At Scientist, we feel strongly about promoting Open Science and have sponsored a fantastic show on Mendelspod today: an interview with Dr Ethan Perlstein a scientist who has gone “indie” and declared his independence. Go Open Science!

“Being a professor is a job. Being a scientist is a calling”, Dr Perlstein declares. Giving up for now on the traditional career path of seeking positions at research institutions around the country, Ethan Perlstein has gone rogue. What does this mean? How does one become independent? And the $64 million question: how does an independent scientist get funding?

Dr Perlstein, clearly a highly intelligent individual, possesses many thought provoking questions. One in particular rang true to our thoughts and beliefs. Why do we, as scientists, researchers and patients settle for current pharmaceutical innovation cycles that are decades long? Dr Perlstein postulates that if we were to use simple model organisms such as yeast, and then transition to cell based models, bypassing the traditional time consuming step of animal models, we could significantly speed this process up. That is an interesting topic and one that requires further discussion. Stay tuned!

Watch the full interview below.

Chapters (move marker to advance): * 0:55 - A declaration of independence * 8:14 - Setting up an indie lab to do evolutionary pharmacology * 19:07 - Open Science: What are you doing for funding? * 28:21 - Darwin would be tweeting beak sizes