{"podcast":{"title":"Dose of Discovery","slug":"dose-of-discovery-7804790","podcast_index_feed_id":7804790,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/69c6aa4bc2759aa9b124f8f4","website_url":"https://shows.acast.com/dose-of-discovery","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/69c6aa4bc2759aa9b124f8f4/1775657433669-34b2d69d-3ace-493b-a8bd-eff94c73595f.jpeg","author":"Søren Hough","episode_count":3,"summary":"Dose of Discovery is BioXconomy 's monthly science podcast about the ideas, research, and people shaping modern biomedicine. Hosts AJ and Søren bring their scientific training to make sense of biomedical discovery for listeners. The show brings thoughtful, accessible conversations to subjects that often feel closed off or over-complicated. Each month, they sit down with leading scientists to explore research shaping oligo therapeutics, mRNA technology, and advanced therapies, and more, tracing how those ideas move from research toward real-world impact. For biotech professionals, researchers, and curious listeners, Dose of Discovery offers smart, grounded science conversation with a warm over-coffee feel. Be sure to check out BioXconomy for more deep-dive conversations about the latest in biomedical research. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/dose-of-discovery-7804790"},"episode":{"title":"Serendipity and siRNA: Julia Alterman on Expanding RNA Therapeutics","slug":"serendipity-and-sirna-julia-alterman-on-expanding-rna-therapeutics","published_at":"2026-04-22T03:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/dose-of-discovery-7804790/serendipity-and-sirna-julia-alterman-on-expanding-rna-therapeutics","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/dose-of-discovery-7804790","url":"https://shows.acast.com/dose-of-discovery/episodes/serendipity-and-sirna-dr-julia-alterman-on-expanding-rna-the","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/69c6aa4bc2759aa9b124f8f4/e/69e757fd738b0d0aa5a094cb/media.mp3","summary":"Welcome to Dose of Discovery : a dose of breakthrough medical discoveries, delivered with your morning coffee. (Coffee not included.) In this first episode, hosts AJ and Søren speak to Julia Alterman, assistant professor at the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan Medical School, about how siRNA technology has evolved from a useful laboratory research tool into a promising therapeutic modality. Their conversation explores innovations in siRNA chemistry and how these changes have enabled researchers to craft potent siRNA drugs. Julia talks about her unlikely beginnings as a theater major before finding her way into biology – eventually leading her into the biotech industry and academia. Along the way, she discusses the challenges of delivering siRNAs beyond the liver into harder-to-reach tissues such as the brain and muscle, and the serendipitous discovery that helped launch Atalanta Therapeutics. In this episode: 04:23 – Explainer: What are siRNAs? 08:42 – Meet Julia Alterman 12:39 – Julia’s history in industry 16:33 – UMass and a PhD pivot 18:28 – siRNAs versus ASOs 21:39 – siRNAs versus CRISPR 28:33 – A serendipitous breakthrough 38:02 – Baby steps and big leaps 42:10 – Stability and the therapeutic window 46:27 – The importance of strong science communication 50:55 – Scientists and VC funding 54:28 – Wrap up and reflections About the guest Julia Alterman is an assistant professor at the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan Medical School, where she develops new siRNA therapies for genetically defined diseases. Her work spans RNA chemistry, delivery, and pharmacology. Her earlier research into siRNA scaffold was licensed to Atalanta Therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease. https://www.umassmed.edu/khvorovalab/People/faculty/Julia-Alterman/…","meta_description":"Welcome to Dose of Discovery : a dose of breakthrough medical discoveries, delivered with your morning coffee. (Coffee not included.) In this first episod…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3700,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/dose-of-discovery-7804790/episodes/serendipity-and-sirna-julia-alterman-on-expanding-rna-therapeutics/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/dose-of-discovery-7804790/serendipity-and-sirna-julia-alterman-on-expanding-rna-therapeutics.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}