Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us Fan MailMr. Ian Watson currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense (DASD/CBD) at the U.S. Department of Defense ( https://www.acq.osd.mil/ncbdp/leadership/bio-Watson.html ). In this capacity he is the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs (NCB) and conducts Department level research, development, and acquisition (RDA) activities from concept and requirements development, through early science and technology, to advanced development, testing and evaluation, and procurement. These efforts focus on reducing risk from emerging threats and fielding sustainable capabilities to all Services in accordance with Department, Service and Combatant Command priorities for chemical, biological, and ensure our warfighters can fight and win in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) contested environments. Previously, Mr. Ian Watson served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary, and Director of the Office of Strategy, Policy, Planning, and Requirements (SPPR), and for Industrial Base Expansion in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this position, Mr. Watson was responsible for leading the policy planning life-cycle, to ensure that ASPR’s preparedness and emergency response capabilities align with the ASPR’s mission, as well as broader policy and planning considerations to support the ASPR in protecting Americans from 21st Century health security threats. Mr. Watson was also responsible for the Department’s Industrial Base Expansion, supply chain management, industrial policy, and Defense Production Act (DPA) program for the pandemic response. Mr. Watson previously served as the Assistant Director for Biotechnology and Biosecurity within the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President (EOP) whose mission is to ensure America is the world leader in science and technology. While at OSTP Mr. Watson worked national security and S&T policy initiatives pertaining to the Bioeconomy, biodefense, planetary protection, scientific collections, biological sciences, etc. Prior to being detailed to OSTP, Mr. Watson was in the Department of Defense, where he has previously served in multiple positions as a leader for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction research, development, implementation, policy; systems integration for missile defense; Countering Threat Networks and Counter Proliferation initiatives; and managing and developing interagency and international relationships under Cooperative Threat Reduction, foreign military sales, and international armaments cooperation. Mr. Watson’s graduate background includes degrees in international relations, biodefense, and public health. Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Anthony S. Fauci is Distinguished University Professor in the Georgetown University School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine, in the Division of Infectious Diseases ( https://medicine.georgetown.edu/divisions/infectiousdiseases/ ), an academic division that provides clinical care, conducts research and trains future physicians in infectious diseases. He also holds an additional appointment in the university’s McCourt School of Public Policy. Dr. Fauci served as U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director from 1984 to 2022. He oversaw an extensive research portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, and malaria as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola, Zika and COVID-19. He also led the NIAID research effort on transplantation and immune-related illnesses, including autoimmune disorders, asthma, and allergies ( https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/anthony-s-fauci-md-bio ) . Dr. Fauci advised seven Presidents on HIV/AIDS and many other domestic and global health issues. He was one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved more than 20 million lives throughout the developing world. Dr. Fauci was a key advisor to seven Presidents and their administrations on global HIV/AIDS issues, and on initiatives to bolster medical and public health preparedness against emerging infectious disease threats such as pandemic influenza and COVID-19. As an HIV/AIDS researcher he was involved in the scientific effort since AIDS was recognized in 1981, conducting pivotal studies that underpin the current understanding of the disease and efforts to develop therapies and tools of prevention. Dr. Fauci was the longtime chief of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation. He made many contributions to basic and clinical research on the pathogenesis and treatment of immune-mediated and infectious diseases. He helped pioneer the field of human immunoregulation by making important basic scientific observations that underpin the current understanding of the regulation of the human immune response. In addition, Dr. Fauci is widely recognized for delineating the precise ways that immunosuppressive agents modulate the human immune response. He developed effective therapies for formerly fatal inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases such as polyarteritis nodosa, granulomatosis with polyangiitis (formerly Wegener's granulomatosis), and lymphomatoid granulomatosis. Dr. Fauci made seminal contributions to the understanding of how HIV destroys the body's defenses leading to its susceptibility to deadly infections. Further, he was instrumental in developing treatments that enable people with HIV to live long and active lives. In a 2022 analysis of Google Scholar citations, Dr. Fauci ranked as the 44th most-cited living researcher. According to the Web of Science, Dr. Fauci ranked 9th out of 3.3 million authors in the field of immunology by total citation count between 1980 and April 2022. During the same period, he ranked 22th out of 3.3 million authors in the field of research & experimental medicine, and 715th out of 1.4 million authors in the field of general & internal medicine. Dr. Fauci has delivered major lectures all over the world and is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest honor given to a civilian by the President of the United States), the National Medal of Science, the George M. Kober Medal of the Association of American Physicians, the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, the Robert KocSupport the show

Send us Fan MailCraig Thompson is the Chief Executive Officer of Cerevance ( https://www.cerevance.com/about ), a private, clinical-stage drug discovery and development company focused on developing novel therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) diseases using the company’s proprietary Nuclear Enriched Transcript Sort sequencing (NETSseq) technology, a machine learning platform that helps measure precise levels at which thousands of genes are expressed in any cell type in any region of the brain, and then map those genes to specific diseased and healthy brain states. Most recently, Mr. Thompson was President and Chief Executive Officer of Neurana Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Neurana, Mr. Thompson was President and Chief Executive Officer of Anthera Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Thompson's previous biotech experience includes Chief Operating Officer for Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals and Chief Commercial Officer for Trius Therapeutics where he was involved in the $707M up front acquisition of Trius by Cubist Pharmaceuticals, as well as a partnership with Bayer Pharma AG. Prior to Trius, Mr. Thompson served in various global and U.S. roles at Pfizer Inc., including Therapeutic Group Leader of Allergy, Respiratory, Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Inflammation; and ultimately served as Vice President of Marketing for Pfizer’s Specialty Care Business Unit. Previous to Pfizer, Mr. Thompson served in positions of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc including leading the partnership with Schering Plough. Mr. Thompson holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from McMaster University and an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. Support the show

Send us Fan MailProfessor Ibrahim Abubakar, FMedSci is Pro-Provost (Health), Dean, Faculty of Population Health Sciences and Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, University College London ( UCL - https://www.ucl.ac.uk/tb/people/professor-ibrahim-abubakar ). He was previously director of the UCL Institute for Global Health until July 2021. Prof. Abubakar was appointed National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator in 2017 and elected Fellow Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020. He led the UCL Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, UCL-TB and was a senior investigator at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Trials Unit. He was also head of TB at Public Health England and prior to his appointment at UCL, he was Professor in Health Protection at the Norwich Medical School. Prof. Abubakar qualified in medicine in 1992 and initially trained in general medicine before specializing in public health medicine. His academic public health training was undertaken at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), University of Cambridge and the University of East Anglia. Prof. Abubakar is a member of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board ( https://www.gpmb.org/ ), Chair of Lancet Migration: global collaboration to advance migration health, Lancet Nigeria Commission and the NIHR Global Health Professorship Committee. He also served as chair of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Tuberculosis until 2019 and of the Wellcome Trust Expert Review Group on Population Health until 2022. Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, FASA ( https://www.purdue.edu/provost/health/adams.html ) is Presidential Fellow, Executive Director of Purdue's Health Equity Initiatives, and Distinguished Professor of Practice in the Departments of Pharmacy Practice and Public Health, at Purdue University. As the 20th U.S. Surgeon General and a prior member of the President’s Coronavirus task force, Dr. Adams has been at the forefront of America’s most pressing health challenges. A regular communicator via tv, radio, and in print, Dr. Adams is an expert not just in the science, but also in communicating the science to the lay public, and making it relevant to various audiences. Dr. Adams is a licensed anesthesiologist with a master’s degree in public health, and ran the Indiana State Department of Health prior to becoming Surgeon General. In the State Health Commissioner role he managed a $350 million dollar budget and over 1,000 employees, and led Indiana’s response to Ebola, Zika, and HIV crises. Notably, Dr. Adams helped convince the Governor and State Legislature to legalize syringe service programs in the state, and to prioritize $13 million in funding to combat infant mortality. As Surgeon General, Dr. Adams was the operational head of the 6,000 person Public Health Service Commissioned Corps ( https://www.usphs.gov/ ), and oversaw responses to 3 back to back category 5 hurricanes, and to a once in a century pandemic. In addition to his recent COVID19 work, Dr. Adams has partnered with and assisted organizations as they navigate the opioid epidemic, maternal health, rising rates of chronic disease, the impacts of rising suicide rates in our Nation, and how businesses can become better stewards and stakeholders in promoting community health. His new book, Crisis and Chaos: Lessons from the Front Lines of the War Against COVID-19, came out on October 24, 2023 ( https://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Chaos-Lessons-Against-COVID-19/dp/B0C28RRHFJ ) Support the show

Send us Fan MailCOL Tina Schoenberger is Director of the U.S. Army Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Agency ( USANCA - https://www.usanca.army.mil/ ); a U.S. Army HQ field operating agency of both nuclear and CWMD military and civilian professionals, headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. USANCA is operationally and technically responsive to the Army’s Total Force and the Joint Force commander, and they are responsible for delivering key nuclear, CWMD, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) subject matter expertise to the generating and operating forces. Col Schoenberger has a Bachelors degree in Microbiology and a Master of Science in Molecular Biology, both from Southeastern Louisiana University, and served as a Fellow in the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity initiative (ELBI) Fellowship program, at the Center for Biosecurity of Pittsburgh Medical Center for Health Security. During her extensive career in the U.S. military, COL Schoenberger has previously served as: - an Army War College, Office of the Director of National Intelligence Fellow with duty at the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center; - a Plans, Integration and Assessments Division Chief for USSOCOM J10- Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Directorate; - a J5 Division Chief at the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), J5 Branch Chief, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) liaison officer to JSOC; - a Military Assistant to the Deputy Director of DTRA, while serving at the U.S. Strategic Command’s Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (SCC-CWMD), where she was a key planner in the Regional Contingency Team that led planning efforts in support of the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, Department of State, and the National Security Staff, for the Syria Chemical Weapons destruction and elimination mission; - a J3 Science Advisor and primary subject matter expert (SME) leading the fielding of the Weapons of Mass Destruction – Civil Support Team (WMD-CST) up-graded Analytical Laboratory System (ALS) at the National Guard Bureau (NGB) and operated and maintained the ALS as the Nuclear Medical Science Officer for the 62nd Weapons of Mass Destruction – Civil Support Team in Louisiana. Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Jomana Musmar, MS, PhD, is the Designated Federal Officer and Executive Director of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria ( https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/paccarb/membership/designated-federal-officer-jomana-musmar/index.html ), and Senior Public Health Advisor within the Office of Infectious Diseases and HIV/AIDS Policy ( https://www.hhs.gov/oidp/index.html ), at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria ( PACCARB - https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/paccarb/index.html ) is a US federal advisory committee that provides advice, information, and recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS Secretary). The council supports and evaluates U.S. government activities focused on fighting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in human health, animal health, and environmental health. Using this One Health approach, members of the PACCARB have expertise from a range of backgrounds, including academia, industry, public health, advocacy, veterinary, and agricultural production. Dr. Musmar has been managing the PACCARB since its establishment in 2015, during which time she has hosted 24 public meetings and overseen the development of seven reports providing recommendations on a range of issues related to antimicrobial-resistance (AMR) for both human and animal health. Dr. Musmar has over 10 years of Federal Advisory Committee experience, with a focus on the areas of public health, biodefense, and AMR. Her graduate degrees include a Master’s in Biomedical Science Policy from Georgetown University School of Medicine and a Doctorate in Biodefense and Homeland Security from George Mason University. PACCARB REPORT - Preparing for the Next Pandemic in the Era of Antimicrobial Resistance - https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/paccarb-pandemic-preparedness-report.pdf Support the show

Send us Fan MailA cognitive neuroscientist by training, Dr. Vijeth Iyengar ( https://www.aarpinternational.org/about-us/staff/vijeth-iyengar ) is Director of Global Aging at AARP where he leads cutting-edge research, drives thought leadership on global aging issues, and cultivates relationships and strategic alliances to promote the enterprises vision for the global 50+ population.Prior to joining AARP, Dr. Iyengar served in a variety of roles in the U.S. Federal Government including as Brain Health Lead and Technical Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging, as a Policy Advisor to the 4th Chief Technology Officer at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as co-lead coordinator of the older adult working group for the Healthy People 2020/2030 initiative, and as lead author of the U.S. Country Report for the Fourth Review and Appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing – a process overseen by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.Among other recognitions, Dr. Iyengar was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, a Presidential Management Fellow, selected as a Aspen Ideas Festival Health Fellow, and a Bronze Telly Award Winner for work on AARP's Aging Readiness & Competitiveness Initiative. He has contributed articles appearing in Devex, JAMA Health Forum, Scientific American, STAT News, National Academy of Medicine Perspectives, and WHO Bulletin.Dr. Iyengar serves as a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, an Advisor to Ashoka's New Longevity Initiative, Member of the SUNY-Albany Healthy Aging Initiative Community Advisory Committee, Regional Mentor for the Atlantic Fellows Equity in Brain Health Program, Mentor for the Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator, and Principal Member of the Meridian International Center Corporate Council.A native of Louisiana, he was a visiting undergraduate student at Cornell University, received his bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and masters and doctoral degrees from Duke University.Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Susanne Rafelski, Ph.D. is Deputy Director, Scientific Programs at the Allen Institute for Cell Science ( https://alleninstitute.org/division/cell-science/ ) and was named to this position in December, 2020. Dr. Rafelski began imaging live cells and visualizing intracellular dynamics in 3D when she was only 17 and hasn't been able to stop since. Her life-long scientific goal is to decipher the patterns and rules that transform the overwhelming complexity found inside cells into functioning units of life and believes that to do this we must understand the organization of the structures within the cell in space and time. Dr. Rafelski's team takes an interdisciplinary, quantitative approach to cell biology, combining live-cell image-based assays, molecular genetics, and computational methods. Prior to joining the Institute in 2016, Dr. Rafelski was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and the Center for Complex Biological Systems at UC Irvine. Dr. Rafelski obtained her B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology with an additional emphasis in Mathematics from the University of Arizona. She then completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Stanford University, followed by a postdoc at the Center for Cell Dynamics at the Friday Harbor Labs, University of Washington, where she learned computational modeling approaches. Her research focused on integrating bacterial polarity with host-cell cytoskeletal dynamics to understand Listeria actin-based motility. She then initiated her current research program on mitochondrial structure-function as a postdoc at UCSF, where she developed 3D microscopy and image analysis methods to quantify mitochondrial morphology and applied these to investigate mitochondrial size control regulation. As a model system for intracellular organization her lab extended this work to studying the size, topology, and function of mitochondrial networks in budding yeast and mammalian cells. Support the show

Send us Fan MailMajor General (ret) Dr. Aamer Ikram is currently the Director of the Pakistan Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), as well as Chairperson of the Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network ( TEPHINET - https://www.tephinet.org/aamer-ikram ) Advisory Board; a global network of Field Epidemiology Training Programs spanning more than 80 programs actively training field epidemiologists in more than 200 countries and territories. Dr. Ikram recently spent 7 years in leadership as Executive Director of the National Institute of Health Pakistan ( https://www.nih.org.pk/ ). Dr. Ikram is also a member Board Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance; Executive Board International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI); Executive Committee Institute of Safety in Technology & Research, UK; Technical Advisory Group – Biosafety, WHO; adjunct faculty Emory University; Ex-Executive Council of International Society for Infectious Diseases; and Co-Chair Biological Sciences Committee, Higher Education Commission; and member multiple National Working Groups. Dr. Ikram has extensive experience working with International Health Regulations, Global Health Security Agenda, Integrated Disease Surveillance & Response, One-Heath, Biosafety & Biosecurity. Dr. Ikram graduated from Army Medical College with a Diploma in Pathology, qualified MCPS (Clinical Pathology) and Fellowship (Clinical Microbiology), and then did his Ph.D. in molecular biology. He is a Registered Biosafety Professional from the American Biological Safety Association, a Biosafety Professional from the Institute of Safety in Technology and Research (UK), and an International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA) Certified Professional. Furthermore, he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) by the Royal College of Edinburgh; FRCPath by the Royal College of Pathologists in London; and a Fellowship in Public Health from Royal Colleges UK. He was also recently elected as a Fellow in the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. Dr. Ikram has served as the President of the Pakistan Biological Safety Association (PBSA); Ex-President of the Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Society (MMIDSP); Higher Education Commission Focal Point of Expertise for Medical Research, and Convener of Microbiology Pakistan Health Research Council. Support the show