Raymond McCauley
Raymond McCauley is a scientist, engineer, and entrepreneur working at the forefront of biotechnology. Raymond explores how applying technology to life — biology, genetics, medicine, agriculture — is affecting every one of us. He uses storytelling and down-to-earth examples to show how quickly these changes are happening, right now, and where it may head tomorrow. His work and profile have been featured in Wired, Forbes, Time, CNBC, Science, and Nature.
Read MoreRaymond is Chair of Digital Biology at Singularity University, a Silicon Valley think tank devoted to training leaders about exponential technologies; Co-founder and Chief Architect for BioCurious, the hackerspace for biotech, a not-for-profit where professional scientists, DIYbio hobbyists, and entrepreneurs come together to design the next big thing to come out of a Silicon Valley garage; Part of the team that developed next-generation DNA sequencing at Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN), where he worked in bioinformatics, cancer sequencing, and personal genomics.
Raymond’s postgraduate work includes studies at Texas A&M University, Stanford, and UC Berkeley in electrical engineering, computer science, biophysics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and nanotechnology. He has previously worked with Illumina, Ingenuity Systems, Genomera, TANSTAAFL Media, QIAGEN, Viatel, NASA, and other government agencies around the world. Raymond develops and advises a variety of companies and organizations, including Miroculus (simplifying molecular testing), Innit (connecting people and food), Basepaws (animal genomics), Betterhumans (systems biology for enhancement), Androcyte (longevity genomics research), FREDsense (molecular sensing), Retispec (early detection for Alzheimers), Nanokit (DNA origami), Conservation X Labs (not-for-profit, using unconventional leverage to stop the extinction crisis), Science Debate (not-for-profit promoting science and tech policy discussions), OpenWorm (not-for-profit simulating organisms and brains), and the Platypus Project. Raymond serves on the editorial board for The Journal of Precision Medicine. Raymond’s favorite project is raising his twin boys to be superheroes.
Read LessTopics
Digital Biology: Life is the New Black
We review advances in genomics, genetic engineering, cellular agriculture, systems biology,
and personalized medicine. Tools once restricted to biotechnology professionals are
democratizing, becoming more like personal computers and smartphones, and appearing
everywhere. What does this mean for our jobs, our families, our lives, and ourselves? And
what’s coming next?
The Next Big Thing in Biotech -- More Than One Way to Make a Unicorn
What makes a breakthrough biotechnology company? Where are today’s hot areas for
investment? Where in the world are these developing? And how can you avoid the common
mistakes new investors make?
The Future of Medicine: Revolution Now
Could human disease have an expiration date? We’re living in an era where we might see all
communicable diseases, from Ebola to the common cold, become a thing of the past. And that’s
just where we start. Learn about the renaissance in genetic engineering, new applications for
stem cells, how AI is saving lives, and why the future of pharma looks less like Pfizer and more
like Amazon.
The Fast Forward Future of Food
VERSION 1: Agriculture and food as we know it is undergoing the biggest transformation since humanity first
domesticated plants and animals over 10,000 years ago. Biotechnology is finding ways to feed
the billions of people being born. Key topics include the current and future state feeding the
planet, cellular agriculture, and our embrace of GMO & gene-editing technologies to grow more
food sustainably.
VERSION 2 – SHORT: A look at how Silicon Valley is reprogramming the food industry with 3D
printing, tissue engineering, genomics, new sensors, and kitchen robotics
VERSION 2 – LONG: Few things are more intimate than a family meal, or the sustenance we
take into our bodies. But technology is having huge effects on every single thing about our food,
from the application of new sensors, robots, and AI in agriculture, to using gene editing and
tissue engineering to affect the very nature of our livestock and crops. Can the perfect
personalized diet now be planned with nutrigenomics, grown in a vertical greenhouse, then
delivered to your automated kitchen using new tech and business models? Maybe. Find out
when we discuss the fast forward future of food.
Live Forever or Die Trying - the Business of Longevity
A special briefing on the future of longevity in medicine. Will you live to reach 100? Why stop
there? New technologies are promising to continue the trend of the last century, which saw a
doubling of human lifespan. Is there a limit to old age? What technologies actually work? What
can you and your family do today to live longer tomorrow?
Business Lessons from Biotech and the Biohacking Underground
Lessons learned from working in an exponential industry. How can you keep up when the world
is in a state of permanent technological revolution? Using the principles that helped build some
of the technology success stories of the last decade, Raymond shares recommendations for
tackling pressing business challenges—such as how to surf the waves of exponential change,
build and manage interdisciplinary teams, leap ahead of competition with prototyping, and
embrace disruption.
Harnessing Your Superintelligence
Do you feel like the world zooms forward, with giant leaps in technology, and you’re still
floundering with 20th century tools, trying desperately to cope? Are you ready for a personal,
cognitive upgrade? Find how small startups beat better capitalized and established players.
Learn how these same strategies can help you personally, or as part of a a bigger endeavor. In
this workshop, Raymond McCauley shares these lessons learned from biotechnology and the
biohacking underground to keep up better with a world in a state of permanent technology
revolution.
Specifically, learn how to:
- Surf the progress waves of exponential technologies
- Use prototyping to beat planning methodologies
- Be interdisciplinary, for yourself or as part of a team
- Harness new tools like hackerspaces, crowd-sourcing
- Share best practices and interact with other bootstrappers
Testimonials
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