Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us a textDr. Billy W. Loo Jr., MD PhD ( https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/6839 ) is a Professor of Radiation Oncology, a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute, the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), and of Bio-X Interdisciplinary Biosciences Institute.  He is a physician-scientist Radiation Oncologist and Bioengineer who directs the Thoracic Radiation Oncology Program and is Principal Investigator of the FLASH Sciences Lab at Stanford ( https://med.stanford.edu/loo-lab.html ).Dr. Loo’s clinical specialty is precision targeted radiotherapy for lung/thoracic cancers, including stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). Dr. Loo is a recognized expert in thoracic cancers serving on multiple national committees (including as writing member or vice-chair) that publish clinical guidelines on the treatment of lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies, particularly the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).Dr. Loo’s clinical research is in clinical trials and implementation of new treatment techniques for lung cancer, and development of new medical imaging methods for measuring organ function and predicting response to cancer treatment. He also has developed novel applications of SABR including treatment of pulmonary emphysema and cardiac arrhythmias.The research focus of the FLASH Sciences Lab at Stanford, directed by Dr. Loo, is the development and study of extremely rapid FLASH therapy to optimize the biological therapeutic index of cancer radiotherapy, and the technological infrastructure for this basic research and its clinical translation. Dr. Loo is co-inventor of a fundamentally new approach to delivering ultra-rapid, ultra-precise cancer therapy, pluridirectional high-energy agile scanning electronic radiotherapy (PHASER), and co-leads a program to develop it into a transformative and clinically practical technology.Dr. Loo is also a co-founder of an early stage company, TibaRay ( https://www.tibaray.com/ ) developing next generation linear accelerator technology (derived from Stanford research) to bring these advances to patients.Dr. Loo received his MD from University of California, Davis and his PhD in Bioengineering from University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley. He completed his Radiation Oncology residency training at Stanford Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Radiology in Radiation Oncology, and is a Fellow of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and a Fellow of the American College of Radiology (ACR).#BillyLoo #Oncology #Cancer #RadiationOncology #FlashRadiotherapy #Stanford #Tibaray #Phaser #Bioengineering  #LinearAccelerator #Klystron #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textFleur Hassan-Nahoum ( https://www.fleurhassann.com/ ) is Israel’s Special Envoy for Trade & Innovation.  She was appointed to this position in 2023 by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, after coming off of six years of service as Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem where she was in charge of foreign relations, international economic development, and tourism.Following the historic 2020 Abraham Accords, Fleur cofounded the UAE-Israel Business Council ( https://www.uaeisraelbusiness.com/ ), an association of Emirati and Israeli business and government leaders fostering bilateral trade, innovation, and cooperation, as well as the Gulf Israel Women’s Forum, the first association bringing together female leaders from across the Middle East with a strong network extending from Bahrain and Morocco. Fleur is very well known in political, policy, and media circles and following her tenure as Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem remains involved in the advancement of women’s rights and marginalized populations in the city, through economic development and the fight for a pluralistic Jerusalem.Fleur studied law at Kings College, London and practiced in London, and before joining politics, Fleur worked in throughput the Jewish nonprofit world as well as led her own communications consulting business. Fleur is also the first woman to be appointed as Secretary General for Kol Israel ( https://kol-israel.org/ ), the ideological successor to the General Zionist Party in the World Zionist Congress. Fleur recently joined the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy ( https://www.misgavins.org/en/author/fleur_hassan_nahoum/ )  as a senior fellow and sits on the international advisory council of this think tank that advances pragmatic and realistic approaches in Israeli foreign and defense policy. Important Episode Link -  FemForward - Shaping a shared society where women lead the way in innovation, peacebuilding, and global connectivity - https://www.femforward.org/#Israel #FleurHassanNahoum #DeputyMayor #Jerusalem #StartupNation #EconomicDevelopment #AbrahamAccords #UAE #Bahrain #Morocco #CampusIsrael #FemForward #MisgavInstitute #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textKevin Caldwell is CEO, Co-Founder & President of Ossium Health ( https://ossiumhealth.com/ ), a commercial stage bioengineering company that leverages its proprietary organ donor bone marrow banking platform to develop stem cell therapies for patients with life-threatening hematologic conditions, organ transplant rejection, and musculoskeletal defects.  Mr. Caldwell built Ossium from a small startup into the clinical stage bioengineering company it is today, setting the company’s mission to improve human health through bioengineering and designed its platform-based model for cellular therapeutics development. He has led the company’s successful pursuit, negotiation, and execution of more than 50 business relationships, including 5 successful fundraisings and dozens of supply partnerships, clinical partnerships, and commercial contracts with biopharmaceutical companies. After seven years of strategic engagement and networking, Mr. Caldwell drove the team to successfully secure a transformative federal contract with BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority) that validates Ossium’s innovative approach. This milestone represents the culmination of persistent relationship-building, targeted proposals, and  unwavering commitment to addressing national biomedical challenges through cutting-edge technology and collaborative partnerships.Prior to founding Ossium, Mr. Caldwell served as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey’s San Francisco office where he advised clients in the biotechnology and healthcare sectors. His projects ranged from due diligence of acquisition targets in the biotech startup ecosystem to restructuring distressed biopharma companies. Mr. Caldwell led more than 20 engagements with more than a dozen clients, leading teams that advised clients on revenue growth, go to market strategy, and organizational restructuring.Before McKinsey, Mr. Caldwell served as a Senior Investment Associate at Bridgewater Associates where he did quantitative research for the firm’s global macro investments. Mr. Caldwell studied Physics and Economics at MIT before receiving his JD from Harvard Law School. In addition, he is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and a Fellow of the Leaders in Tech Program.#KevinCaldwell #OssiumHealth #BoneMarrow #HematopoieticStemCellTransplantation #HSCT #MesenchymalStemCells #Leukemia #Lymphoma #Myeloma #SickleCellDisease #OrganTransplantRejection #GraftVersusHostDisease #GVHD #BARDA #ASPR #CBRN #NuclearEmergencyPreparedness #Longevity #Aging #Frailty #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Amir Baniassadi, Ph.D. is an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant Scientist in Marcus Institute for Aging Research ( https://www.marcusinstituteforaging.org/who-we-are/profiles/amir-baniassadi-phd ) where he works on environmental impacts on health and well-being of older populations. Dr. Baniassadi works on the impacts of ambient air temperature and air quality (both indoors and outdoors) on outcomes related to the health and well-being of physiologically and socioeconomically vulnerable populations. His research applies novel environmental modeling and measurement techniques along with remote and long-term physiological and functional monitoring of individuals to establish relationships between exposure and outcome variables of interest outside clinical lab settings. The ultimate goal of his research is to develop environmental interventions that optimize the environment for health and longevity of older adults.Dr. Baniassadi has a Ph.D. in Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering from Arizona State University and a B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tehran. His post-doctoral training includes a three-year T32 fellowship in Translational Research in Older adults, and a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. #AmirBaniassadi #HarvardMedicalSchool #MarcusInstituteForAgingResearch #EnvironmentalGerontology #VulnerabilityScience #Exposome #Health #WellBeing #Wearables #SmartHome #AgingInPlace #Thermoregulation #HeatIslands #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Erica Goldman, Ph.D. is Director of Policy Entrepreneurship ( https://fas.org/expert/erica-goldman/ ) and the Day One Program (https://fas.org/day-one-project/ ), at the Federation of American Scientists ( FAS - https://fas.org/ )FAS is an organization formed at the end of World War II, made up of scientists across diverse disciplines, who joined together to advance science policy and counter scientific misinformation, and which currently works to minimize the risks of significant global threats, arising from nuclear weapons, biological and chemical agents, and climate change. The organization also works to advance progress on a broad suite of contemporary issues where science, technology, and innovation policy can deliver dramatic progress, and seeks to ensure that scientific and technical expertise have a seat at the policymaking table.Dr. Goldman has served in various roles spanning the boundaries between science and policy throughout her career. She has a diverse background that includes science writing, science policy, and academic research and her passions lie in making connections between these domains. Most recently, Dr. Goldman served as the Deputy Director of the Global Council for Science and the Environment, where she worked across a network of institutions and diverse groups of scientists to improve the scientific basis of environmental decision-making. Previously, she served as the Director of Policy Engagement for COMPASS, a nonprofit organization that helps environmental scientists effectively share their knowledge in the public discourse and decision-making. She also served a six-month term in the White House Council on Environmental Quality on the Land & Water Ecosystems Team during the Obama Administration. Dr. Goldman has worked as a science writer for the Maryland Sea Grant College Program; served as a Knauss marine policy fellow in the Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives; and worked as a news intern at Science Magazine. Dr. Goldman received her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Washington and her Bachelor’s of Science degree from Yale University.#EricaGoldman #PolicyEntrepreneurship #DayOne #FederationOfAmericanScientists #Policymaking #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textYael Elish is CEO and Founder of StuffThatWorks ( https://www.stuffthatworks.health/ ), a company that offers an online platform where people suffering from chronic diseases can share information to learn which treatments work best for their specific condition, based on the experience of their peers combined with a smart, AI-based crowdsourcing system.A passionate entrepreneur with expertise in crowdsourcing and consumer-facing products, Yael was on the Waze founding team, where she drove the overall product strategy that led the company from User One to one of the world’s most notable crowdsourcing endeavours. She also co-founded eSnips and NetSnippet, and was part of the senior management team that took Commtouch to its successful NASDAQ IPO in 2000.Prior to Commtouch, Yael led the sales and marketing efforts for various start-ups in Israel. Yael holds a first degree in Foreign Relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.#StuffThatWorks #YaelElish #Crowdsourcing #ChronicDiseases #RareDiseases #ArtificialIntelligence #Healthcare #Medicine #Repurposing #ClinicalTrials #RealWorldData #RealWorldEvidence #Waze #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Georges Benjamin, MD is Executive Director of the American Public Health Association ( APHA - https://apha.org/about-apha/executive-board-and-staff/apha-staff/georges-c-benjamin-md ), the professional membership and advocacy organization for public health professionals in the United States. APHA is the largest professional organization of public health professionals in the United States.Dr. Benjamin is known as one of the nation’s most influential physician leaders because he speaks passionately and eloquently about the health issues having the most impact on our nation today. From his firsthand experience as a physician, he knows what happens when preventive care is not available and when the healthy choice is not the easy choice. As executive director of APHA since 2002, he is leading the Association’s push to make America the healthiest nation.Dr. Benjamin came to APHA from his position as secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Dr. Benjamin became secretary of health in Maryland in April 1999, following four years as its deputy secretary for public health services. As secretary, Benjamin oversaw the expansion and improvement of the state’s Medicaid program. Dr. Benjamin is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois College of Medicine, is board-certified in internal medicine, a master of the American College of Physicians, a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a fellow emeritus of the American College of Emergency Physicians, an honorary fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health.An established administrator, author and orator, Dr. Benjamin started his medical career as a military physician in 1978 when he trained in internal medicine at the Brooke Army Medical Center. In 1981, he was assigned to the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, where he managed a 72,000-patient visit ambulatory care service as chief of the Acute Illness Clinic and was faculty and an attending physician within the Department of Emergency Medicine. A few years later, Dr. Benjamin was reassigned to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he served as chief of emergency medicine. After leaving the Army, Dr. Benjamin chaired the Department of Community Health and Ambulatory Care at the District of Columbia General Hospital. He was promoted to acting commissioner for public health for the District of Columbia and later directed one of the busiest ambulance services in the nation as interim director of the Emergency Ambulance Bureau of the District of Columbia Fire Department.At APHA, Dr. Benjamin also serves as publisher of the nonprofit's monthly publication, The Nation's Health, the association's official newspaper, and the American Journal of Public Health, the profession’s premier scientific publication. He is the author of more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters. His recent book Public Health Under Siege: Improving Policy in Turbulent Times explores the impact of policy on our nation's health and offers specific actions to improve health and extend life expectancy. He is also the author of The Quest for Health Reform: A Satirical History, an exposé of the 100-year quest to ensure quality affordable health coverage for all using political cartoons.#GeorgesBenjamin #PublicHealth #AmericanPublicHealthAssociation #APHA #DisasterMedicine #EnvironmentalHealth #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #Aging #Healthspan #Injury #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Thomas Chen, MD, Ph.D. is Founder, CEO & CSO, and Board Director, of NeOnc Technologies ( https://neonc.com/ ), a developer of a proprietary, patented platform technology that can potentially transport pharma-based therapeutics directly to the brain without the normal boundary restrictions imposed by the body’s Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB), providing patients with potentially more effective treatments.NeOnc is developing a portfolio of treatments for brain cancer and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Dr. Chen is a board-certified neurosurgeon and the Director of Surgical Neuro-Oncology at USC where he is also a tenured Professor of Neurosurgery and Pathology ( https://keck.usc.edu/faculty-search/thomas-c-chen/ ). Dr. Chen graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also received Bronze Tablet honors and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa national academic honor society. He attended the University of California, San Francisco, where he obtained his MD, and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society. He underwent neurosurgery training at USC and obtained a Ph.D. degree in pathobiology where his thesis was on the role of immunotherapy in malignant brain tumors. Dr. Chen is also a fellowship-trained spine surgeon and one of a few surgical neuro-oncologists in the country specializing in spine cancer surgery. He maintains a busy clinical practice in both surgical neuro-oncology and spine surgery and heads a research laboratory focused on glioma biology. Dr. Chen has published extensively on glioma biology and neurosurgery. He is on the editorial board for The Spine Journal and on the review board for Neurosurgery and Journal of Neurosurgery. He also serves on numerous national neurosurgery committees.#NeOnc #ThomasChen #NeurologicalSurgery #Neurosurgery #BrainTumor #Glioblastoma #Glioma #BloodBrainBarrier #NeuroOncology #Temozolomide #PerillylAlcohol #Meningioma #Neurology #CNS #SpinalCordInjury #BrainMetastases #Alzheimers #ParkinsonsDisease #Neuropathology #MedicalOncology #Chemotherapy #RadiationOncology #USC #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textVasily Popov ( https://entities-meta.com/index_en.html ) is a contemporary artist, not afraid to go beyond the boundaries of traditional art, using new technologies and formats to express his ideas, combining the talents of a poet, artist, and innovator in the field of art and technology. Mr. Popov's many achievements include:- As a Poet: authoring five books of poetry, testifying to his deep creative potential and love for words;- As an Artist: creating more than 300 canvases, demonstrating a variety of techniques and styles in the visual arts;- As an Innovator: launching the world's first NFT (non-fungible token) into real space on the International Space Station (ISS), a very unique event at the intersection of art, technology and space, which highlights his desire for experimentation and innovation.Mr. Popov has won many of prestigious awards and his contribution to culture and art is recognized at a high level.  He is a laureate of the Bunin Prize in Literature, a laureate of the Lermontov Prize, and a winner of the Grand Prix of the literary forum "Golden Knight". Mr. Popov also serves as a Member of the Union of Writers of Russia, and serves as a secretary of the board of this organization.Mr. Popov attended the Siberian Institute of Law, Economics and Management, Irkutsk, Russian Federation and the Gorky Literary Institute, Moscow, Russian Federation.This episode is recorded in English And Russian with real-time episode translation by Ms. Victoria Ustimenko Laskina, Preto Business Corp - https://pretobusiness.com/#VasilyPopov #Art #Paintings #Poetry #Space #NFT #ISS #SpaceStation #ElonMusk #OlegArtemyev #Blockchain #NonFungibleToken #Cosmonaut #BaikonurCosmodrome #InternationalSpaceStation  #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Hernan A. Bazan MD, FACS, CEO & Co-Founder of South Rampart Pharma, Inc. ( https://southrampartpharma.com/about-us/hernan-bazan/ ), a clinical stage biopharma company developing safer, non-opioid therapies for acute and chronic pain, where he spearheads the company’s scientific, clinical and technology development efforts, as well as it’s fundraising. As an academic vascular surgeon, Dr. Bazan is the John Ochsner Endowed Professor of Surgery in Innovation ( https://www.ochsner.org/doctors/hernan-bazan ). His clinical interests include treating carotid artery disease and acute stroke, using minimally invasive approaches to aortic aneurysms and peripheral arterial disease, and managing acute post-operative pain. Over the years, Dr. Bazan has realized the significant clinical and societal need for safer and non-addictive pain relief in ambulatory and post-operative settings. From these critical unmet needs, South Rampart Pharma, Inc. was founded in 2016 to develop safer, non-opioid therapies for acute and chronic pain.Dr. Bazan authored the first manuscript describing the library of analgesic compounds’ synthesis, lack of hepatoxicity analgesic characterization, and antipyretic properties, published in September 2020 in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and a current paper under advanced review (open access) in Nature Communications.Dr. Bazan is the PI or Co-I on two NIH/NINDS STTR (small business commercialization) grants to develop a novel non-narcotic and non-toxic analgesic to safely treat acute, chronic, and neuropathic pain. He is the co-inventor of 7 issued or pending patents and has authored over 50 publications. He and his team have completed Phase 1 clinical trials, paving the way for Phase 2 RCTs in acute and neuropathic pain. He was bestowed the 2024 NIH HEAL Director’s Trailblazer Award for this work.Dr. Bazan received a B.S. in Molecular Biology (Vanderbilt University). He spent two years in medical school as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Research Scholar at the NIH. He earned an M.D. (Georgetown University), followed by a General Surgery Residency (Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York) and a Vascular Surgery Fellowship (Yale University).#Pain #Opioids #NSAIDS #Acetaminophen #Analgesia #Nociception #PostOperative #HernanBazan #NicolasBazan #SouthRampartPharma #Ochsner #Fentanyl #Aspirin #Ibuprofen   #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show