

Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show
Ira Pastor
Interviews and Discussions With Fascinating People Who are Creating A Better Tomorrow For All Of Us - Host - Ira S. Pastor
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 4, 2025 • 1h 3min
Vasily Popov - Artist, Poet, Innovator - Art And The Cosmos
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

Feb 3, 2025 • 46min
Dr. Hernan A. Bazan, MD - CEO And Co-Founder, South Rampart Pharma - Novel, Safer, Non-Addictive Pain Medicines
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

Jan 28, 2025 • 1h 1min
Dr. Christopher Stubbs, Ph.D. - Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Harvard University - BIG Projects To Solve Pressing Issues In Science
Send us a textDr. Christopher Stubbs, Ph.D. is the Samuel C. Moncher Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and has recently served as the Dean of Science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, at Harvard University ( https://astronomy.fas.harvard.edu/people/istopher-stubbs ).Dr. Stubbs is an experimental physicist working at the interface between particle physics, cosmology and gravitation. His interests include experimental tests of the foundations of gravitational physics, searches for dark matter, characterizing the dark energy, and observational cosmology. Dr. Stubbs was a member of one of the two teams that first discovered dark energy by using supernovae to map out the history of cosmic expansion. Dr. Stubbs is currently heavily engaged in the construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), for which he was the inaugural project scientist. He founded the APOLLO collaboration that is using lunar laser ranging and the Earth-Moon-Sun system to probe for novel gravitational effects that may result from physics beyond the standard model.Dr. Stubbs received an International Baccalaureate diploma from the Tehran International School in 1975, a BSc in physics from the University of Virginia in 1981, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Washington in 1988.Dr. Stubbs is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a recipient of the National Academy of Sciences Award for Initiative in Research, the NASA Achievement Medal, and is a co-recipient (with other members of the High-z Supernova Team who discovered the accelerating expansion of the Universe) of the Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Dr. Stubbs was awarded a McDonnell Centennial Fellowship, and a Packard Fellowship, and currently serves on the advisory panel for the Packard Foundation. He is an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, in connection with his interest in arms control and technical aspects of international security issues, has served as a member of JASON advisory, a group of elite scientists and engineers who provide technical advice to government agencies on national security issues. He also serves on the technical advisory group for the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He recently published a book entitled "Going Big - A Scientist's Guide to Large Projects and Collaborations" ( https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262547963/going-big/ ) which describes all the crucial skills scientists need to make a professional transition into large projects and collaborations that require governance and project management.#ChristopherStubbs #Physics #Astronomy #Astrophysics #GravitationalPhysics #DarkMatter #DarkEnergy #ObservationalCosmology #DeanOfScience #HarvardUniversity #ParticlePhysics #Cosmology #Gravitation #JasonAdvisory #QuantumComputing #NuclearWeapons #NuclearReactors #DualUse #CitizenScience #HumanGenomeProject #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcastSupport the show

Jan 27, 2025 • 1h 3min
Steve Rader - Program Manager - Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation / Tournament Lab, NASA - Harnessing The Power Of The Crowd To Solve Important Problems
Send us a textSteve Rader ( https://www.nasa.gov/people/steve-rader /) serves as the Program Manager of NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation ( CoECI - https://www.nasa.gov/coeci/ ) and the NASA Tournament Lab ( NTL - https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-tournament-lab/ ), which are working to infuse challenge and crowdsourcing innovation approaches at NASA and across the federal government. CoECI focuses on the study and use of curated, crowdsourcing communities that utilize prize and challenge-based methods to deliver innovative solutions for NASA and the U.S. government. In 2015, Steve was named as one of 20 Challenge Mentors for U.S. Government Services Administration’s (GSA) Prizes and Challenges government-wide community of practice. Steve has worked with various projects and organizations to develop and execute over 100 different challenges. He speaks regularly about NASA’s work in crowd-based challenges and the future of work both publicly and internally to the NASA workforce to promote the use of open innovation tools.Steve has a Mechanical Engineering degree from Rice University and has worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center for 33 years. Prior to joining CoECI/NTL, Steve worked in mission control, flight software development for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, command and control systems development for the X-38 (the experimental re-entry vehicle designed by NASA to research a possible emergency crew return vehicle), and led the Command, Control, Communications, & Information (C3I) architecture definition for the Constellation Program.#SteveRader #NASA #CenterOfExcellenceForCollaborativeInnovation #TournamentLab #OpenInnovation #GovernmentServicesAdministration #Prizes #Challenges #MechanicalEngineering #X38 #ConstellationProgram #JohnsonSpaceCenter #SpaceShuttle #InternationalSpaceStation #Crowdsourcing #DualUse #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcastSupport the show

Jan 22, 2025 • 44min
Patty Keating - Executive Director - HypoPARAthyroidism Association - HypoPARAthyroidism Education, Support, Research And Advocacy
Send us a textPatty Keating is Executive Director of the HypoPARAthyroidism Association ( HPA - https://www.hypopara.org/ ), an advocacy organization that works to improve the lives of people impacted by hypoPARAthyroidism through education, support, research, and advocacy.Patty comes to HPA as a post-surgical hypoPARAthyroidism patient since 2015. She spent over 30 years in leadership roles within the hair salon business overseeing up to 400 locations prior to taking on the executive director role with HPA in February 2024. Patty is also a licensed real estate agent.As a patient herself, Patty knew she needed to quickly learn as much as she could about this rare disease to be an advocate for herself. Seeing the struggles patients go through she knew she could offer more to the community with her leadership skills so she joined the board and has led the team as Chairman since 2022. Patty has a passion for people and helping them live with this rare disease through education and advocacy.#HypoparathyroidismAssociation #PattyKeating #Palopegteriparatide #Yorvipath #Parathyroid #Advocacy #RareDisease #OrphanDisease #Patients #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Jan 21, 2025 • 52min
H.E. Dr. Ahmed El-Sobky, Ph.D. - Chairman, Egypt Healthcare Authority - The Future Of Healthcare In Egypt
Send us a textH.E. Dr. Ahmed El-Sobky, Ph.D. is Chairman of the Egypt Healthcare Authority ( EHA - https://eha.gov.eg/en/about-eha/ ) and a prominent figure esteemed for his visionary leadership and expertise across clinical and managerial domains. As the Chairman of the EHA since 2020, Dr. El-Sobky has founded the guiding principles of the organization and led transformative measures to enhance healthcare services and accessibility nationwide. Dr. El-Sobky’s contributions extend globally as a Member of the UHC2030 Steering Committee and a Governing Council member in the International Hospital Federation, as well as at the Ministry of Health and Population ( MOHP - https://www.mohp.gov.eg/ ), where he supervises critical projects like the Hayah Karima Project ( https://hayakarima.com/en/about-us ) and the Universal Health Insurance Project, leveraging his insights to drive impactful change.Dr. El-Sobky’s career in health strategic management started early in 2015 being the youngest assistant, then Deputy Minister of Health and Population for Monitoring and Follow-up affairs, underscoring his dedication to advancing public health locally and globally. Dr. El-Sobky’s academic journey is marked by a Ph.D. in Diagnostic Radiology from Menoufia University, Master of Science in Clinical Service Operations from Harvard Medical School, an Executive Diploma in Public-Private Partnership in Healthcare from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, and an MBA in Business Administration and Management from Ecole Supérieure Libre des Sciences Commerciales Appliquées.Dr. El-Sobky also chairs the scientific council of the Egyptian board of healthcare management, a position he has held since 2021.#Egypt #AhmedElSobky #EgyptHealthcareAuthority #UniversalHealthInsurance #DiagnosticRadiology #BigData #NewLibraryOfAlexandria #MinistryOfHealthAndPopulation #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #AbdelFattahAlSisi #HepatitisC #HealthcareInformationAndManagementSystemsSociety #Aging #AntimicrobialResistance #Cairo #HayaKarima #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Jan 17, 2025 • 1h 14min
Dr. Heather Ikemire, Ph.D. - Executive Director, Lifetime Arts - Creative Aging For Health & Well-Being
Send us a textDr. Heather Ikemire, Ph.D. is Executive Director of Lifetime Arts ( https://lifetimearts.org/ ), a national service organization focused on accelerating the impact of creative aging nationwide and leading this national, multi-sector movement to establish creative aging as an essential driver of older adult health and well-being.The vision of Lifetime Arts is to imagine a world without ageism and social isolation, where creative aging is embraced as a fundamental human right.Dr. Ikemire joined the Lifetime Arts team as Deputy Director in July 2022 and has been involved in leading Lifetime Arts’ work to organize initiatives like the annual International Creative Summit in partnership with colleagues from the U.K. and Finland, bringing together more than 440 arts and aging leaders from 24+ countries.Dr. Ikemire came to Lifetime Arts with twenty years of experience in arts education and nonprofit management, including fifteen years with the National Guild for Community Arts Education, also a national service organization. While working there, she was focused on directing the Guild’s large-scale, multi-year investment in Catalyzing Creative Aging as well as Creative Youth Development National Partnership.Dr. Ikemire has a Ph.D. in Theater for Youth from Arizona State University and a B.A. in English Literature from Vassar College.Important Episode Link - E.A. Michelson Philanthropy -https://eamichelsonphilanthropy.org/vitality-arts/videos/Go visit the “Videos to Inspire” page to see this work in action – and hear from Jane Fonda in the Foundation’s recent video about the importance of creative aging.#LifetimeArts #HeatherIkemire #CreativeAging #Ageism #SocialIsolation #HumanRights #SocialPrescribing #Health #WellBeing #NationalGuildForCommunityArtsEducation #CommunityArts #HealthyAging #Dance #Music #Education #Drama #Art #Literature #EAMichelsonPhilanthropy #Libraries #Museums #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Jan 16, 2025 • 55min
Dr. Nikolay Kukushkin, Ph.D. - Center for Neural Science, NYU - Uncovering The Molecular, Cellular And Evolutionary Foundations Of Memory
Send us a textDr. Nikolay Kukushkin, Ph.D. ( https://www.nikolaykukushkin.com/ ) is Clinical Associate Professor of Life Science and a research fellow at the Center for Neural Science, at NYU ( https://liberalstudies.nyu.edu/about/faculty-listing/nikolay-kukushkin.html ). Dr. Kukushkin studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of memory formation and his research has been exploring that memory is not just confined to neuronal circuits, but rather exists in all types of cells in humans and other organisms, relying on a conserved set of molecular tools.Working at the convergence of neuroscience, molecular biology, evolution, and philosophy, Dr. Kukushkin’s core research program currently deals with the role of time patterns in memory formation and how these time patterns of experience determine which memories are formed, and which ones are forgotten.Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Kukushkin held a post-doctoral appointment at Harvard Medical School, Department of Cell Biology. He was also a fellow of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation for his work on the temporal aspects of protein degradation and its role in cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and cognitive disability.Dr. Kukushkin’s academic work has been published in Nature Communications, Nature Medicine, Neuron, and PNAS among others. Dr. Kukushkin is also the author of a bestselling, award-winning book “One Hand Clapping: The Origin Story of The Human Mind” (Alpina Non-Fiction, Moscow, 2020), which deals with the origins of human consciousness. The book will be published in English in 2025 by Prometheus (US) and Swift Press (UK and worldwide). The book won the most prestigious book prize for Russian nonfiction, the Enlightener (Prosvetitel) Award, as well as the Alexander Belyaev Medal, awarded to the best Russian-language nonfiction and science fiction.Dr. Kukushkin holds a D. Phil. in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford (UK) and a B. Sc. in Biology from St. Petersburg State University (Russia).Important Episode Link - Nature Communications, November 2024 - The massed-spaced learning effect in non-neural human cells - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53922-x#NikolayKukushkin #NYU #NeuralScience #Memory #Learning #Neurons #Neuroscientist #Brain #NonNeuralCells #ProteinDegradation #Dementia #SeaSlugs #AplysiaCalifornica #Cramming #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcastSupport the show

Jan 16, 2025 • 53min
Dr. Ian Simon, Ph.D. - Director, Office of Long COVID Research and Practice, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) - Leading A Government-Wide Response To Long COVID
Send us a textDr. Ian Simon, Ph.D. is the Director for the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice ( https://www.hhs.gov/longcovid/index.html ), in the Office of Science and Medicine, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.The Office of Science and Medicine harnesses the power of collaboration, scientific analysis, data-driven innovation, and emerging technologies for advancing initiatives across the Department, including not just Long COVID, but in the areas of behavioral health, health equity, kidney disease, infection-associated chronic conditions, mother-infant dyad, sickle cell disease, and traumatic brain injury. Previously Dr. Simon was the Assistant Director for Health Strategy and Biopreparedness at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he led pandemic prevention and biosecurity policy priorities. Most recently, he was the Senior Advisor to the Director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).Prior to working at NIAID, Dr. Simon was the Assistant Director of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) Science and Technology Policy Institute. In that role, he specialized in developing policy initiatives including bioeconomy, STEM education, pandemic preparedness, biosecurity, and international S&T cooperation. A virologist by training, Dr. Simon has also held health and science advisor positions at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Senate, including serving as the Health and Science Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as part of the American Society for Microbiology Congressional Science Fellowship. He earned his B.S. from the University of Maryland and his Masters and Ph.D. from Yale University.Important Episode Link - Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID - https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/long-covid/index.html#LongCovid #InfectiousDiseases #Virology #HHS #Policy #Biopreparedness #OSTP #USDepartmentOfHealthAndHumanServices #Epidemics #Pandemics #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Jan 14, 2025 • 1h 54min
Eli Mohamad & Kai Micah Mills - CryoDAO And HydraDAO - Advancing Frontiers Of Cryopreservation & Biological Replacement
Send us a textEli Mohamad is a prominent figure in the biotech, space, and AI industries who has co-founded several successful startups and has a real passion for groundbreaking ventures that focus on the development of futuristic technologies.Currently as a Core Team Member at CryoDAO ( https://www.cryodao.org/ ), a decentralized organization focused on sourcing and funding research in cryopreservation, Eli continues to work at the forefront of innovative technologies and applies his extensive experience in biotechnology and innovative projects to advance novel cryopreservation technologies and their various applications, from critical tissue and organ preservation, to cryo-sleep and suspended animation for space exploration.Eli has also been involved in setting up another decentralized organization called HydraDAO ( https://hydradao.org/ ) which is focused on funding and incubating biological replacement research to significantly extend human lifespan and will be looking at everything from Limb Regeneration, Organ Bioprinting and Xenotransplantation, to Progressive Brain Replacement, head/brain transplants, and even whole body replacement via non sentient cloning.Throughout his career, Eli has held various leadership positions in cutting-edge companies including as Co-founder and Chief Business Officer at X-Therma Inc., a company focused on complex tissue preservation; Advisor and Chief Business Officer at Rimac Automobili, working on high-performance electric vehicles; CFO/CBO at Insilico Medicine, Inc., as well as Co-founder of Organ Preservation Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to the future of organ banking, Orphidia Ltd., a medical diagnostics company, and Walkmore, a data science company.Eli holds a Master's degree in Science, Technology and Innovation Management from the University of Sussex. He is also an alumnus of Singularity University's GSP (Global start up) 2012 program. Kai Micah Mills ( https://kaimicahmills.com/ ) is the visionary founder of Cryopets ( https://cryopets.com/ ), a company focused on advancing cryopreservation technologies for pets. Cryopets was founded in 2023 with the aim of revolutionizing the field of cryopreservation. Starting with pets, the company is innovating on existing methods to create reliable and accessible cryopreservation services. Cryopets aspires to make cryopreservation available in local veterinary clinics and, eventually, in human hospitals.With a deep passion for defeating death, Kai is driven by the belief that true progress in longevity science must be bold and unapologetic. He has received backing from the prestigious Thiel Fellowship and is a recognized thought leader in the radical life extension community.Kai is a co-founder of CryoDAO and HydraDao.Important Episode Link - Vitalist Bay - https://www.vitalistbay.com/#EliMohamad #KaiMicahMills #Longevity #Immortality #LifeExtension #ProgressiveBrainReplacement #Cryopreservation #OrganPreservation #Bioprinting #VitalistBay #Vitalism #AdamGries #NathanCheng #HydraDAO #CryoDAO #DeSci #Cryonics #Regeneration #Cryoprotectants #LimbRegeneration #Xenotransplantation #HeadTransplant #BrainTransplant #SpinalCordInjury #SergioCanavero #RenXiaoping #ClonedNonSentientBodies #Cloning #ArtificialWombs #Cryosleep #Crypto #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show