheimer’s drug clinical trial led to the largest ever case of insider trading and destroyed the careers of Dr. Sidney Gilman, a well-respected clinician, and Matthew Martoma, a young stock trader, the Securities and Exchange Commission has just levied the…Read more
Drug giants filling in the Valley of Death
Faced with patent shortages to replace flagship products, Big Pharma is increasing investments in smaller biotech companies to capture innovations early. Most new companies wither and die if they run out of initial funds before they’re profitable. In biotech, companies may strive to hit goals such as proving that a technology works as intended, developing…Read more
Cells as drugs: Health Canada approves mesenchymal stem cell based treatment
Many readers may already have heard of Health Canada’s approval of Osiris’ Prochymal, a mesenchymal stem cell treatment for severe cases of pediatric Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD), with plenty of coverage circulating around the web. GvHD is a disease where transplanted bone marrow generates an immune system that attacks cells of the recipient. The…Read more
BioTime: A new Geron, without a decade of baggage
Avid watchers of the stem cell and regenerative medicine market have no doubt heard of Geron selling its stem cell assets to BioTime. Nature covered it in some detail last month, and the transaction itself follows a Letter of Intent announced last November, which valued it at approximately $71 million. The transaction leaves Geron to…Read more