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Messaging Innovation to the Innovators
Jason Amsbaugh’s degree in biochemistry was the starting point for a passion to communicate with scientists
As a boy, Jason Amsbaugh was mesmerized by television programs such as Wild America and National Geographic. “I grew up in the country, and watched a lot of public television, and most of it was sort of educational,” he said. Then, he envisioned a career that involved nature, like a wildlife biologist.
A degree in biochemistry with research focusing on Arabidopsis—a flowering plant used as a model organism in plant biology—was the springboard to a position in oncology drug discovery. It was here, working in a lab full time, that Jason realized that he enjoyed talking about science more than doing science. “I networked into a sales role, ultimately at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where I could basically talk about science all day,” he added.
Today, Jason is the CEO of Samba Scientific, a marketing and media agency that caters to life science and diagnostic companies. Many of Samba Scientific’s clients are entering into the space with new technologies. “Our clients focus predominantly on translational applications. They are testing the DNA, RNA, and protein in human samples to better diagnose disease or better treat disease,” he shared.
Samba Scientific plays a key role in helping its clients get to the market faster by focusing on commercial goals. “We work with clients to use available data to inform and persuade potential customers,” he said. “When you are trained as a scientist, you are trained to be a skeptic and to create compelling and reproducible data,” he added, “so when you are trying to sell to a scientist, you better have some pretty good data.”
In helping companies move to the commercial space, Jason sees innovation from a wide lens. Currently many of Samba’s clients are working in emerging technologies, such as spatial biology and single cell analysis. “The wide range of tools and applications in these spaces—from biomarker identification through clinical trials,” he stated, “it’s identifying a need and how to fulfill that need.”
Jason’s path to scientific marketing, his role in leading an science-specific agency, and his development of a biotech jobs board provided unique insights on the variety of non-bench career opportunities available to scientists.
“Someone with a scientific background can focus on technical writing, dialing up or down the complexity of an issue,” he started. Another area is landing page creation and search engine optimization, where he noted that, “knowledge of the subject can help in choosing keywords to best represent what a customer is working with.”
Application scientist positions, such as the ones at Thermo Fisher Scientific, offer another career opportunity for someone interested in scientific marketing could pursue. “People that can communicate both the work in the lab and also explain the data, troubleshoot experiments, and show how to use reagents or instrumentation,” will thrive in such a role, according to Jason.
Looking to the future, Jason is excited about the evolution of microbiome therapeutics. “Just the idea that you could be healthier and have more energy based on the flora in your gut,” he said, “I think the Earthy nature of that is really cool.” He also views the expansion of AI in screening as having a profound impact on research. “In terms of predictive biomarkers, it’s going to be really big in the context of liquid biopsy and cancer screening,” he continued, “in terms of pre-emptive identification, it has the potential to lead to early intervention and ultimately disease prevention.”
Jason finds his professional inspiration from the simple act of being with people and exchanging ideas. “It’s the organic interactions with people in different environments that are the most important to me,” he said. “It has been really eye-opening to me just how important those interactions are to sparking my own ideas.”
When he’s not working with Samba Scientific clients to position their innovations in the commercial space, Jason enjoys mountain biking. “I like how present you have to be. You’re really living in the moment,” he shared.
For a deeper dive into Jason Amsbaugh’s work, check out his interview on the Speaking of Mol Bio Podcast. There we learn about his career trajectory, more on his advice for scientists interested in non-lab roles, and how his team at Samba Scientific helps clients to better understand their potential market.