🧬 Boy Scout Values & Refugee Resilience: Building Biotech Leadership | Samir Khleif (Part 1/4)

The Biotech Startups Podcast

Content provided by Jon Chee. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Jon Chee or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

3M ago 34:49

MP3•Episode home

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.

As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners.
"Education was the highest value in our family. It was not even a question—it was the core."

In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Samir Khleif—Founder and CEO of Georgiamune—shares how his upbringing as a Middle Eastern refugee, in a family where education was everything, laid the foundation for his pioneering work in oncology and immunotherapy.

Khleif recounts how formative experiences with his physicist father and the Boy Scouts instilled discipline, fairness, and a sense of adventure, shaping his leadership approach and fueling his journey from humble beginnings and early entry into medical school to spearheading innovative treatments that reprogram immune responses against cancer and autoimmune disease.

Key topics covered:

Education as Liberation: Early inspiration from family values and education fueling lifelong ambition
From Refuge to Purpose: Refugee experiences and a love for science transformed adversity into impact
Leadership Through Action: Building leadership muscles for biotech by starting organizations from scratch
Character Under Pressure: Childhood adversity and scouting forged core values of logic, discipline, and fairness
The Healer's Evolution: A journey from clinical oncology to biotech pioneer and global health leadership

If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.

Subscribe to the Podcast:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast

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

Find our guest, Samir Khleif, at these links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samir-khleif-4280b29/

Website: http://www.georgiamune.com/

Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:

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

Learn more about Excedr:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/

Website: https://www.excedr.com

Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:

Website: https://flow.page/kyojin

Resources & Articles:

Skeel's Handbook of Cancer Therapy: https://books.google.com/books/about/Skeel_s_Handbook_of_Cancer_Therapy.html?id=3ZjlsgEACAAJ

(WHO) Global Cancer Statistics Report 2024: https://www.who.int/news/item/01-02-2024-global-cancer-burden-growing--amidst-mounting-need-for-services

Entrepreneur Middle East article: https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-ae/leadership/healing-horizons-georgiamune-founder-dr-samir-khleif-aims/485491

Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:

Boy Scouts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America

Georgiamune: https://www.georgiamune.com/

National Cancer Institute: https://www.cancer.gov/

Georgia Cancer Center: https://www.augusta.edu/cancer/

Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy: https://www.parkerici.org/

Arab Global Scholars Program: https://www.qf.org.qa/arab-global-scholars

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

04:18 Welcome and Introduction of Guest

04:25 Early Family Life & Formative Influences

07:43 Parental and Boy Scouts’ Impact on Character

08:23 Lessons in Work Ethic and Fairness

10:56 Growing Up as a Refugee: Perspective & Values

13:45 Early Entry into Medical School

16:09 Founding Student Organizations

18:51 Transition from Clinical Practice to Leadership Roles

25:21 Exploring Immunology and Cancer Research

29:46 Founding Georgiamune: Motivation and Vision

33:40 Outro

The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

186 episodes

#Science #Biology #Business #Jon Chee #Biotech Startups #Biotech #Startups #Excedr #Life Sciences #Entrepreneur #Founders #Culture