On this episode of Staying Alive, hosts Jon Gabrus and Adam Pally sit down with National Institutes Of Health-funded immunologist (and fellow omakase enthusiast) Dr. Shruti Naik to talk about the glowing bacteria that made her become a scientist, the heroic mice who really give us our medications, the benefits of cruciferous vegetables, and much more. Then, they have Dr. Shruti back for a quick catch-up about what’s been happening at the NIH in the first few months of this year. Big takeaway: Tell your congressional representatives and Senators that funding science is very important to you!

Follow Dr Shruti on Twitter @DrShrutiNaik

This episode was recorded January 22 and April 7, 2025 at SiriusXM studios in New York City

Special thanks to Jared O’Connell

Staying Alive is produced by Devon Torrey Bryant and Anne Harris

Engineered and edited by Devon Torrey Bryant, who also wrote the music

Associate producer and video editor is Maddie McCann

Executive produced by Jon Gabrus, Adam Pally, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Bernie Kaminski, and Rich Korson

Keywords for this episode: Phish, red meat, Jimmy Buffett, mice, research scientist, innovation, Big Pharma, Mouse Wahlberg, glow-in-the-dark bacteria, quorum sensing, bald eagle meat, Omakase, cruciferous vegetables, gut bacteria, Aura ring