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Alumni Interview: A Q&A with Petri Bio cofounder and CEO Shu Li

9 November 2020
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Petri Bio

The stories we hear from our alumni constantly amaze us, whether they are about small-world experiences or academic accomplishments. We recently heard from Shu Li about her startup, Petri Bio.

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Shu li

What years were you at Penn State, and what did you study?

I was at Penn State from 2010 to 2016, and I got my doctorate in plant biology in December 2016. 

What are you involved with now?

I’m cofounder and CEO of Petri Bio, a biotech startup developing novel therapies and healthcare products using gut microbes. This is the second time I’ve started a company. Previously I cofounded a startup named Alpine Roads, in San Francisco, developing plant-based food products.

What is the purpose of Petri Bio? 

Petri Bio is founded on the philosophy that the resources for the next generation of therapeutics are already around us; they just need to be found and fine-tuned. We screen the genomes of gut microbes for peptides with useful functions. We screen for peptides encoded directly by genes that are found in the genomes of gut microbes for useful functions.

How did you find yourself as the founder of both Alpine Roads and Petri Bio?

I think my mission is always to use technology to build a healthier and happier future for everyone. No matter whether it’s understanding the breeding or reproductive barrier system in plants, creating a plant-based food item to reduce our carbon footprint, or what I’m doing now to develop treatments using natural resources, I think as scientists we are very lucky to have access to so many powerful biotech tools, and it’s our responsibility to use them to create something to improve people’s lives.

Who is on your team?

We are still at the very early stage and have a lean team. My cofounder and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Joseph Schinaman, is a very brilliant scientist who has extensive experience in microbiology and biomedical research. We are also building our advisory board, and our senior advisor, Dr. John Waldeisen, is a successful serial entrepreneur and a Penn Stater himself! 

Where can people learn more about Petri Bio?

Our website is https://petribio.com/.

While you were at Penn State, did you work in a lab that might have contributed to where you are now?

Dr. Teh-hui Kao was my thesis advisor, and it was a great experience. We studied a very interesting and complicated mechanism called self-incompatibility. I can talk about this mechanism forever, but long story short, it was my first real systematic training on how to ask the right questions in research, how to design experiments, and how to become a scientist. I’m very grateful for my training in Dr. Kao’s lab and in the Plant Biology program.

Were you involved with other organizations while you were at Penn State?

Besides research and teaching, I was involved in GWIS (Graduate Women in Science). This national nonprofit organization aims to connect and empower women in science as well as to create opportunities for professional and leadership development. I started from our local State College chapter, served as co-chair of the Voices Conference (now the Empower Conference), and later got involved in some national chapter work as well. Nowadays I’m still involved in the national chapter, and I’m serving as vice president this year. It’s been such an awesome experience, from which I’ve learned a lot about leadership and organizational skills. More importantly, through these activities I’ve expanded my network and met a lot of inspirational female scientists, and they have been my best supporting team. These experiences have provided me with more confidence to be open to new challenges, which more or less led me to the decision of taking startups as my path. 

Was it difficult to migrate from your academic science experience at Penn State to where you are now in entrepreneurialism?

The answer is yes and no.  I think graduate school definitely provided a good foundation. It’s a perfect place to get the training to be an independent researcher, cultivate a hardworking and self-motivated lifestyle, gain resilience against challenges, also of course, balance finances. However, there are also a lot of things I wish I could’ve learned earlier. On top of this list is legal knowledge. For biotech startups, intellectual property (IP) is one of the key assets. We not only need to actively file patents to protect the technologies we develop but also have to be aware of the patent landscape and competitors as well. I’m glad to see universities are putting more efforts into the work of tech transfer nowadays, but I hope graduate students could also actively learn more about patents early on. 

What's next for Petri Bio?

We hope to get more lab-based proof of concept to confirm the function of some early candidates. Also, we plan keep building the patent portfolio to protect our technology. Hopefully we can keep growing, develop good products, and create some employment opportunities soon!