Watch the 60‑minute seminar session with Dr. Egbert Castro and Dr. Kyra Thrus‑Evensen (watch video here with NetID).
As part of the STEM PhD Pathways Program, OCS hosted spotlight career trajectories in entrepreneurship and early‑stage biotech. On September 10, 2024, Egbert Castro (CEO & Co‑founder, Ascent Bio) and Kyra Thrus‑Evensen (Computational Biologist, Altos Labs) shared their journeys from Yale labs to the cutting edge of biotech innovation, offering practical insights for researchers eager to turn discovery into real‑world impact.
During this session, the speakers explored:
- What “early‑stage biotech” looks like today and why entrepreneurship is a compelling path for scientists
- Diverse career routes—from founding a start‑up to joining a fast‑growing company—and how to decide which fits you
- Essential skills and mindsets for thriving in young biotech environments (technical breadth, business literacy, networking)
- Common pitfalls when making the leap from academia to start‑ups—and strategies to avoid them
- Resources at Yale and beyond (courses, fellowships, accelerators, investor networks) that can jump‑start a translational career
Egbert Castro, CEO/Co-founder of Ascent Bio
Egbert is the CEO and co-founder of Ascent Bio. Ascent Bio is building a scalable molecule design platform using AI. Egbert completed a PhD in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at Yale under Dr. Smita Krishnaswamy where he developed models for biomolecular prediction and design. He’s excited about the future of AI-native life science companies and the reasoning systems that can be built to support them.
Kyra Thrus-Evensen, Computational Biologist at Altos Labs
Kyra is a computational biologist who earned her PhD at Yale University in the Department of Pathology, within the Program in Computational Biology & Bioinformatics. Prior to that, she completed her BA in Biochemistry at the University of San Diego, with a strong foundation in mathematics. Currently, she works at Altos Labs, where she has the privilege of being at the forefront of advances in cellular health and resilience. In her role, she helps coordinate the scientific efforts of large collaborative computational biology and machine learning projects to accelerate insights.
This event was co-hosted by Qi Yan and Junwei Zhang, McDougal Fellows at the Office of Career Strategy.
