Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us a textDr. Jean M. Hebert, Ph.D. (https://einsteinmed.org/faculty/9069/...) is Professor in the Department of Genetics and in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He’s also the author of the book Replacing Aging, which describes how regenerative medicine will beat aging. With a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Hebert's current lab’s projects fall into two groups. First, they focus on using the mouse neocortex as a platform for testing the ability of multi-cell type grafts (increasingly resembling normal neocortex) to integrate with host tissue. Secondly, they are testing the ability of genetically engineered microglia that disperse throughout the adult neocortex to bolster neocortical function. These highly collaborative projects require a range of multidisciplinary methods, including molecular genetics, human embryonic stem cell biology, transcriptomics, surgery, electrophysiology, live brain imaging, and behavioral tests, among others.Support the show

Send us a textLisa Gable is the Chief Executive Officer, of Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE - https://www.foodallergy.org), an organization with a mission to improve the quality of life and the health of 85 million Americans with food allergies and food intolerances, including 32 million of those are at risk for life-threatening anaphylaxis, and to provide them hope through the promise of new treatments. To date FARE has turned over $100 million in donor gifts into ground-breaking research and has provided a voice for the community, advocating on its behalf and offering hope for a better tomorrow. Ms. Gable has served four U.S. presidents and two governors, counseled Fortune 500 CEOs, and represented global public-private partnerships and non-profits with an end goal of moving organizations to higher levels of performance. As the former President of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, Ms. Gable created and led a coalition of food and beverage industry corporations and public health and government agencies, resulting in the reduction of 6.4 trillion calories from the American diet. Ms Gable was appointed the first female U.S. Commissioner General to the 2005 Aichi World EXPO, holding the personal rank of Ambassador, served as a U.S. Delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and served both in the Reagan White House and Defense Department, serving as an advisor to the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chief of Staff. Ms. Gable's corporate experience included serving as senior vice president of Global Public Policy at PepsiCo, and 15 years in Silicon Valley, including Global Brand Identity Manager for Intel Corporation, as Intel was on the cusp of launching what would become one of the most dominant tech brands, Intel Inside. Among her varied volunteer activities, Ms. Gable has served on several boards including as a National Trustee for the Boys and Girls Club of America, a board member for Girl Scouts of the USA and as a member of the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Obesity Solutions. A published writer, her new book Turnaround: How to Change Course When Things Are Going South (https://turnaroundbook.com/) will be coming out October 5, 2021. Ms. Gable also has had recurring media appearances including four years as a regularly scheduled guest with Lifetime’s national morning program The Balancing Act. Ms. Gable is a graduate of University of Virginia and holds an MA from Georgetown University. FARE Social Media Handles: https://www.instagram.com/foodallergy/ Support the show

Send us a textSergey Young (https://sergeyyoung.com/) is a longevity investor, visionary, and author, with a mission to help one billion people extend their healthy lifespans by making longevity affordable and accessible for everyone. As part of this mission, he is the Founder of the Longevity Vision Fund (LVF - https://lvf.vc/), a $100 Million venture capital fund that invests in technologies with the potential to disrupt life sciences and healthcare to help people live longer and healthier lives. Sergey’s investment experience, spanning over 20 years, includes managing a $2 Billion private equity fund and co-founding Peak State Ventures, a New York-based private equity fund focusing on new technologies in Real Estate, Digital Healthcare, and the Future of Work. Sergey is also Longevity Venture Partner at BOLD Capital Partners, a $250 Million fund focusing on exponential technologies co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Sergey’s longevity-related activities also include the following: - Innovation Board Member at XPRIZE Foundation, dedicated to solving the world’s biggest problems; - Development Sponsor of Age Reversal XPRIZE, a global initiative designed to incentivize the development of technological breakthroughs to cure aging; - Board of Directors of American Federation of Aging Research (AFAR); - Financial Advisory Board Member at All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Longevity, helping to shape national longevity strategy in the UK. Sergey is also the author of an upcoming book, "The Science and Technology of Growing Young". (https://www.amazon.com/Science-Techno...)Support the show

Send us a textStephanie Smith is a Director, in the Humanitarian & Development group, at Mastercard (https://www.mastercard.us), the American multinational financial services corporation. Stephanie is responsible for operations of the Humanitarian & Development group at Mastercard, and ensuring the team’s efficient, consistent, and effective delivery against their vision to provide digital tools and access for education, health, commerce, and other critical services for marginalized individuals and communities. The Humanitarian & Development group is focused on driving commercially sustainable social impact in collaboration with governments, NGOs, and other private sector companies. After graduating from Oxford University, Stephanie began her professional career at a rapidly growing technology company, Applied Predictive Technologies / APT (acquired by Mastercard) delivering analytics software and consulting engagements to Fortune 500s. Stephanie is particularly passionate about diversity & inclusion and solving social problems, and has experience delivering projects and technologies that drive a lasting social impact. Stephanie led a pro bono project in partnership with the city government of New Orleans and a non-profit, that pioneered how APT applied data assets and technology to facilitate and measure inclusive growth. Stephanie also proactively took on new projects in social-impact oriented industries (for example, applying Test & Learn analytics to education), and co-led APT’s global Women’s Leadership Network (a business resource group to connect female leaders and build a more inclusive workplace). Stephanie is also on the Working Group of the Partnership for Central America (https://www.centampartnership.org/) working to support private sector efforts to address the root causes of irregular migration from Central America through coordinated, sustained, and transparent impact across the region. Stephanie is a passionate mentor of junior staff, and outside of work, volunteers time as a mentor with the Girls Network in London, and fundraising with Girls on the Run in Washington D.C.Support the show

Send us a textMr. Kazuhiro Gomi, is President and CEO of NTT Research (https://ntt-research.com/), a division of The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, commonly known as NTT (https://www.global.ntt/), a Japanese telecommunications company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Gomi has been at NTT for more than 30 years and was involved in product management/product development activities at the beginning of his tenure. In September of 2009, Mr. Gomi was first named to the Global Telecoms Business Power100 — a list of the 100 most powerful and influential people in the telecoms industry. He was the CEO of NTT America Inc. from 2010 to 2019 and also served on the Board of Directors at NTT Communications from 2012 to 2019. Mr. Gomi received a Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Keio University, Tokyo. Mr. Gomi is a member of the board at US Japan Council, a non-profit organization aimed at fostering a better relationship between the US and Japan. Dr. Joe Alexander, is Director of the Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) Lab at NTT Research, where he oversees the MEI Lab research in multi-scale Precision Cardiology platforms such as the cardiovascular bio-digital twin, as well as heart-on-a-chip technology, specifically aimed at developing the infrastructure for a digital replica of an individual’s heart. In addition, the MEI Lab is working on nano- and micro-scale sensors and electrodes, other organ-on-a-chip micro-fluidics technologies, as well as wearable and remote sensing to support future bio-digital twin applications. Before coming to NTT Research, Dr. Alexander spent 18 years at Pfizer, Inc., where he had most recently served as Senior Medical Director, Global Medical Affairs, working in cardiovascular medicine, worldwide clinical imaging and measurement technologies, medical devices and pulmonary hypertension, and regularly conducting modeling and simulation research in many of these areas. He previously worked for two years at Merck, Inc. and spent eight years at Vanderbilt University, where he completed a two-year residency in internal medicine and served as a professor of medicine and biomedical engineering. Dr. Alexander obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. (in biomedical engineering) degrees at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Bahareh (Spring) Behrouz, PhD, is the CEO of Vincere Biosciences Inc (https://vincerebio.com/), a biotech company focused on developing novel, small molecule therapeutics targeting mitochondrial pathways and the improvement of mitochondrial quality. Dr. Behrouz is also the CEO of NeuroInitiative, LLC (https://www.neuroinitiative.com/), a computational biology company she co-founded in 2014, which develops simulations of disease using their patented software platform. A core focus of her research at NeuroInitiative is on the elucidation of complex, converging pathways that contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), a neuro-degenerative brain disorder which dramatically effects movement, which nearly one million people in the U.S. are living with, and 10 million patients worldwide. Dr. Behrouz received her graduate training at Michigan State University in the laboratory of Dr. John Goudreau and studied differential susceptibility of dopaminergic neuron sub-types in models of PD. She completed her post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Matthew Farrer at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, where she primarily focused on in-vivo and primary culture models of LRRK2-mediated pathogenesis and was part of the team that discovered a new pathogenic mutation in VPS35Support the show

Send us a textBarry Dean is an award-winning songwriter turned smart wheelchair technology company founder. As CEO of LUCI (https://luci.com/), a company re-imagining mobility for power wheelchairs, Barry sets the strategic vision and leads the company towards its goal of providing security, stability and connectivity for power wheelchairs. He founded the company with his brother, Jered, in 2017 with hopes of building a smarter solution for his daughter Katherine and all power wheelchair riders. Barry has written multiple No. 1 singles including “Pontoon” (Little Big Town), “Day Drinking” (Little Big Town), " Somebody's Daughter" (Tenille Townes), and "Think a Little Less" (Michael Ray), along with a Top 40 hit with “Girls Chase Boys” (Ingrid Michaelson). He has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song on Tim McGraw's "Diamond Rings and Old Barstools." Barry is a founding writer at Creative Nation Music, Recording Academy (GRAMMY) Nashville Chapter Governor, and has previously served two terms as a board member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Prior to becoming a songwriter, he led market strategy and product development for a leading education technology company. Barry currently lives in Nashville, Tenn.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Vicki Fishlock Ph.D. is a Resident Scientist, at The Amboseli Trust for Elephants (https://www.elephanttrust.org/), an organization that aims to ensure the long-term conservation and welfare of Africa’s elephants in the context of human needs and pressures, through scientific research, training, community outreach, public awareness and advocacy, and which is involved in the longest-running study of wild elephants in the world. Dr. Fishlock joined The Amboseli Trust for Elephants (ATE) in January 2011 to study social disruption and recovery in elephant families after the terrible 2009 drought. Her work focuses on leadership and negotiation in the face of risk, as well as the very long-term social dynamics. Prior to working at ATE in Kenya, Dr. Fishlock studied Western gorillas and forest elephants in the Republic of Congo, where she earned her Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Phyllis Lee, examining the use of forest clearings as social arenas for elephants. Dr. Fishlock previously graduated with first class honors in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh. After graduation, she worked as a research assistant at Chester Zoo on behavioral and hormonal indicators of welfare in captive orangutans. Dr. Fishlock is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter.Support the show

Send us a text Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, is an innovative conservation biologist, who is Founder and President of the non-profit Amazon Biodiversity Center, the renowned Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, and the person who coined the term “biological diversity”. Dr. Lovejoy currently serves as Professor in the department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, and as a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation based in Washington, DC. Dr. Lovejoy has also served as the World Bank's chief biodiversity advisor and the lead specialist for environment for Latin America and the Caribbean, the first Biodiversity Chair of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, President of the Heinz Center, and chair of the Scientific Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the multibillion-dollar funding mechanism for developing countries in support of their obligations under international environmental conventions. Spanning the political spectrum, Dr. Lovejoy has served on science and environmental councils under the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. At the core of these many influential positions are seminal ideas, which have formed and strengthened the field of conservation biology. In the 1980s, Dr. Lovejoy brought international attention to the world’s tropical rainforests, and in particular, the Brazilian Amazon, where he has worked since 1965. With multiple co-edited books (including Biodiversity and Climate Change: Transforming the Biosphere; Drones for Conservation - Field Guide for Photographers, Researchers, Conservationists and Archaeologists; Costa Rican Ecosystems; Climate Change and Biodiversity; On the Edge: The State and Fate of the World's Tropical Rainforests), Dr. Lovejoy is credited as a founder of the field of climate change biology. He also founded the series Nature, the popular long-term series on public television. In 2001, Dr. Lovejoy was awarded the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. In 2009 he was the winner of BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology Category. In 2009 he was appointed conservation fellow by the National Geographic and explorer at large. In 2012 he was recognized by the Blue Planet Prize. Dr. Lovejoy holds BS and PhD (biology) degrees from Yale University. Support the show

Send us a textDr. Veronica Rodriguez-Bravo, PhD, is Assistant Professor, Department of Cancer Biology, at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia, PA, USA. (https://sidneykimmelcancercenter.jeff...) Dr. Rodriguez-Bravo obtained her PhD in Pathology and Cell Biology (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Barcelona in 2007, where she also received the Extraordinary Doctorate Award for her studies on the distinct DNA replication checkpoint mechanisms of tumor cells. During her postdoctoral training at the Experimental Oncology Department of the University Medical Center of Utrecht (UMC, The Netherlands) and at the Molecular and Cell Biology Programs of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC, New York), she specialized in the study of chromosome segregation during mitosis and the role of nuclear pores in genome integrity maintenance. Dr. Rodriguez-Bravo's post-doctoral work allowed her to apply genome-editing techniques crucial to dissect the function of mitotic and nuclear pore proteins in chromosomal stability and resulted in the recognition with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Postdoctoral Research Award. Dr. Rodriguez-Bravo’s research focuses on the study of genome integrity maintenance mechanisms and the relationship of defects in cell division to cancer pathogenesis with special emphasis in the pathways contributing to cancer cells’ more aggressive phenotypes.Support the show