🧬Barry Ticho - Stoke Therapeutics - Part 1 | From Family of Physicians to Vision-Driven Scientist | Barry’s MD-PhD Journey | Leadership Through Critical Thinking & Resilience | The Journey From Academia to Industry

The Biotech Startups Podcast

The Biotech Startups Podcast, brought to you by Excedr—empowering life science startups with founder-friendly equipment leasing to fast-track R&D and drive commercialization success.

Know someone in need of lab equipment? Join Excedr’s referral program: Give your friends $1,000 and earn $1,000 for every qualified referral! 💸

Get your unique referral link here: refer.excedr.com/ZTHETY.

Part 1 of 4: Jon Chee hosts Barry Ticho, Founder of Verve Therapeutics and Chief Medical Officer at Stoke Therapeutics, a biotech company addressing the underlying cause of severe diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA-based medicines.

With an MD-PhD from the University of Chicago and extensive experience across academia and industry, Barry brings over two decades of expertise in clinical development. His journey includes roles as Head of Development at Moderna, Head of External R&D Innovation at Pfizer, and VP of Clinical Development at Biogen, where he's been instrumental in advancing numerous therapeutic programs across multiple disease areas.

Barry's unique perspective spanning academic medicine and biotechnology innovation makes his insights invaluable for aspiring leaders in the field.

Join us this week to hear about:

• Barry's upbringing as one of five boys in a family of physicians
• A transformative moment watching a child regain sight that crystallized his career path
• His foundational experiences at Haverford College where he discovered his passion for biology
• His journey through the MD-PhD program at the University of Chicago
• How education, critical thinking, and resilience shaped his leadership approach

Please enjoy Jon’s conversation with Barry Ticho.

Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994

Find Our Guest, Barry Ticho at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryticho/

https://www.stoketherapeutics.com/

https://www.vervetherapeutics.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee

https://www.excedr.com

Excedr Socials & Website

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr

Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

Stoke Therapeutics https://www.stoketherapeutics.com/

Verve Therapeutics https://www.vervetherapeutics.com/

Moderna https://www.modernatx.com/

Pfizer https://www.pfizer.com/

Biogen https://www.biogen.com/

Ophthalmology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophthalmology

Haverford University https://www.haverford.edu/

University of Chicago https://www.uchicago.edu/en

Harvard Medical School https://hms.harvard.edu/

Boston Children's Hospital https://www.childrenshospital.org/

How to Spin Out of Academia: https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup

Patent Licensing for Biotechs: https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-patent-licensing-works

Biotech Startup Support: https://www.excedr.com/resources-category/biotech-startup-support

People Mentioned:

Phil Sharp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Allen_Sharp

Murray Rabinowitz https://www.nasonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/rabinowitz-murray.pdf

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

03:04 Barry's background and introduction

03:37 Growing up in a family of Holocaust survivor physicians

05:29 Four out of five brothers choosing medicine

07:14 Early exposure to ophthalmology and patient care

09:27 The transformative moment: witnessing a child regain sight

12:45 Choosing Haverford and discovering biology

14:06 Early laboratory experiences and liberal arts education

19:05 The path to University of Chicago's MD-PhD program

22:13 First research experiences with RNA and transcription

23:55 Graduate school years: freedom and scientific method

30:15 Mentorship style and thesis advisor's influence

33:05 Leadership lessons from graduate training

36:28 Outro

The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.