🧬 Noam Solomon - Immunai - Part 1 | Attending Undergrad at 14 Year Old | How Mathematics Can Make You a Lone Wolf | The Difference Between Noam’s Two PhDs | The Resilience Required for Entrepreneurship

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Part 1 of 4.

My guest for this week’s episode is Noam Solomon, CEO and co-founder at Immunai, a pioneering biotech company that is comprehensively mapping and reprogramming the immune system with single-cell biology and AI to power new therapeutic discoveries, accelerate drug development, and improve patient outcomes.

Prior to co-founding Immunai, Noam had a career in both industry and academia. Noam has a double PhD in math and computer science and served as a postdoctoral researcher at MIT and Harvard. Noam also worked as an algorithms developer, consultant, and head of data science in several high-tech companies in Israel. Noam's extensive background in math, computer science, AI, and machine learning gives him a unique depth of experience that founders can learn from.

Join us this week and hear about:

Noam's early years and how his upbringing shaped his high standards and competitive spirit which led him to excel in the world of academia
His unique experience of starting university at the age of 14
His early love for mathematics
His pursuit of multiple PhDs in math and computer science
The importance of resilience, critical thinking, and creativity needed as an entrepreneur

Please enjoy my conversation with Noam Solomon.

Timestamps:

00:28 Intro

02:11 Episode starts, upbringing in Israel with high family standards, the push into education and STEM

05:58 Becoming an undergraduate at 14 and the attraction to math, the enjoyment of finding creative solutions with sets

10:03 Mentors and professors who were inspirational, those who helped drive the inspiration of education

12:32 Determining next steps after undergrad, being drafted into the Army and decision to be a mathematician

14:43 Software engineering in the Army

16:16 Decision to pursue PhD in math and methodical science, Fermat's Last Theorem

18:48 Experience in grad school and the difficulties with solitude, how these skills benefitted being a CEO of a startup

21:35 Determining what to do after the PhD, postdoc, letting go of a childhood dream

23:46 Another PhD focused on computer science, more of a collaborative experience

27:32 Skill sets that were acquired during and finishing his postdoc in math

30:45 Outro

Find Our Guest, Noam Solomon, at this link:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/noam-solomon-142393129/

https://www.immunai.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee

https://www.excedr.com

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Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

MIT https://www.mit.edu/

Harvard University https://www.harvard.edu/

Immunai https://www.immunai.com/

Equipment Leasing for Laboratories https://www.excedr.com/leasing

Biotech Startup Support https://www.excedr.com/resources-category/biotech-startup-support