Rabia Khan - Serna Bio: Bridging Science & Tech—PhDs, MBAs, & Biotech Innovation (Part 2/4)

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Episode Description:
“I wish someone had told me when I was starting my PhD to sit down and say, ‘what do I want out of this?’ and [then] write it down. Because, unlike the UK, where PhDs are three years and time bound, in Canada, they are neither time bound nor three years. And so you can meander."

In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Rabia Khan, founder and CEO of Serna Bio, joins host Jon Chee to reflect on her unconventional journey through academia, business, and biotech innovation.

Rabia shares how her curiosity, resilience, and embracing uncertainty shaped her journey through a PhD in genetics and an MBA. She discusses the emotional challenges of working with animal models, the benefits and limits of business school for scientists, and personal struggles, including her father’s illness.

She recounts early setbacks, like rejected consulting jobs, and how a cold email landed her at Meta (now part of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub).

Rabia emphasizes “manufacturing serendipity,” differences between founder and employee mindsets, and lessons from her work at BenevolentAI, highlighting the importance of cross-disciplinary communication and challenging industry norms.

Key topics covered:
● PhD Realities: Tackling emotional and practical research challenges
● Dual-Degree Insights: Balancing PhD and MBA, knowing business limits
● Personal Adversity: Turning family illness into resilience
● Career Breakthroughs: Creating and seizing biotech startup chances
● Bridging Disciplines: Fusing biology and ML to expand drug targets

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Find our guest, Rabia Khan, at these links:
LinkedIn:   / rabiatkhan  
Website: https://www.serna.bio/

Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn:   / jonchee  

Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn:   / excedr  
Website: https://www.excedr.com

Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin

Resources & Articles:
● Case in Point (book): https://caseinterview.com/case-in-point
● SWOT Analysis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_an...
● CRISPR Technology: https://www.genome.gov/genetics-gloss...
● iPSC (Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced...
● GWAS (Genome-Wide Association Studies): https://www.nature.com/articles/s4358...
● Ensembl: https://www.ensembl.org/index.html
● The concept of the “druggable genome”: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/...

Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
● Francis Crick Institute: https://www.crick.ac.uk/
● BenevolentAI: https://www.benevolent.com/
● Meta (Acquired by Chan Zuckerberg Biohub): https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/23/cha...
● GSK (GlaxoSmithKline): https://www.gsk.com/
● Thermo Fisher Scientific: https://www.thermofisher.com/
● Sensyne Health: https://www.sensyne.com/
● Sam Molyneux:   / sammolyneux  
● Amy Molyneux:   / amymolyneux  
● Jackie Hunter:   / drjackiehunter  

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:39 Rabia’s PhD Experience and Challenges
06:04 Comparing PhD Systems in Canada vs. UK
08:53 MBA Insights and Frameworks
15:56 Personal Adversity and Career Impact
18:48 Coping with Family Illness and Career Decisions
23:37 First Job at Meta and Serendipity
33:42 Postdoc at Francis Crick Institute
39:12 Joining BenevolentAI and Early Experiences
44:11 Challenges in Drug Discovery and Druggable Genome
48:58 Outro