Molecules, Microbes And Multiomics

The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study is a prospective longitudinal study initiated in 1980. It is one of the largest follow-up studies into cardiovascular risk from childhood to adulthood. The main aim is to determine the contribution made by childhood lifestyle, biological, and psychological measures to the risk of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. In this podcast, Dr. Katja Pahkala and Dr. Evelina Munukka from the Univeristy of Turku, Finland apeak about this study, why they recently incorporated gut microbiome samples as part of their research, and what role the gut microbiome could play in cardiovascular health.

This week, I interview Dr. Charlie Lees and Lee Murphy, investigators for the PREdiCCt Study (Prognostic effect of environmental factors in Crohn’s and Colitis). PREdiCCt is a major study at the University of Edinburgh that is actively recruiting now. This is the first study of its kind and it is directed towards understanding how environmental factors and the gut microorganisms influence Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) flare and recovery. In this podcast, I speak with Chief Investigator Dr. Charlie Lees and Lee Murphy, Genetics Manager at the Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility about the progress to date on the PREdiCCt study, and what they hope to learn.

Jean Macklaim is a Bioinformatician at DNA Genotek who has an extensive history with RNA research. Jean received her PhD in Biochemistry and Bachelor of Science in Human Genetics from the University of Western Ontario where she focused on sequencing technologies and bioinformatics methods to understand the structure and function of the microbiome in different disease and environmental conditions. In this podcast, Jean speaks about the challenges and potential RNA has in both the research and clinical fields for human microbiome.

An interview with Stephen Tang, President and CEO of OraSure Technologies and its subsidiaries DNA Genotek, CoreBiome and Novosanis. Steve spoke about how he fosters a culture of innovation across the entire organization. In the podcast, he discusses how innovation helps the organization respond to change, how developing people and creating opportunities for them makes them more innovative and how he ensures innovation is not a one time project.

This week, I interview Scott Rabuka, Director of the Genomics Program at DNA Genotek for our podcast, Molecules, Microbes and Multiomics. Scott joined DNA Genotek in 2008 as the product manager for Oragene and successfully expanded the product into a complete family of solutions for global genomic research and clinical use. He is responsible for the launch of the company's first FDA 510(k) cleared product in 2011 as well as multiple new products designed to address evolving global market opportunities. In this podcast, Scott speaks about saliva as a DNA sample type, who’s using it today and how it compares to other sample types in the field, the clinic and in the lab.

We recently had the opportunity to visit our new sister company, Novosanis, in Antwerp, Belgium, to talk about urine as a sample type. Novosanis is dedicated to solving urine sampling challenges through its product Colli-Pee™ - an award-winning device designed to efficiently and hygienically capture first-void urine (the first 20ml of a urine sample). I spoke with their CEO and co-founder, Vanessa Vankerckhoven about the challenges first void urine collection solves for both cancer detection as well as STIs. 

We recently introduced listeners of Molecules, microbes and multiomics to our sister company, CoreBiome, a privately-held, Minnesota-based microbiome analysis company that accelerates discovery for customers in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, environmental and research communities. We are continuing this story via an interview with CoreBiome co-founder, Dr. Dan Knights. In this new podcast, Dr. Knights speaks to us about why the microbiome is so different from the human genome, what answers microbiome research can provide for wellness and disease that we can’t find elsewhere, and what advice he would give an epidemiologist who is looking to add a microbiome component to their project.

In the podcast, Dr. Dan Knights, co-founder and CEO of CoreBiome discusses the problems CoreBiome was built to solve and the challenges surrounding reproducibility in the microbiome field. You’ll learn why he “geeks out” about quality, efficiency, and accuracy and how his team keeps CoreBiome at the forefront of the microbiome industry. Learn more about CoreBiome and what it can do for microbiome researchers and clinicians here.