Georgina Ferry interviews Chia Chen (Jane) Hsu, Chief Operating Officer (SimCell) and former postdoctoral researcher (Institute of Biomedical Engineering), 20 February 2023.
Topics discussed include (00:00:40) early interest in science and engineering, studies in biomedical engineering, synthetic biology, PhD studies at Imperial College London, postdoctoral project at Oxford; (00:06:25) neuro engineering project at Oxford; (00:09:55) work in Professor Zhanfeng Cui's group and collaboration with Chinese Institutes including the Jiangsu Industrial Technology Partnership Research Institute, IMPACT project; (00:16:06) first awareness of COVID-19, including conference in Jiangsu; (00:17:37) pivoting of work of group towards COVID-19, emerging research group; (00:22:44) LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification); (00:27:36) proof of principle, including use of synthetic DNA fragments and synthetic RNA; (00:30:35) performance of the nucleic acid test; (00:31:20) commercial partners, including formation of Oxsed; (00:34:29) use of tests, including at airports, training of airport staff; (00:38:46) pivoting of role away from postdoc position to join Oxsed; (00:40:39) product development tasks and challenges, including product development for other respiratory diseases; (00:43:45) current position at SimCell; (00:47:43) personal threat from COVID-19, use of PPE; (00:51:49) personal wellbeing and support; (00:54:14) positive changes to working as a result of the pandemic; (00:55:42) professional collaborations during the pandemic; (00:57:57) changes in approach to work, hopes for changes in the future.
