Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us a textJudge Karen Friedman is the Director of Criminal Justice Innovation, Development and Engagement, at the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, at the U.S. Department of Justice ( https://bja.ojp.gov/bio/karen-friedman ), a position she was appointed to by President Biden on January 3rd of 2022. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) was created in 1984 to reduce violent crime, create safer communities, and reform the U.S. criminal justice system, and helps America’s state, local, and tribal jurisdictions reduce and prevent crime, reduce recidivism, and promote a fair and safe criminal justice system. BJA focuses its programmatic and policy efforts on providing a wide range of resources, including training and technical assistance, to law enforcement, courts, corrections, treatment, reentry, justice information sharing, and community-based partners, to address chronic and emerging criminal justice challenges nationwide. Judge Friedman comes to this important role after serving over 20 years as a member of the Maryland Judiciary sitting in Baltimore. In that capacity she served on every level of trial court and completed her service on the Baltimore City Circuit Court, the highest trial court in the state. She headed Baltimore’s drug treatment court and sat on the judiciary’s Equal Justice Commission’s sentencing subcommittee. Judge Friedman is known in Baltimore for her expertise on the intersection of criminal justice with behavioral health, as well as for her innovative approach to sentencing and probation. She is looking forward to using the wealth of knowledge gained on the bench in Baltimore to help improve the lives of those affected by the criminal justice system. Judge Friedman earned her undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and her law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. She is also the host of the Justice Today Podcast, the official podcast of the Office of Justice ProgramsSupport the show

Send us a textDr. David A. Tarantino, Jr., MD, MPH; CAPT MC (FS/FMF) Ret., is the Chief Medical Officer, at the United States Customs and Border Protection ( CBP - https://www.cbp.gov/ ), the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security ( DHS - https://www.dhs.gov/ ), and the country's primary border control organization. It is charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing U.S. regulations, including trade, customs, and immigration. Dr. Tarantino has previously served as Adjunct Assistant Professor, Global Health Division, Preventive Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), as Director for Civil-Military Medical Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs in the U.S. Department of Defense, and as a family practice physician/flight surgeon in the U.S. Navy. Dr. Tarantino served as Medical Advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority/Ministry of Health and then Senior Consultant for the U.S. Mission Baghdad to the Interim Iraqi Government Ministry of Health. He had a significant leadership role in reestablishing the Iraqi Ministry of Health and health care for all Iraqis and served as the principal US Government advisor to the new Iraqi Minister of Health. Dr. Tarantino's military career has been distinguished by multiple challenging overseas and operational assignments, including medical and humanitarian missions in Iraq, Alaska, Haiti, Guyana, Tanzania, Cambodia, Estonia and several Pacific Rim nations. He served as medical director and team physician for a challenging deployment to Turkey in the aftermath of their massive 1999 earthquake, providing emergent medical/surgical care in an austere and chaotic setting. Dr. Tarantino has a B. A. in Human Biology from Stanford University, an M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine, a Residency in Family Medicine at Bremerton Naval Hospital, an M.P.H. and Preventive Medicine Residency at the USUHS, and an International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance, from the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA).Support the show

Send us a textDr. Tobias Reichmuth, Ph.D. is Founding Partner at Maximon ( https://www.maximon.com/ ), The Longevity Company Builder, which empowers entrepreneurs to build impactful, science-based and scalable companies providing healthy aging and rejuvenation solutions. Maximon recently announced the launch of their 100 million CHF Longevity Co-Investment Fund, which will be looking to invest up to CHF 10 million per company, which allows them to finance up to 10-12 start-ups in this fast growing industry over the next four years. In 2020, Dr. Reichmuth launched the Longevity Investors Conference together with Marc P. Bernegger, another Maximon Founding Partner. Dr. Reichmuth previously founded the climate-change infrastructure fund / asset management company SUSI Partners AG , where he spent over a decade specializing in infrastructure investments in the context of energy transition (renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage solutions) and invested more than one billion Swiss francs. Dr. Reichmuth is also co-founder of Crypto AG Finance (a financial technology holding company based in Zug), The Singularity Group (an asset manager in Zug) and the Crypto Finance Conference, which he initiated. He is also well known for his participation as one of the “lions” in the TV program, The Lion's Cave Switzerland on TV24 . Earlier on in his career Dr. Reichmuth worked as a director for an international foundation and consulted Fortune-500 companies. He worked as a strategy consultant with The Boston Consulting Group, co-authored a standard reference for investors on sustainable investments, and is a member of the German Economic Council. Dr. Reichmuth has a Ph.D. in Business Administration from European Business School Oestrich-Winkel.Support the show

Send us a textProfessor Dr. Edward (Eddie) Holmes, Ph.D. ( https://www.sydney.edu.au/science/about/our-people/academic-staff/edward-holmes.html ) is an evolutionary biologist distinguished for his work on the emergence and evolution of viruses and over the years of his career he has used genomic and phylogenetic approaches to reveal the major mechanisms of virus evolution and determined the genetic and epidemiological processes that explain how viruses jump species boundaries and spread in new hosts. Dr. Holmes work has revealed the origin, evolution and molecular epidemiology of important human pathogens including influenza, HIV and dengue, and enabled more accurate assessments of what types of virus are most likely to emerge in human populations and whether they will evolve human-to-human transmission. His recent research has provided fundamental insights into the breadth and biodiversity of the viral world and has additionally studied the emergence and spread of such pathogens as SARS-CoV-2, hepatitis C virus, myxoma virus, Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus and Yersinia pestis, among many others. Dr. Holmes is currently a Professor in the Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney. In 2003 he was awarded the Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London and in 2015 was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. Dr. Holmes previous appointments include the Verne M. Willaman Chair in the Life Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University, USA, and Affiliate Member of the Fogarty International Centre (2005-2012), National Institutes of Health, USA. From 1999-2004 he was Fellow of New College, Oxford. He is also an Honorary Visiting Professor at Fudan University, Shanghai. In 2021 he received the (Australian) Prime Minister's Prize for Science. Dr. Holmes is the author of 691 peer-reviewed papers and two books including The Evolution and Emergence of RNA Viruses (Oxford University Press, 2009).Support the show

Send us a textDr. Loren Matheson, Ph.D. is a Portfolio Manager at the Center For Security Science, at Defence Research and Development Canada ( DRDC - https://www.canada.ca/en/defence-research-development.html ), which is a special operating agency of the Department of National Defence, whose purpose is to provide the Canadian Armed Forces, other government departments, and public safety and national security communities with knowledge and technology. With a focus on the chemical and biological sciences at DRDC, Dr. Matheson develops and leads safety and security R&D projects with government partners, industry and academia. In addition, she spearheaded an effort to establish a virtual symposium series, developed communications products to explain their program to national and international partners, and helped established a science communication position. Dr. Matheson previously served as both a senior science advisor within the Office of the Chief Science Operating Officer, and National Manager, Plant Health Research and Strategies, at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. After 10 years consulting as a grants facilitator in clinical research, Dr. Matheson moved to the public service to pursue interests in science policy and security science. Dr. Matheson holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Ottawa and spent her post-doctoral time at the University of Saskatchewan, working on cell and molecular biology, as well as at the Royal University Hospital Canadian Arthritis Network focusing on pediatric rheumatology. Dr. Matheson is a 2022 Women in Defence and Security (WiDS) Emerging Leader ( https://www.wids.ca/cms/Emerging-Leaders ) for her exceptional work improving communications within DRDC’s Center for Security Science in her first year as a Defence Scientist. PLEASE NOTE - the views and opinions expressed are those of the individual and should not be interpreted as representing official policies of the organizations or countries. CLARIFICATION: During recording Dr. Matheson alluded to the Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP) targeting proposals from Canadian government scientists. Please note that while CSSP does fund government science, the CSSP also funds research and development through academia and industry. The goal of the program is to allow Canadian government departments to meet their safety and security requirement with science and technology solutions in collaboration with industry and/or academia. Support the show

Send us a textProf. Dr. Tony Donne, Ph.D. is Program Manager (CEO) of the EUROfusion ( https://www.euro-fusion.org/ ) research consortium, a European consortium of 30 national fusion research institutes, in 26 EU countries, plus Switzerland and Ukraine, where he coordinates the work of over 4,000 scientists and engineers. Dr. Donne trained as a physicist, obtaining his Masters in Experimental Physics at Utrecht University, his Ph.D. degree at the Free University of Amsterdam for work in the field of nuclear physics, and moved into fusion research right afterwards and has devoted a substantial part of his scientific career to the design and use of plasma diagnostics in a large range of fusion devices. Prior to EUROfusion, Dr. Donne was head of the Fusion Physics Division at the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER) and responsible for the coordination of the nuclear fusion research in the Netherlands, where he coordinated Dutch fusion research as Director of fusion science and Acting Director. Dr. Donne has also served as Professor in Diagnostics and Heating of Fusion Plasmas at Eindhoven University of Technology, Director of the Dutch-Russian Centre of Excellence on Fusion Physics and Technology, as well as Program Director of the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) -Netherlands consortium, and chair of the Coordination Committee of the International Tokamak Physics Activity under the auspices of the ITER project. Dr. Donne has published about 185 papers in peer-reviewed journals and more than 350 conference proceedings.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Seemay Chou, Ph.D. is the Co-Founder, CEO, and Board Member of Arcadia Science ( https://www.arcadia.science/ ), a research and development company focusing on under researched areas in biology, with a specific focus on novel model organisms that haven't been traditionally studied in the lab. The goals of Arcadia Science are to unlock the knowledge and ingenuity contained within a wide range of diverse species, uncover how evolution has solved limitless problems, and through revealing this untapped biological innovation, generate new technologies and products. Dr. Chou is also the co-founder of Trove Biolabs ( https://www.trovebiolabs.com/ ), a startup focused on harnessing novel molecules found in tick saliva for skin therapies. Dr. Chou joined Arcadia from UCSF where she was an Assistant Professor in Biochemistry and Biophysics. Dr. Chou received a Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology from UC Berkeley, and her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology from University of Texas at Austin. Support the show

Send us a textH. E. President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr. is the 10th President of the Republic of Palau ( https://www.palaugov.pw/executive-branch/president/ ). President Whipps was formerly a two-term Senator having served in the 8th and 9th Olbiil Era Kelulau (OEK, Palau National Congress) from 2009 through 2016. His Senate report card maintains his reputable record in policy making to promote and protect the best interests of Palauans, including: conducting more than 100 oversight hearings to promote transparency and accountability in delivery of government services, spearheading the first bill introduced in the 9th OEK that became law to increase the minimum wage since its enactment in 1997, and most recently, balancing Palau’s focus on developing and promoting human resources and fostering their economy, while striking a balance in the protection of the environment, putting the Palauan people first. Prior to his career in politics, President Whipps had over 30 years of private sector experience managing one of the largest growing companies in Palau. As CEO and president of the Surangel and Sons Company, he led the expansion from a one floor store with 50 employees, to a diversified company employing over six-hundred people. President Whipps grew up in a family business that started with his parents improvising to sustain their living by opening a restaurant, fishing and selling their catch, taking tourists out to the rock islands and diving, and selling goods out of their house. President Whipps' experience is combined with his formal background earning a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in economics from Andrews University in Michigan and an MBA from Anderson Graduate School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). President Whippsʻ slogan - “A Kot a Rechand er Belau” (Palauan People First) actually originated from his father, who was active in the Save Palau movement to protect Palauʻs marine resources, and who ran for congress many times before being elected. In response to unfair treatment in the workplace, lack of career opportunities for Palauans, challenges hindering young Palauan entrepreneurs, and the unchecked exploitation of Palauʻs national resources, the slogan represented conviction that Palauans must reap the opportunities Palau has to offer, and the commitment to push for the improved welfare of Palauans to be foremost in their country by their government.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Jennifer A. Fogarty, Ph.D. ( https://www.bcm.edu/people-search/jennifer-fogarty-100936 ) is the Chief Scientific Officer for the Translational Research Institute for Space Health ( TRISH - https://www.bcm.edu/academic-centers/space-medicine/translational-research-institute ) at Baylor College of Medicine, and the Director of the Applied Health and Performance at Sophic Synergistics LLC. As Chief Scientist of TRISH, Dr. Fogarty leads an innovative and high-risk research and technology development portfolio to address the most challenging human health and performance risks of space exploration. At Sophic Synergistics, which is a women-owned and women-led Human Centered Design firm specializing in integrating human factors engineering and human health and performance into a business model, Dr. Fogarty’s Division focuses on developing and expanding the application of medical technologies for use in remote medicine, telemedicine, and home healthcare. In both roles, Dr. Fogarty’s goal is to increase access to high quality healthcare and empower patients and medical providers by incorporating precision medicine and cutting-edge science and technology with actionable data both in space and on Earth. Dr. Fogarty has over twenty years of experience in medical physiology and extreme environments and was the NASA Human Research Program Chief Scientist. Her approach prioritizes communication and collaboration with industry academia, government and commercial spaceflight programs, and international partners. She values and seeks collaborations with external institutions and government agencies to assess fundamental and mechanistic discoveries as well as innovative prevention and treatment strategies for application to preserve health and performance. Dr. Fogarty has a Ph.D. in Medical Physiology from Texas A&M University School of Medicine and a B.S. in Biology from Stockton University . She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, an editor of the Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine 4th and 5th edition, and associate editor for the journal npj Microgravity.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Svitlana Volkova, Ph.D. (https://www.pnnl.gov/people/svitlana-volkova) is Chief Scientist, Decision Intelligence and Analytics, National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), which is one of the United States Department of Energy national laboratories, managed by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science. Dr. Volkova is a recognized leader in the field of computational social science and computational linguistics and her scientific contributions and publication profile cover a range of topics on applied machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and social media analytics. Dr. Volkova’s research focuses on understanding, predicting, and explaining human behavior, interactions, and real-world events from open-source social data and her approaches help advance effective decision making and reasoning about extreme volumes of dynamic, multilingual, multimodal, and diverse real-world unstructured data. Dr. Volkova has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University, Center for Language and Speech Processing, and an M.S. in Computer Science, from Kansas State University.Support the show