Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us a text Scelta Mushrooms BV is an innovative food company, located in Venlo, Netherlands, which processes mushrooms to make a portfolio of mushroom, and mushroom derived products, that are fresh, frozen, or preserved, for distribution to the food industry, food suppliers, and food retailers around the world. Scelta has grown to a group of six production facilities, with products exported to over 80 countries worldwide, and is widely recognized as one of the world’s most innovative mushroom companies. Jan Klerken is the Founder of Scelta, whose family has been in the mushroom business for three generations, combining over 50 years worth of experience within the mushroom industry, and who has been focusing and pioneering the intersection of taste, health and sustainability for the last few decades. Mr. Klerken is also an Ambassador at Kokkerelli / The Kids University for Cooking, a non-profit initiative which intends to familiarize Dutch children with the wonderful world of food and food innovation. In 2008, Scelta opened up the Scelta Institute, a research and development laboratory for novel, value added opportunities, and a kitchen for chefs to test products and come up with new recipes. Support the show

Send us a text Dr. Natasha Bajema, is a subject matter expert in nuclear nonproliferation, cooperative threat reduction and WMD terrorism, and currently serves as Director of the Converging Risks Lab, at The Council on Strategic Risks, a nonprofit, non-partisan security policy institute devoted to anticipating, analyzing and addressing core systemic risks to security in the 21st century, with special examination of the ways in which these risks intersect and exacerbate one another. The Converging Risks Lab (CRL) is a research and policy development-oriented program designed to study converging, cross-sectoral risks in a rapidly-changing world, which brings together experts from multiple sectors of the security community, to ask forward-thinking questions about these converging risks, and to develop anticipatory solutions. Dr. Bajema is also Founder and CEO of Nuclear Spin Cycle, a publishing and production company specializing in national security, entertainment, and publishing. Prior to this, Dr. Bajema was at the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction at the National Defense University, serving as Director of the Program for Emerging Leaders (PEL), as well as serving long-term detail assignments serving in various capacities in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics, Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs and in Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Bajema was a Research Associate at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, where she supported research staff of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change established by the UN Secretary-General. She has also served as a Junior Political Officer in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs at the United Nations. Dr. Bajema's publications include two co-edited volumes entitled Terrorism and Counterterrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism, both of which were published by McGraw Hill. She has also published the novels Bionic Bug, Rescind Order, Genomic Data, and Project Gecko. Dr. Bajema holds an M.A. in international policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a PhD in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Support the show

Send us a text Dr. Morten Scheibye-Knudsen is an Associate Professor at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and at the Center for Healthy Aging (CEHA), at the University of Copenhagen. Dr. Scheibye-Knudsen did his MD at the University of Copenhagen and worked briefly as a physician in Denmark and Greenland before turning to science. He did his post-doctoral fellowship at Vilhelm Bohr’s lab at the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, USA, where he utilized state-of-the art approaches to understand how DNA damage contributes to aging, discovering that neurodegeneration in several premature aging diseases is partly caused by hyperactivation of a DNA damage responsive enzyme called polyADP-ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1). This activation leads to loss of vital metabolites such as Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) and acetyl-CoA. Importantly, this discovery facilitated the realization that we can intervene in the aging process by inhibiting PARP1, augmenting NAD+ levels and increasing acetyl-CoA. In his own lab Dr. Scheibye-Knudsen continues to focus on understanding aging by combining machine learning based approaches with wet-lab analyses with the goal of developing interventions for age-associated diseases and perhaps aging itself. Dr. Scheibye-Knudsen is Chief Editor, Frontiers in Aging, and an Advisory Board Member of the Longevity Vision Fund and Molecule Protocol. Support the show

Send us a text Jacob Walthour, Jr. is the CEO and Co-Founder of the investment firm Blueprint Capital Advisors, which offers investment advisory and portfolio management services, managing $1.2 billion of clients wealth. Mr. Walthour has over 30 years of experience in capital markets, traditional and alternative asset management. Prior to founding Blueprint, Mr. Walthour served as Vice Chairman of Product and Business Development at the investment management division of Cowen & Company, also serving on the firm’s Management Committee. Previously, Mr. Walthour served as Managing Director of Cliffwater LLC, a leading provider of alternatives consulting, serving on the firm’s Investment Committee and responsible for client consulting. Prior to joining Cliffwater, Mr. Walthour was a Partner and Managing Director at Citadel Investment Group where he managed the firm’s North American distribution effort. Mr. Walthour received his BA cum laude from the Nelson Rockefeller School at the State University of New York at Albany. Mr. Walthour serves on several corporate boards including Parkview Capital Credit, Inc., Transportation Demand Management LLC. and chaired Ebony Media Holdings through its recent sale. He has also served, or is currently serving, on the boards of several non-profit and philanthropic organizations including the Investment Committee for $7 billion Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropy, the Investment Subcommittee of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, as a Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, Trustee for the New York Foundation for the Arts, Director of New York Cares and Trustee of the ECLC School for children and adults with learning disabilities. Mr. Walthour has been a frequent speaker at pension, hedge fund, and alternative investment conferences, and has been featured on CNBC and contributed to a variety of articles in Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, Institutional Investor Alpha, and Bloomberg. Support the show

Send us a text Colonel (Ret) Rosendo “Ross” Guieb, is the Executive Director of the new $200-million George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC) on the Rellis Campus at Texas A&M University. The BCDC was developed to support the Army’s desire for a faster procurement process, hoping to take advantage of technology advances at the rates enjoyed by the commercial and private sectors. The BCDC will include the largest enclosed-tube test facility in the U.S. for hypersonic and laser technologies and expansive laboratories and outdoor test grounds for evaluating experimental ground and air vehicles. Colonel Guieb recently retired from the U.S. Army after serving 29 years and most recently had served as a senior member and executive officer to General John M. Murray, the first commanding general of the Army Futures Command (AFC) which leads transformation of Army modernization in order to provide future war fighters with the concepts, capabilities and organizational structures they need to dominate a future battlefield. Colonel Guieb served two tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan in addition to a brigade command at Fort Hood, TX and multiple deployments in Honduras and Panama. He also worked at the Pentagon, where he was executive officer to then-under-secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, who also served as the 24th secretary of the Army. Colonel Guieb has a bachelors in international relations and affairs, and multiple master degrees including in education, national security policy, and business administration. Support the show

Send us a textNora Super is the Senior Director of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging (CFA) (https://milkeninstitute.org/centers/c...) and the Executive Director of the Milken Institute Alliance to Improve Dementia Care (https://milkeninstitute.org/centers/c...). Mr. Super provides strategic direction for the two primary focus areas of CFA: Financial Wellness and Healthy Longevity, and oversees data-driven research, meaningful policy initiatives, and impactful convenings around the world. Launched in 2020, the Alliance to Improve Dementia Care seeks to transform and improve the complex health and long-term care systems that people at risk for and living with dementia must navigate. Ms. Super studied political science at Tulane University and completed her master’s degree in public administration, with a concentration in health policy, at George Washington University, and is a respected thought leader, frequent speaker, and prolific writer on healthy longevity and the economic and social impact of global population aging. In 2019, she authored two major reports: “Reducing the Cost and Risk of Dementia: Recommendations to Improve Brain Health and Decrease Disparities” and “Age-Forward Cities for 2030.” Before joining the Milken Institute, Ms. Super held several key leadership roles in the public and private sectors. In 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Ms. Super Executive Director of the White House Conference on Aging, where she received wide recognition for her nationwide efforts to improve the lives of older Americans. In 2015, Ms. Super was recognized as one of America’s top 50 “Influencers in Aging” by PBS Next Avenue and was the Honoree for Outstanding Service to Medicare Beneficiaries by the Medicare Rights Center. Ms. Super has also held leadership roles at the US Department of Health and Human Services, AARP, Kaiser Permanente, and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Ms. Super serves on several boards, including the Long-Term Quality Alliance, the Brain Health Partnership Advisory Board, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Advisory Committee on Improving Care Delivery for Individuals with Serious Illness, the Better Medicare Alliance Beneficiary Education Technical Advisory Council, the Brookings Institution and Kellogg School of Management Retirement Security Advisory Board, Columbia University Medical Center’s Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program Steering Committee, Retirement Income Institute’s Scholars Advisory Group, and Gerontological Society of America’s Policy and Aging Report Editorial Board and Reframing Aging Initiative Advisory Board.Support the show

Send us a textDr. Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD, is Senior Vice President, Deputy Director, and Chief Scientific Officer, at Fox Chase Cancer Center (https://www.foxchase.org/) where he coordinates and charts the future course of research for the organization. The Hospital of Fox Chase Cancer Center and its affiliates (collectively “Fox Chase Cancer Center”), a member of the Temple University Health System, is one of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Dr. Chernoff joined the staff in 1991 as an associate member and was promoted to member with tenure in 1996. In 2002 he was promoted to be a senior member in Fox Chase Cancer Center's Basic Science division, the equivalent of a full professor in a university. A molecular oncologist as well as a board-certified medical oncologist, Dr. Chernoff has a special interest in factors that control cell growth and movement, including oncogenes and anticancer or tumor-suppressor genes, and has made fundamental contributions in this research. Dr. Chernoff earned his MD and his PhD in biochemistry in 1984 at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh and a clinical fellowship in medical oncology at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. He then held a postdoctoral fellowship in cellular and developmental biology at Harvard University before coming to Fox Chase. In recognition of his national reputation in molecular oncology and biochemistry, Dr. Chernoff also holds the Stanley P. Reimann Chair in Oncology.Support the show

Send us a text Dr. Mary "Missy" Cummings, is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, at the Pratt School of Engineering, at Duke University, the Duke Institute of Brain Sciences, and is the Director of the Humans and Autonomy Laboratory and Duke Robotics. Dr. Cummings received her B.S. in Mathematics from the US Naval Academy in 1988, her M.S. in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2004. Dr.. Cummings was one of the Navy's first female fighter pilots earning the rank of lieutenant and serving as naval officer and military pilot from 1988-1999. Dr. Cummings research interests include human-unmanned vehicle interaction, human-autonomous system collaboration, human-systems engineering, public policy implications of unmanned vehicles, and the ethical and social impact of technology. Dr. Cummings is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow, a member of their Board of Trustees, the Defense Innovation Advisory Board, and Veoneer, Inc. Board of Directors. Dr. Cummings previously served as an instructor for the U.S. Navy at Pennsylvania State University, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech in their Engineering Fundamentals Division, and an associate professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Cummings is also an accomplished author with her book Hornet's Nest: The Experiences of One of the Navy's First Female Fighter Pilots. Support the show

Send us a text Dr. Jonna Mazet, DVM, MPVM, PhD, is a Professor of Epidemiology and Disease Ecology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Founding Executive Director of the UC Davis One Health Institute, and Vice Provost For Grand Challenges At UC Davis. Additionally, Dr. Mazet in on the Steering Committee of the Global Virome Project, Principal Investigator of the PREDICT project, Chair, National Academies’ One Health Action Collaborative, and Co-Vice Chair, UC Global Health Institute Board of Directors. Dr. Mazet's work focuses on global health problem solving for emerging infectious diseases and conservation challenges. She is active in international One Health education, service, and research programs, most notably in relation to pathogen emergence; disease transmission among wildlife, domestic animals, and people; and the ecological drivers of novel disease dynamics. Currently, Dr. Mazet is the Co-Director of the US Agency for International Development’s One Health Workforce – Next Generation, an $85 million educational strengthening project to empower professionals in Central/East Africa and Southeast Asia to address complex and emerging health threats, including antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases. Dr. Mazet is the Principal Investigator of, and served as the Global Director of, the PREDICT Project for 10 years, a greater than $200 million viral emergence early warning project under USAID’s Emerging Pandemic Threats Division, which served as an early-warning system-strengthening effort aimed at finding emerging viruses before they spread to humans. Dr. Mazet was elected to the US National Academy of Medicine in 2013 in recognition of her successful and innovative approach to emerging environmental and global health threats, and serves on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats and chairs the Academies’ One Health Action Collaborative. She was appointed to the National Academies Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats, which was created to assist the federal government with critical science and policy issues related to the COVID-19 crisis and other emerging health threats. Support the show

Send us a textDr. Julie Fratantoni is a cognitive neuroscientist at the Center for BrainHealth (https://brainhealth.utdallas.edu/), part of the University of Texas at Dallas. At the center, Dr. Fratantoni is the Head of Operations for a landmark research study called The BrainHealth Project, which is all about teaching people strategies for how to maximize their brain performance, and it’s her focus to educate and train individuals to operate at their highest capacity, reduce stress, achieve their goals, and be the best version of themselves. Dr. Fratantoni also leads the center’s Kindness Enterprise, a research and translational program seeking to uncover and harness the brain’s capacity for kindness, empathy, and compassion as critical components of overall brain health and well-being. Dr. Fratantoni is also a licensed Speech Language Pathologist, board certified in biofeedback, and trained in mindfulness and breathing techniques. Dr. Fratantoni has a PhD Communication Sciences and Disorders, and an MS in Communication Disorders from The University of Texas at Dallas and a BS Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from University of Arizona.Support the show