031 | "This Doctor has a Planet Named After Him" (Dr. Buchman at AbbVie BioPharmaceutical)
Today’s guest on the “Phil with F30” podcast is Dr. Marek Buchman – Research Scientist of AbbVie BioPharmaceuticals
Forbes List: Slovakia
Year: 2018
Category: Science and Education
Dr. Marek Buchman showed his chemistry talents early when he co-authored his first patent at 15. He left his home in Slovakia and studied at the University of Oxford, and to date, he scored the highest in their organic chemistry exams. Dr. Buchman earned his PhD. from the KC Nicolao lab at Rice University, where he co-authored a patent that a pharma company recently licensed.
He currently works as a research scientist and is a postdoctoral fellow at the biopharmaceutical company, AbbVie in Chicago.
Our conversation takes us on his educational journey including:
Crediting his parent’s philosophy of trying things for a week to find his talents.
The advantages of attending a school for gifted children.
Finding a mentor who made the subject of chemistry interesting.
The science prize - having a planet named after him.
The Oxford experience.
The importance of ballroom dancing.
The transition from academia to private industry.
Dr. Buchman has ambitious goals for his role in the drug discovery process. We wish him the best as he continues his contributions to medical science.
“Under 30 Seconds Round”
1. What is the book you’ve gifted more often than any other book, and why?
"Strategic Applications of Named Reactions in Organic Synthesis by Laszlo Kurti & Barbara Czako" (https://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Applications-Reactions-Organic-Synthesis/dp/0124297854)
2. What’s one of the best investments and one of the worst investments you’ve ever made and why?
Best - Learning how to solve problems using chemistry; learning when to switch strategies when something is not working.
Worst - None
3. What’s the most impactful thing you do in your Morning and Evening routines?
AM - A quick shower and great Gordon Ramsay breakfast.
PM - Reading for an hour before bed.
4. Pretend you won the Peter Thiel Fellowship and you were going to get money to start a business instead of going to college, what’s the very first thing you’d do to start a new business?
I’d find a good way to invest the money. I’d still go to college. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.
5. What’s something you never knew you needed?
Having good friends and people I can rely on.
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GUEST INFO: Dr. Marek Buchman – Research Scientist of BioPharmaceuticals
CONTACT: Twitter @MarekBuchman and Instagram @Marek.Buchman
HOST INFO: Phil Michaels
SOCIAL: @iamphilmichaels
YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/philmichaels
PODCAST WEBSITE: www.philwithF30.com
PHIL’s WEBSITE: www.iamphilmichaels.com
