The Chemists' Charisma

Bringing Chemistry to Life

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and guest content and resources, which includes links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation!

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We open Season 4 with a unique double interview with Dr. Steven Townsend (Vanderbilt University) and Dr. Frank Leibfarth (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). These are our original two guests from Season 1 of this series!

Steve Townsend and Frank Leibfarth are two of the best chemists of the current generation as well as being incredibly charismatic and fun humans. With that said, this episode is a bit different in that it was a fun moment of connection and entertainment where we discuss things on the fringe of chemistry, tongue in cheek. As it happens, it became much more than that, a journey into personal history, motivation and drive, stories and reflections on great chemists of the past and present, and much more. The human element behind the science takes center stage in this episode for certain. One not to miss.

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About Your Host

Paolo Braiuca grew up in the North-East of Italy and holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from nearby esteemed University of Trieste, Italy. He developed expertise in biocatalysis during his years of post-doctoral research in Italy and the UK, where he co-founded a startup company. With this new venture, Paolo’s career shifted from R&D to business development, taking on roles in commercial, product management, and marketing. He has worked in the specialty chemicals, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical markets in Germany and the UK, where he presently resides.

He is currently the Director of Global Market Development in the Laboratory Chemicals Division at Thermo Fisher Scientific™ which put him in the host chair of the Bringing Chemistry to Life podcast. A busy father of four, in what little free time he has, you’ll find him inventing electronic devices with the help of his loyal 3D-printer and soldering iron. And if you ask him, he’ll call himself a “maker” at heart.