DOE, The Right Thing (with Keara Sutherland)

If efficiency is the name of the game in process development, then Design of Experiments (DOE) is the playbook you didn’t know you needed. But how do you actually apply it in the messy, variable world of viral vector production? That’s exactly what we dig into in this episode. Keara Sutherland takes us through her journey from simple drug pairing experiments to complex, high-dimensional DOE campaigns that optimize biological processes in ways that feel almost magical – but are grounded in solid strategy.Conversation highlights:05:24 - Keara’s first exposure to DOE and transitioning from drug synergy studies to complex process optimization12:17 - The addictive efficiency of DOE: maximizing data points while minimizing time17:26 - DOE as a tool for biological flexibility: managing multiple outputs and future-proofing processes31:31 - Real-world challenges: balancing experimental ideal with practical constraints, including automation and scalability