Radamés Cordero is the CEO of Melatech and an associate scientist and junior faculty in the department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where he studies the biology of fungal melanin.As a spin-off of his research, Melatech is a biotech company dedicated to the production of melanin at industrial scales and the research and development of melanin-based technologies for a variety of commercial applications like shielding and harvesting radiation on earth and space.In this episode, we discuss how he co-founded Melatech and became a CEO while running an academic lab. We also discussed what makes melanin so special, the manufacturing challenges and melanin’s multiple applications. Finally, he shared his perspective as a scientist coming from Latin America and his dream to make Melatech a place and resource that creates opportunities for young scientists interested in biotech from anywhere in the world!Hosted by Gustavo Carrizo