Barbara Alcaraz Silva - J.P. Morgan - Part 1

Intro - 00:00:01: Welcome to the Biotech Startups Podcast by Excedr. Join us as we speak with first-time founders, serial entrepreneurs, and experienced investors about the challenges and triumphs of running a biotech startup from pre-seed to IPO with your host, Jon Chee.

Jon - 00:00:23: My guest today is Barbara Alcaraz Silva, Executive Director of Early Stage Life Sciences at Healthcare Startup Banking at J.P. Morgan. She is also a former scientist entrepreneur whose graduate studies focused on telomeres and DNA repair. Barbara has worked with many startups, including co-founding her own company, BioChron. During her time at Manos Accelerator, she worked as an advisor for biotech and medtech companies, providing mentorship in business, fundraising, and capital, offering guidance to startup companies. Additionally, Barbara has worked as a Senior Investment Fellow at Life Science Angels, investing in up-and-coming biotechs and managing investor relationships. After her time at Life Science Angels, Barbara became the Director of Early Stage West Coast Life Science at Healthcare Banking at SVB, and is currently the Executive Director of Early Stage Life Sciences and Healthcare Startup Banking at J.P. Morgan, where she's leading the National Life Sciences and Healthcare Practice. Barbara's dedication to building a strong community in the biotech space and her expertise in science, management, and investing makes her conversation one that founders don't want to miss. Over the next four episodes, we cover a wide range of topics, including Barbara's upbringing in Mexico, the journey from community college to the labs of UC Irvine, her experience at the Beckman Laser Institute and an international fellowship at King's College London, and her unexpected pivot into banking. Today, we'll chat with Barbara about her immigrant journey and learn how her upbringing played an important role in her lead up to becoming a scientist entrepreneur. We'll also hear about her path from community college to UC Irvine, where she gained essential lab experience, secured a research position in plant biology, and traveled abroad to the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Without further ado, let's dive into this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast. Barbara, it's so good to see you again. Thanks for coming on the podcast.

 Barbara - 00:02:01: Thank you for having me. It's such a pleasure. And I mean, of course, I have to do it because, Barbara, you're amazing.

Jon - 00:02:08: You're flattering right now. If people are watching on YouTube, I'm blushing. But for those audio listeners out there, just envision it in your mind's eye. I've been really looking forward to this conversation, and I know it's been a long time coming. And in a traditional opener for The Biotech Startups Podcast, we like to go to the early days, because we really believe that your early adolescence and upbringing are some crucial moments that kind of form, you know, how you carry yourself in the business world and the sciences. So what was your upbringing like and how has it influenced your leadership style, business philosophy, and overall, how did you get into science?

 Barbara - 00:02:47: Yeah, it had a lot to do with my upbringing. And first of all, I'm an immigrant. I was born and raised in Mexico, and I moved to the U.S., when I was 17. But I do want to go back and talk a little bit about my family history. Because, you know. Technically, this is from my mom's side. My great grandmother, she was born in Galveston, Texas, and they migrated from Mexico because of the Mexican Revolution. So, you know, there were farmers in Mexico. And because of all that back and forth, then eventually, you know, after generations, I was able to come here. Right? Also, my grandma was born in Galveston, Texas, and she worked in the U.S.. But we never leave in the U.S., I mean, like they came here to work, you know, to make a little bit of money. And of course, the money wasn't great because they made more money in Mexico. They had land, they owned land. And of course, back at the time, you know, it was a very difficult situation for my family. And because of that history, then, and lineage, then I was able to come to this country. And I think, you know, my mom had a lot to do with that. She did high school here in the U.S., then moved back into Mexico. And because of her, then she understood the system, especially the educational system. I mean, like I was born and raised in Mexico. And then when I came here, my mom was like, no, you're going to go to the community college. And this is what you need to do. Right. And of course, I had no idea. So I think that resilience and that ability to adjust has shaped me not only in the business setting, but also, you know, developing my relationships here and, you know, the way that you move around into life. So, yeah, you know, we moved from Mexico and we had to start all over again. We had nothing here. It was very, very challenging. But it's interesting because at the time when we moved, I had my family. And that was like our American dream. Like literally, I mean, where my family is from and where I grew up is the state of Michoacan. And I always tell people, like, think of Michigan, but it's Michoacan.

Jon - 00:05:10: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Barbara - 00:05:12: Michigan, but it's Michoacan.

Jon - 00:05:13: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

 Barbara - 00:05:14: And we moved to Orange County. So that was like literally the American dream because then I went to the community college there. You know, it was great campus. You know, I had the opportunity to see everything like, you know, and started from the bottom because I never took the bus to go to school. So I had to do it here. My mom, eventually she found a job. And, you know, she was taking care of senior citizens who had Alzheimer's in a specific center. I forgot the name of it, but she was working the night shift. Imagine, you know, spending time at night and, you know, working with very difficult and delicate patients. And she did that for many, many years until, you know, eventually she was able to find a better job, for me and my sister, because I have one sibling, it was just to focus on school. And it was a little bit painful for me to see my mom working in the evenings and coming early, you know, in the morning to feed us or to just give us or take us to school. I mean, again, I was going to the community college at that time. But, you know, sometimes she will drop me off and sometimes I will take the bus. So I think that it was very special inside of like, okay, we have to be better. I have to be better. I need to figure out my career and there's no room for us to be either wasting our time. Right. And to be honest, I always wanted to be a scientist. When I was in Mexico, I just didn't know what it was to be a scientist. I never had any specific role models. So I think that had a lot to do with eventually me finding my goal of, you know, becoming a scientist before going into finance. So, you know. It's interesting. And I have to be honest because, it took some time for me to really speak about the time that we moved to the U.S., the struggles, because it's not easy. You know, there were times that I would break down and not share with people. But now it's like, oh, my God, that's part of my life. And it's beautiful because my mom created an amazing environment where we grew and we succeeded. Like my sister, she's an English literature teacher. Of course, I don't have that part of the brain, but I'm a scientist. Right. Or I used to be a scientist.

Jon - 00:07:45: Yeah.

 Barbara - 00:07:47: So, you know, we had a great time.

Jon - 00:07:49: Yeah. And I'm a child of immigrants as well. And so when I like reflect back on the sacrifices made, like. God dang, it really instilled a fire in me. I'm like, I cannot let all this blood, sweat, and tears go to waste. And I'm like, you know, it's something that I just like live with every day. And I can imagine seeing your mother working crazy hours. It's like, I cannot let this opportunity like slip. And I can imagine too, just like going straight into community college and just like getting thrown into the, it's like a baptism of fire. Like, you know, it's like, I can imagine the course loads too, as a, you know, as an adolescent.

 Barbara - 00:08:33: And then I didn't speak English.

Jon - 00:08:35: Yeah, okay, so that's double.

 Barbara - 00:08:38: Yeah. And another thing, I never graduated from high school either. I didn't graduate from high school in Mexico. So but my mom had this. All planning her brain. She's like, nope, you can go to a community college. And I guess at the time, you could walk into a community college and enroll and take classes. Of course, I took the ESL courses and they put me into that track. Eventually, I picked up the English, you know, the language because I was studying math, biology.

Jon - 00:09:08: That is incredible. That is incredible. That is like hard mode. That's like absolute hard mode where you're like, well, I'm going to study all these very difficult subjects in a different language. Let me just like, let me turn the level up to 10. And as you were, you know, you're all clearly have a full course load. When you were at community college, did you find like professors that may have took you under their wing or kind of inspired to kind of pursue science and chemistry to a, you know, kind of a deeper extent?

 Barbara - 00:09:40: For sure, eventually. So, you know, initially, of course, I mean, I was heads down and learning the language. And I do remember going into my math class and, you know, we have to write down like, you know, a specific date. It was 19 something or 1800, 1895. And I couldn't even understand because I was like, okay, how do you say 1895? It was 1895, you know, based on my learning. So it took me some time to eventually figure it out, or find mentors. Initially, what it worked for me, it was finding other classmates. Very similar to me or to my level of studying. Because, you know, I remember at the time I have an incredible friend. You know, she was Filipina. She was also literally arrived almost at the same time as me into the U.S., and she was studying nursing. And because of her language is Tagalog, which is, you know, has a few words in Spanish. So we were able to communicate. So from there, then I started, you know, bringing or meeting additional people and additional friends who also had a passion for science or they were really good at math. A lot of Vietnamese friends I had because I had to say that Golden West is very close to Westminster, which is a Vietnamese town. So most of my friends were Asian and Vietnamese. And I think because of that network, the support system, then I was able to, to thrive. Right? Because, at the same time, it was a very lonely time for me. Imagine. I mean, I was a teenager. In a new country. And of course, I had no room to be independent because I had nothing to be independent. But I think having this set of friends really shaped me and helped me. And then eventually I ended up, you know, finding mentors because, you know, I started doing well in school once I pick up the language. Right. Because it took me some time. I think it took me like two years. You know, as soon as I got into the community college, because I remember I took summer classes and it took me literally like two years to pick up the language.

Jon - 00:11:52: I don't think that's a long time, by the way. I think that's pretty quick.

Barbara - 00:11:56: Well, you know, to be able to communicate and over time, I'm still learning, you know, so.

Jon - 00:12:01: I don't think we'll ever stop learning. And I hearing that is like, I'm like, dang, well, I'm ashamed of how like not like, you know, when my experience, I'm like, you know, this is hard. Like, I'm really struggling through this. But like you literally piece together not only the language, hard subject matter and finding your community all at the same time. It's usually kind of like sequentially, too. And I think something that really stood out to me as I'm hearing about this, it's like. There are people that you meet along the way, whether it's a. Professor or a friend that have these massive inflection points like that just like really you are pivotal in, in, in where you're the direction that you go. And it sounds like you had, you know, a great community and friends that you, you met at community college that kind of really. Inflection point, it took you in a direction that, you know, basically just like, is the road, is that the roadmap for, you know, eventually what would come?

 Barbara - 00:12:59: Yeah, I know. And then eventually it was my mentors, my professors at the community college. It was interesting because at the time I was so interested in chemistry and I did so well in all chem. You know, a lot of people don't do well. I love- 

Jon - 00:13:14: No.

 Barbara - 00:13:16: And, you know, through that time, because I also wanted to support my mom, then I ended up working, you know, doing some side jobs at the community college, like, you know, in the chemistry stockroom, cleaning glassware, creating the solutions or the compounds that there was going to be needed in the laboratory. So through that, then I started building connections with some faculty there. And it was incredible because they kind of like took me under their wing and share more opportunities with me, too. I remember in the campus where we had all the chemistry rooms, they were all interconnected. And then they were only interconnected in the middle was a chemistry stockroom. And then close to that, it used to be a study room. So I will go there, do my job, you know, a few hours, and then I will go into the study room and do all my homework there. And of course, the faculty, the professors there, they saw me because I was just dedicated. And eventually they wonder, okay, so why are you spending so much time here?

Jon - 00:14:22: Yeah. And I think it sounds like, one, there's nothing that replaces just hard work. Like, there's clearly, like, clearly from this experience. And also, too, just like, doing that hard work. And once someone sees it, it's like infectious. People are like, hey, wait a second. You're doing like double duty here. And I love to hear that. So when, you know, eventually the professor saw you not only doing your studies, but also managing the, you know, the chemistry labs, did that turn into kind of, you know, I know you went on to also, you know, be a project manager outside of the school. Is that how opportunities start to open up for you?

 Barbara - 00:15:02: Yeah, exactly. So the first opportunity, remember, because, you know, there's different levels. And if I recall the classes, you know, there is general chemistry and then you move up and then there's O-Chem. So I remember when I took my general chemistry class, that professor came to me and he used to be a soccer fan. So he assumed that I love soccer because I guess I'm Mexican. I don't know. I mean, which is true, but I was like, I am a family. And, and asked me about, oh, did you watch this Univision match and Univision, whatever? And I was like, yeah, yeah. And I think that's also building that connectivity that he tried to be helpful. And he said that there was a specific corporation that they were doing actually cosmetics and they were looking for some talent. And that was called Sanitary Corporation in Huntington Beach. So that was my first real job, not really an internship. I mean, I was getting paid in the chemistry. You know, stuck from doing all of that. But then this was kind of like my first job outside the community college or, you know, so which it was great because then I was kind of like the project manager there.

Jon - 00:16:10: Yeah.

 Barbara - 00:16:11: Without having any project manager experience. I had to do the bookkeeping. I also have to do quality control because it was incredible. I don't know if that company still exists, but they used to do so many cosmetics, you know, all the beauty products, which involves chemistry.

Jon - 00:16:28: Yeah.

Barbara - 00:16:29: And I will be the quality control person and do all the testing and formulating of all of that. And plus do secretary work and bookkeeping.

Jon - 00:16:40: Right.

 Barbara - 00:16:40: So it was it was great. 

Jon - 00:16:42: What an opportunity. And I think, you know, it stands out to me because like, I think we're all just figuring it out, right? And I think these opportunities that arise that give you a chance to learn with your, like basically with your hands, it's like, okay, there's a job to be done here. It is both chemistry related, but we also need to make sure the financials are, super tight. And like, you know, sometimes you'll, you know, I think. When I speak to folks who are early in their kind of career journey, they have to have it figured out, like all like figured out from the start. I'm like, no, no, no, no. Everyone from whether you're at the highest level, lowest level, we're all just figuring it out. And really we're just learning on the fly. So I always, you know, I try to advise folks, just like soak up that experience, take those opportunities to just really learn because from there you're like, you now you've gone. I mean, I'm going to imagine you didn't expect to become versed in finance. At that point in time, in addition to, you know, obviously everything that's chemistry related. And can you just talk about like moving from kind of an academic realm and now you're in kind of an industry? Was there kind of a cultural kind of adjustment that you needed to adjust to? Was it like a shock to your system or like this is the pace that I want to be moving at?

 Barbara - 00:18:00: Yeah, no, I think early on in this. You know, going back into that first job, that's when I realized, oh my God, I love this. But I still didn't know. What to do, right? But then at the same time, in the back of my mind is my dream was to be a scientist. So, I mean, I was just doing that job because I needed the money and I needed to support my family and also, you know, gain a little bit of experience. But my part of my career was always becoming a scientist or pretending to be a scientist because also at the time that was very difficult. So I went into that path, you know, eventually after I finished the community college, then technically I transferred to UC Irvine and that's where I finalized my bachelor's. And I was very focused on doing biology. Then through that, then I was doing different internships, research projects, because I still was figuring out what sector within biology or specialty I wanted to spend more time. So I had different opportunities doing different fellowships. I retreated in different labs. So. And I don't know how deep you want me to go, by the way, but...

Jon - 00:19:16: So I love these kinds of like transitions and like this kind of these breadth of experience. Can you talk a little bit? Yeah. Can we double click a little bit more there? Like, so you went, you transferred, you're now at UC Irvine. It sounds like you were very busy. Talk a little bit about that.

 Barbara - 00:19:31: Yeah, I mean, actually, the transition was funny and bumpy because it wasn't easy for community college to use UC Irvine. One thing, the course load was very different. And the second thing is, like, when I was doing all the transferring, they literally, I remember the transfer office, they said, by the way, Barbara. We need your high school diploma.

Jon - 00:19:52: Oh, yeah.

 Barbara - 00:19:53: So I had to have a schedule from. So-

Jon - 00:19:57: How do you navigate that? 

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Barbara - 00:20:00: You know, I was very surprised that until this point, I was like, wow, I don't even know how I did that. Because at the end of the day, you know, the transfer office, whoever was running the program manager, I guess, she was super supportive. And she's like, well, you know, technically you have great, amazing, you know, grades in the community college. We just need to see your high school transcripts. Because I was, I said, you know what? I never graduated. It's like, that's no problem.

Jon - 00:20:27: Yeah.

 Barbara - 00:20:28: And so then now the question was like, I need to get my transcripts from Mexico. And I don't live in that country anymore. Of course, I had to call one of my old classmates and ask her for the favor. By the way, can you go back to our school and ask for my transcripts? And then, you know, she shipped me the transcripts because, of course, we didn't have like the phones where you can take a picture.

Jon - 00:20:55: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

 Barbara - 00:20:55: The transcript, right? So she mailed me the transcripts and then I had to translate those transcripts. Right. Because it's like, I mean, they're in Spanish. They're not difficult. But I needed to translate and also in a different scale because, here is letters, over there is numbers. Right. So it's 10, it's an A, 9 is like a B, a B plus. So I needed to translate all of that. So and eventually, you know, with the transfer office, they were like, you know what? You still degrade, they're in. And the reason that I chose UC Irvine, that was my dream school, too. It was in Orange County, close to the beach. I mean, it was just beautiful campus. And to be honest, I didn't know that much about college in the U.S., like all the schools that you needed to apply and plus that you have to pay, I mean, to fill out the application. And like, I remember hearing about Stanford. I had no idea about Stanford what it was, Stanford. I thought Stanford was a school in the Central Valley. I know some people are going to hate me, but literally that's, I thought that Stanford was in the Central Valley.

Jon - 00:22:05: It's okay. We don't care about the Stanford people. We're Berkeley over here.

 Barbara - 00:22:09: I do. Because, eventually I was like, oh, my God, I wish I had gone to Stanford are. Like, nobody told me.

Jon - 00:22:16: No worry. You're part of the UC system.

 Barbara - 00:22:19: I'm not UC.

Jon - 00:22:20: I'll be proud.

 Barbara - 00:22:22: Of course.

Jon - 00:22:22: Yeah.

 Barbara - 00:22:23: So, yeah. And after that, then, of course, now I was like, okay, let's figure out the courses. I started with the, you know, the basic requirements. You need to take physics, biology, eventually English, which I was like, okay, now I have to take real English. Right?

Jon - 00:22:39: Yeah.

Barbara - 00:22:40: And, you know, and that was an interesting process because in the community college, I don't know, depends where you go. But, I'll go then what's college. It was semester and switching to UC Irvine where, you know, the workload is every quarter you have to take a final. And it was a little bit different. So, of course, I started slow because, again, still was learning English. I remember dropping out of my physics class. I think it was physics, the basic physics. Right. Because I couldn't understand, you know, you have all those questions about, okay, if velocity is X and language speed, blah, blah, blah. And I just couldn't understand at the time. However, somehow I did so well in magnetism, which is the highest level of physics. Something that I couldn't see.

Jon - 00:23:24: Something clicked. Something clicked. Yeah, yeah.

Barbara - 00:23:27: The basic physics, no. But yeah, it took me some time eventually. You know, I picked it up and, you know, and with biology and doing all this science and math. I mean, I think at the time I wasn't taking any math. I finished all the math at the community college. But. But yeah, I took so many courses, earth sciences, because again, I still was trying to figure out whether if biology, that was something that I wanted to do. Because remember, in the community college, I was doing organic chemistry and very focused on chemistry. But somehow I switched into biology. And that was because I remember I opened my biology book and it had so many figures and diagrams. And I'm like, I love this. I became so in love with looking at everything inside the cell. So, and I'm a very picture oriented person. So I think for me, that work. But somehow I still miss chemistry, to be honest. I think I probably have been a good chemist at some point.

Jon - 00:24:25: Yeah.

Barbara - 00:24:25: I have done that route.

Jon - 00:24:27: I had the same experience. I'm very much a visual learner. It was always like math was never my strongest suit. And the second that I, you know, started to actually like see exactly what you said, just like open up the textbook and see the diagrams and just like actually how the systems kind of, I can like envision in my head. It was like, this is it. Like, this is it. It finally doesn't feel like I'm pushing this boulder up a hill. I'm like, this is impossible. It's like, I started to feel like a downhill kind of like getting some momentum. And so during those years that you, those kind of undergraduate years at UC Irvine and you started to find your passion for biology, did you have a lab experience at UC Irvine?

Barbara - 00:25:11: Lots of life experience because, again, I was exploring whether I wanted to do biology. And by the way, also when in my mind I wanted to do that switch and explore more about biology, I remember at the time I was receiving all these letters at my house. And they were from a program called the Minority Science Program, MSP. And I will get a letter and they will say, oh, come and join us. We have a seminar. We're going to talk about the support that we can provide. You can do research with us. And to be honest, for me, every time that I received the letter, I was insulted. Because I was like, I'm not a minority. I mean, what is this?

Jon - 00:25:54: Yeah, yeah.

Barbara - 00:25:54: It was months, months and months until the last letter. It said, by the way, we have a seminary and there's free lunch. And I was like-

Jon - 00:26:05: I'll take the free lunch.

Barbara - 00:26:06: I was like, okay, I know they're bothering me. And there is somehow, I'm sure, you know, the office gave them, they have access to my address and everything. They figured that I was like a minority, for sure, based on my last name. So then I went into that workshop. And it was incredible because it was all people like me. And they share about their research experience. And, you know, they help the students to find different research labs. They were getting paid, getting different fellowships, scholarships. And I was like, oh, my God.

Jon - 00:26:45: I shouldn't have been ignoring this. Why did I ignore this?

Barbara - 00:26:49: But it was that, I mean, I still, you know, super new to the country. I guess I was like, maybe. Three, four years in, when somebody's telling you you're a minority. And in your country, I mean, in my country, I wasn't a minority. I was a minority, right?

Jon - 00:27:03: Yeah, yeah.

Barbara - 00:27:03: So it's like, no, I'm not a minority in here. I'm sorry. So, but it was just a mental block. And it's also a very funny thing because it's like, we shouldn't get so caught up in those things, right? But that was an incredible opportunity. And of course, I follow up and, you know, I told them about my story, got connected with the directors. And the interesting thing also, at the same time, when I went into that seminar. With a free lunch.

Jon - 00:27:34: Yeah, yeah.

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Barbara - 00:27:36: I was taking a plant biology course. And I remember Dr. Mulligan, who was my mentor at the time, he told me about the program, too. He's like, I want you to get connected. And again, I'm like, okay, there he goes again, telling me that already. And then eventually, when I learned about the program, he sent kind of like a reference letter to the directors about me. So that's how I ended up getting like very connected to that program. And I was able to get more support. Right?

Jon - 00:28:10: Hold on. Was this the professor at community college?

Barbara - 00:28:14: This is another mentor. This was actually my initial mentor at UC Irvine. Got it, got it. He happened to be the dean of grad studies. And me being very ignorant, which, of course, that always happens to me. I never follow people based on what they do. I just did so well in his class because he was also, you know, teaching the plant biology class while being the dean, associate dean. I believe he was the associate dean of graduate studies in the biology department. So he was the one who made the connectivity. And also, you know, I was doing so well in his course that eventually he offered me a research position in his lab. So that was my first research position at UC Irvine doing plant biology.

Jon - 00:28:57: That's awesome.

Barbara - 00:28:58: That was more like informatics back in the day. Now, I guess computer science.

Jon - 00:29:03: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly, exactly. I was going to say, maybe it was actually to your benefit to have that quote unquote ignorance because like I would have been nervous. Like, oh, shit, it's the dean.

Barbara - 00:29:13: Exactly. And me, I had no, again, I had no idea. I mean, what is a dean? What do they do?

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Jon - 00:29:18: Yeah. I mean, it might play to your advantage. You're just like, I'm just going to kill it. Like, I'm just like, no pressure. 

Barbara - 00:29:24: And I think at the end of the day, I was doing so well in his course. And he also came to me. He's like, what do you want to do? And I was like, I want to be a scientist. I was like, well, you need to have research experience. And of course, I didn't know. So that was his way of guiding me and saying like, hey, you know, there's probably this support system, this specific group. And it's been funded by the government, the minority science program, and also by the university for many, many years. And through them, then, of course, I had opportunities to do research abroad and then join different laboratories. They were the ones that trained me. Well, not trained me, but they gave me support to study and do the GREs for grad school. So they pay for that. So and again, there's incredible programs out there for, you know, many college kids that they need support. It's just a matter of finding. And it's unfortunate because right now, you know, funding is getting cut. So it's also affecting the programs as well. 

Jon - 00:30:25: Yeah. And through this program, you mentioned doing research abroad, and I believe you went, you did research in Mexico?

 Barbara - 00:30:33: Yes.

Jon - 00:30:33: Can you talk a little bit about that?

 Barbara - 00:30:35: That was a great experience because I was like, you know what, if I can do research back in my country, that will be incredible because I never had the experience, right? I never saw a scientist. I never interacted with somebody who had a passion for any discipline within science. So they had this abroad program. I don't know if they still have that, but it was to do research in the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which is kind of like the harbor of Mexico. And it was in the campus of neuroscience in the state of Querétaro. So that's, you know, Mexico City. It's a little bit north of Mexico City. So they have a specific campus there that is so focused and specialized in neuroscience. And that's the program that they had to take students and do research abroad. And of course, I applied because you needed to apply. It's not like you're part of the minority program and then you just, you know, you really need to apply. So I applied, got selected and chose a lab. Well, technically, not really choose a lab because I needed to write a letter and they needed to see my grades and my interests. And the faculty at the university, they will choose the student to do, you know, the summer research. And of course, I chose a lab. And it was an incredible experience because we live there. Again, they pay for everything. The program paid for our housing and food. It wasn't the best, even though you always complain like, oh, my God, I don't have enough money. But it was great.

Jon - 00:32:07: Yeah. Yeah.

Barbara - 00:32:08: So I ended up spending the summer and doing research. And after I finished with the project, then I had the opportunity to present it at the conference. And that was also another thing that this program did is like, yes, now that you are down there, doing or whatever you go and do research, you have to write a mini manuscript or a summary and then present a poster at a national conference. So I presented a poster on the research and a conference. Then I got- I won an award, which it was incredible. That was my first- Yeah. And then from there, I continue presenting the project for a year because it's like, this is a good thing.

Jon - 00:32:49: Yeah. I was going to say, I see a kind of like a common thread here. It's just like. You're like rising to the challenge and just getting your, your hands on it and getting your hands dirty. It was like presenting, like doing a presentation at a national conference. It's no small feat.

Barbara - 00:33:06: It's not. Yeah, you're right. And again, I think it was the excitement because, you know, I remember at the Institute in Mexico, we also had to present the project to an audience of faculty and other students. I decided to give the presentation in Spanish. All my classmates and again, classmates, the people that we came from the U.S., and did the research there, everybody else presented in English because it's the natural language. And for me, it was like, no, I really need to do it in my language. And also, you know, share how much I have learned in Spanish because my Spanish was limited. It was high school Spanish. It was no longer college or, you know, in a research setting, Spanish, right? So for me, that was a super highlight. But it's funny because you do mention the trend. Somehow, yes, I see the trend that I'm very dedicated or I just love science. But you see, I've been jumping around in different areas, organic chemistry, biology. And I was like, wait a minute, neuroscience. And I wanted to explore everything before deciding what was my true passion.

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Jon - 00:34:14: Absolutely.

Barbara - 00:34:15: I think at the end of the day, having that collective knowledge has been super helpful, so.

Jon - 00:34:20: Totally, and I'm sure probably as you are kind of like dipping your toes in a bunch of things, you probably found things that you disliked as well. We were like, this subject I don't really like as much versus this one. And I think part of it is like. It is important to figure out what you like, but it's equally important to figure out what you don't like so you don't go that direction. And you can only really learn that firsthand. Someone can tell you about it in the abstract, but you don't know until you actually get into it. And so you're starting to wrap up your summer research position and you're going back to UC Irvine. And I'm going to guess when you go back, you're almost at this point a senior in your undergraduate studies.

Barbara - 00:35:05: Yes, no, I think so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jon - 00:35:08: At that point in time, were you already thinking about grad school or was this like where where was your mind like kind of your mindset at that point in time?

Barbara - 00:35:18: I had an idea because the program was, you know, very straightforward and they will tell you, okay, you have a timeline. This is when you need to start studying for the GRE. And I remember seeing colleagues and other students that they were a little bit ahead of me, you know, their timeline. So I had an idea. Coming back from Mexico, then I think I started I went into a different lab to went back to Mike Mulligan to continue doing plant biology. And then I also was doing earth sciences at some point because I just found all this interesting research there. I mean, I was taking literally just soil samples. So it wasn't nothing interesting. I was carrying a big equipment and I was like, okay, this is not for me. I mean, I'm very. So, yeah, I just continued just doing different research in different labs. And eventually, you're right, like that's when I started, you know, focusing more on applying to grad school and putting all my resume and all my applications together. And that was another journey. I mean, it wasn't it wasn't difficult, but again, I still was a little bit ignorant and Stanford. Although I applied this time to Stanford.

Jon - 00:36:33: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And look, it's like, you know, I think back on some of those experiences for myself. I was like, I definitely was at that point in time. I call it like ignorance, naivete. You know, it's hindsight is 20-20.

Outro - 00:36:51: That's all for this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast. We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Barbara Alcaraz Silva. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave us a review and share it with your friends. Thanks for listening and we look forward to having you join us again for part two of our conversation with Barbara. The Biotech Startups Podcast is produced by Excedr. Don't want to miss an episode? Search for The Biotech Startups Podcast wherever you get your podcasts and click subscribe. Excedr provides research labs with equipment leases on founder-friendly terms to support paths to exceptional outcomes. To learn more, visit our website, www.excedr.com. On behalf of the team here at Excedr, thanks for listening. The Biotech Startups Podcast provides general insights into the life science sector through the experiences of its guests. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from the podcast is at the user's own risk. The views expressed by the participants are their own and are not the views of Excedr or sponsors. No reference to any product, service or company in the podcast is an endorsement by Excedr or its guests.