Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us Fan MailRocky Batzel is CEO of SnapSlide ( https://www.snapslide.com/ ), a company that recently introduced to the market the First Child-Resistant Closure with Single-Handed Opening for RX and OTC medication Bottles. This patented solution, of which Mr. Batzell is the inventor, is focused on bringing life-changing potential for over 60 million Americans with physical limitations, finally addressing the vital yet widely overlooked aspect of inclusivity – namely medication accessibility.  Mr. Batzell earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Marywood University in Pennsylvania, and while enrolled in medical school, he noticed his grandmother struggling with a traditional, "push-and-twist", child-resistant cap on her prescription bottle. That inspirational moment led him to pivot his career into the world of entrepreneurship, and he set out to design the very first prototype of what would eventually become SnapSlide. After securing patent protection, Mr. Batzell ultimately formed a company around his groundbreaking innovation. As the company’s CEO, he is dedicated to advancing engineering, diversifying applications, and leading SnapSlide’s mission to bring this adaptive solution to those who need it most.#RockyBatzel #SnapSlide #ChildResistantClosure #SingleHandedOpening #RX #OTC #MedicationBottles #Arthritis #Fibromyalgia #MultipleSclerosis #ParkinsonsDisease #Amputation #Stroke #Paralysis #BirthDefects #Disabilities #MedicationAdherence #Compliance  #Pharmacy #Agetech #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Angie Burnett, Ph.D. is Program Director at the Advanced Research and Invention Agency ( ARIA - https://www.aria.org.uk/ ), a UK organization created by an Act of Parliament, and sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, to fund projects across a full spectrum of R&D disciplines, approaches, and institutions, per the ARIA mission statement to “Look beyond what exists today to the breakthroughs we’ll need tomorrow”.Prior to this role, Dr. Burnett was a Research Associate in the Department of Plant Sciences, and a former David MacKay Research Associate at Darwin College and Cambridge Zero where her work focused on understanding the response of maize plants to high light and cold temperature stresses, and the genetic basis for stress tolerance, so that breeders can produce plants which are better able to withstand environmental stress.Dr. Burnett’s background is in plant physiology. She holds a BA from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from the University of Sheffield, where she was awarded the inaugural PhD studentship from the Society for Experimental Biology. Before commencing her role at the University of Cambridge, she worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the USA and as a Consultant at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Italy.Important Episode Links"Programmable Plants" Opportunity Space - https://www.aria.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ARIA-Programmable-Plants-v1.pdf"Synthetic Plants For A Sustainable Future" Program Thesis - https://www.aria.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ARIA-Synthetic-plants-for-a-sustainable-future.pdf#AngieBurnett #AdvancedResearchAndInventionAgency #ARIA #SyntheticPlants #PlantPhysiology #FoodSecurity #CropStress #CropYield #PlantBiotechnology#Genetics #PlantEnvironmentInteractions #ClimateChange #DepartmentForScienceInnovationAndTechnology #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Deborah Sesok-Pizzini, MD, MBA, is Chief Medical Officer And Senior Vice President, Labcorp Diagnostics, and Global Head of Quality And Discipline Director, Immunohematology, Labcorp ( https://www.labcorp.com/deborah-sesok-pizzini-md-mba ), where she is involved in furthering the company's initiatives to enhance the patient experience, enable health provider decisions and develop innovative testing solutions.Dr. Sesok-Pizzini joined Labcorp with over two decades of experience in healthcare, holding multiple appointments with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, including Patient Safety Officer, Chief of the Division of Transfusion Medicine and Vice-Chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. She was also a professor of clinical pathology and laboratory medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.Dr. Sesok-Pizzini earned her medical degree from the Penn State College of Medicine and did her residency and fellowship at The University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. She also graduated from Villanova University, with a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in finance.Dr. Sesok-Pizzini holds certifications in clinical pathology and blood bank and transfusion medicine. She is a member of the College of American Pathology, the American Society of Clinical Pathology, and the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies. She is a board member of the Intersociety Council for Pathology Information and serves as an adjunct professor with the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.#DeborahSesokPizzini #ChiefMedicalOfficer #Labcorp #Diagnostics #Immunohematology #ChildrensHospitalOfPhiladelphia #CHOP  #TransfusionMedicine #Pathology #LaboratoryMedicine #PerelmanSchoolOfMedicine #UniversityOfPennsylvania #Penn #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us Fan MailVid Desai is Chief Information Officer, Office of Digital Transformation (ODT), at the U.S. Food And Drug Administration (FDA), where he sets and leads the agency’s Information Technology (IT) strategy, as well as the agency’s enterprise IT, data management, and cybersecurity. (https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-organization/vid-desai)The ODT oversees the overall FDA IT spend of close to $1Bn and a staff of around 2,500 employees and contractors. In this capacity, Mr. Desai was recently named to the Forbes CIO Next List 2023 and was the only federal CIO to receive this honor. He was also selected as a WashingtonExec Top Government IT Leaders to watch in 2023, in additional to multiple agency and industry awards. Prior to being named CIO, Mr. Desai served as the FDA’s Chief Technology Officer, overseeing day-to-day technology operations as the leader of the Office of Information Management and Information Technology.Mr. Desai is a seasoned, nationally recognized technology leader with over 35 years of experience in the IT field, and healthcare and life sciences industries. He has previous experience working for large pharmaceutical and medical device companies, and clinical research organizations.Prior to joining the FDA in 2019, Mr. Desai held the CIO role at Vyaire Medical, a respiratory medical device company formed from a divestiture from Becton Dickinson. He was CIO at Endochoice, a GI device and services provider, and Lake Region Medical, which was acquired by Greatbach to form Integer, a medical device, outsource manufacturer. His previous experience includes IT leadership roles with large CRO and pharmaceuticals, including Quintiles Transnational, where he served as executive director, Global IT Infrastructure. Prior to Quintiles, Mr. Desai held several leadership positions of increasing responsibility with GlaxoSmithKline. He started his career in IT as a software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation in Reading, U.K.Mr. Desai holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (first class with honors) from Royal Holloway College, University of London.Important Episode Links FDA’s Technology Modernization Action Plan (TMAP) - https://www.fda.gov/media/130883/downloadFDA's Data Modernization Action Plan (DMAP) -https://www.fda.gov/media/143627/download?attachmentFDA's Cybersecurity Modernization Action Planhttps://www.fda.gov/media/163086/download?attachment#VidDesai #ChiefInformationOfficer #OfficeOfDigitalTransformation #FoodAndDrugAdministration #FDA #InformationTechnology #ZeroTrust #ArtificialIntelligence #QuantumComputing #IT #Cybersecurity #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Lily Brown, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry and Director at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, Perelman School of Medicine, at University of Pennsylvania ( https://www.med.upenn.edu/ctsa/LilyBrownPhD.html ).  Dr. Brown received her Bachelors of Science Degree in Psychology at Drexel University and her Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology and Learning and Behavior Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  In graduate school, Dr. Brown researched mechanisms of change in fear conditioning and extinction, with a particular focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in the Anxiety and Depression Research Center.  She completed her predoctoral internship at Brown University in the Psychosocial Research Department where she completed research on the rate of suicidal behaviors in patients with PTSD.   Dr. Brown’s current research focuses on treatment development and implementation to mitigate suicide risk in patients with anxiety disorders and PTSD.  She specializes in cognitive-behavior therapy for anxiety disorders, including Exposure and Response prevention (EX/RP) for obsessive compulsive disorder, and has been trained in the treatment of borderline personality disorder.#LilyBrown #Psychology #CognitiveBehaviorTherapy #CenterForTheTreatmentAndStudyOfAnxiety #PerelmanSchoolOfMedicine #UniversityOfPennsylvania #PTSD #Suicide #PosttraumaticStressDisorder #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #OCD #Panic #SocialPhobia  #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us Fan MailProfessor Dr. Dan Blumberg, Ph.D. is the Vice-President for Regional and Industrial Development at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev ( BGU - https://www.blumberg.bgu.ac.il/ ), an elected Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, and Chair of the Israel Space Agency ( https://www.space.gov.il/en ), a position he was appointed to by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology ( https://www.gov.il/en/departments/ministry_of_science_and_technology/govil-landing-page ) in 2022.Prior to these positions, Prof. Blumberg completed five years as Vice President and Dean for Research and Development at BGU and before that he fulfilled several positions including Deputy Vice President, Chairperson of the Department of Geography and Environmental Development and the founder of the Green Campus initiative at BGU which gained the University an international ranking of #18.Prof. Blumberg earned a Ph.D. from Arizona State University (1993) where he studied and worked in the Planetary Geology Group and focused on aeolian processes and microwave radar remote sensing to study arid zone environments and planetary geology.  He was a Co-Investigator on the SRL (Spaceborne Radar Laboratory) mission, SRTM (Spaceborne Radar Topography) mission and other space missions. Prof. Blumberg has been working for the past 20 years on analysis of multi-parameter remote sensing data including radar, hyperspectral, multi-spectral and ground penetrating radar data. He has also published numerous papers in the areas of target and anomaly detection and combined field studies with the use of remote sensing data.  He also led the development and successful launch on February 15, 2017 of a Nanosatellite, BGUsat. Prof. Blumberg has also been a key leader in the development of the cyber eco-system in Beer-Sheva ( https://www.blumberg.bgu.ac.il/_files/ugd/d86da1_7750b399fc5843af9763fd4e1ffe59af.pdf ), which brought 39 multi-national companies and 70 startups to the advanced technologies park in Beer-Sheva. Additional roles include as Director of the Homeland Security Institute ( https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/hsi/Pages/Board.aspx ) and Simon Family Chair in Remote Sensing at BGU.#DanBlumberg #RemoteSensing #Mars #Venus #BenGurionUniversityOfTheNegev #Astronautics #IsraelSpaceAgency #NASA #Geology #Geography #BaruchBlumberg #Astrobiology  #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast  #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Parag Mallick, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at Stanford University ( https://profiles.stanford.edu/parag-mallick ) and Co-Founder of Nautilus Biotechnology ( https://www.nautilus.bio/ ), a development stage life sciences company, engaged in creating a platform technology for quantifying and unlocking the complexity of the proteome for a new era of scientific discovery. Originally trained as an engineer and biochemist, Dr. Mallick’s research spans proteomics, computational and experimental systems biology, cancer biology and nanotechnology. Dr. Mallick received his B.S. in Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis. He then obtained his Ph.D. from UCLA in Chemistry & Biochemistry, where he worked with Dr. David Eisenberg. He completed his post-doctoral studies at The Institute for Systems Biology with Dr. Ruedi Aebersold. Dr. Mallick’s group has been pioneering systems-biology approaches towards understanding disease mechanisms, discovering biomarkers and enabling personalized medicine. Most recently, his group has been developing model-based and physics-based approaches to machine learning that enable learning over domains that span a wide range of time and length scales. Dr. Mallick has over 100 publications and holds patents in the fields of artificial intelligence, proteomics technology, biomarker development, and nanotechnology. Additionally, he serves as an advisor to numerous biotechnology and diagnostics companies and is an accomplished magician. Dr. Mallick is a member, and frequent performer at the prestigious Magic Castle in Hollywood. He has performed all over the world for clients ranging from A-List Celebrities to Fortune 500 companies.#ParagMallick #Proteomics #Proteome #StanfordUniversity #NautilusBiotechnology #LifeSciences #DrugDiscovery #Diagnostics #Cancer #Alzheimers #Ashwgandha #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast  #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us Fan MailRonnie Vasishta is Senior Vice President, Telecom at NVIDIA ( https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/author/ronniev/ ), where he leads all aspects of NVIDIA's telecom business from business management to product go-to-market strategy.  His organization is responsible for defining and architecting next-generation virtualized, open 5G advanced and 6G networks, which act as a software-defined overlay on telecommunication networks powered by  accelerated computing. His team is working with telecom operators around the world on their transformation journeys using NVIDIA’s full-stack accelerated computing platform and extensive developer ecosystems. Ronnie joined NVIDIA in 2020 from Intel, where he most recently served as the vice president and general manager of the Network and Configurable Logic Division, Data Products Group. At Intel, Ronnie’s team managed the company’s programmable business with telecom manufacturers and communication service providers. Ronnie formerly served as CEO of privately held eASIC, which focused on the telecom and storage markets and was sold to Intel in 2018. Previously, he was vice president of technical marketing at LSI Logic, a pioneer in the custom ASIC business. At LSI Logic he also held a series of engineering roles extending across wafer processing, chip design, IP and packaging.Ronnie studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Nottingham Trent University.Important Episode Resources -NVIDIA State of AI in Telecom 2024 Survey Report - https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/lp/industries/telecommunications/state-of-ai-in-telecom-survey-report/?ncid=ref-inor-605102-vt26NVIDIA AI Solutions for Telecommunications - https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/industries/telecommunications/?ncid=ref-inor-463257-vt26#RonnieVasishta #Telecom #NVIDIA #6G #Telecommunication #RadioAccessNetworks #DigitalTwins #ArtificialIntelligence #InternetOfThings #QuantumComputing  #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast  #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us Fan MailProf. Dr. Alan Widgerow, MBBCh, FCS, MMed, FACS, is Division Chief, Research, Center for Tissue Engineering ( https://sites.uci.edu/ctelab/team/ ) and Adjunct Professor Plastic Surgery, Dept of Plastic Surgery, University of California, Irvine ( https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=6048 ) and Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Skin Science Center of Innovation at Galderma ( https://www.galderma.com/ ).Prof. Widgerow is a plastic surgeon who ran a solo private practice in South Africa for over 20 years. Prof. Widgerow completed his undergraduate and post-graduate studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He has held various positions in numerous academic and professional associations including that of President of the Association of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery of Southern Africa (APRSSA). He is author of over 190 plastic surgical related publications and 2 books. He was also the founder and medical director of 13 wound clinics in South Africa. Prof. Widgerow relocated to Irvine California in Dec 2009 to pursue his interests in medical device innovations, cosmeceuticals and wound care, but he still plays an active role in academic medicine world-wide. In 2012 he was appointed to the Faculty of the University of California Irvine Plastic Surgery Dept as Full Adjunct Professor and Director of the Center for Tissue Engineering and in 2021 was appointed as its Division Chief of Research. He is involved in multiple projects related to adipose derived stem cell and adipose decellularized matrix, wound healing and transplantation. In 2018 he was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Mentor of the year Award by the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, UCI. Prof. Widgerow has developed and licensed multiple products in the US and South African markets. In 2015 he joined ALASTIN Skincare, Inc. an early start up professional skin care company as their Chief Medical Officer. Over the past 6 years he has spearheaded the scientific innovations team introducing multiple new products based on novel wound healing pathways. The resulting products have been validated with gene expression, in vitro and ex-vivo testing, biopsies, and multiple clinical trials resulting in a range of products that have surpassed previous scientific validations in this space. He continues to pursue patented novel concepts, peptide technologies and vigorous testing thus contributing to Alastin Skincare’s position as the fastest growing professional skin care company in the US for the past 4 years. In 2021, Alastin Skincare was acquired by Galderma, the largest privately owned dermatology company in the world, and in June 2022, Prof. Widgerow was appointed Chief Scientific Officer of Galderma, Head of the Skin Science Center for Innovation and Head of Alastin innovations. He is involved in aesthetic, prescription and consumer product science research and development.#AlanWidgerow #CenterForTissueEngineering #PlasticSurgery #UniversityOfCalifornia #Irvine #ChiefScientificOfficer #SkinScience #Galderma #Dermatology #ExtracellularMatrix #StemCells #Exosomes #ECM #Aging #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast  #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Ryan Potts, Ph.D. is Vice President and Head, Induced Proximity Platform at Amgen ( https://www.amgen.com/science/research-and-development-strategy/multispecifics-and-other-modalities ) which is focused on novel ways to bring two or more molecules in close proximity to each other to tackle drug targets that are currently considered “undruggable.” He also leads Amgen’s Research & Development Postdoctoral Fellows Program ( https://www.amgen.com/science/scientific-community-initiatives/postdoctoral-fellows ).Dr. Potts obtained his B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina and his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from UT Southwestern in 2007. In 2008 he was awarded the Sara and Frank McKnight junior faculty position at UT Southwestern Medical Center.  During this time his lab focused on answering a long-standing question in cancer biology regarding the cellular function of cancer-testis antigen (CTAs) proteins. In 2011 he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Departments of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Biochemistry at UT Southwestern Medical Center. His lab’s work defined a function for the enigmatic MAGE gene (Melanoma Antigen Gene) family in protein regulation through ubiquitination. In 2016 Dr. Potts lab moved to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where he was an Associate Member in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. There his lab continued to work on CTAs, with a focus on elucidating the biochemical, cellular, physiological and pathological functions of the MAGE gene family. In 2020 Dr. Potts moved to Amgen, Inc. in Thousand Oaks, California to build a new department called the Induced Proximity Platform (IPP).Important Episode Link - Amgen Molecular Matchmakers Science Cartoon -https://wwwext.amgen.com/stories/2020/10/new-video-multispecific-medicines-that-work-as-molecular-matchmakers?_gl=1*1ygduyj*_ga*Mjc5OTk2NDUzLjE3MjI0NTk5Nzc.*_ga_CBMSV0J9VL*MTcyMjQ2MzI0MS4yLjEuMTcyMjQ2MzUyMC4zOC4wLjA.#Amgen #RyanPotts #InducedProximityPlatform #MultispecificDrugs #UndruggableTargets #MolecularMatchmakers #PROTAC #RNATAC #Proteasome #Lysosome #UbiquitinLigases #Ubiquitination #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast  #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show