Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us Fan MailDr. Jennifer Garrison, PhD (http://garrisonlab.com/) is Assistant Professor, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Founder & Faculty Director, Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality (https://www.buckinstitute.org/gcrle/), Assistant Professor in Residence, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, UCSF and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Gerontology, USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Dr. Garrison’s lab is interested in understanding how neuropeptides (a large class of signaling molecules which are secreted from neurons and transmit messages within the brain and across the nervous system) regulate changes in normal and aging animals as well in understanding how they control behavior at both the cell biological and neural circuit level. Dr. Garrison received her PhD from the University of California San Francisco in Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the laboratory of Dr. Jack Taunton, where she discovered the molecular target of a natural product and elucidated a novel mechanism by which small molecules can regulate protein biogenesis. As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Cori Bargmann’s lab at the Rockefeller University, she showed that the nematode C. elegans produces a neuropeptide that is an evolutionary precursor of the mammalian peptides vasopressin and oxytocin, and mapped a neural circuit by which this molecule, nematocin, modulates mating behavior. Dr. Garrison was named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow and received a Glenn Foundation Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging in 2014, and a Next Generation Leader at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in 2015. Her work is funded by the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation.Support the show

Send us Fan MailGiovanni (Gio) Battistini, is Managing Director at the innovation venture company, Better Gambit LLC (https://www.bettergambit.com/). Gio is passionate about strategic and entrepreneurial innovation-driven business opportunities and has expertise in business development, strategic alliances, strategic investments, product development and commercialization, in both early stage startups and global corporations. Most recently, Gio served as Senior Vice President of the Ferrero company’s Open Innovation Science, a global organization with the mission of driving the discovery, evaluation and integration of external science, technology and entrepreneurial innovations relevant to Ferrero (the Italian manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate producer and confectionery company in the world.) Prior to joining Ferrero, Gio was Global Vice President of Flavor Innovation Discovery at Firmenich, where he led the strategic discovery and commercialization of scientific innovations in the areas of taste modulation, health & nutrition, natural & sustainable, and breakthrough cost innovation. Prior to joining Firmenich, Gio was the co-founder and CEO of Zonebee, a spin-off from the University of Arizona, where he led a multi-disciplinary R&D team to create visionary technology to support informal learning and knowledge management. Gio has more than 25 years of experience in managing and taking to market innovative technology in several industries, both in Global 500 companies and early stage startups. Gio serves also as Strategic Advisor, Enzymit; Venture Advisor, Sofinnova Partners; and Alliance Partner, Green Swan Partners. Gio started his career at ABB Ltd, the Swedish–Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, operating mainly in robotics, power, heavy electrical equipment, and automation technology areas. Gio has a MS in Electronic Engineering from Università di Pavia.Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Dina Radenkovic, MD, is an academic doctor and medical technology entrepreneur, working in the field of the computational biology of aging. Dr. Radenkovic is also a Partner at the SALT Bio-Fund, and a co-founder of Hooke, an elite longevity research clinic in London. Dr. Radenkovic has a dual degree in medicine and physiology from University College London Medical School, and did her residency at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. She later worked as Research Fellow at King's College London and at Harvard University. Dr. Radenkovic has led a variety of projects, including a digital therapeutics company for women and an algorithm for cardiac MRI based on fractal geometry, to major industry acquisitions. Dr. Radenkovic has over 30 academic papers, 7 grants, and over 40 scientific conference presentations. She is fluent in 5 languages and 3 programming languages. Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Ola Engkvist is Head of Molecular AI in Discovery Sciences, AstraZeneca R&D (https://www.astrazeneca.com/) . Dr. Engkvist did his PhD in computational chemistry at Lund University followed by a postdoc at Cambridge University. After working for two biotech companies Dr. Engkvist joined AstraZeneca in 2004. He currently leads the Molecular AI department, where the focus is to develop novel methods for ML/AI in drug design , productionalize the methods and apply the methods to AstraZeneca’s small molecules drug discovery portfolio. Dr. Engkvist's main research interests are deep learning based molecular de novo design, synthetic route prediction and large scale molecular property predictions, and he has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Dr. Engkvist is also adjunct professor in machine learning and AI for drug design at Chalmers University of Technology and a trustee of Cambridge Crystallographic Data Center.Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Brian Keating, Ph.D. (https://briankeating.com/) is Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics, at the Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences (CASS), in the Department of Physics, at the University of California, San Diego . Dr. Keating is a public speaker, inventor, and an expert in the study of the universe’s oldest light, the cosmic microwave background (CMB), using it to learn not just about the origins and evolution of the universe, but to gain potential insights into an even bigger picture, that of the "multiverse", a hypothetical group of multiple universes that comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. Dr. Keating is also a writer, the best-selling author of one of Amazon Editors’ Best Non-fiction Books of All Time, "Losing the Nobel Prize", and his new book is entitled "Into The Impossible: Think Like A Nobel Prize Winner". Dr. Keating is also a prolific podcaster on the Into The Impossible podcast (https://briankeating.com/podcast.php). Dr. Keating has his B.S. in Physics from Case Western Reserve University, his M.S and Ph.D. in Physics from Brown University, was a Physics Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University, and was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow from California Institute of Technology. Please buy a a copy of Brian’s new book, Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, only $0.99 through 10/5/2021 - https://urlgeni.us/amzn/TLANPWSupport the show

Send us Fan MailAround 2 billion people worldwide still lack access to the basic tools of improved sanitation (toilets and latrines). One billion people still have to defecate in the open, and at least 10% of the world’s population is thought to consume food irrigated by raw wastewater. An estimated 800,000 children, younger than 5 years of age, perish from diarrhea each year, including conditions related to cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. Mr. Jack Sim is the Founder of the World Toilet Organization (https://www.worldtoilet.org/), an organization established with the aim to break the taboo around toilets and this global sanitation crisis. Mr. Sim is also the founder of the Restroom Association of Singapore, the World Toilet Day initiative, and Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) Hub. In 2001, for "creating good will and bringing the subject into the open" and "mobilizing national support in providing on-the-ground expertise", Mr. Sim received the Schwab Foundation award for Social Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2004, he was awarded the Singapore Green Plan Award 2012 by Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) for his contribution to Environment. In 2006, he was invited to launch The German Toilet Organization in Berlin. He is also a founding member of American Restroom Association. In 2007, Mr. Sim became one of the key members to convene the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) comprised of over 130 organizations active in the sanitation sector. He is also an Ashoka Global Fellow and in 2008 was named Hero of the Environment by Time Magazine. Mr. Sim also sits in the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils (GAC) for Water Security and also the GAC for Social Entrepreneurship. Mr. Sim graduated with a Masters in Public Administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in 2013. He was shortlisted for the Sarphati Sanitation Award in November 2013. Mr. Sim also founded the BOP HUB and a series of social businesses and startups. He is now constructing a 65,000 sq ft World Trade Center for the Poor in Singapore to coordinate an effort to transform the 4 billion poor into a massively efficient marketplace to end global poverty.Support the show

Send us Fan Mail The Chernobyl disaster / nuclear accident, occurred on April 26th, 1986, at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of Ukraine. The initial emergency response, together with later decontamination of the environment, ultimately involved more than 500,000 personnel and cost an estimated US$68 billion, adjusted for inflation. The current Chernobyl Exclusion Zone covers an area of approximately 2,600 km2 (1,000 sq mi) in Ukraine, immediately surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where radioactive contamination is highest and public access and inhabitation are restricted. The Exclusion Zone's purpose is to restrict access to hazardous areas, reduce the further spread of radiological contamination, and conduct radiological and ecological monitoring activities. Today, the Exclusion Zone is still one of the most radioactively contaminated areas in the world and draws significant scientific interest for the high levels of radiation exposure in the environment, as well as increasing interest from tourists. Despite the extremely high radioactivity of the region, the zone has become a thriving sanctuary with natural flora and fauna with some of the highest biodiversity and thickest forests in all of Ukraine. On this episode of our show, we are joined by Mykola Tolmachov, of the Chernobyl-51 Industrial Cluster, discussing their novel public-private partnership for both ecosystem restoration and the production of both energy and chemical byproducts, in the exclusion zone. English translation during the episode is performed by Ms. Victoria Laskina-Ustimenko. Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Jean C. Accius, PhD, is Senior Vice President, AARP Global Thought Leadership (https://www.aarp.org/). Dr. Accius leads a team in positioning AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons) as a global thought leader, identifying emerging trends around the world, cultivating and elevating new ideas, forging global strategic alliances that become the foundation for collaboration and sparking bold solutions to change systems and improve the lives of the global population as it ages. Dr. Accius is a passionate champion and catalyst for changing how the world sees and values aging. He is an internationally recognized thought leader on aging, longevity, equity, health systems transformation and modernizing the delivery and financing of long-term care. With tri-sector experience and deep knowledge, he has a strong track record of building high-performing teams, managing cross-functional operations and processes, and developing innovative and actionable solutions, policies, and programs to close the opportunity gap so that everyone can live longer, healthier and more productive lives. A highly sought after author and speaker, Dr. Accius has been quoted by or appeared in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, Forbes, TIME Magazine, USA Today, Reuters, Politico, Next Avenue, ESPN’s Undefeated, Rolling Out, NationSwell, Congressional Quarterly, and Huffington Post. In 2020, he facilitated several sessions at the 50th annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and also engaged nearly 300 leaders across industries and sectors, including 20 ambassadors and many delegates, at the United Nations. Dr. Accius is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and has held a variety of board and advisory positions including Justice in Aging, the American Society on Aging, Leadership Maryland and the American University School of Public Affairs Board of Advisors. Dr. Accius is an Executive Leadership Council Fellow, member of G100’s Transformational Leadership Network, and holds a bachelor’s degree in hospitality administration and a master’s degree in aging studies from the Claude Pepper Institute at Florida State University. He also holds a Ph.D. in public administration from American University. Dr. Accius is a graduate of Leadership Maryland’s Class of 2014, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health program on health reform, and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business Corporate Innovation program.Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Marina Ezcurra (https://marinaezcurralab.com/) is a Lecturer in the Biology of Aging, and NeuroBiology, at the School of BioSciences, at the University of Kent, UK (https://www.kent.ac.uk/biosciences/pe...). Dr. Ezcurra received her PhD from the Karolinska Institute in 2011. Her PhD research was a collaborative project between Karolinska and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge, where she studied neural circuits and behavior using C. elegans in the lab of Dr. Bill Schafer. During her PhD, Dr. Ezcurra identified extra-synaptic mechanisms by which nutritional status modulates nociception, involving neuro-peptidergic and dopaminergic signaling. She went on to do a postdoc working on aging with Dr. David Gems at University College London. During her postdoc, Dr. Ezcurra developed methods to monitor the development of multiple age-related diseases in-vivo in C. elegans, leading to the discovery of a previously unknown process, Intestinal Biomass Conversion. This mechanism enables the C. elegans intestine to be broken down to produce vast amounts of yolk, resulting in poly-morbidity and mortality in aging nematodes. This work illustrates how aging and age-related diseases can be the result of run-on of wild-type gene function, rather than stochastic molecular damage. Current research in Dr. Ezcurra’s group focuses on how host-microbiome interactions affect host aging, and is funded by The Wellcome Trust and Royal Society. Dr. Ezcurra is a trustee board member of The British Society of Research on Aging.Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Ms. Suma Khazmo is the CEO, Senior Partner, and Co-Founder of Regal Optics and Medical Devices, which is located in Ramallah / Palestine, which focuses on importing and exporting medical devices into the Middle East and North Africa markets, and owns the Regal-Medic Ophthalmology Clinic. Ms. Khazmo is also a senior partner in Al Hajal Optics Group, a company that has a series of optometry centers in Palestine. She is also the Chairman of the Board of Al Bayader Media and Publishing Corporation. Ms. Khazmo has a Masters Degree in International Relations and a Bachelor's Degree in Media, Journalism, and Political Science, from Birzeit University located in Birzeit, West Bank, near Ramallah. Ms. Khazmo recently became the first International Partner of the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) to represent Palestine, and became the General Secretary and Health Tech / Healthcare Governor of the Global Startup Ratings Authority (GSRA). Furthermore, Ms. Khazmo has made major contributions in developing Palestinian laws, regulations and legislation; especially in the fields of human rights, environmental laws and animal welfare laws. She has contributed largely to the first Palestinian Animal Welfare Law and is on the advisory board of the Bethlehem Animal and Environment Association. Ms. Khazmo is also a business development / financial consultant for Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies (AEBI) and spokesperson for MuTaTo, its new comprehensive, multiple target, safe cancer therapy. Dr. Ilan Morad, is the CEO and Founder of the start-up Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies Ltd. (AEBI), an Israeli company which has developed a novel, combinatorial biology platform focused on developing therapeutics for multiple targets simultaneously, including their lead candidate, called MuTaTo, which stands for "Multi-Target Toxin", being developed as a personalized and comprehensive cancer therapy protocol. Dr. Morad has his MS and PhD from Tel-Aviv University in Biochemistry. Dr. Morad has background in various aspects of the drug discovery / drug development process including gene cloning, protein engineering, purification and characterization. Support the show