EP 180: From a consulting project to a biotech start-up with Leeland Ekstrom of Nashville Bio

This week on The Genetics Podcast, Patrick is joined by Leeland Ekstrom, CEO and co-founder of Nashville Bio. They discuss how Leeland went from being a consultant on a project for Vanderbilt University to a co-founder of a start-up and the unique aspects of NashBio’s clinical and genetic database.

Show Notes: 

0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast

00:59 Welcome to Leeland and the origin story of Nashville Bio

05:13 Process of setting up NashBio’s genome resource with 250K individuals

11:52 How different pharmaceutical companies responded to NashBio’s database and its unique advantages compared to others

17:50 Key priorities for applications of the resource beyond target discovery

20:19 The process of selecting additional gaps that NashBio’s services can fill versus letting others fill them

25:02 Advantages at Vanderbilt Medical Center that facilitated the project and how it can be replicated at other centers

30:32 Immediate and long-term impacts of current NIH funding cuts on biotech and academia

36:43 NashBio’s current major focuses and future goals

39:20 Closing remarks

Find out more

• NashBio (https://nashbio.com/)

• Press release: Alliance for Genomic Discovery completes 250,000 whole genomes to accelerate drug discovery (https://www.illumina.com/company/news-center/press-releases/press-release-details.html?newsid=b4b0c901-f8a2-4802-a4ef-b81167e24cfe) 

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