Part 2 "How about starting a science Start up during your Gap Year?" A talk with Anthony.

Hey Everyone, and welcome to the second part of this episode. Last time we talked about the idea behind the project, but now a little bit more about the inspiration behind it and the team. Hope you enjoy and let's get right into it!💌

Transcript

0:02

Hey everyone. And welcome back to the gap year podcast by Kaleena Elkins. And welcome to the second part of this episode. Last time we talked about the idea behind the project, but now a little bit more about the inspiration behind it. And the team itself. Hope you enjoy and let's get right into it.

Track 1 0:27

I wanted to ask, how much time do you need to devote to such a project? Does it, engulf a lot of your gap year time?

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 0:37

yeah, so,

Track 1 0:38

It's like a full time job, probably.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 0:42

yeah, so I actually have nine hours a day allocated to this project. About like three or four, somewhere between two and four hours in meetings. And, you know, working with the rest of the team trying to,

Track 1 0:55

Mhm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 0:56

grants done, working through everything. Then another two, maybe three hours every day learning about whatever I'm doing, because I don't understand what I'm doing yet. I need to, I need to look up everything and prepare for the next meeting, So that I'll come in with new knowledge and be able to explain things better. Maybe look up things I didn't understand. And then, and then the rest of the time, I spend just at the computer developing, just writing more and more back end code, cleaning up existing tests, running new tests, a lot of this data analysis.

Track 1 1:34

And my next question was, are you working in a team? I think you answered this question, but how many are you in the team, if I can ask?

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 1:46

yes, of course. we have, four core team members currently. one has a master's in business administration. He is a, he's a Team USA figure skating coach, so. So he's helping, so he's really helpful on both the business and the experimental design

Track 1 2:05

Yes.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 2:07

My mother is working on this project. She has experience in brain mapping and, movement disorders. So she's kind of on the research side, but also learning the business side to work on that. And our fourth team member is, has experience in, in industry. So she's, business school graduate so she's helping us develop our own wearable motion capture suit. So integrating sensors into clothing so that it's easy to put on. Just managing all of that. It's, it's a really cool project. We have me, a high school student, working on all the technical aspects of everything. I'm just running all the development and everything. I recruited a bunch of friends from around the world to do that. So a few of them are just online friends, but then a few of them are actually from Zalem. So that's really great.

Track 1 3:03

that's interesting. That's

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 3:05

of my friends were really interested when I asked them if they wanted to try something new and said yes.

Track 1 3:11

Yeah, with the, are they helping with the more programming part or? Mm hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 3:18

They're helping with wherever they can and largely that's just programming. It's really hard to collaborate on a lot of the other stuff like grant writing over zoom. That's

Track 1 3:31

Mm hmm. Yeah.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 3:33

hard. Yeah, no, they're all large just coding.

Track 1 3:37

Mm hmm. That's interesting. That's very nice. So you have a very You're four main, team members, but then you have a whole network of people around the world. everything sounds super amazing and interesting, really. That's, that's incredible. Congratulations with the whole project. And it's a good thing that you have the gap year to kind of develop it even further.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 4:01

Yeah,

Track 1 4:02

Probably some time from the uni as well, but.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 4:04

Yeah, we'll see how much I can give during the uni, uni, but I'm trying to get everything in a place where we're ready for new research. So getting all the back end databases the chaos there set up that while I'm in uni. I don't need to spend as much time actively developing. And I had another question. We kind of answered this, but where did this interest start from, initially from your side? Yeah, so, it's kind of an intersection of everything that I've done, which is why it's so interesting. it's in figure skating, and I love figure skating. It's, it's all about science and math, and I love that too. Computer programming has, ever since I found out about it and I started trying it out for myself, it's always been really interesting. It's kind of a nerd thing, but it's kind of what I do in my free time as well. You just sit down and you write some programs and you see what you develop, see what you build.

Track 1 5:08

Mhm. You're creating something.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 5:11

yeah, and then what really tied everything together is, At home, I did a lot of volunteering at, fundraising events for movement disorders.

Track 1 5:22

You have an emotional connection to the

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 5:25

met a lot of people who are like, when I first mentioned this to them,

Track 1 5:31

Mhm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 5:31

people came up and said, great, I don't care what you're going to do, like, just can I sign up for this trial? How can I help? Uh, what

Track 1 5:39

so nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 5:42

ataxia is such a, not an underrepresented, but also kind of, it's a rare disease, But we also believe that it's a key to all these other movement diseases. So all these studies with Alzheimer's Huntington's, a lot of them don't actually have the disease. At least half of them don't even end up having the disease. They just do these massive studies, giving everyone these drugs, and see who develops it. Like, ataxia is Or specifically, hereditary ataxia is guaranteed. You look at the genes and you see the ataxia gene there, so you know what they'll have, how they'll have it, and when. so you can much better do intervent like, measure the effective in intervention. So, just helping this population,, we think is really the key to helping all movement disorders and eventually, you know, just blossoming into every helping everyone, improving everyone's life.

Track 1 6:46

hmm. Mm

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 6:48

And then I think this is a touchy subject for a lot of people as well, because a lot of people have these. Like, My grandfather, he has trouble moving. He's a bit, he, you know, as the age gets on, he's getting a bit slower. He's fallen a few times and

Track 1 7:02

Mm hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 7:04

it's just

Track 1 7:05

I think this, this will help a lot of people also mentally, really, which is, which is a very big advantage of this research. you elaborate a little bit more about, The genetic disease you were concentrating in.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 7:21

Okay, so, we're not actually looking at genetic diseases now

Track 1 7:25

Yeah. Mm

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 7:27

but in the future, in maybe like five, seven years, once we are, once we have all the supporting research in sports and injury prevention, we're looking at, It's called Spinal Cerebellar Ataxia, or SCA, or SCA, is a class of ataxia, which is, which results from the degeneration of the cerebellum. So, the cerebellum controls all your movements, and, Yeah, that degeneration is

Track 1 7:58

Okay. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 8:01

symptoms are often as if you're drunk, because you can't really control your movements, you're clumsy, you're dropping things, you can't, you know, But no, they're not drunk, they just have ataxia.

Track 1 8:12

Oh, no. Mm hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 8:13

It's such a problem that people actually carry around cards saying, I have ataxia, this is what it is. No, I'm not drunk.

Track 1 8:20

Oh, no. Poor people. Yeah. Oh, my God. No.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 8:27

yeah. So this disease is often

Track 1 8:30

hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 8:32

often results from, repeat expansions.

Track 1 8:34

Mm hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 8:35

So one of the more recently discovered Ataxia's types is Ataxia SCA 27 type B. I just know a bit more about this because it came out so recently. So SCA 27 B is caused by a repeat expansion in the FGF 14 gene. So there's a GAA repeat expansion. Are you familiar with how repeat expansions work?

Track 1 9:01

I genetics is my favorite field, so I'm, I'm okay with any terminology.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 9:07

A repeat expansion is basically when you have in this case GAA, GAA, GAA Occasionally when they're replicating it can kind of slip and then there's a little loop sticking out and then when the and then when they Your body, I forget the molecule,, when, when your body comes by and sees this loop, it correct, it often corrects it by expanding the pair strand to insert a new repeat. So eventually these just get longer and longer and longer, and once you hit around 200 to 250 repeats, you start noticing, you start having a noticeable effect on your movement.

Track 1 9:54

You're hoping that maybe in a couple of years, you'll be able to look more into genetic disorders as well.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 10:01

Yeah, long term we're looking at genetic, well, long term we're looking at, looking into movement disorders, and genetic movement disorders are just the best place to start, you know what they have.

Track 1 10:20

In seven years, I might be doing my PhD in genetics. So you can give me a call.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 10:27

Okay, we, that would be great,

Track 1 10:30

Yeah,

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 10:30

I definitely will.

Track 1 10:33

that would be cool. So I wanted to ask you, did you expect everything to turn in such a direction with this project?

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 10:44

Gap year, I did not expect to turn in this direction. I don't think I realized. You know, it's a fun idea, let's go do a startup. But I didn't realize how much work it was and how much On the business side, how, how involved you had to be, it's not just, it's not like you imagine all these corporate jobs to be. You go in every day, you do some work on some project and then you go home.

Track 1 11:08

Mm hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 11:08

involved.

Track 1 11:09

Yeah.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 11:09

Um, and then working on the business side is just, I didn't expect that at all. So that was a, probably in the future, I will probably say that was a pleasant surprise, but,

Track 1 11:23

Yeah.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 11:24

it's, it's a lot to learn. And then, and then, yeah, just learning how to Speak out and be clear. So it's almost like it's practice for this podcast. Yeah

Track 1 11:37

probably have many interviews from now on, so yeah. This whole interview is a practice for your, a bunch of other future interviews where they ask you questions. And I wanted to ask you, what are some of the most unforgettable moments from your whole gap year journey until now? Mm

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 12:06

I'd have to say that Yeah, that's that's a really tough question because it's just been action packed one after the other

Track 1 12:17

Mm hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 12:17

are two note like most notable moments that I really remember So, one was presenting at Hopkins. That was incredible.

Track 1 12:28

Oh my God. Yes. That sounds wow.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 12:32

there, talking, and just being in the room with all these people, like all these other students who were just so smart. That was just incredible. Um, going to, I mean, my first presentation, I don't think I'll be forgetting that anytime soon, when I presented. At Society for Neuroscience, I had a poster in a, this massive poster hall. Um, apparently there were 20, I think there were, I think they said there were 25, 000 people in that hall. It was,

Track 1 13:09

Oh, wow. Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 13:11

DC Convention Center is really big. And, and I was just a little poster in this giant hall. you know, post, but then that was great. We talked to a lot of interesting people. And then the third and final,

Track 1 13:29

Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 13:30

So far one of the other very memorable moments was going to the Consumer Electronics Show in, in Vegas. Um, the incredible thing is it had, I think they say they had over 130, 000 attendees, they were in basically every single major convention. So they filled up the Las Vegas Convention Center, which, I think it's over 100, 000 square meters. it filled up all the other convention and meeting rooms, ballrooms, and everything. Basically all the major hotels on the strip.

Track 1 14:13

Yes.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 14:13

it was massive, and we only got to see a small portion of it in those three short days. Those days flew by, and we barely made it through three or four of the halls out of the, we didn't even see most of the other hotels. We went to two, the Convention Center and the Venetian. There were, I think there were another eight hotels or so listed that we didn't even get to visit.

Track 1 14:39

Oh, wow. Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 14:41

It was really big, but it was incredible.

Track 1 14:44

It does sound incredible. the new tech, Oh, such an amazing gap year experience. It's so, you've went a very long way from Zalem, really, for the last couple of months.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 15:02

yeah,. A lot has happened since then.

Track 1 15:08

And, one other question, do you have any other gap year plans in the sense that what are the next couple of steps in your gap year?

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 15:22

Yeah, so, personally, I am taking a, I'm finally taking a bit of a vacation to travel.

Track 1 15:30

Yeah?

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 15:31

next week, actually, I'm going to Greece. My,

Track 1 15:36

really?

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 15:37

yeah, my sister's taking a year a semester abroad. So we're gonna go we're going with her as she goes out to Athens. So I get to see that.

Track 1 15:47

Oh my god. Oh, Greece for a second time during your gap year.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 15:52

yeah! Yeah.

Track 1 15:54

Wow.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 15:56

And then,

Track 1 15:56

Wow, that's

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 15:57

and then I'm also going to Japan for a few weeks in April, so

Track 1 16:04

of good food in your future travels.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 16:09

And then, and then on the deeper edge

Track 1 16:13

Mm hmm. Mm

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 16:14

side of things, it's just getting everything ready to go for when I have to leave.

Track 1 16:21

Oh, for uni?

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 16:23

Yeah, it's just about getting ready, getting everything ready to go for when I leave for uni, getting everything set up. And

Track 1 16:30

Mm

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 16:31

hopefully we get funding before then so someone else can get hired and take my place.

Track 1 16:39

Mm hmm. And when do you, are you going to start uni, actually? Is it a little bit earlier than, in Europe? Is it early September, maybe August?

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 16:50

even earlier. So,

Track 1 16:51

Oh, wow.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 16:52

move in, so,

Track 1 16:54

Mm hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 16:55

moving in happens maybe mid August or so, and then there's orientation, and then school kicks off in September,

Track 1 17:02

Mm hmm. Mm

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 17:03

but, it's, it's different for every school, but that's roughly where everything is in the U. S., so, I have. Just, just a few more months in this gap year.

Track 1 17:15

Yes.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 17:16

The first half has really just flew by.

Track 1 17:19

Yes. I, I agree with this. It's, it's been so, such a, I don't know, the last couple of months have gone by so fastly. It feels At least if I get into some German unis, I'm gonna start in October, so a little bit later than you are going to start, but no, really, I, I felt like the one year is such a long time, and I was even asking myself, what am I going to do for such a long time, have like so much time to do all of the things I wanted to do, and things like these, but no, When I started first doing like those online courses, then I started learning sign language, actually Bulgarian sign language,

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 18:04

Wow.

Track 1 18:05

Yeah, because I was very interested in it. It has been very cool. But all of those things went by so fastly and I don't know, I wish I had a lit, I wish I would relax a little bit more in the future and focus only on the podcast And my last question.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 18:21

Of course.

Track 1 18:22

What would you say or recommend to someone that wants to do a startup? Kind of what is something essential that they need to know? You can think about this one.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 18:37

So I am by no means an expert in this and we are still working through the process right now. But the one thing that we have really heard and that we've kind of seen a bit when we went to the consumer electronics show is to make sure that you know your. No, you're buyer. So there are so many products out there that are, that are a solution in search of a problem. So you have. a solution. For example, there's a company that had a, that could basically transmit Wi Fi through your body.

Track 1 19:20

Oh,

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 19:20

So you could connect two, two sensor, like you could connect two nodes, maybe a wristwatch and a sensor somewhere else.

Track 1 19:27

Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 19:28

using the conductivity of the human body, you could transmit signals across your body at much, at a much, much lower energy cost. And yeah, but I, I don't know. I can't think about that,

Track 1 19:49

Okay.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 19:50

That's a really cool product, but, and that's a really cool technology. Actually,

Track 1 19:56

Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 19:56

That's a bad example. a

Track 1 19:58

one. Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 19:59

lot of people come up with a solution in search of a problem, like having think of a good way to represent this.

Track 1 20:14

Mm-Hmm. something you kind of wished you knew before starting except the paperwork

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 20:24

that's different.

Track 1 20:25

maybe would, whichever one you would prefer. Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 20:30

I guess just, I mean the one, the one bit of advice that everyone that we've talked to that has gone through the startup phase in other companies and helped others through the startup phase was always saying, make sure that you have, uh, make sure that you actually have people who want to buy this product before you start making it. So.

Track 1 20:53

Mm-Hmm?

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 20:54

Everyone really emphasized customer discovery interviews, knowing your market, knowing what they would pay, who would pay it, how the, like, just knowing all the details about the, Your, your, your market.

Track 1 21:10

Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 21:12

apparently a lot of companies will say, Hey, look, we have a product and it will solve these problems. And then you can go and talk to them and you will find out that it wasn't actually a problem or they weren't willing to spend what you have to charge to fix this problem. so the problem isn't actually that bad for them.

Track 1 21:35

Mm hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 21:35

then that's. There was a statistic. I don't quote me on this, but somewhere in the realm of 70 percent of all startups fail because they can't find product market fit where they have a really good product, but they're trying to sell it to the wrong people.

Track 1 21:58

Yes. I've, I've heard about that, I think. Mm hmm.

squadcaster-i75a_1_03-15-2024_152319 22:02

so I guess just knowing who you're selling. But again, we're still going through this process. I don't, that's just, I'm just repeating what I've been hearing.

Track 1 22:13

This was my last question, and I really wanted to thank you about this very interesting interview. It's very different from the previous ones I have done. And I'm really glad that we did it, really. Thank you, Anthony, and it was so nice to see you again and have you in the online studio