Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us a textDr. Pierre A. Fischer is a Technology Leader who serves as Product Line Lead - Data Storage Technologies at Roche ( https://www.roche.com/ ), where among his various responsibilities are leading their Open Source Database strategy, to increase productivity, reduce costs, and ultimately help the various teams Roche, improve drug discovery, development, clinical trial selection, helping to get the right drugs to the right patients faster, all in a highly sustainable manner.Dr. Fischer has a Ph.D. in Experimental Particle Physics, from Louis Pasteur University, France, and then spent time at CERN in their cooperant program, a civil service program of the French State Department, allowing Graduate Students to serve their country by working for various companies or research organizations.  He also undertook post-doctoral work at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.Dr. Fischer then spent over a decade in the software development business at KLA-Tencor, the semi-conductor giant, before moving to Roche in 2013 spending time in IT Architecture, Engineering & Operations Portfolio as well as Data Lifecycle Management and Elastic Compute.Support the show

Send us a textLiz Scott is Co-Executive Director, of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer ( ALSF - https://www.alexslemonade.org/ ), an organization which emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of her daughter, Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). In 2000, at the age of four, Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for other children with cancer, herself already bravely fighting neuroblastoma, which she was diagnosed with at age one. Over her lifetime, Alex would raise over $1 million before she passed away in 2004 at the age of 8. Since then, Liz and her husband Jay have worked alongside thousands of supporters across the country to carry on Alex's legacy of hope. To date, ALSF has raised more than $250 Million toward fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure, funding over 1,000 pediatric cancer research projects nationally. Alex’s story has inspired lemonade stands in all 50 states across America and in more than 10 countries across the world, including places as far away as Japan, Brazil and Australia. The book "Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand", written by Alex’s parents about her journey, can be found on all major book sellers. Support the show

Send us a textDr. Khalid Salaita, Ph.D. ( https://www.salaitalab.com/salaita ) is a Professor of Chemistry at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), program faculty in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory, program member of Cancer Cell Biology at Winship Cancer Institute, and most recently is the recent winner Future Insight Prize given by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany ( https://www.emdgroup.com/en/research/open-innovation/futureinsightprize_streaming.html ) for his cutting edge work in the area of mechanobiology. Dr. Salaita earned his B.S. in Chemistry, from Old Dominion University, his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University, completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and then started his own lab at Emory University, investigating the interface between living systems and engineered nanoscale materials. To achieve this goal, his group has pioneered the development of tools like molecular force sensors, DNA mechano-technology, smart therapeutics, and nanoscale mechanical actuators to help manipulate living cells. In recognition of his work, Dr. Salaita has received a number of awards, most notably: the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the Camille-Dreyfus Teacher Scholar award, the National Science Foundation Early CAREER award, and the Kavli Fellowship. Dr. Salaita is currently a member of the Enabling Bioanalytical and Imaging Technologies (EBIT) study Section and an Associate Editor of Smart Materials. His program has been supported by NSF, NIH, and DARPA. The Future Insight Prize was set up Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to stimulate innovative solutions to solve some of humanities greatest problems and to realize the dreams for a better tomorrow in the areas of health, nutrition and energy.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Behnaam Aazhang, Ph.D. ( https://aaz.rice.edu/ ) is the J.S. Abercrombie Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Director, Rice Neuroengineering Initiative ( NEI - https://neuroengineering.rice.edu/ ), Rice University, where he has broad research interests including signal and data processing, information theory, dynamical systems, and their applications to neuro-engineering, with focus areas in (i) understanding neuronal circuits connectivity and the impact of learning on connectivity, (ii) developing minimally invasive and non-invasive real-time closed-loop stimulation of neuronal systems to mitigate disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson, depression, obesity, and mild traumatic brain injury, (iii) developing a patient-specific multisite wireless monitoring and pacing system with temporal and spatial precision to restore the healthy function of a diseased heart, and (iv) developing algorithms to detect, predict, and prevent security breaches in cloud computing and storage systems. Dr. Aazhang received his B.S. (with highest honors), M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1981, 1983, and 1986, respectively. From 1981 to 1985, he was a Research Assistant in the Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois. In August 1985, he joined the faculty of Rice University. From 2006 till 2014, he held an Academy of Finland Distinguished Visiting Professorship appointment (FiDiPro) at the University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. Dr. Aazhang is a Fellow of IEEE and AAAS, and a distinguished lecturer of IEEE Communication Society. Dr. Aazhang received an Honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Oulu, Finland (the highest honor that the university can bestow) in 2017 and IEEE ComSoc CTTC Outstanding Service Award “For innovative leadership that elevated the success of the Communication Theory Workshop” in 2016. He is a recipient of 2004 IEEE Communication Society’s Stephen O. Rice best paper award for a paper with A. Sendonaris and E. Erkip. In addition, Sendonaris, Erkip, and Aazhang received IEEE Communication Society’s 2013 Advances in Communication Award for the same paper. He has been listed in the Thomson-ISI Highly Cited Researchers and has been keynote and plenary speaker of several conferences. Support the show

Send us a textDr. Robert Floyd, Ph.D. is Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization ( CTBTO - https://www.ctbto.org/ ), the organization tasked with building up the verification regime of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, a multilateral treaty opened for signature in 1996 by which states agree to ban all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. Prior to joining CTBTO, Dr. Floyd was the Director General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office (ASNO), where he was responsible for Australia’s implementation of and compliance with various international treaties and conventions including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and the Chemical Weapons Convention. During his time as Director General of ASNO, Dr. Floyd also chaired the advisory group to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency on safeguards implementation (SAGSI), co-chaired the Preparatory Committee for the review of the amended CPPNM, co-chaired one of the working groups of the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification, was the lead official for Australia in the Nuclear Security Summit process, and chaired the Asia-Pacific Safeguards Network. Prior to his appointment with ASNO, Dr. Floyd served for more than seven years in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where he held a number of senior executive positions providing advice to the Prime Minister on policy issues covering counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, emergency management, and homeland and border security. Dr. Floyd was awarded a commemorative medal on the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence in recognition of the strong and enduring partnership between the CTBTO and Kazakhstan on nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament, peace, and security. Dr. Floyd also received the Australian Nuclear Association (ANA) award for 2021 in recognition of his outstanding leadership role as Director General of the ASNO. With a Ph.D. in population ecology, Dr. Floyd spent the first 20 years of his career as a research scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). As a long-time believer in the cause of gender equality and the empowerment of women, Dr. Floyd is an International Gender Champion (IGC) and joined the IGC network in 2021. Support the show

Send us a textDr. Aubrey de Grey, Ph.D., is President & Chief Science Officer of the Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) Foundation ( https://www.levf.org/ ), an organization focused on proactively identifying and addressing the most challenging obstacles on the path to the widespread availability of genuinely effective treatments to prevent and reverse human age-related disease. Dr. de Grey is internationally recognized as a visionary biomedical gerontologist who devised the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence: a comprehensive set of methods to rejuvenate the human body, thereby preventing age-related ill health and mortality. He has co-founded multiple non-profit organizations – including Methuselah Foundation, SENS Research Foundation, and now LEV Foundation – to specifically enable and accelerate its development and clinical translation. Dr. de Grey received his BA in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Cambridge in 1985 and 2000, respectively. He is the author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging (1999), Ending Aging (2007), and a large number of academic papers. Dr. de Grey is a Fellow of both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association, and sits on the advisory boards of numerous scientific journals and research organizations. He is a prolific speaker who regularly presents at conferences and events world-wide. Support the show

Send us a textDr. Brad Ringeisen, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Innovative Genomics Institute ( https://innovativegenomics.org/people/brad-ringeisen/ ), an organization founded by Nobel Prize winner Dr. Jennifer Doudna, on the University of California, Berkeley campus, whose mission is to bridge revolutionary gene editing tool development to affordable and accessible solutions in human health and climate. Dr. Ringeisen is a physical chemist with a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Wake Forest University, a pioneer in the field of live cell printing, and an experienced administrator of scientific research and product development. Before joining the IGI, Dr. Ringeisen was Director of the Biological Technologies Office at DARPA, where he managed a division working at the cutting edges of biology, physical sciences and engineering. Programs in his office included research in genome editing, epigenetics, neurotechnology, food security and biomanufacturing, as well as diagnostics and therapeutics development. Prior to DARPA, Dr. Ringeisen ran his own research group at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory as the head of the Bioenergy and Biofabrication Section where he oversaw diverse research programs including the development and application of laser-assisted printing approaches to biology, development of organs-on-a-chip, microbial energy harvesting and extracellular electron transfer as well as microbial discovery and microbiome characterization. Dr. Ringeisen now uses his amazing expertise to guide IGI’s scientific and development strategy, but his duties also include promoting entrepreneurship, working with biotech investors and companies to ensure commercial translation of technologies, donor outreach and development, scientific project development and team building, communication with campus leadership, personnel management and mentoring, program management, and reporting and engagement with both Governance and Scientific Advisory Boards. Support the show

Send us a textDr. Angeli Möller, Ph.D, is Head of the Data and Integrations Generating Insights Group (DIGI) at Roche ( https://www.roche.com/ ), which is a fascinating group focused on bringing together data & technology from Roche diagnostics and pharma divisions to enable innovation for patients. Previously, Dr. Möller served as Head of Pharma Informatics International at Roche focused specifically on driving the employment of AI technologies to help get the right treatment to the right patient at the right time. Prior to joining Roche, Dr. Möller led the artificial intelligence workstream and was responsible for the research digital investment strategy at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Before Bayer, she worked as a data scientist for translational medicine at Thomson Reuters and researcher at Cancer Research UK and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine. As a proponent of pre-competitive collaboration, Dr. Möller co-founded the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH), where she is Vice Chair and is also a member of the scientific advisory board of Multiomic Health. She also serves as a Member of The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which supports research in astronomy, physics and space science, and operates world-class research facilities for the UK. Dr. Möller has her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Molecular Biology from University of Aberdeen, her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology with an oncology focus, from The University of Edinburgh, and did post-doc work in the neuroproteomics of neurodegeneration at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine. Support the show

Send us a textDavid Zuniga is Senior Director of In-Space Solutions at Axiom Space ( https://www.axiomspace.com/ ), a space infrastructure developer headquartered in Houston, Texas, which plans human spaceflight for government-funded and commercial astronauts, engaging in in-space research, in-space manufacturing, and space exploration. The company aims to own and operate the world's first commercial space station, and Mr. Zuniga helps to develop strategy and growth around Axiom’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) economy, also playing a critical role in business and technical integration of Axiom’s in-space manufacturing and research capabilities for Axiom Station architecture. Mr. Zuniga has over 20 years of experience through engineering and business development in human spaceflight and the department of defense, developing system architectures and technology for deep space systems via the Constellation, Orion, and Gateway programs. He was a Certified Principal Engineer for Orion’s Air Revitalization System, and subsystem manager for NASA’s Gateway program for the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) where he developed requirements and certification criteria for future architectures. Mr. Zuniga also has helped to evolve strategy around growth for LEO commercialization through the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) where he created a pipeline and managed a portfolio for aerospace technology development projects on the International Space Station National Laboratory (ISS NL). He has also served in numerous committees around human spaceflight safety and commercialization, has been an invited speaker to brief NASA HQ on strategy for the ISS NL, and was the recipient of the top prize at NASA’s Ignite the Night competition through NASA iTech when serving as the managing director for the Danish Aerospace Company’s North American Division. Mr. Zuniga earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and holds a graduate certification in Space Resources from Colorado School of Mines where he studied space policy, economics, and space resource utilization. Support the show

Send us a textDr. Brandon Berry, Ph.D. ( https://halo.dlmp.uw.edu/people/brandon-berry/ ) is a postdoctoral researcher in the Kaeberlein Laboratory at University of Washington where his research focuses on how aging and metabolism are linked. Dr. Berry is interested in how mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells, contribute to and modulate functional decline that occurs during aging, and he is involved in using novel tools, like optogenetics, to precisely control mitochondria and metabolism with light. Through these types of experiments, he can more precisely determine if mitochondrial dysfunction is a cause or a consequence of metabolic aging and may reveal new ways to understand and impact health. Dr. Berry has BS in Biochemistry from SUNY Geneseo, and an MS and PhD in Physiology from University of Rochester. Support the show