Ep020 - Ryan Cubero: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Career Transitions

Science on Trial [and Error]

What does a data scientist do? How does the work environment in a start-up contrast with that in academia? What challenges await those who switch scientific disciplines? How to stay involved with the scientific community beyond academia?

The typical academic path involves numerous transitions—changing projects, labs, and institutes. Mobility is not only encouraged but often rewarded, as seen in grant criteria. While such changes can broaden your scientific perspective and expose you to different work cultures, they also come with various difficulties and challenges.

Our guest, Ryan Cubero, is no stranger to significant changes. He moved from the Philippines to Italy to further his education, shifted his scientific focus from Physics to Biology and then to Neuroscience, and most recently transitioned from academia to a start-up company as a data scientist.

In our conversation, Ryan reflects on his journey, beginning with his seemingly fate-driven decision to study Physics. This was followed by his venture into the complex world of Biology, prompted by an autoimmune disorder diagnosis. Throughout, he identifies an underlying pattern behind his decisions. Ryan candidly discusses the challenges he faced during his many transitions: feelings of isolation, hesitancy to ask for help, and the struggle to learn new scientific languages and concepts.

Later, Kasia and Ryan delve into the questions they pondered when considering leaving academia. Ryan shares his methods for staying connected with science, explains how his passion for home microscopy began, and offers advice to others seeking to change their lives or careers. The conversation is rich with book recommendations, laughter, and important insights into research culture.

It will feel like you’ve joined us with a cup of your favorite drink—so sit back, grab your tea, coffee, or matcha latte, and enjoy. Welcome, Ryan Cubero!

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If you would like to support the Podcast, you can buy me a coffee ⁠here⁠ - Thanks :)

Find Ryan on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Ryan Cubero comes from the Philippines, where he earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Physics. He then moved to Trieste, Italy, to obtain a Diploma in Condensed Matter Physics at the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). His growing interest in Biology led him to pursue a PhD in Statistical Physics, focusing on mRNA interaction, through a joint project between ICTP and the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Trondheim, Norway. Subsequently, he joined the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) as a postdoctoral fellow, a position he held until July 2023.

Currently, Ryan is a Data Scientist and Bioinformatician at QUANTRO Therapeutics, a start-up dedicated to discovering and developing novel therapeutics that target disease-causing transcriptional programs in cancer and other diseases.

In his free time, Ryan is a passionate microscopist and actively participates in Citizen Science initiatives. During our conversation, he discusses Crowd Preprint Reviewing, an initiative spearheaded by ASAPBio review (check it out!)

Ryan’s book recommendations:

- When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut

- When Einstein Walked with Gödel by Jim Holt

- The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee

- The Spike by Mark Humphries

- Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure by Cedric Villani -----------

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If you would like to support the Podcast, you can buy me a coffee ⁠here⁠ - Thanks :)

Look for Kasia's BookTube channel Reading In-Between ⁠⁠here⁠⁠

Music and Sound Engineering: Lukasz Kowalski

contact: [email protected]