People Behind the Science Podcast - Stories from Scientists about Science, Life, Research, and Science Careers

Gregory Krug is Founder, President, and CEO of Lampire Biological Laboratories, a biotech life science company that produces biological reagents used in the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industries. Greg and the team at Lampire Biological Laboratories supply biologic reagents and raw materials for the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic industries. Their products are shipped worldwide, and they are used in a lot of different applications. When he’s not working, Greg enjoys spending quality time with his family. He is also very passionate about sports, especially football, lacrosse, and polo. Over the years, Greg has enjoyed coaching and watching his sons’ football and lacrosse games, and he has been highly engaged in the polo community. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Delaware Valley University, and Lampire Enterprises was founded shortly afterwards as a result of work that he started doing as an undergraduate student. Greg incorporated the company as Lampire Biological Laboratories and acquired full ownership several years later. He joins us in this interview to tell us more about his life and science.

Dr. Sapna Sharma is an Associate Professor in Biology at York University. Sapna studies the effects of climate change, invasive species, and pollution on lakes. She is investigating how these effects are manifested through water quality, fish populations, water temperatures, and lake ice. With a young, a lot of Sapna’s time away from science is spent with her family. It has been fun to go to music classes and swimming classes together. She received her PhD in Ecology and evolution from the University of Toronto and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Montreal and the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She served on the faculty at Loyola before joining the faculty at York where she is today. Sapna is also founder of a science outreach program at York University for refugee children called SEEDS. She is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.


Dr. Corey Hopkins is a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In his lab, Corey and his team use chemistry to answer the biological questions behind diseases and how to treat them. They make drug-like compounds and test them in biological systems to investigate whether particular proteins are involved in the disease process. They are particularly interested in diseases with unmet medical needs, including neurological diseases such as schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. When he’s not working, Corey likes to spend his time home-brewing beer, golfing, and lately he has started learning how to play the guitar. He earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Indiana University and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh. Afterwards, he held industry positions at Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, and then Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals. He served on the faculty at Vanderbilt University before joining the faculty at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2016. He has been awarded UNMC’s Excellence in Mentoring Award, Most Promising Invention Award, and Distinguished Scientist Award. In this interview, he shares more about his life and science.

Dr. Daniel Goldman is an Associate Professor of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His lab studies how animals like lizards and snakes move around in complex natural environments. They use physics to understand movement and test their hypotheses in robotic systems with the goal of developing robots with greater abilities to navigate complex environments. When he's not doing science, Dan spends much of his time with his young daughter. He received his PhD in Physics from the University of Texas, Austin and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. Dan has received many awards and honors during his career including recently being named a Georgia Power Professor of Excellence and receipt of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a DARPA Young Faculty Award, a Sigma Xi Young Faculty award, an NSF CAREER/PECASE Award, a Georgia Tech Blanchard Milliken Fellowship, the Georgia Tech Fund for Innovation in Research and Education Award, and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface. In addition, Dan is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. His work has also been featured by the New York Times, NPR, BBC, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and other media sources. Dan is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Adriana San Miguel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. Adriana conducts research using a small roundworm called Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). They use this model organism to better understand processes such as aging, neurodegeneration, and stress. In particular, Adriana’s lab uses engineering tools and approaches to try to conduct research that is highly efficient and quantitative. In her free time, Adriana enjoys exercising, swimming, and spending quality time with her family. She received her BSc. in chemical engineering from ITESM, a technological institute in Monterrey, Mexico. As an undergraduate, she received the Frisa Entrepreneurship Award from ITESM as well as the Craig P. Dunn Award for Social Innovations in Entrepreneurship from the San Diego State University Venture challenge. Prior to starting graduate school, Adriana worked in the cement and water-treatment industries. She was awarded her PhD in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech, and during her PhD, she was recognized with the Exemplary Academic Achievement Award and the Ziegler Award for Best PhD Thesis Proposal from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. Afterwards, Adriana worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia Tech and at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. As a postdoc she received an NIH K99 Pathway to Independence Award. In our interview, she shares more about her life and science.

Dr. Mike Blatt is the Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow and Adjunct Professor at Pennsylvania State University. Mike is a cell biologist and physiologist who studies cells to understand how the parts fit together to accomplish important functions in plants. He is also passionate about electronics, and he has built much of the equipment they use for their work. Mike loves winter sports, especially downhill and cross country skiing. In fact, he has skied throughout most of his life is currently looking forward to an upcoming ski trip to the Alps with his father who is still hitting the slopes in his nineties! He conducted his undergraduate studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he received his BS with honors in Botany and Biochemistry. Next, Mike was awarded a PhD in Plant Biology from Stanford University while working in the Department of Plant Biology at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. During his graduate work, Mike received a Fullbright-Hays Graduate Fellowship to study at the University of Nürnberg. Afterwards, Mike traveled to Yale University Medical School to accept an NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship and then to the University of Cambridge to accept a NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship. He has served on the faculty at the University of London and Imperial College London prior to joining the faculty at the University of Glasgow. Mike has received many awards and honors throughout his career, including being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the James Hutton Institute, and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the premier international journal Plant Physiology. In this interview, Mike discusses his experiences in life and science.

Dr. David Kaplan is the Stern Family Endowed Professor of Engineering at Tufts University, a Distinguished University Professor, and Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He also holds faculty appointments in the School of Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, and the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical and Biological Engineering. For his research, David looks to nature for sources of inspiration, and he uses scientific and engineering disciplines to create new things. His work spans biopolymer engineering, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and cellular agriculture. In his free time, David enjoys traveling, meeting new people, observing nature, and studying trees from both a naturalist and scientific perspective. David received his B.S. degree in biology from the State University of New York and his PhD in biochemistry from Syracuse University and SUNY Syracuse. He worked as a research scientist at Natick Research & Development Center for several years before joining the faculty at Tufts University in 1996. He has received multiple awards for his research and teaching, including the Clemson Award for literature contributions from the Society for Biomaterials, the Massachusetts Columbus Quincentennial Award, and the Henry and Madeline Fischer Faculty Award from Tufts University. In addition, David is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the National Academy of Engineering, and the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering. In this interview, he shares more about his life and science.

Dr. Barry Byrne is the Earl and Christy Powell University Chair in Genetics, Associate Chair of Pediatrics, Director of the Powell Gene Therapy Center, and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Florida. He conducts research on neuromuscular diseases which may cause problems such as muscle weakness, uncoordinated movements, difficulty speaking, and heart problems. In addition, Barry is a practicing physician who treats patients with these diseases. When he isn’t working in the lab or treating patients, Barry enjoys spending time with his family. He also likes to get outdoors to play sports, cycle, or go hiking. Barry received his B.S. in Chemistry from Denison University and his M.D. and Ph.D in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Illinois. He completed his Pediatrics residency, cardiology fellowship training, and post-doctoral training in Biological Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Barry started his career as a faculty member at Johns Hopkins, and he joined the faculty at the University of Florida in 1997. Barry’s excellence in research has been recognized throughout his career through his receipt of various awards including the Faculty Research Prize in Clinical Research and the Research Professor Award from the University of Florida, as well as the Clinician Scientist Award from Johns Hopkins University. In this interview, Barry shares more about his research and his journey through life and science.

Dr. Alex DiFeliceantonio is an Assistant Professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion School as well as Associate Director of the Center for Health Behaviors Research. Alex’s research examines why we eat what we eat in terms of the underlying neuroscience and physiological factors that influence food choice. Diet and food choice have tremendous impacts on health, and these can be targets for interventions to improve health and people’s lives. In her free time, Alex enjoys going to parks, shopping at the local farmer’s market, and watching garbage collection trucks with her young son. She is also an avid reader, and she particularly loves science fiction and fantasy novels. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Sweet Briar College and her PhD in biospsychology from the University of Michigan. Afterwards, she worked as a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow in the Translational Neurocircuitry Group at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne, Germany. She also conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and served as an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University before accepting her current position. In our interview, Alex shares more about her life and science.

Dr. Tara C. Smith is an Associate Professor in Epidemiology at Kent State University and Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa. She works with bacteria that can be transferred between animals and people, and she often studies antibiotic-resistant bacteria. When not working, Tara spends a lot of time with her family, and is often driving her kids to their sports, music, and other activities. She received her PhD in Microbiology from the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan. Afterward, Tara served on the faculty at the University of Iowa for about nine years before joining the faculty at Kent State. In this interview, Tara shared more about her journey through life and science.