Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us a textDr. Martin Brenner, DVM, Ph.D. is Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of iBio ( https://ibioinc.com/team/martin-brenner-dvm-ph-d/ ), a biotech company developing the next generation of cardiometabolic and obesity medicines to promote higher quality weight loss and enhance overall metabolic health and function, as well as a pipeline of therapeutic candidates in immuno-oncology for some of the most-difficult-to-treat cancers, including solid tumors in lung, colorectal, and breast cancer, head and neck cancer, pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma, a fast-growing brain tumor. Dr. Brenner has a strong history of success heading drug discovery and development teams at several of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer Inc., and Merck Research Laboratories. Most recently, Dr. Brenner served as the CSO at Pfenex Inc., which, using its patented Pfēnex Expression Technology® platform, created an advanced pipeline of therapeutic equivalents, vaccines, biologics and biosimilars. Pfenex was acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated for approximately $516 million in October 2020. Previously, Dr. Brenner served as the CSO at Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on accelerating drug discovery for rare diseases and diseases with high unmet medical need. Prior to his time at Recursion, Dr. Brenner was Vice President and Head of Research & Early Development at Stoke Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company using antisense oligonucleotides to increase gene expression for the treatment of rare diseases. Prior to Stoke, Dr. Brenner was Executive Director at Merck, where he built a biotech unit from scratch, focusing his team’s research on diabetes and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Earlier in his career, Dr. Brenner was the Senior Director and Head of cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism (CVRM) biosciences at AstraZeneca. In addition, Dr. Brenner was an Associate Research Fellow at Pfizer where he led the islet biology and in vivo pharmacology in the CVMED Target Exploration Unit before assuming the role of Head of the Insulin Resistance Group.Dr. Brenner has a DVM, Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and a Ph.D., Pharmacology  Tieraerztliche Hochschule Hannover.#MartinBrenner #iBio #Cardiometabolic #Obesity #Medicines #WeightLoss #MetabolicHealth #ImmunoOncology #GLP1 #BispecificAntibodies #ArtificialIntelligence #TransformingGrowthFactorBeta #Myostatin #ActivinA #ActivinE #MuscleMass #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Ilke Demir, Ph.D ( https://ilkedemir.weebly.com/ ) works at the intersection of computer vision and machine learning and her research focuses on generative models for digitizing the real world, deep fake detection and generation techniques, analysis and synthesis approaches in geospatial machine learning, and computational geometry for synthesis and fabrication ( https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6837MdMAAAAJ&hl=en ).Most recently Dr. Demir served as a Senior Staff Research Scientist at Intel Corporation, leading Intel’s Trusted Media team.  She established the research foundations of the world’s largest volumetric capture studio at Intel, bridging the gap between the creative process and AI approaches.Prior to joining Intel, Dr. Demir had startup experience at DeepScale, working on perception for autonomous vehicles (with a successful acquisition by Tesla), and she was also a visiting scholar at UCLA.Dr. Demir earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science from Purdue University advised by Prof. Daniel Aliaga, and her B.S. in Computer Engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Türkiye with a minor in Electrical Engineering. Afterwards, Dr. Demir joined Facebook as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist working with Prof. Ramesh Raskar from MIT, where their team developed the breakthrough innovation on generative street addresses. Her research further included deep learning approaches for human behavior understanding in next generation virtual reality headsets, geospatial machine learning for map creation, and 3D reconstruction at scale.At the intersection of art and science, Dr. Demir also contributed to several animated feature and VR/AR short films in Pixar Animation Studios and Intel Studios, respectively.In addition to her publications in top-tier venues, Dr. Demir has organized workshops, competitions, and courses in deep learning, computer vision, and graphics such as DeepGlobe, SkelNetOn, WiCV, SUMO, DLGC, EarthVision, and OpenEDS, to name a few. Dr. Demir received numerous awards and honors such as Jack Dangermond Award, Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, and IEEE Industry Distinguished Lecturer, in addition to her best paper/poster/reviewer awards. Her scientific articles received significant attention from researchers and media outlets around the world, such as The Independent, VentureBeat, MIT Tech Review, and Liberation. She has been invited to present over 120 talks and panels worldwide, on the wide range of topics that her work spans. Dr. Demir has been actively involved in women in science organisms, always being an advocate for women and underrepresented minorities. #IlkeDemir #ComputerVision #MachineLearning #DeepFakes #ComputerScience #ComputerEngineering #Intel #Meta #Facebook #3DVision #ComputationalGeometry #GenerativeModels #RemoteSensing #DeepLearning #PixarAnimationStudios #Purdue #MiddleEastTechnicalUniversity #Türkiye #GazeTracking #SyntheticFaceDetection #PatternRecognition #MyBodyMyChoice #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Jessica Sacher, Ph.D. is Co-Founder of Phage Directory ( https://phage.directory/ ), a global network of phage researchers from more than 80 countries, where she directs its phage-sourcing and community-building efforts, including coordinating over 50 phage-finding efforts, where a network of more than 1,300 members of the global phage community volunteer their time and lab space to identify active phages for patients.Dr. Sacher is also a Staff Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine ( https://profiles.stanford.edu/jessica-sacher ) in Dr. Paul Bollyky's lab where she leads strategy & lays groundwork for a new phage-based therapeutic development and delivery center at Stanford, developing manufacturing processes and quality control pipelines for clinical-grade phage biologics, as well as evaluating phages as gene and peptide delivery vectors for eukaryotic and microbial cells.Dr. Sacher was previously a member of Prof. Jon Iredell’s group in Sydney, Australia as a postdoctoral research scientist for the Phage Australia project where she developed and streamlined Phage Australia’s phage selection, biobanking, and manufacturing process, to make phage therapy available for patients Australia-wide and eventually beyond.Dr. Sacher received her PhD in Microbiology and Biotechnology in 2018 from the University of Alberta, Canada.Dr. Sacher is also Founder, Editor, Writer of Capsid & Tail: the phage community newsletter, a weekly report on bacteriophage news and researchImportant Episode Links -  Bacteriophage therapy for multidrug-resistant infections: current technologies and therapeutic approaches - Published March 3, 2025  - The Journal of Clinical Investigation -https://www.jci.org/articles/view/187996The Citizen Phage Library (https://citizenphage.com) #JessicaSacher #PhageDirectory #Bacteriophage #StanfordUniversity #Campylobacter #SteffanieStrathdee #Microbiology #PhageBiobank #Biofilms #AMR #AntimicrobialResistance #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Sean Tucker, Ph.D. is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Vaxart Inc. ( https://vaxart.com/ ), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a range of oral recombinant pill vaccines based on their innovative Vector-Adjuvant-Antigen Standardized Technology (VAAST) platform.Dr. Tucker previously served as Vice President of Research and Director of Immunology for Vaxart and has held numerous scientific and engineering roles at various biotechnology companies including The Dow Chemical Co., Systemix, Inc. and Genteric, Inc. Dr. Tucker has published several papers in immunology and served as a grant reviewer for several vaccine related study sections at the NIH.  Dr. Tucker has a BSc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, an MSc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Washington.#SeanTucker #ChiefScientificOfficer #Vaxart #Immunology #OralVaccines #Norovirus #Flu #Coronavirus #HPV #BARDA #ProjectNextGen #Adenovirus #Cancer #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textTaylor Justice is the Co-Founder & President of Unite Us ( https://uniteus.com/team/taylor-justice/ ), a technology company with a mission is to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities by integrating all the social determinants of health. The Unite Us goal is to unlock the potential of every community by strategically partnering with government agencies, health systems, insurers, and community organizations, through their best-in-class technology, expansive network of resources and care options, and qualified team of experts.With Unite Us, providers across sectors can send and receive secure referrals, track every person’s total health journey, and report on tangible outcomes across a full range of services in a centralized, cohesive, and collaborative ecosystem. Taylor is a social entrepreneur, who previously co-founded HigherEchelon, Inc., a government consulting company. Taylor is passionate about solving significant problems in the health and human service sectors, and with an MBA from Columbia Business School and a B.S. from West Point leads a team of innovators at Unite Us who create accountable coordinated care networks that interconnect clinical and non-clinical social service providers and track the outcomes across the full range of services. #TaylorJustice #UniteUs #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #SocialCare #SDOH #ClosedLoopReferralPlatform #Veterans #Eldercare #HomeHealth #Medicaid #CostSavings #CommunityOrganizations #PredictiveAnalytics #ReEntry #JusticeInvolvedPopulations #Recidivism #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP, is the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics ( https://www.aap.org/en/about-the-aap/aap-leadership/susan-kressly-md-faap/ ), an organization of 67,000 pediatricians committed to the optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.​Dr. Kressly is board certified in Pediatrics and Clinical Informatics, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Kressly has also been at the forefront of innovation, advocating for pediatric functionality in Health IT. Her expertise includes Quality Improvement, Healthcare Financing and Payment, Practice Management and Optimization of Clinical Workflows.Dr. Kressly received a Bachelor of Science (BS), in Biology, from Moravian University, her medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine and served her residency at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Dr. Kressly began practicing in the Doylestown area in 1990 and has been an involved member of the medical community since then. Her independent pediatric practice has been a recognized medical home since 2011, a model that Dr. Kressly strongly believes all children deserve access to, and that all pediatricians, including medical and surgical specialists, deserve sufficient resources, payment, and support to meet the needs of the patients and families they serve.#SusanKressly #Pediatrics #Pediatrician #ClinicalInformatics #AmericanAcademyOfPediatrics #MedicalHome #Advocacy #Telehealth #Vaccination #Vaccines #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Marianne Holm, MD, Ph.D. is Vice President of the Infectious Diseases Program area, at the Novo Nordisk Foundation ( https://novonordiskfonden.dk/en/ ) where she is responsible for supporting the development and implementation of new strategic initiatives and research programs, and developing partnerships that contribute to the global visibility and impact of the foundation’s activities within Infectious Diseases, and this responsibility includes supporting multiple cross disciplinary initiatives in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).Dr. Holm is a medical doctor and epidemiologist, who previously led the department of epidemiology and public health research at the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Seoul, where she was responsible for the coordination and implementation of several large development programs funded by the Fleming Fund, working with local governments and healthcare institutions to build capacity in AMR surveillance in low- and middle- income countries in the Asian region. Prior to joining IVI in 2018, Dr. Holm worked for 4 years at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong working in the health services research unit coordinating the School's evidence based practice education program.Dr. Holm has been a member of the coordination group of the WHO Technical Advisory Group and Coordination Group on Vaccines and AMR. She is also a member of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Collaborator Network as well as the Surveillance and Epidemiology of Drug Resistant Infections Consortium (SEDRIC) network.Dr. Holm received her MD and Ph.D. from University of Copenhagen and Master of Science (MSc), Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U. of London.IMPORTANT EPISODE LINK - Gram-Negative Antibiotic Discovery Innovator (Gr-ADI) - https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/challenge/innovations-gram-negative-antibiotic-discovery The Gram-Negative Antibiotic Discovery Innovator (Gr-ADI) is tripartite initiative of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust, that will focus on discovery of direct-acting small-molecule antibiotics with broad-spectrum activity against Enterobacteriaceae (a large family of Gram-negative bacteria that includes Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Shigella and Klebsiella), with Klebsiella spp. selected as an initial targeted pathogen. Klebsiella organisms can lead to a wide range of disease states, notably pneumonia, urinary tract infections, sepsis, meningitis, diarrhea, peritonitis and soft tissue infections. The program aims to address the lack of novel antibiotics for gram-negative bacteria and the public health threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR).#NovoNordiskFoundation #GramNegativeAntibioticDiscoveryInnovator #BillAndMelindaGatesFoundation #WellcomeTrust #AMR #AntimicrobialResistance #Enterobacteriaceae #Klebsiella #Salmonella #EscherichiaColi #Shigella #InfectiousDiseases #MarianneHolm #Vaccines #MultidrugEffluxPumps #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Laura Aguilar, MD, Ph.D. is Chief Medical Officer at Diakonos Oncology ( https://www.diakonosoncology.com/ ), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company dedicated to revolutionizing cancer immunotherapy and focusing on difficult-to-treat indications, including glioblastoma. Dr. Aguilar, a physician-scientist and biotech entrepreneur, has over 20 years of experience in clinical and regulatory development of complex biologics for cancer with a focus on solid tumors including glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer.Dr. Aguilar was co-founder of Advantagene (now Candel Therapeutics) where she served as chief medical officer. She was a leader in the company’s strategic development from inception to successful IPO, and she oversaw the company’s clinical development portfolio of viral immuno-oncology products in four disease indications.Dr. Aguilar also was an attending physician at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital and associate director of the Harvard Gene Therapy Initiative at Harvard Medical School. She currently serves on several boards including the Board of the American Brain Tumor Association.Dr. Aguilar earned her MD and Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Baylor College of Medicine. She completed her clinical residency in pediatrics and fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at Texas Children’s Hospital.#LauraAguilar #DiakonosOncology #ChiefMedicalOfficer #Glioblastoma #PancreaticAdenocarcinoma #Immunooncology #Immunotherapy #DendriticCells #MajorHistocompatibilityComplex #CrossPresentation #DoubleLoading #Interferon #Melanoma #Cancer #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textAgree to Agree (https://agreetoagree.org/) is an Ad Council ( https://www.adcouncil.org/ ) initiative focused on finding common ground to reduce the impact of gun violence on children and teens across all communities in the U.S. This new campaign launched in early 2025 and is focused on reaching distinct audiences, including parents and those with children in their lives who have a vested interest in protecting our youth and health care professionals who witness the impact of gun violence firsthand. Dr. Chethan Sathya, MD, MSc, is a pediatric trauma surgeon and National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded firearm injury prevention researcher (https://www.northwell.edu/chethan-sathya-md). He serves as director of Northwell Health's Center for Gun Violence Prevention and oversees the health system's expansive approach to firearm injury prevention.The largest health system in New York, Northwell has taken a public health approach to gun violence prevention, focusing on key areas such as research, medical education, clinical screening, advocacy and community engagement. Under Dr. Sathya's leadership, the center has leveraged the health system's diverse patient population and wide reach to implement ground breaking preventative strategies and perform high-level research.Furthermore, Dr. Sathya spearheaded the formation of the National Gun Violence Prevention Learning Collaborative for Hospitals and Health Systems. Dr. Sathya is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Action Collaborative for preventing firearm-related violence. He's also a consultant to the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. Ms. Rowena Patrick is a Senior Vice President and group campaign director at the Ad Council ( https://www.adcouncil.org/rowena-patrick ), a non-profit organization, that brings together the most creative minds in advertising, media and tech to address the most worthy causes. Since 1942, Ad Council icons and slogans have woven into the very fabric of American culture. From their earliest efforts including “Loose Lips Sink Ships,” Smokey Bear’s “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires” and “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk” to the recent groundbreaking Love Has No Labels, #EndFamilyFire and #SheCanSTEM, the Ad Council’s social good campaigns shift mindsets and spur movements. The Ad Council settles for nothing less than a lasting impact on American life.For the past two decades Ms. Patrick has collaborated with some of the best creative and marketing minds in the country to tackle critical issues like gun violence, the overdose crisis and empowering girls in STEM. Her current roster of clients includes AARP, Brady, and a consortium of leading tech companies: Google, Verizon, IBM, and Bloomberg.Prior to that, Ms. Patrick worked at various companies with roles such as Account Supervisor / Account Executive at FCB, Business Development Manager at Initiative, and Account Executive / Assistant Account Executive at Ogilvy & Mather. She also worked as a Marketing Consultant at The Nova Collective and as a Teaching Assistant at Columbia University. Ms. Patrick holds a MS in Strategic Communications from Columbia University and a BS in Marketing & Information Systems from New York University.#ChethanSathya #RowenaPatrick #AdCouncil #NorthwellHealth #AgreeToAgree #ViolencePrevention #FirearmInjuries #GunViolence #FirearmSafety #PublicServiceAdvertisement #PublicHealth #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Alycia Halladay, Ph.D. is Chief Science Officer of the Autism Science Foundation ( https://autismsciencefoundation.org/teams/dr-alycia-halladay/ ), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people with autism and their families by funding scientific research to understand the causes of autism and to develop better treatments, to enable individuals with autism to lead fulfilling lives with dignity.Dr. Halladay oversees the scientific activities, grants, and initiatives of ASF. She also produces a weekly podcast aimed specifically at explaining scientific information to the public. Prior to joining ASF in 2014, Dr. Halladay served as the Senior Director of Clinical and Environmental Sciences at Autism Speaks. Dr. Halladay has authored over two dozen peer reviewed papers in science journals. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Phelan McDermid Syndrome Foundation and on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee.  Dr. Halladay received a Ph.D. in biopsychology from Rutgers in 2001 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ in 2004 and is on the editorial board of Neurotoxicology and Frontiers in Pediatrics.  She still holds a faculty appointment at Rutgers. Important Episode Link - Autism BrainNet - https://www.autismbrainnet.org/ #AutismScienceFoundation #AlyciaHalladay #ChiefScienceOfficer #AutismSpectrumDisorder #Genetics #Epigenetics #Exposome #Neurotoxicology #Biopsychology #Pharmacology #Toxicology #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show