Tom Leung | From Lab Bench to BenchSci
Transitioning from Academia to Entrepreneurship
Isabel Bader Theatre
Everyone is welcome.
Date: Oct. 25, 2023
Speaker: Tom Leung, Vic 0T6
Tom Leung is the Chief Science Officer and Co-Founder of BenchSci. With an MSc in virology and a Ph.D. in epigenetics from the University of Toronto, Tom’s research focused on the molecular mechanism of repressive genetic bookmarking during cellular division and the potential application of reversing these bookmarks as an alternative therapeutic approach to treating cancer.
While at the University of Toronto, Tom had an ambitious idea to reduce the number of failed experiments but knew he needed AI, data, and business knowledge. So he recruited a computer programmer, a data scientist, and an entrepreneur, and together they created BenchSci.
Since 2015, Tom has provided the vision and leadership for BenchSci's R&D efforts, including directing the creation of BenchSci's bioinformatics ontologies and patent-pending machine learning models. As the head of BenchSci's R&D team, Tom has extensive experience in bench research, bioinformatics, and machine learning.
About Vic One Plenary
The Vic One Plenary session is a weekly guest lecture series, exposing students to different areas of investigation. The plenaries are meant to encourage open-minded discussion and ignite intellectual curiosity. Rather than an academic commitment, these sessions present another opportunity for students to gather and reflect.