Damien Wilpitz, CEO, Host
CEO AT EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS CONSULTING, INC, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS . 2012
MANAGEMENT TRAINING AT HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE & HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL.
RESEARCH TRAINING AT HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE AT THE SALK BIOLOGICAL INSTITUTE & UCLA. 

Damien’s practice focuses on helping independent scientists with the business side of laboratory research. His practice focuses on assisting early career biomedical researchers with setting up and managing management practice with financial, operational, and personnel strategies. 

LINK TO CURRENT PUBLICATIONS: PUBMED

LINK TO PRACTICE: E|D|C, Inc.

INTERVIEW CONTENT:

Thanks to Derek Loudermilk  for helping me to share my own story with us today, and to talk about his own journey in the lifestyle entrepreneurial world. 

He's a scientist himself who’s also a self-made entrepreneur and adventure. He has his own radio podcast, The Art of Adventure, where he features other adventures. He brought me on his show and basically interviews me about my passionate pursuits about helping others in the life sciences. 

"My passion in science is evolving. Beyond the lab bench, I love to discuss scientific philosophy, the future of research, the economics of science, going on scientific adventures, the collaborations of researchers, failures and lessons. By telling the stories of science, adventure, and discovery, I hope to inspire and make accessible the beauty and curiosity of science as a lifestyle". -Derek

SOME OF WHAT WE LEARN IN THIS EPISODE:

  • -How entrepreneurship is like the science of discovery
  • -How we have to invest in all scientific research even though we don’t know in advance which discoveries will turn out to be beneficial
  • -How translational, or “bench to bedside”, research is easier for the NIH to fund, even while the fundamentals for translational work are created by the basic researchers
  • -How NASA does a great job of making their story cool
  • -How Damien treats labs like a business and comes up with repeatable systems and processes for researchers
  • -How Damien starts backwards from specific scientific aims and total lab budgets to figure out how to achieve those aims
  • -How pilot experiments in science are like minimum viable product (from lean startup terminology)
  • -How important emotional intelligence is to consider when recruiting scientific team members (not just technical skill)
  • -The power of the testimonial and how important proof of results is (in the form of early instant wins) for scientists who want to hire Damien – he starts with budgets because they are low cost to implement
  • -How working as a scientist gives him street cred as a science consultant
  • -How listening carefully to researcher’s stress and anxiety and applying action steps are Damien’s best traits as a consultant (to drill down to the causative effects of a problem)
  • -How he came up with his tag line: “Managing to make science easier”
  • -How every morning Damien “defragments his brain” by asking “What did I learn the day before, and how can I apply it to the future”.
  • -How entrepreneurship is like the science of discovery
  • -How we have to invest in all scientific research even though we don’t know in advance which discoveries will turn out to be beneficial
  • -How translational, or “bench to bedside”, research is easier for the NIH to fund, even while the fundamentals for translational work are created by the basic researchers
  • -How NASA does a great job of making their story cool
  • -How Damien treats labs like a business and comes up with repeatable systems and processes for researchers
  • -How Damien starts backwards from specific scientific aims and total lab budgets to figure out how to achieve those aims
  • -How pilot experiments in science are like minimum viable product (from lean startup terminology)
  • -How important emotional intelligence is to consider when recruiting scientific team members (not just technical skill)
  • -The power of the testimonial and how important proof of results is (in the form of early instant wins) for scientists who want to hire Damien – he starts with budgets because they are low cost to implement
  • -How working as a scientist gives him street cred as a science consultant
  • -How listening carefully to researcher’s stress and anxiety and applying action steps are Damien’s best traits as a consultant (to drill down to the causative effects of a problem)
  • -How he came up with his tag line: “Managing to make science easier”
  • -How every morning Damien “defragments his brain” by asking “What did I learn the day before, and how can I apply it to the future”.
 
“Stories are the Flintstone vitamins for knowledge.”
— Damien
 

Thank you for listening to The Leading Life Science Radio Podcast. We’d love to hear from you, the listener. So, please leave a comment or suggestions about questions you’d like to hear from our guests, that could help you on your journey.

Also, please let us know what leaders in science inspire you to pursue a career in the life sciences.