A native of Sweden, Helena Cowley moved to the U.S. in 2009 as a teenager. She is the CEO of Captozyme, a company that developed an enzyme to degrade oxalates, a key component of kidney stones and possibly the source of other problems for the body.

TRANSCRIPT:

Intro: 0:01

Inventors and their inventions. Welcome to Radio Cade, the podcast from the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida. The museum is named after James, Robert Cade who invented Gatorade in 1965. My name is Richard Miles. We'll introduce you to inventors and the things that motivate them. We'll learn about their personal stories, how their inventions work, and how their ideas get from the laboratory to the marketplace.

Richard Miles: 0:41

This morning we have Helena Cowley who is the CEO of a company called Captozyme with us this morning. Welcome Helena.

Helena Cowley: 0:46

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Richard Miles: 0:48

So Helena, we start out by asking our guests a little bit about themselves. So prior to becoming a CEO of a company, where are you from? Where were you born, what did your parents do? Do you have siblings, all that good stuff. And tell us a little bit about your pre-CEO days.

Helena Cowley: 1:03

So I actually was born and raised in Sweden. I grew up in a small town, but I spent most of my life in Gothenburg, which is the second largest city in Sweden. I grew up with two siblings and we have a great connection, but we're very different actually, I mean I've always been interested in the natural sciences. My sister studied psychology and my brother, he's actually an MBA working for Price Waterhouse Cooper, so there I got an opportunity to brag about my siblings, but I, I moved to the U.S. that was in 2009 and I actually had a short stint with a biotech company developing a medical device here in the area. I got connected with the area originally because there was a company here in Alachua that had their headquarters in Sweden and I did an internship in, back in 2007 with them and that's how I first got connected with the area and I just fell in love with it literally and moved back in 2009 after I had completed my master's in bioengineering in Sweden. And then I pursued a career here in the U.S.

Richard Miles: 2:16

Were you always drawn to sort of engineering and science? I mean, I know as a kid you played the piano right? And you played some soccer, so you're sort of athletic, musical, where did the science fit into this?

Helena Cowley: 2:28

It started with a high school teacher. He taught biology and chemistry and he was just really good at making it fun, which was the key, because I always say it's like a feedback loop. The things that you find fun, you spend more time on it, you get better at it and when you get better at it, it's more fun. So then you're in that positive feedback loop. So it really starts with doing something that's really fun.

Richard Miles: 2:58

And me about your parents, are either one of your parents a scientist? I know your mother is from China, right?

Helena Cowley: 3:04

That's correct. So my mother is originally Chinese and my father is Swedish and that's how I was born in Sweden and my mother is a registered nurse and she's actually working in dialysis in particular, which is interesting. So it relates to what I do now.

Richard Miles: 3:19

Do