Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us a textDr. James Revill, Ph.D. ( https://unidir.org/staff/james-revill ) is the Head of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and Space Security Program, at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). Dr. Revill’s research interests focus on the evolution of the chemical and biological weapons and he has published widely in these areas. He was previously a Research Fellow with the Harvard Sussex Program at the Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex and completed research fellowships with the Landau Network Volta Center in Italy and the Bradford Disarmament Research Centre in the UK. Dr. Revill holds a Ph.D. focused on the evolution of the Biological Weapons Convention from the University of Bradford, UK. Dr. Revill’s areas of expertise include biological weapons, biosecurity, bioterrorism, chemical weapons, chemical terrorism, chemical weapons convention, compliance, verification, and improvised explosive devices. Support the show

Send us a textDr. Ahmed Ogwell ( https://africacdc.org/people/ahmed-ogwell-ouma/ ) is the Acting Director at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) – a specialized agency of the African Union (AU). In this capacity, he works with AU Member States and other partners, leading a team of experts in securing Africa’s health through effective preparedness, early detection and rapid response to disease outbreaks and public health emergencies on the continent of Africa. Dr. Ogwell has over 25 years of experience in public health as a social and developmental agenda at national, regional, and global levels. He has ably held senior positions in national government, the United Nations (UN) system, non-governmental organizations, and the AU. Dr. Ogwell previously worked as an advisor to the World Health Organization Director General and worked at the World Health Organization Regional office for Africa. Originally from Kenya, Dr. Ogwell walked the first steps of his international leader’s journey back home, founding both the Office for International Health Relations and the department for NCDs at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kenya. With a decade of civil service, he is well versed in supporting governments to achieve desirable public health outcomes, particularly in resource-constrained settings. Internationally, Dr. Ogwell is recognized for leading the negotiations for the Tobacco Control Treaty, contributing to the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) particularly in the African continent. He was also one of the pioneers of the intergovernmental working group on Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property in Africa. Dr. Ogwell is thus a pan Africanist at heart and a firm believer in the power of leveraging international experience to find local solutions tailored to local challenges. Dr. Ogwell is an alumnus of the University Of Nairobi School Of Public Health and the Center for International Health at the University of Bergen in Norway. Support the show

Send us a textBrett Anderson, MSG, MSW - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Anderson_(American_musician) is a Gerontologist and Clinical Social Worker on a mission to rethink aging, longevity & mental health. Ms. Anderson was also the former lead singer of the American Rock group, The Donnas ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Donnas ), where she was the lead vocalist for 20 years, performing throughout the U.S., as well as internationally, and had performances / appearances on major network shows including Saturday Night Live, David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Ms. Anderson received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Stanford University, her MSG, Gerontology from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and her Master of Social Work - MSW, from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Now pursuing a career as a licensed geriatric social worker, Ms. Anderson hopes to integrate her creative and business experience, with her gerontological knowledge, to better meet the needs of our rapidly aging population.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Jacob Hanna, MD, Ph.D. ( https://hannalabweb.weizmann.ac.il/ ) is a Senior Scientist and Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, where his lab, and the interdisciplinary group of scientists within it, are focused on understanding the complexity of early embryonic stem cell biology and early developmental dynamics, as well as advancing human disease modeling. More specifically, Dr. Hanna's lab investigates the detailed process of cellular reprogramming, in which induced pluripotent stem cells are generated from somatic cells, and they investigate how pluripotency is maintained throughout development in mouse and human. In their studies they employ a diverse arsenal of biological experimentation methods, high throughput screening, advanced microscopy and genomic analyses seeking to combine biological experimentation with computational biology, theory and modeling, to elucidate various biological questions. Dr. Hanna completed both his MD and PhD at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where his work was focused in the domain of immunology with his thesis focus on novel molecular and functional properties of human NK Subsets. He then went on to do postdoctoral studies at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT under the tutelage of Prof. Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch with a field of study of pluripotency and epigenetic reprogramming. Dr. Hanna is also Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor, of Renewal Bio ( https://www.renewal.bio/ ), a biotech company looking to leverage the power of these new stem cell technologies, potentially applying them to a wide variety of human ailments including infertility, genetic diseases, and longevity. Support the show

Send us a textProfessor Dr. Mark G. Shrime, MD, MPH, PhD, FACS ( https://www.markshrime.com/ ) is the International Chief Medical Officer at Mercy Ships ( https://www.mercyships.org/ ) and a Lecturer in Global Health and Social Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Shrime previously served as the O’Brien Chair of Global Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, as the founder and Director of the Center for Global Surgery Evaluation at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and as Research Director for the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard. Dr. Shrime is the author of seminal papers on the global burden of surgical disease, the financial burden facing surgical patients, and the number of people who cannot access safe surgery worldwide. He served as a co-author on the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. Dr. Shrime graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1996 with a BA in molecular biology. He received his MD from the University of Texas in 2001, after taking a year to teach organic chemistry in Singapore. Medical school was followed by a residency in otolaryngology at the joint Columbia/Cornell program in Manhattan, followed, in turn, by a fellowship in head and neck surgical oncology at the University of Toronto in 2007. He completed a second fellowship in microvascular reconstructive surgery, also at the University of Toronto, in 2008. He was the first to identify a novel independent prognostic indicator in head and neck cancer. To date, Dr. Shrime has worked and taught in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Benin, Togo, Congo, Haiti, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon, and Madagascar. In May, 2011, he graduated with an MPH in global health from the Harvard School of Public Health, where he was a finalist for both the Albert Schweitzer award and the HSPH Student Recognition award, and in May, 2015, he received his PhD in health policy from Harvard University, with a concentration in decision science. Dr. Shrime’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Iris O’Brien Foundation, the Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation, an anonymous donation to the Center for Global Surgery Evaluation, the GE Foundation’s Safe Surgery 2020 project and the Steven C. and Carmella Kletjian Foundation. Dr. Shrime’s academic pursuits focus on patient decision-making and surgical delivery in low- and middle-income countries, where he has a specific interest in the intersection of health, impoverishment, inequity, and global development. His work aims to determine optimal policies and platforms for surgical delivery that maximize health benefits while simultaneously minimizing the risk of financial catastrophe faced by patients. In 2018, he was awarded the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Award by the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Shrime’s journey has recently been documented in his recently released book, Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose. Support the show

Send us a textLydie Evrard (https://www.iaea.org/about/organizational-structure/department-of-nuclear-safety-and-security/deputy-director-general-of-department-of-nuclear-safety-and-security) is Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Ms. Evrard's department focuses on the protection of people, society and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation, whether the cause is an unsafe act or a security breach, and her team aims to provide a strong, sustainable and visible global nuclear safety and security framework. Her department was created in 1996 as a response to the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Prior to joining the IAEA, Ms. Evrard held the role of Commissioner at the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN). Ms. Evrard started her career in the field of engineering, joining the French Ministry of Energy as an engineer and she has worked extensively in the regulatory field over the last 25 years in positions including as Unit Head at the Industry, Research and the Environment Direction of France’s Ministry of the Environment (Paris Region); Deputy Head of the Paris Region Division of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) and subsequently Head of the Authority’s waste, decommissioning, fuel cycle facilities, research facilities and contaminated soils remediation Department. At the ASN, Ms. Evrard handled both radiation protection and nuclear safety issues. In particular, she led, together with counterparts at the Ministry of Energy, the 2013-2015 national plan for the management of radioactive materials and waste and coordinated the stress tests performed on research and fuel cycle facilities, following the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Before taking up the position of Commissioner at the Nuclear Safety Authority in 2017, Ms. Evrard was the Inter-ministerial Delegate for standardization and Head of Department for standardization, product regulation and metrology in the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. Within this role she coordinated and regulated the French standardization system and coordinated the network of regional metrology offices. Ms. Evrard holds an engineering degree, a Master’s degree in Oil and Gas Operations and a Master’s degree in Public Administration. She was recently knighted when joining the French Legion of Honor, the highest French order of merit.Support the show

Dr. Peter Fedichev, PhD, is the CEO of Gero, where he employs AI and digital biomarkers to tackle aging and complex diseases. He discusses his transition from physics to biotech, highlighting the importance of resilience in aging through longitudinal data. Peter introduces the concept of thermodynamic biological age and examines unique insights from naked mole-rats. He emphasizes the power of AI in drug repurposing and shares Gero's ambitious plans for enhancing the human healthspan, inviting collaboration on groundbreaking scientific advancements.

Send us a textProf. Dr. Gordan Lauc, Ph.D. ( http://www.pharma.unizg.hr/en/about-us/staff/gordan--lauc,450.html ) is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, and Founder and CEO of Genos Ltd. ( https://genos-glyco.com/ ), a research-intensive SME located in Zagreb, Croatia with core of expertise in molecular genetics and glycomics (The comprehensive study the entire complement of sugars, whether free or present in more complex molecules of an organism) and they perform contract research, contract analysis and service for numerous universities, hospitals and private individuals in Europe and overseas. Prof. Dr. Lauc also is CSO of GlycanAge LTD ( https://glycanage.com/ ), a company that has developed a ground-breaking test that analyses your personal glycobiome for insights in improving your health and monitoring your biological age, and Co-Director of the Human Glycome Project ( https://human-glycome.org/ ). Prof. Dr. Lauc graduated with a degree in molecular biology at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Science in 1992, and obtained Ph.D. in Biochemistry and the University of Zagreb in 1995. He got his postdoctoral training at the Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics in Münster and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Since 1993 he has been employed at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry in Zagreb. Between 1998 and 2010 he was also part-time employed at the University of Osijek School of Medicine where he founded a DNA laboratory for the identification of war victims and also served as Vice-Dean for Science between 2001 and 2005. Prof. Dr. Lauc is author of over 100 research papers published in international journals and six international patents. He was invited to lecture at numerous international conferences, elected for visiting professor at the Johns Hopkins University and in 2011 also inducted in the prestigious Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars. If 2012 he was appointed Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh and Adjunct Professor at the Edith Cowan University in Perth. Prof. Dr. Lauc chaired a number of conferences, including the “European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop on Glycoscience” which resulted in the creation of the “European Glycoscience Forum”. Prof. Dr. Lauc was a chairman of the committee that prepared Croatian National Action plan for the increased investment in research in development (2007), and was a member of the National Science Council between 2009 and 2013 and also and President of the National Council for Natural Sciences. He is a President-elect of the International Glycoscience Organization and member of the Steering Committee of the European Glycoscience Forum.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Ezinne Uzo-Okoro, Ph.D. is Assistant Director for Space Policy, Office of Science and Technology Policy, at the White House (https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/) where she focuses on determining civil and commercial space priorities for the President’s science advisor, and her portfolio includes a wide range of disciplines including Orbital Debris, On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (OSAM), Earth Observations, Space Weather, and Planetary Protection. Previously, Dr. Uzo-Okoro built and managed over 60 spacecraft missions and programs in 17 years at NASA, in roles as an engineer, technical expert, manager and executive, in earth observations, planetary science, heliophysics, astrophysics, human exploration, and space communications, which represented $9.2B in total program value. Her last role was as a NASA Heliophysics program executive. Dr. Uzo-Okoro has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and three masters degrees in Space Systems, Space Robotics, and Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University (APL), MIT (the Media Lab), and Harvard University, and a PhD in Space Systems from MIT, on the robotic assembly of satellites. During her career, Dr. Uzo-Okoro also founded Terraformers.com to help grow affordable food through productive and networked backyard gardens, as a precursor to growing food in space. Her immigration story is profiled in President George W. Bush’s book, 'Out of Many, One'.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Anna Laura Ross, Ph.D. is the Unit Head for Emerging Technologies, Research Prioritization and Support, in the World Health Organization (WHO) Science Division ( https://www.who.int/our-work/science-division ), located in Geneva, as well as the Head of the WHO Science Council Secretariat. Previously at WHO, Dr Ross served as Strategy Technical Manager at Unitaid, their global health initiative that works with partners to bring about innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat major diseases in low- and middle-income countries, with an emphasis on tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS and its deadly co-infections, providing strategic and technical support for Unitaid’s strategy, and working to identify the priorities areas for intervention to accelerate innovation for global health. Dr. Ross has over fifteen years of experience in global health. Her areas of interest are in the field of HIV biomedical research, scientific program coordination, implementation research, and global health policy. Prior to joining WHO, Dr. Ross served as Head of International Affairs and Scientific Relations at the National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS) in Paris, France. Previously, Dr Ross carried out biomedical research at the UK Medical Research Council, London, England and at the Institute Pasteur network. In the latter role she worked in France, Cameroon, and Cambodia on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Dr. Ross is particularly interested in facilitating and accelerating the translation of evidence-based science into policies for the benefit of global health. She holds a Ph.D. in biomedical research from the University of Cambridge and a post-graduate qualification in Global Health Policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.Support the show