My name is Chad Cowan.
This is what I do: I am the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of a biotechnology company Clade Therapeutics. At Clade, we discover and deliver the next generation of cell medicines to improve the lives of patients.
This is what I could teach you, that you cannot learn from a book: How to translate discoveries in the lab to create new medicines. Why some discoveries you read about in a textbook, or a scientific paper become new medicines and why others do not.
This is what culture means to me: Culture is often referred to as the way of life for an entire society. I spend a considerable amount of time thinking about certain aspects of culture. In particular, our scientific knowledge and its depth and breadth in certain areas of biology. I also think about the norms and habits that help build effective teams, as this is an important part of building a company.
This is how my work reflects my culture/s: Western culture has become a very science driven culture, and as a result, my
forming a company that leverages recent discoveries to create new medicines is the culmination of one story line in modern culture.
This is my utopia: In my utopia, we would all work together in the service of the world and/or humankind.
Quick bits
My favorite book genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
My favorite book: Grapes of Wrath
My favorite place to read: Our sunroom
Where I buy my books: I don’t buy books, I check them out from the library.
My favorite museum: The Cape Ann Museum
My favorite artist (painter/sculptor/performance): This is too difficult a category to name just one.
My favorite source/s for news/information/further education: I read the New York Times and Wall Street Journal every day. I get a tremendous amount of information from scientific publications. I also read a lot of non-fiction books.
My favorite dish to eat: I love sea food
My favorite outside activity: Anything on, in or near the water
My favorite place in Annisquam: Wingaersheek Beach
Cultureum 