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Exploring Biotech Frontiers with Dr. Rita Avelar

Exploring Biotech Frontiers with Dr. Rita Avelar

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 Join us in this insightful episode as we sit down with Dr. Rita Avelar, a lead scientist at CircNova. Discover her inspiring journey from academia to the forefront of biotech innovation. Dr. Avelar shares her experiences transitioning from a postdoc at the University of Michigan to leading groundbreaking research in RNA therapeutics. Learn about the unique challenges and opportunities in the startup world, the importance of networking, and how diverse experiences can shape a successful career in science. Whether you're an aspiring scientist or curious about the biotech industry, this episode offers valuable insights and advice. Tune in to explore the dynamic world of biotech with Dr. Avelar! "[…] there's definitely a supportive environment and communication that has to happen between you and your postdoctoral mentor in order for them to even know how to help you." Dr. Rita Avelar Guest Rita Avelar obtained her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pathology from the University of Michigan in 2023. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan in 2025, and is now Lead Scientist of Research and Translational Discovery at CircNova. With her team, she aims to leverage their NovaEngine™️AI-platform to discover novel and more durable non-coding RNA therapeutics, to target the undruggable and unlock new treatment options for patients with unmet clinical needs. Connect with Rita on LinkedIn Resources Luck is no Accident: Making the Most of Happenstance in Your Life and Career, book by John D. Krumboltz and Al S. Levin Transcript Anne-Sophie Bohrer Hello everyone and welcome to 'What's Up, Doc?', an initiative developed by the University of Michigan Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. 'What's Up, Doc?' is a professional development interview series created to support the career exploration effort and professional development needs of current U-M postdocs. You will hear from former U-M postdocs discuss their own postdoc experience and share advice on their experience transitioning into their career of choice. We hope you will get the answers you want and need to make an informed decision about your own career. I am Anne-Sophie Bohrer Maurinne Bonnet And I am Maurinne Bonnet. Anne-Sophie Bohrer Today our guest is Doctor Rita Avelar, who completed her postdoc at the University of Michigan in 2025. Rita is now the lead scientist of research and translational discovery at CircNova in Ann Arbor. Welcome Rita and thank you for joining us. Rita Avelar Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. Maurinne Bonnet Hi Rita, welcome. Before we dive into what you actually do in your new job, could you please introduce yourself and, with a bit of your background, how did you end up doing your postdoc at the U of M? Rita Avelar Yeah. So I started my postdoc right after I graduated from my PhD, also at the University of Michigan. I did my PhD with Doctor DiFeo in the pathology department and it felt like the right fit for me to stay a little longer to continue the project that I had during my PhD to see it published and also to expand my expertise from this lab and actually leverage their collaborations at the time, which actually led me to the job that I have today. Anne-Sophie Bohrer So you work for CircNova. Can you tell us a little bit about that company and what they do? Rita Avelar Yeah. So CircNova is actually a biotech that is located in Ann Arbor here in Michigan. And what we do, we use our AI driven drug discovery to accelerate the development of RNA therapeutics. So what that really means is that we are using our proprietary AI Nova engine technology in order to help us predict the RNA structure, binding affinities and biological function to help us engineer new medicines and therapeutic approaches and hope to treat human disease. Anne-Sophie Bohrer Very cool. So like I said earlier, you're the lead scientist. So can you tell us a little bit about what this role entails, what it's like, what it looks like day-to-day? Rita Avelar Yeah. So as the lead scientist, what I really do is to establish and direct all CircNova's experimental biology programs and platforms. So what I really do, and what I'm responsible to do, is to bridge the molecular biology in human disease with the drug discovery to accelerate CircNova's pipeline from early stage innovation to hopefully translational discovery. So my day-to-day really is to help design, execute, and oversee the wet lab research. So I seek to validate all the RNA therapeutics that are generated through our AI and then advance the discovery platforms and introduce the therapeutic programs that we have in collaboration with other biotechs as well as academic institutions. Anne-Sophie Bohrer So it seems that you collaborate with a lot of people. So how many people work at CircNova? Rita Avelar Yeah. So we actually are a smaller biotech right now. We've been around for about two years and right now we are a total of 11 employees. Anne-Sophie Bohrer...
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