Ayah Hamdan - Head of Health, Plug and Play Tech Center - Solving Pressing Challenges In Healthcare

Send us a textAyah Hamdan is the Head of Health, at Plug and Play Tech Center ( https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/ ), where she spearheads strategies that bring together startups, corporations, and investors to solve some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare. Plug and Play Tech Center is one of the world’s largest innovation platforms and startup accelerators, headquartered in Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale, California), with innovation hubs across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and are best known for their model bringing together Startup Accelerator Programs, Corporate Innovation Partnerships and Venture Capital Investments under one roof.Ayah’s role is pivotal in accelerating the development and scaling of health technologies with real-world impact. Before stepping into this leadership position, Ayah founded Fatima Connect, a digital health venture focused on serving refugee populations—a project that has been recognized in prestigious publications like the Harvard Medical Review. Ayah also has deep experience in research and public health, including roles in epidemiology, clinical studies, and community health initiatives. Ayah holds a Master of Science in Epidemiology from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.#AyahHamdan #PlugAndPlayTechCenter #StartupAccelerator #CorporateInnovation #VentureCapitalInvestments #DigitalHealth #BigDataAnalytics #Diagnostics #HospitalWorkflow #MedicationAdherence #Sensors #Wearables #Telemedicine #AI #VR #AR #ArtificialIntelligence #Longevity #HealthyAging #ChronicDiseaseManagement #RegenerativeCare #Prevention #SaeedAmidi #PejmanNozad #PeterThiel #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcastSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Stephanie Psaki, Ph.D. is a public health leader with expertise at the intersection of national security, global health, and equity who is currently both a Senior Advisor, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies ( CSIS - https://www.csis.org/people/stephanie-psaki ) and a distinguished senior fellow at Brown School of Public Health ( https://facultyaffairs.sph.brown.edu/people/stephanie-psaki ). Dr. Psaki has held leadership positions across government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and research institutions. She previously served as special assistant to the president and the inaugural U.S. coordinator for global health security at the White House, a role that included overseeing the federal government’s response to emerging global health threats such as mpox, Ebola, and Marburg. While on staff at the National Security Council, Dr. Psaki also coordinated U.S. government engagement on issues ranging from ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat, investing in health workers, expanding access to sexual and reproductive health services, and protecting human rights. Dr. Psaki previously worked for twenty years at NGOs and research institutions, including Partners in Health, FHI 360, and the Population Council, where she led a research center focused on expanding opportunities for young people around the world. Dr. Psaki holds a PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MS from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service.#StephaniePsaki #GlobalHealthSecurity #PandemicPreparedness #OutbreakResponse #HIV #AIDS #SexualAndReproductiveHealth #MaternalAndChildHealth #HumanRights #BrownUniversity #CenterForStrategicAndInternationalStudies #CSIS #USDevelopmentPolicy #HumanitarianAssistance #MultilateralHealthInstitutions #FamilyPlanning #Immunization #InfectiousDisease #PublicHealth #Biodefense #Countermeasures #Preparedness #Policy #Surveillance #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textAlex Haro is the Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Executive Chairman of Hubble Network Inc. ( https://hubble.com/ ), a startup building the first global satellite network capable of communicating directly with standard Bluetooth devices—enabling connectivity anywhere on Earth, even without cellular coverage, creating a satellite-enabled IoT platform.Alex is also the Co-Founder of Life360 ( https://www.life360.com/ ), the information technology company that provides location-based services, including sharing and notifications, to consumers globally. He has served on the company’s Board of Directors since 2010, and previously held several key leadership roles, including Chief Technology Officer and President, where he helped scale the platform from startup to global category leader. Prior to Life360, Alex worked at Orbited, an open-source project enabling real-time browser communication.Alex studied Computer Science at Pomona College and Harvey Mudd College.#AlexHaro #HubbleNetwork #BluetoothToSpace #Life360 #GlobalCoverage #BatteryLife #BluetoothLowEnergy #SmartLuggageTrackers #PetCollars #WildlifeTags #Wearables #Logistics #SupplyChain #InternetOfThings #InternetOfMedicalThings #SatelliteConstellation #RemotePatientMonitoring #Telemedicine #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcastSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Adam Rogers, MD is Chief Executive Officer of NervGen Pharma Corp. ( https://nervgen.com/ ) a clinical-stage biotech company dedicated to developing innovative treatments to enable nervous system repair in the settings of traumatic injury and disease. NervGen’s lead drug candidate, NVG-291, is being evaluated in mid stage clinical trials in an initial target indication, spinal cord injury. NervGen has initiated preclinical evaluation of a new development candidate, NVG-300, in models of ischemic stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal cord injury.Dr. Rogers is a board-certified ophthalmologist specializing in diseases and surgery of the retina and vitreous, and previously co-founded and served as CEO of Hemera Biosciences, a clinical stage gene therapy biotech company targeting dry age-related macular degeneration where he oversaw all aspects of the company until the Hemera assets were acquired in December 2020 by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.From 2001 to 2020 Dr. Rogers served as an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the New England Eye Center of Tufts Medical Center (Boston, MA). Dr. Rogers has published 29 articles in peer reviewed journals and co-authored two textbooks and numerous chapters in major ophthalmic textbooks. Since 2007 he has served on the board of One Family Inc., an organization whose mission is to end homelessness in Massachusetts. He is a member of the Emory University Board of Trustees. Dr. Rogers has a MD from Emory College and Emory School of Medicine.#SpinalCordInjury #SCI #IschemicStroke #AmyotrophicLateralSclerosis #ALS #NervGen #Rehabilitation #RegenerativeMedicine #RegenerativeBiology #ChondroitinSulfateProteoglycans #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcastSupport the show

Send us a textProfessor Dragan Primorac, MD., PhD ( https://www.draganprimorac.com/ ) is a globally recognized physician-scientist whose work spans personalized medicine, regenerative therapies, and forensic genetics. From 2003 to 2009 Prof. Primorac served as the Minister of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia.  The Ministry of Science and Education of Croatia is the ministry in the Government of Croatia which is in charge of primary, secondary and tertiary education, research institutions and sports ( https://mzom.gov.hr/en ).Prof. Primorac is the Founder of St. Catherine Specialty Hospital in Zagreb Croatia ( https://www.stcatherine.com/ ), the official hospital of the Croatian Olympic Committee as well as the official hospital of the Croatian Football Federation. St. Catherine Hospital is affiliated with four medical schools and the Ministry of Science and Education recently announced that the St. Catherine Hospital became “Scientific Center of Excellence for the Personalized Medicine" in the Republic of Croatia. Prof. Primorac is also Co-Founder of the International Society for Applied Biological Sciences ( ISABS https://isabs.hr/ ), a global scientific platform organized with Mayo Clinic that brings together Nobel laureates and researchers from over 75 countries. A pioneer in applying DNA technology to identify war victims, he helped establish international standards in clinical and forensic genetics. Prof. Primorac has authored nearly 300 scientific papers, received over 20 international honors including Croatia’s highest state awards, and was recently named among the top 2% of global scientists by Elsevier for career impact. Prof. Primorac also serves as professor at Penn State, the University of New Haven, and several European medical schools.Prof. Primorac is an inductee of the Taekwondo Hall of Fame, based in the United States.Prof. Primorac received his medical degree and PhD at University of Zagreb School of Medicine, and did post-doctoral work in Molecular Medicine at The University of Connecticut Health Center.#DraganPrimorac #MinisterOfScienceEducationAndSports #Croatia #InternationalSocietyForAppliedBiologicalSciences #OsteogenesisImperfecta #AdministrationForDetainedAndMissingPersons #ForensicGenetics #RegenerativeMedicine #PrecisionMedicine #PersonalizedMedicine #Genomics #Glycome #CancersOfUnknownPrimary #StCatherineSpecialtyHospital #ClinicalDiagnostics #OncoOriginAI #LiquidBiopsy #MedicalTourism #Nutrigenomics #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Juho Jalkanen, M.D., Ph.D. is CEO and Founder of Faron Pharmaceuticals ( https://faron.com/ ), is a global, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focused on creating innovative cancer treatments that leverage the patient’s own immune system. The Company’s lead asset bexmarilimab is currently being investigated in clinical trials as a potential therapy for patients with hematological cancers, with an initial focus on higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (HR MDS), in combination with other standard treatments.Dr. Jalkanen an experienced biopharmaceutical industry executive with extensive leadership experience across key functional areas including operations, business development, clinical development, medical and regulatory affairs.   Dr. Jalkanen earned a Master´s degree in economics and business administration from the Turku School of Economics and both his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Turku. He is a fully licensed general practitioner and specialist in vascular surgery.#JuhoJalkanen #FaronPharmaceuticals #Bexmarilimab #MyelodysplasticSyndrome #HematologicalCancers #HematologicalMalignancies #BloodCancer #AcuteMyeloidLeukemia #Clever1 #Macrophages #Oncology #Immunooncology #Cancer #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textAnnalee Kruger is the President of Care Right Inc. ( https://carerightinc.com/ ), a consultancy providing corporate training and consulting services for organizations wanting to learn more about aging, family caregiving, dementia, end-of-life, as well as direct to consumer family caregivers who are realizing caregiving without a plan is not safe, nor sustainable.Annalee has spent over 28 years helping more than 20,000 families navigate the emotional, financial, and logistical complexities of aging, caregiving, dementia, and long-term care planning. She is the founder of Care Right Inc., a global virtual consultancy that develops fully customized Aging Strategies for high-achieving, high-net-worth families. Her white-glove approach guides families through difficult transitions with clarity and compassion. To ensure accessibility, Care Right also offers scalable hybrid and DIY planning options for families with more modest means.In addition to her work with families, Annalee provides workforce solutions for employers who want to support employees dealing with aging loved ones. Options include white-glove Aging Strategy consulting for leadership, product bundles like the Grab and Go e-Binder and The Aging Guide, or the 8-week DIY Aging Plan Hybrid Program, complete with weekly office hours with Annalee to help employees complete their plans. These services help reduce absenteeism, stress, and turnover caused by caregiving crises—preserving employee well-being and workplace productivity. Annalee is also the co-founder of Plan4Life ( https://plan4lifenow.com/ ), home of the Certified Elder Planning Specialist Program, a training and credentialing program that equips financial advisors to better serve aging clients. It teaches advisors how to build deeper relationships and deliver more holistic, aging-informed guidance through a collaborative, team-based approach. She is also the creator of the Aging Strategy Coaching Academy ( ASCA - https://www.joinasca.com/ ), a 150-hour training and certification program for professionals entering the senior care consulting field. As a keynote speaker, Annalee has delivered more than 500 live events and 2,000 webinars on topics including aging planning, dementia care, family dynamics, and caregiver burnout. Her powerful personal stories—like surviving being hit by a bus—resonate deeply with audiences. Her clients include financial firms, healthcare systems, associations, government agencies, and Fortune 500 companies seeking to humanize aging in the workplace and improve morale and retention.Annalee is the author of The Invisible Patient: The Emotional, Financial, and Physical Toll on Family Caregivers, a practical guide to navigating caregiving challenges with clarity and compassion ( https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Patient-Emotional-Financial-Caregivers-ebook/dp/B09J64RGJW ).Annalee has her Bachelor of Science in Social Work, from University of Northern Iowa, and an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University in Wisconsin.#AnnaleeKruger #CareRightInc #Aging #FamilyCaregiving #DementiaCare #EndOfLife #LongTermCare #Plan4Life #AgingStrategyCoachingAcademy #TheInvisiblePatient #SandwichGeneration #SilverTsunami #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Torkil Færø, MD ( https://thepulsecure.com/ ) is a Norwegian medical doctor, author, documentary filmmaker and photographer whose work sits at the intersection of frontline medicine and practical preventive health. As a clinician who received his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) from University of Oslo, he’s served as both a general practitioner and emergency-room physician, and in 1996 was among the first Norwegian medics to work with Doctors Without Borders in Angola. Over more than two decades as a travelling, freelance physician around Norway, he has conducted tens of thousands of consultations — an experience that shaped his conviction that many modern diseases are rooted in chronic stress and lifestyle mismatches. His debut English-language book, The Pulse Cure ( https://www.amazon.com/Pulse-Cure-revolutionary-balance-optimise/dp/1529437334 - original Norwegian title Pulskuren ), became a national bestseller and has been published internationally. In the book Dr. Færø explains heart-rate variability (HRV) — the tiny variations in the time between heartbeats — and how readily available wearables (smartwatches, rings, chest straps) can give people a real-time window into their autonomic nervous system, sleep, recovery and inflammation. He combines clinical case stories, accessible physiology and hands-on protocols so readers can personalize sleep, exercise, alcohol and relaxation practices based on measurable feedback rather than guesswork. Beyond the book, Dr. Færø translates his ideas through podcasts, public talks and the online community pulskuren.no. His personal health work — applying the same monitoring and behavioral changes he recommends — has driven measurable results: significant weight loss, markedly improved sleep and dramatic reductions in alcohol and fatigue for himself and many of his clients and readers. He frames wearables and HRV as tools to catch problems early, prevent chronic disease and extend healthy, functional years of life.#TorkilFærø #ThePulseCure #HeartRateVariability #Wearables #AutonomicNervousSystem #ParasympatheticNervousSystem #SympatheticNervousSystem #Electrocardiogram #Longevity #Healthspan #Aging #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcastSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Neal Baer, MD ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Baer ) is an award-winning showrunner, television writer/producer, physician, author, and a public health advocate and expert.Dr. Baer lectures on Global Health and Social Medicine and is the Co-Director of the master’s degree program in Media, Medicine, and Health at Harvard Medical School ( https://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/neal-baer ). Previously, Dr. Baer was Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Community Health at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA where he established the Global Media Center for Social Impact using new media to promote global health.Dr. Baer  was an Executive Producer and showrunner for Designated Survivor, Under the Dome, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and a writer and producer on ER ( https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0046371/ ). Dr. Baer is an accomplished author with both fictional novels, including Kill Switch and Kill Again, and non-fiction titles, including The Promise and Peril of CRISPR ( https://www.amazon.com/Promise-Peril-CRISPR-Neal-Baer/dp/1421449307 ), a timely collection of essays on the pressing possibilities and risks of gene-editing technology, available at major booksellers.Dr. Baer graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed his internship in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles. He received the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Scholarship from the American Medical Association as the most outstanding medical student who has contributed to promoting a better understanding of medicine in the media.  The American Association for the Advancement of Science selected him as a Mass Media Fellow.#NealBaer #HarvardMedicalSchool #CRISPR #GeneEditing #Pediatrics #DesignatedSurvivor #UnderTheDome #LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit #ER #SocialImpact #PublicHealth #GlobalHealth #JenniferDoudna #EmmanuelleCharpentier #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Michael Lebenstein-Gumovski, Ph.D. is Senior Scientific Officer and Neurosurgeon, in the Neurosurgery Department, of the Sklifosovsky Clinical and Research Institute for Emergency Medicine, Moscow, Russian Federation ( https://sklif.mos.ru/ ), where his team is engaged in both neurosurgical and experimental practice, conducting advanced research in the field of spinal cord injury restoration, spinal cord transplantation and head transplantation.The Sklifosovsky Institute for Emergency Medicine is a large multidisciplinary scientific and practical center dealing with problems of emergency medical care, emergency surgery, resuscitation, combined and burn trauma, emergency cardiology and acute poisoning.Since 2013, Dr. Lebenstein-Gumovski has been studying spinal cord injury, and also developing methods for restoring the full functional and morphological repair of the spinal cord.Dr. Lebenstein-Gumovski's work is aimed at studying the effect of fusogens on nervous tissue, developing new methods and techniques for treating spinal cord injury, developing methods for its resection and transplantation. The lab develops and studies various methods of neuroprotection, combining methods to achieve better results and the current focus is the study of combination fusogen-induced (PEG-chitosan, Neuro-PEG) axonal restoration of the spinal cord after its complete transection.Dr. Lebenstein-Gumovski did his doctoral studies in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery of the Stavropol State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.Dr. Lebenstein-Gumovski is also a Scientific Advisor to Dowell Bio, Inc. ( https://dowell.bio/ ), a start-up company developing his various technologies.Andrei Panferov is the Chief Executive Officer of Dowell Bio, Inc.  Andrei is a deep-tech entrepreneur and does the Russian-English / English-Russian translations during this episode.#MichaelLebensteinGumovski #DowellBio #SklifosovskyClinicalAndResearchInstituteForEmergencyMedicine #Neurosurgery #SpinalCordInjuryRestoration #SpinalCordTransplantation #HeadTransplantation #EmergencyMedicalCare #EmergencySurgery #Resuscitation #Trauma #SpinalCordInjury #Fusogens #PEGChitosan #Neuroscience #SergioCanavero #Chitosan #PolyethyleneGlycol #EyeTransplant #BrainTransplant #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show