Teaming up with PhagePro: A Chat with Dr. Mimi Yen

Thinkubator Media takes great pride in the companies we support. Through our shared work, we have formed lasting relationships that enrich our team and our clients. It is an honor to support professionals, many of them women, in their growth and success. Our team develops a full understanding of each client and their needs so that we can best support them.

Dr. Minmin “Mimi” Yen is one of such unique clients who has established herself as a biotech innovator. As a co-founder of PhagePro, Dr. Yen and her team are reviving a century-old medical practice, using phages for virus protection, to revamp the way we synthesize and access vaccines. Their findings have the potential to increase efficiency

A graphic depicting a bacteriophage, the inspiration behind PhagePro.

We first connected with Dr. Yen when the PhagePro team sought to redesign their website and develop clear, compelling copy for the complex biotech startup. She shared that, “one of our biggest challenges was translating complex scientific concepts into accessible, engaging language while remaining technically accurate. Thinkubator Media helped us achieve this without oversimplifying our work or losing credibility."

Dr. Yen's Experience

"Thinkubator Media brought structure to a process that felt overwhelming. I would tend to get stuck in the nitty-gritty of designing a website - wondering about color schemes, how to code columns, or whether this word was the right choice. They helped us [determine] what mattered most by asking the right questions and then moving efficiently from ideas to execution. This saved us time and resulted in a much more cohesive final product.”

“Throughout our time together, Thinkubator Media acted as true thought partners. Despite the entirety of our work being virtual, the process felt very personal and hands-on; [our] communication was clear, consistent, and collaborative. The Thinkubator Media team took the time to deeply understand our science, mission, and values, thus helping us articulate our story authentically.”

“Their guidance strengthened not just our website, but our overall narrative as a company, thus leaving us on a stronger foundation. The highly skilled team stood out for their professionalism and warmth. They were responsive, thoughtful, fun, and collaborative throughout the process, which made even challenging conversations about messaging feel easy and energizing.”

Leaving a Lasting Impression

As our work came to a close, Dr. Yen shared that the PhagePro team was left with a lasting impression. “Working with the team helped me better understand how to think about branding as storytelling. Thinkubator Media showed us how to frame our science in a way that connects with different audiences while staying true to who we are."

“Our biggest takeaway was that clear, thoughtful communication can be a force multiplier, especially for mission-driven, science-based organizations like ours. Thinkubator Media helped us see how powerful it is when your message is both precise and accessible.”

“I genuinely loved working with the Thinkubator Media team. They brought curiosity, care, and creativity to every interaction, and it truly felt like they were invested in our success. I would enthusiastically recommend them to any organization looking to clarify their story and elevate their brand.”

Dr. Boltcreed's Marathon and the Passion in her Pursuits

Dr. Emily Boltcreed hails from England where she spent most of her younger years as an avid writer and poet. Three generations of men in her family are engineers. At the same time, her mother actively incorporated engineering fundamentals into her creative pursuits (such as textiles, quilling, papercrafts, and other skills that are often discredited for their association with women’s “busy work”). Her family motto was, “Don’t buy that, build/make it yourself!” Emily’s early exposure to the versatility of science etched a hopeful blueprint for the possibilities that lay before her.

In school, she gravitated toward her physics teacher who was such a force of nature to inspire Emily to pursue a Bachelor’s in Physics. Her studies eventually led her to focus on biomedical physics, such as medical and MRI images. From there, she found herself tiptoeing the fine line between biology and physics, a place where she could sift through and understand the building blocks of life itself.

She attended Northeastern, where she met our very own Lori Lennon. While at the university, she completed a co-op at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which introduced her to the field of neuroscience. She also worked in a lab on campus that studied the peripheral nervous system. She found her fuel through connecting with and educating others meaningfully. Emily would spend free time outside of her studies teaching science, sex-ed, and embodying empowerment to young girls in public schools. She would also make time to write for the school science magazine and participate in multiple student body activities.

Eventually, she took a break from studying to be a public school teacher for two years. With Teach for America, she was sent to South Dakota during the height of the Standing Rock Movement. Emily witnessed the atrocities of racism and poor legislation that breeds poverty and distress within communities. Though she found joy in connecting with her students, she was torn by the shocking circumstances that they faced outside of the classroom. She knew she had to use her abilities and connections to contribute to the greater good.

Emily has since returned to the classroom herself, continuing to get both her Master’s degree and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. Today, as a postdoctoral researcher, her main focus has been on developmental neuroscience in lab mice.

One aspect of her work aims to quantify how aggression appears in the brains of female mice throughout their estrus or menstrual cycles. Her team maps out the chemical interactions throughout the cycle, creating a better picture of reality from the female perspective. Though the team is focused on mice, many of us know these little creatures often pave the way for pivotal advancements in human nature.

Studying at Columbia’s NY State Psychiatric Institute in Manhattan has allowed Emily to be deeply immersed in a conglomerate of influential and high-powered global health institutions. While expanding on her innate passion for wellness through science, she is forging inspiring and lasting connections that nurture her scientific prowess. Emily gracefully combines the eloquence of her writing and the curiosity of her scientific mind to understand and illustrate the inner workings of life as we know it.

When she isn’t focused on changing the world one study at a time, Emily finds peace as a marathon runner! You can track her progress here, thanks to her tech-savvy husband. She also continues to write for several publications and mentor students through various programs in New York such as Big Brother, Big Sister, ReadAhead and the New York Academy of Science's Afterschool Science Mentoring Program. Quality time with her spouse, extended family, fellow scientists, and friends also offers refuge and nourishment. Emily is especially moved by the pivotal women scientists she’s encountered and befriended such as Abigail Koppes, Vikki Hazelwood, and Giulia Zanni, among many others. As she continues to define her beautifully kaleidoscopic life, Dr. Boltcreed makes sure to bring all of the communities she loves with her.