Many Faces of Science Communication - Interview with the voice behind Biofilm Podcast

​Interview and words by Dr. Rupali Gund and Dr. Pavel Ryzhov
Edited by Dr. Rinki Saha, Dr. Laurie Herviou and Dr. Conchi Izquierdo

Social media is a great technological gift for our generation that allows new ways of communicating and expressing one’s ideas with a wider audience in various formats. For our second session in the science communication series, INet-NYC interviewed Dr. Pavel Ryzhov who is the creator of an online platform and Youtube channel called Biofilm News and Biofilm Podcasts. This platform covers the latest news in healthcare and life sciences and interviews experts in the biotech industry. Here are the excerpts from the conversation with Dr. Ryzhov.
 
     1. Please share your scientific journey and path to becoming a science communicator. 

I had a couple of different transition points in my career trajectory. I’m originally from Russia and after graduating high school there, I came to the US in 2010 to attend community college in San Diego, California. After that, I went to Germany to continue my undergraduate studies in a little town called Rheinbach, where I got my Bachelor’s in Applied Biology. I went back to San Diego for my PhD programme in Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute where I worked in the membrane protein NMR field for several years and I graduated in Feb 2020. I moved to the East Coast in the fall of 2020 to start my current job as an Application Scientist at Applied Photophysics. I believe my communication skills  definitely helped me excel in my career. For my current job, I communicated with the company’s representatives over many years as part of my networking and apply my communication skills in this role to interface with the scientists, our existing and prospective new customers and to share the new products that the company is making and troubleshoot if they are having issues using our instruments.
 
     2. It’s great to see that you had an intercontinental work experience with multi-lingual team members and how effective communication helped you land in your current role. You have created Biofilm News, would you like to share what Biofilm News is and what inspired you to start this initiative? 

Thank you for bringing this up! The way to describe the inspiration behind Biofilm News is to say I watch a lot of youtube videos and I am inspired by watching various podcasts or people covering news and talking about the latest tech by developing movies. As a user of these virtual platforms, I was always curious about how to create such similar content. So during my PhD, I thought of creating some videos because I realized that there is not much content available exclusively for life science students. So, I started doing short videos  on some of the topics that I used to read about on a daily basis. I had to put it on hold while I was trying to finish my PhD and when I got my current job. But this year I’m taking it rather more seriously and creating content for PhD students based on my own experience, interviewing people from the industry and covering biopharma industry news that I find interesting.
 
     3. It is fascinating to see how you are using your past career experiences and communication skills to help the wider community of life sciences students navigate their scientific journey. 

Exactly, I feel PhD students can have tunnel vision and I'm the first to say I'm guilty of that because we're so focused on getting our research done. We do that at the expense of knowing the larger trends in the pharma industry or life science field as a whole. Finishing a Phd could be a daunting experience, so I believe sharing some advice with students as well as sharing some of the larger things that are going on in the industry is how I would like to help a younger group of scientists.
 
     4. What kind of content are you developing for Biofilm News and where do you publish your work in social media?

​There are three things that I like to focus on- 1) talking about the latest news in the industry that I find myself either on Linkedin or elsewhere, 2) interview people from the biopharma industry to learn about their experiences, and 3) sharing my own PhD experience. As far as putting it out there, I put it on YouTube and occasionally I put it on some other outlets like LinkedIn, Facebook or other personal social media channels.

      5. Did you take any special courses or training to develop videos or podcasts? What suggestions do you have for our audience if they want to start their own podcasts?

I believe that the best way to start is to actually look up youtube tutorials on selecting camera gear, formatting the podcast, editing, and publishing videos, and also there are resources on how to market your content. There is so much educational content that is completely free and available. That’s how I started. I also took "The Art of Science Communication"   online course offered by the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology that helped me to learn how to present my research work to the lay audience. Also, I got many opportunities during my PhD to practice science communication by doing poster presentations and sharing my research progress to my lab peers, or by having casual conversations with my friends who are not from life sciences and responding to their questions about how vaccines work or about coronavirus, all of which helped me to hone my communication skills.
 
      6. How do you balance your work with managing Biofilms? How much time/effort goes in developing this content? 

The short answer is it is hard. It's definitely a fine balancing act between the work that I do and this hobby, so I try to be creative and find ways to simplify making videos and minimize the time I spend on the individual project. Sometimes perfectionism comes in my way and I keep editing a video and never publish it because you are never satisfied with the final version. So, I like to streamline that process and make it as easy as possible. Sometimes I just publish and move on to the next one. I believe setting deadlines is important and sticking to the schedule helps me to continue developing my content.

      7. Where do you see Biofilm News in the next few years? Are you open to collaborating with other scientists to contribute to Biofilm News?

I am looking for a co-host for a specific iteration of my podcast where I discuss the latest news because it gets really boring talking to myself while discussing the news alone on a podcast. So I feel having somebody for a banter or exchange of ideas would be awesome. So anybody who might be interested can connect with me on LinkedIn.

       8.  Would you like to be a science communicator full time, or keep this as a hobby?

It is an interesting question now that I’m thinking. I am doing science communication as an application scientist in a full time job, because my current role is all about communicating science effectively and I enjoy doing that a lot. And, my YouTube channel is just another outlet for that. I know I will be a Science Communicator for many years and my goal is to evolve and try to develop different kinds of content and reach a wider audience.

    9.  What advice do you have for those who want to begin their journey in becoming a science communicator?

​The best way to do that is just to start talking to somebody. I've done a lot of tutoring over the years that definitely helps with learning how to talk about complex topics that would make sense to another person. Consider taking some specific communication courses if you can. I think there are vast amounts of resources and tutorials that are available on YouTube or other platforms that are freely available that I explore to develop my content. I also use Davinci Resolve free software for video editing, Microsoft Powerpoint, Affinity Designer, Canva, and Adobe illustrator. I am happy to help and share some personal tricks, if somebody wants any advice from me. 
 
The entire team of INet NYC would like to thank Dr. Pavel Ryzhov for taking time to interact with us and sharing his exciting journey of becoming a science communicator. You can connect with Dr. Ryzhov via his LinkedIn if you want to collaborate or participate in Biofilm podcasts. To follow the latest healthcare/pharma news and interviews on Biofilm News, please subscribe to Dr. Ryzhov youtube channel here.