Katie Planey

Experience

Mantra Bio

Founder, Co-Founder and CTO 2016 - Present (almost 10 years)

Early stage data-driven targeted therapeutics company. Exosomes are the next wave of biologic therapies across a wide variety of diseases. We are hiring!
Data Engineer... more

Metabiota

Data Scientist/Engineer, Epidemiological Modeling 2016 (9 months)

I am the data science/data engineering bridge between the epidemiological modeling team and the software engineering team to ensure product platform deliverables are met on... more

Stanford University

PhD Candidate, Gevaert Lab 2011 - 2015 (over 4 years)

I developed a novel unsupervised learning meta-framework to discover robust patient subtypes/clusters across multiple datasets. My dissertation work was published in Genome... more

NuGen

Statistical Consultant (part-time) 2014 - 2015 (6 months)

Statistical consulting for R&D and marketing teams. Working in R and Python.

Founder

Mantra Bio

Employee

Stanford University, Metabiota, NuGen

Education

About

Achievements

I love driving our R&D strategy at Mantra Bio; we are three years into the company and I'm pumped to grow our company and make an impact on patient lives!

In my prior PhD life, I lead a team of informatics PhD/MD team members to win the $20,000 top prize for an informatics business case competition in Washington, D.C. with a panel of judges from the healthcare industry.

It was an amazing experience to brainstorm up an idea with my informatics peers (an app to communicate between nurses and NICU patient family members), create the technical specs, business plan and pro forma model, and then present the results at a team to judges. I love translating between business and technology, with a strong emphasis on technical virtuosity as opposed to knowing just a few buzz words. Hence, I am currently looking for a more tech-oriented role as a data scientist.

Describe the most impressive thing you've done.

Skills

R Machine Learning Data Science Business Strategy Python Statistics Data Integration MySQL

Q&A

What's the most useful business-related book you've ever read?

The Great Game of Business. I approach management and business strategy in a no-nonsense manner and this book aligns with my values. It's not about hiding information or trying to manipulate/influence people. You need to walk the walk (no B.S.)

What's your favorite non-business book?

The Golden Compass

If money were not an issue, what would you be doing right now?

Still being a co-Founder at Mantra Bio :) I'm really happy at this position at this point in my life; I have ample room to grow and learn. But if I had more money I'd buy a house!

What words of advice would you give your younger self?

Embrace that you think in nonlinear, out-of-the-box patterns; don't try and follow the intellectual pack. You just need to find spaces where you can run as fast as you can and unleash your brain on tough problems.

What's the most creative thing you've ever done?

I proposed to my partner with a custom surfboard. I did not create the surfboard :), but I directed the design; it

What's your super power?

I'm really good at intuiting when I'm tuning out; that allows me to quickly tune back in and make sure I'm actually listening to my colleagues and processing what they say.

What aspects of your work are you most passionate about?

Making sure the appropriate people are connected and information is flowing between teams. I also love taking really ambitious but ambiguous strategy goals and figuring out how to translate that into day-to-day company initiatives and activities.

What words of wisdom do you live by?

Team Be Real (a phrase my friends in college coined; it's basically "Let's Be Honest...")

Katie Planey

Connecting the dots. Entrepreneur with a PhD/MBA. Co-Founder and CTO at Mantra Bio, an early stage therapeutics company. We are hiring!

Connecting the dots.
Entrepreneur with a PhD/MBA. Co-Founder and CTO at Mantra Bio, an early stage therapeutics company. We are hiring!