Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us Fan MailAn estimated 40% of all global produce is wasted due to spoilage that occurs before it ever reaches consumers’ grocery bags. And this loss, not only represents loss due to quality or ripeness standards that consumers desire, but also a significant impact on global emissions and fresh water supplies that it took to produce and transport that produce, representing a combined figure of US$1 Trillion annually. Katherine Sizov is the Founder of Strella Biotechnology (https://www.strellabiotech.com/​), a company that builds novel bio-sensing platforms that can predict the ripeness of fruit and ultimately use this information to optimize supply chains by reducing food waste and increasing produce margins. Strella won the 2019 President’s Innovation Prize (PIP) award from University of Pennsylvania, the grand prize at the Arizona State University Innovation Open, and the Venture Award at O3 World’s 1682 conference, and is recently is coming off of a US$3.3 million seed round with some very prominent institutional investors, including Marc Cuban Companies, Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley, and Catapult Ventures. Katherine studied Molecular Biology and Chemistry, as well as Engineering Entrepreneurship, at the University of Pennsylvania.Support the show

Send us Fan MailBawa Jain is a visionary leader in the interfaith movement throughout the world. Mr. Jain is Founder and President of The Centre for Responsible Leadership (https://www.thecrl.org/​), a non-profit organization dedicated to assembling global thought leaders to find concrete solutions to the major challenges plaguing our world today. Mr. Jain is also the Chairman of the World Youth Peace Summit, which brings together dynamic young leaders who share the dream of peace, organizing Youth Peace Conferences and facilitating a worldwide network that links active young people, and the Secretary General of the World Council of Religious Leaders, an independent body, working to bring religious resources to support the work of the United Nations in a common quest for peace. Mr. Jain Co-Founded the Religious Initiative of The World Economic Forum, Founded The Gandhi King Awards for Non-Violence, and launched World Council of Religious Leader's Religion One on One Initiative and is a strong proponent of Religious Diplomacy. In addition to these activities, Mr. Jain's visionary contribution to the betterment of humanity is found in other programs that he inaugurated or has worked with , including The World Movement for Nonviolence, which fosters the practices and principles of non-violence in daily life, the Season for Nonviolence, involved in non-violence youth programs, and the Interfaith Center of New York, where he served as Vice President. In response to the requests of UN Agencies and governments, Mr. Jain travels around the world to speak on religious diplomacy, spirituality, religion, and peace. He is published and has been the recipient of numerous awards.Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Hanadi Khamis Al Hamad is the Medical Director of Rumailah Hospital and the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, Chairperson of Geriatrics and Long Term Care Department at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC - the principal public healthcare provider in the State of Qatar), National Lead for Healthy Ageing for the Qatar Ministry of Public Health, and the focal point for the elderly in the State of Qatar. Dr. Al Hamad is a Board Certified Senior Consultant in Internal Medicine specialized in Geriatrics. Dr. Al Hamad completed her M.Sc. degree in Healthcare Management from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and was awarded a diploma in Senior Clinical Leaders Program from Harvard University. As a senior Qatari physician, Dr. Al Hamad has proven steadfast commitment in providing quality care for patients, promoting research activities and educational programs. In her role as the Chairperson of the Geriatrics Department, she has established new and innovative services including a Memory Clinic, Falls Clinic and Acute Care Unit in HMC. She is also a key member in various HMC and Ministry of Public Health committees. Dr. Al Hamad is the representative for the State of Qatar for the World Health Organization (WHO) Elderly People Care, Global Dementia Observatory Focal Point, and an Executive member of European Association of Medicine of Ageing. Dr. Al Hamad has recently been appointed as the National Health Strategy Lead for Healthy Ageing for the implementation of National Health Strategy, which aims to deliver the ambitious 19 National Health Targets. She is also an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar. Support the show

Send us Fan MailTessy Antony De Nassau is a Social Entrepreneur, Business Woman, Philanthropist, Advocate, Public Speaker, Activist, Mother, and Jazz Aficionado (https://www.instagram.com/tessy_from_luxembourg/?hl=en​). Tessy is founder and partner of the Global consultancy Finding Butterflies Consulting LTD (http://findingbutterflies.com/​), co-founder of the fashion brand Human Highness (https://www.human-highness.com/​), host of the podcast series Tessy Antony de Nassau’s Zoom O’Clock, and an associate at LSEideas at the London School of Economics. Tessy actively promotes a number of issues, including global health and women’s rights and serves as a UNAIDS Global Advocate for Young Women and Adolescent Girls and is a patron to United Nations Association – UK. Her commitments to education can be seen in her Foundation, Professors Without Borders, which brings top level educators and global experts to the doorsteps of students worldwide, in order to develop talent. In the past, Tessy spent five years in the Luxembourg military, during which she was deployed in Kosovo as a peacekeeper and only woman of her draft. Tessy received the Woman of the Decade award from the Women Economic Forum, the Mrongovius Medal for humanitarian involvement, the Global Empowerment Award for her work in Africa, named “Leader of the Year 2019” by the Leadership Academy in Luxembourg, and received an Honorary Doctorate from the Paris College of Arts in 2019 to recognize her work in the domain of education. Tessy has been an active member of the Luxembourg “Groupe de Support Psychologique” (GSP) for the past five years, and was awarded in 2020 the Freedom of the City of London for her humanitarian work and her work in education worldwide. Tessy graduated from Richmond, The American International University in London with a B.A. in International Relations, where she wrote her thesis on the rise of nationalism in Europe. She earned her master’s degree from SOAS, University of London in Institutions and Diplomacy where she wrote her masters thesis on Biological Terrorism. Additionally Tessy has a trauma psychologist certification, and a Teaching Assistant certification. She holds certifications in sustainable business from Harvard Business School Online and a Pandemics and Epidemics from the University of California.Support the show

Send us Fan MailIrakli Beridze is the Head of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). With a Master’s Degree in International Relations and National Security Studies, and a law degree, Mr. Beridze has more than 20 years of experience in leading multilateral negotiations, developing stakeholder engagement programs with governments, UN agencies, international organizations, private industry and corporations, think tanks, civil society, foundations, academia, and other partners on an international level. Mr. Beridze advises governments and international organizations on numerous issues related to international security, scientific and technological developments, emerging technologies, innovation and disruptive potential of new technologies, particularly on the issue on crime prevention, criminal justice and security, and is now actively focused on supporting government’s worldwide on the strategies, action plans, roadmaps and policy papers on Artificial Intelligence. Since 2014, Mr. Beridze has initiated and managed one of the first United Nations Programs on AI, initiating and organizing a number of high-level events at the United Nations General Assembly, and other international organizations, finding synergies with traditional threats and risks, as well as identifying solutions that AI can contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Mr. Beridze is a member of various international task forces, including the World Economic Forum’s Global Artificial Intelligence Council, the UN High-level panel for digital cooperation, and the High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence of the European Commission. He frequently lectures and speaks on subjects related to technological development, exponential technologies, artificial intelligence and robotics and international security, has numerous publications in international journals and magazines and is frequently quoted in the media on the issues related to AI. Mr. Beridze is an International Gender Champion supporting the IGC Panel Parity Pledge. Prior to joining UNICRI he served as a special projects officer at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) undertaking extensive missions in politically sensitive areas around the globe, and contributed to global anti-terrorism efforts to fight against chemical terrorism and was recipient of recognition on the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Ellen de Brabander, is Senior Vice President, Research and Development, at PepsiCo, the American multinational food, snack, and beverage company. Dr. de Brabander has broad set of responsibilities at Pepsico and currently leads their global R&D functions including the Food Safety, Quality, Strategy & Portfolio Management, and their Sensory and Regulatory Affairs teams. She also leads their R&D Digital Transformation initiatives to transform the innovation process to bring new, innovative products to the market. Dr. de Brabander is also a member of the board of governors at the New York Academy of Sciences and has served as Treasurer and board member International Life Science Institute of North America, an organization that brings together scientists from government, academia and industry to uphold the scientific integrity and objectivity of nutrition and food safety science in order to ethically improve food systems for the betterment of public health. Additionally, Dr. de Brabander has also served as the interim and founding CEO of EIT Food (part of the EU’s European Institute of Innovation and Technology), which is a unique $1.5 Billion Euro innovation consortium with more than 50 partners from industry and academia, focused on transforming the food sector by designing and delivering unique and high impact research, innovation, business creation and education programs. Dr. de Brabander has worked in a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, health/nutrition, coatings and chemicals. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Dr. de Brabander was chief scientific officer and global head of research, development and regulatory affairs for Merial Limited, where she led a global team to discover and develop innovative animal health products for companion and production animals. Prior to her role at Merial, she held executive R&D, regulatory, business strategy and program management positions at Intervet, and specialty chemical company DSM. Dr. de Brabander earned her PhD cum laude in bio-organic chemistry from Leiden University in The Netherlands and completed post-doctoral work in molecular biology at MIT with Nobel Laureate H.G. Khorana. Her PhD was awarded as best PhD for natural sciences from Leiden University (1990; Kock award); she has also been awarded a Golden Medal from the Royal Dutch Chemical Society. In 2020 she was given the US Power 50 award. Support the show

Send us Fan MailColonel (ret) Dr. Geoffrey Ling, MD, PhD is the Founder and CEO of On Demand Pharmaceuticals (ODP), an innovative pharmaceutical manufacturing company creating the world’s first distributed and reconfigurable medicine production systems to enable rapid response when conditions are uncertain and changing. On Demand Pharmaceuticals mission is to provide an adequate, safe, and reliable supply of medicines, to any community across the world, when needed. In addition to his role as CEO at On Demand Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Ling is an attending neuro-intensive care physician and Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins, Director of the Neurotrauma Laboratory, and founder of the Center for Military Clinical Neurosciences at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). Dr. Ling is also the former founding Director of the Biological Technologies Office at DARPA. Dr. Ling is Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Inova Fairfax Medical Center, Fairfax, VA, where he provides leadership for the research programs in neurosurgery, neurology and physical medicine rehabilitation. Dr. Ling earned his PhD in Pharmacology at Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and his MD at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr Jane Pinelis, Ph.D. is the Chief of Testing, Evaluation, and Assessment, of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). Dr. Pinelis has a BS, MS, and Ph.D., from the University of Michigan, in the field of statistics, where she spent time as a research assistant in their Center for Russian and East European Studies and their Institute for Social Research. Prior to assuming her current role at JAIC, Dr. Pinelis spent 4 years at the The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where she served in a variety of roles including as Director, Test and Evaluation of Algorithmic Warfare, where she was an on-site representative to the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, where she oversaw developmental and operational testing of artificial intelligence algorithms, including computer vision, machine translation, facial recognition, natural language processing, and human-machine teaming. Dr. Pinelis has also served as Test Science Lead for the Institute for Defense Analyses, and in scientific and analytical roles for the CNA group, as a liaison to both the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy. The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) is an organization exploring the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Network of Networks, and AI-enhanced communication for use in actual combat. It is a subdivision of the United States Armed Forces and was created in June 2018. The JAIC organization stated objective is to "transform the US Department of Defense by accelerating the delivery and adoption of AI to achieve mission impact at scale. Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. Derek Yach, has been a global health expert and anti-smoking advocate for more than 30 years, is the Founder, President, and Board Member of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW - https://www.smokefreeworld.org/​), and is also a passionate advocate for health promotion and disease prevention. Dr. Yach is a former World Health Organization (WHO) cabinet director and executive director for noncommunicable diseases and mental health where he was deeply involved with the development of the world’s treaty on tobacco control, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). He is also the former chief health officer of the Vitality Group, executive director of the Vitality Institute, Senior Vice President, global health and agriculture policy at PepsiCo, director of global health at the Rockefeller Foundation, and a professor of global health at Yale University. Dr. Yach has authored or co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles on global health and has served on several advisory boards, including the World Economic Forum, Cornerstone Capital, and the Wellcome Trust. From 2007 to 2016, he served on the program advisory committee of the Clinton Global Initiative. Dr. Yach is a dual citizen of the United States and South Africa. He has an honorary DSc from Georgetown University, Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Cape Town, BSc (Epidemiology), University of Stellenbosch, and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW) is an independent, nonprofit organization that funds research, promotes innovation, and supports collaborative initiatives committed to reducing deaths and diseases caused by smoking, and ending smoking in this generation. They strive to identify and address the unique needs of the developing world as they relate to tobacco cessation and harm reduction, and serves as a convener of global research supporting the reduction of tobacco use, while helping to address the impact of decreased smoking rates on agriculture and economies. The Foundation’s work focuses on three core areas: Health, Science, and Technology (HST); Agriculture and Livelihoods; and Industry Transformation. Disclaimer - How is the FSFW Funded? At its inception, the FSFW entered into a Pledge Agreement in which it agreed to accept charitable gifts from Philip Morris International (PMI) each year for the period 2018 through 2029 to fund their mission of solving the global health crisis and ending smoking in this generation. Recently, that agreement was revised, and PMI’s annual charitable gifts have been reduced. While FSFW is aware that there are challenges associated with accepting any funding from the tobacco industry, given the urgency of the problem – 1.1 billion smokers, more than 8 million dying each year, and a trajectory toward a billion deaths this century, the FSFW was compelled to help save lives, and took the bold step of accepting funding from PMI. The FSFW operates with integrity, as they abide all legal requirements, and holds itself to the highest ethical and scientific standards. Independence and transparency are core principles of the Foundation. To that end, FSFW adheres to the criteria laid forth by Cohen et al., particularly those relevant to transparency and independence, and has established an independent research agenda.Support the show

Send us Fan MailDr. David Stoudt, is a Senior Executive Advisor and Engineering Fellow for Directed Energy at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., where he is responsible for providing clients with leadership and guidance on the science and business of advancing directed energy capabilities for American warfighters. Dr. Stoudt is also President of the Directed Energy Professional Society. With a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Old Dominion University, in electrical engineering, Dr. Stoudt spent 32 years serving in the Department of Navy, 12 of them as the Navy’s first distinguished engineer for directed energy, an executive position where he was responsible for establishing and staffing world-class directed energy programs and facilities at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWCDD). From 2008 through 2012, Dr. Stoudt was the first Naval Sea Systems Command technical authority warrant for directed energy and electric weapon systems, including high-energy lasers (HEL), the electromagnetic rail gun, and high-power microwave (HPM) weapon systems. At the Naval Surface Warfare Center, he established and technically directed a number of high-power microwave and high-energy laser technology programs, including airborne electronic attack, counter-improvised explosive devices, and the beginning of the Navy’s laser weapon system, currently deployed on the Austin-class amphibious transport dock ship, the U.S.S. Ponce. Dr. Stoudt established several prototype weapon development initiatives aimed at mitigating the impact of IEDs during Operation Iraqi Freedom and these resulting prototypes represented the first ever successful tactical employment of directed energy weapons. As the senior director for capabilities and concepts in the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of the Navy for Policy from 2011 to 2015, Dr. Stoudt initiated and served as the executive secretary for the directed energy steering group, which was chartered by the undersecretary of the Navy to develop the Department of Navy vision, strategy, and roadmap for directed energy weapons. Dr. Stoudt also established and served as the executive secretary for both the Navy non-acoustic anti-submarine warfare steering group and the naval space board, chartered by the undersecretary of the Navy and the secretary of the Navy, respectively. Among his many honors, Dr. Stoudt has received multiple Meritorious Civilian Service Awards, the Navy Distinguished and Superior Civilian Service Awards, and the Naval Sea Systems Command Scientist of the Year Award. Support the show