The Placenta: The Organ That Programs Human Health Before Birth | Dr. Perrie O'Tierney-Ginn, Ph.D. - Executive Director, Woman, Mother & Baby Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center

Send us Fan MailEveryone talks about getting humans to Mars. But almost nobody talks about the harder question - how do you keep them alive once they get there? My guest today says the answer isn't bigger rockets - it's plants.Mark Ciotola is CEO and Co-Founder of Sustain Space ( https://www.sustainspace.com/ ), a company focused on developing regenerative life-support technologies for future space missions while translating those innovations to improve agriculture and sustainability on Earth. Through Sustain Space's Orbital Genomics initiative, he is helping advance research into growing plants in space environments - an essential capability for long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.Mark's career spans entrepreneurship, academia, industry, and government, including work with NASA, Genentech, Applied Biosystems, Intuit, Carnegie Mellon University, Monash University, San Francisco State University, and Singularity University, where he served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence and faculty member in Space and Physical Sciences.A physicist, entrepreneur, educator, and sustainability advocate, Mark is particularly interested in regenerative ecosystems, closed-loop life-support systems, space agriculture, and the broader question of how humanity can build a sustainable future both on Earth and beyond it.Important Episode Link - HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology -https://www.hudsonalpha.org/#MarkCiotola #SustainSpace #SpaceAgriculture #SpaceFarming #MarsColonization #MoonBase #NASA #SpaceBiology #Astrobiology #PlantScience #OrbitalGenomics #ControlledEnvironmentAgriculture #VerticalFarming #Hydroponics #SyntheticBiology #FutureOfFood #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #LifeSupportSystems #ClosedLoopSystems #MarsMission #MoonMission #Humanity #Innovation #SciencePodcast #STEM #FutureOfHumanity #ProgressPotentialPossibilitiesSupport the show

Send us Fan MailFor decades, fusion researchers were chasing a single goal: ignition. But what if ignition isn't the finish line? What if it's only the starting gun? Today we're joined by Dr. Will Regan, Founder and Chief Scientist of Pacific Fusion, a company betting that the future of fusion won't be won by building bigger machines - but by solving one of engineering's toughest manufacturing challenges.Dr. Will Regan, Ph.D. is the Founder and Chief Scientist of Pacific Fusion ( https://www.pacificfusion.com/ ), where he is helping lead one of the most ambitious efforts in advanced inertial fusion energy: developing a practical, scalable pathway to commercial fusion power using pulsed power systems and high-yield target physics.Before founding Pacific Fusion, Will served as a Project Lead and Rapid Evaluator at X, the moonshot factory, where he helped originate and develop breakthrough concepts in agricultural and systems innovation, including early foundational work behind the Mineral initiative focused on sustainable food production at planetary scale.Earlier in his career, he was an ARPA-E Fellow at Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, where he worked at the intersection of high-risk, high-reward energy technologies and national-scale innovation programs—an experience that helped shape his approach to large-scale energy system design and technology acceleration.Will earned his PhD in Physics from University of California, Berkeley, following his undergraduate degree in Physics from Cornell University. Across academia, government, and moonshot industry environments, he has consistently focused on translating frontier physics into real-world systems—now centered on one of the most consequential engineering challenges of the century: fusion energy.At Pacific Fusion, he is working to turn high-gain fusion concepts into repeatable, engineered systems that could fundamentally reshape global energy infrastructure.#FusionEnergy #NuclearFusion #PacificFusion #WillRegan #CleanEnergy #FutureOfEnergy #FusionPower #InertialConfinementFusion #ICF #MagLIF #SandiaLabs #LawrenceLivermore #NIF #AdvancedEnergy #EnergyInnovation #Physics #Engineering #ClimateTech #MoonshotFactory #ARPAE #SciencePodcast #TechnologyPodcast #ProgressPotentialPossibilities #STEM #DeepTechSupport the show

Send us Fan MailWhat if a device small enough to fit in your pocket could detect a potentially fatal heart rhythm before symptoms even appear? My guest today helped make that possible. Dr. David Albert, MD - Founder of AliveCor, pioneered smartphone ECG technology and transformed how millions of people monitor their hearts.Dr. David Albert, MD is a physician, inventor, and serial entrepreneur whose career has helped define the modern era of digital cardiology and personal health technology. A graduate of Harvard College and Duke University School of Medicine, Dr. Albert has spent more than four decades translating breakthrough ideas into life-saving products. He founded Corazonix in the 1980s, Data Critical in the 1990s - which later became part of GE Healthcare - and ultimately served as Chief Scientist and Chief Clinical Scientist for GE Cardiology before returning to entrepreneurship.In 2010, Dr. Albert founded AliveCor ( https://alivecor.com/ ), pioneering the smartphone-based ECG and helping launch one of the earliest and most clinically validated digital health platforms. AliveCor’s KardiaMobile technology transformed cardiac monitoring by placing medical-grade electrocardiograms in the hands of millions of consumers and patients worldwide. Beyond AliveCor, Dr. Albert founded InnovAlarm and Lifetone Technology, developing innovations that improve home safety and emergency alerting. An inventor with more than 80 U.S. patents and over 100 scientific publications, Dr. Albert has devoted his career to democratizing healthcare technology and empowering people to better understand - and protect - their own health.#DavidAlbert #AliveCor #KardiaMobile #DigitalHealth #Cardiology #HeartHealth #ECG #AtrialFibrillation #WearableTech #HealthcareInnovation #MedTech #RemoteMonitoring #AIinHealthcare #PrecisionMedicine #PreventiveMedicine #Entrepreneurship #HealthcareTechnology #GEHealthcare #MedicalDevices #FutureOfMedicine #DigitalBiomarkers #HealthTech #Inventor #StartupFounder #Cardiologist #PatientEmpowerment #HeartDisease #MedicalInnovation #ProgressPotentialPossibilitiesSupport the show

Send us Fan MailWe often assume confusion after surgery is temporary. But what if those few days of delirium are actually a major turning point in the aging brain? New research from Harvard and Hebrew SeniorLife suggests postoperative delirium may be the strongest predictor of long-term cognitive decline - and what we're learning could fundamentally change how we think about dementia and healthy aging.Each year, millions of older adults undergo surgery successfully, only to experience episodes of confusion, disorientation, memory impairment, or altered awareness in the days that follow. For decades, many clinicians viewed postoperative delirium as a temporary complication that resolved once patients left the hospital.But emerging research suggests a much more profound story.Our guest today is Dr. Tammy Hshieh, MD, MPH, is physician-scientist, geriatrician, and internationally recognized expert on delirium, cognitive impairment, and healthy aging. Dr. Hshieh serves as Assistant Scientist at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife ( https://www.marcusinstituteforaging.org/who-we-are/profiles/tammy-hshieh-md-mph ), Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School ( https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/33333 ), and Associate Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital ( https://physiciandirectory.brighamandwomens.org/Details/12170 ).After earning her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Harvard University and her MD from Brown University's Alpert Medical School, Dr. Hshieh completed residency training in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine through Harvard Medical School, and earned a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Dr. Hshieh's research focuses on understanding, preventing, and treating delirium and cognitive decline in older adults - conditions that carry enormous consequences for independence, quality of life, and healthcare systems worldwide.In groundbreaking work recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine, Dr. Hshieh and colleagues demonstrated that postoperative delirium remains the strongest predictor of long-term cognitive decline, even after accounting for rehospitalizations and other markers of illness and frailty. Their findings suggest that delirium may represent far more than a transient hospital complication - it may be a critical turning point in the trajectory of brain aging itself.Clinically, Dr. Hshieh co-manages older surgical patients at Brigham and Women's Hospital in one of the nation's most innovative geriatric-surgical care programs and leads the Older Adult Hematologic Malignancy Clinic at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ( https://www.dana-farber.org/find-a-doctor/tammy-t-hshieh ), where she works to improve outcomes for older adults facing cancer treatment.Today we'll discuss delirium, dementia, cognitive resilience, surgical risk, brain aging, and what patients, families, and healthcare systems can do to better protect the aging brain.#Delirium #Dementia #BrainHealth #HealthyAging #CognitiveDecline #Alzheimers #HarvardMedicine #Geriatrics #Longevity #Surgery #PostoperativeDelirium #AgingResearch #Neuroscience #Healthcare #Medicine #BrainAging #CognitiveHealth #Prevention #Podcast #ProgressPotentialPossibilitiesSupport the show

Send us Fan MailFor decades, scientists have searched for better cancer drugs. But what if the biggest challenge isn't discovering the drug - it's getting it to the tumor? My guest today is developing programmable viruses designed to travel throughout the body, selectively amplify inside metastatic lesions, and transform tumors into factories for their own destruction.Dr. Eric Poma, Ph.D. is Chief Executive Officer of Calidi Biotherapeutics ( https://www.calidibio.com/ ), a biotechnology company developing targeted genetic medicines designed to deliver therapeutic payloads directly to tumors throughout the body.Dr. Poma brings more than three decades of experience across biotechnology, oncology drug development, business development, and capital markets. Prior to joining Calidi in 2025, he served as CEO of Molecular Templates, where he helped raise more than $250 million in equity financing and secured strategic partnerships with companies including Takeda, Vertex, and Bristol Myers Squibb.Earlier in his career, Dr. Poma held leadership roles at ImClone Systems during the rise of targeted cancer therapies, served as Vice President of Business Development at Innovive Pharmaceuticals, and worked as a healthcare and biotechnology analyst. He holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business.Today we will discuss one of the most difficult challenges in oncology - how to successfully deliver powerful therapies to metastatic tumors throughout the body - and how Calidi's RedTail platform aims to use engineered oncolytic viruses as targeted delivery vehicles capable of reaching cancer cells, modifying the tumor microenvironment, and potentially enabling a new generation of genetic medicines.#CancerResearch #Oncology #Immunotherapy #GeneTherapy #Biotechnology #CancerTreatment #PrecisionMedicine #OncolyticVirus #CancerScience #BiotechInnovation #MetastaticCancer #IL15 #VacciniaVirus #GeneticMedicine #SyntheticBiology #TumorMicroenvironment #FutureOfMedicine #DrugDelivery #Biopharma #EricPoma #CalidiBiotherapeutics #CancerBreakthrough #MedicalInnovation #LifeSciences #ProgressPotentialPossibilitiesSupport the show

Send us Fan MailFor decades, oncologists have had to wait until cancer became visible on a scan before knowing whether it had returned. But what if doctors could detect microscopic traces of cancer months earlier with a simple blood draw - and use that information to decide who actually needs treatment? Today we're exploring a breakthrough that may fundamentally change the way cancer is monitored and treated.Eric Matthews is General Manager of Biopharma at Natera ( https://www.natera.com/ ), a leader in personalized molecular diagnostics and the company behind Signatera, the first FDA-approved molecular residual disease companion diagnostic.Over the past 25 years, Eric has helped bring nine medicines to market across nineteen indication launches, building a career at the forefront of oncology, precision medicine, and biopharmaceutical innovation.Before joining Natera, Eric served as Chief Business Officer at Caris Life Sciences, where he focused on diagnostic, data, and drug discovery partnerships. Prior to that, he was Chief Commercial Officer at Arcus Biosciences, helping forge major strategic collaborations including Arcus' landmark partnership with Gilead Sciences.Eric's previous leadership roles include Vice President of Global Marketing for Immuno-Oncology at AstraZeneca and commercial leadership positions at Genentech and Roche, where he worked on some of the most influential cancer therapies of the modern era, including Avastin and Tecentriq.Eric holds an MBA in Health Sector Management, a Master's in Health Policy and Economics, and dual bachelor's degrees in Molecular Biology and Economics from Duke University.Today we discuss the future of molecular residual disease testing, how personalized blood-based diagnostics are changing cancer care, the recent FDA approval of Signatera as the first MRD companion diagnostic, and what the next decade may hold for truly individualized oncology.#CancerResearch #CancerDetection #PrecisionMedicine #Oncology #LiquidBiopsy #Signatera #Natera #CancerCare #Biotech #HealthcareInnovation #Immunotherapy #Tecentriq #BladderCancer #MolecularBiology #PersonalizedMedicine #CancerTreatment #MedicalInnovation #FutureOfMedicine #Biotechnology #ProgressPotentialPossibilitiesSupport the show

Send us Fan MailFor decades, medicine has recognized that pregnancy and menopause transform nearly every system in the body. Yet only recently have researchers begun asking a simple question: what happens to chronic skin diseases like eczema and psoriasis during these major biological transitions? The answers may reveal one of the biggest blind spots in modern medicine.Dr. Doral Fredericks, PharmD, MBA is Vice President and Head of Global Medical Affairs and Outcomes Research at Organon ( https://www.organon.com/ ), a global healthcare company focused on improving women's health throughout every stage of life.With nearly three decades of experience spanning clinical pharmacy, pharmaceutical development, medical affairs, and healthcare strategy, Dr. Fredericks has held senior leadership roles across some of the world's leading healthcare organizations, including Organon, Dermavant Sciences, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, Bausch + Lomb, Novartis, AstraZeneca, and Kaiser Permanente.Throughout her career, Dr. Fredericks has led global medical affairs organizations, overseen clinical development programs, real-world evidence generation, physician education initiatives, and outcomes research efforts across multiple therapeutic areas. Her work has focused on translating scientific innovation into meaningful improvements in patient care while helping healthcare systems better understand the unique needs of diverse patient populations.Today, Dr. Fredericks is helping drive a growing conversation around female dermatology - a field examining how major biological transitions such as pregnancy, postpartum recovery, perimenopause, and menopause can profoundly influence chronic skin diseases including eczema, psoriasis, and other inflammatory conditions.On this episode, we'll explore why women's skin health remains an underrecognized area of medicine, how hormonal and immune changes across a woman's lifespan affect dermatologic disease, and what the future of personalized care may look like as researchers begin paying closer attention to the unique biology of female patients.#WomensHealth #Dermatology #Menopause #Psoriasis #Eczema #SkinHealth #Healthcare #PrecisionMedicine #AutoimmuneDisease #Hormones #Postpartum #PregnancyHealth #MedicalResearch #Inflammation #Medicine #Organon #Dermatologist #HealthyAging #Longevity #HealthcareInnovation #SciencePodcast #MedicalScience #FutureOfMedicine #SkinDisease #ProgressPotentialPossibilitiesSupport the show

Send us Fan MailHe spent fifty-five years searching for answers. Dozens of doctors. Hundreds of tests. Twelve different diagnoses. And what he discovered wasn't just a problem with medicine - it was a problem with the system itself.Haresh Patel ( https://hareshpatel.ai/ ) is an entrepreneur, engineer, Founder and CEO of Sanare Health AI ( https://sanarehealth.ai/ ), and author of the memoir The Ghost in My Body: What Twelve Doctors Couldn't Find ( https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-My-Body-Doctors-Couldnt-ebook/dp/B0GL561XNC ).After immigrating from India and earning an electrical engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame, Haresh built a distinguished career in Silicon Valley, ultimately founding Mercatus, a private-markets data platform that grew to manage more than $1.5 trillion in assets before being acquired by State Street in 2021.But behind that business success was a deeply personal story. For more than 55 years, Haresh lived with unexplained symptoms, navigating a maze of specialists, tests, and conflicting diagnoses without ever receiving a clear answer. Rather than accepting the limitations of the system, he applied the same systems-thinking and pattern-recognition skills that made him successful in technology and finance to his own health journey.That experience led Haresh to a provocative conclusion: many patients don't suffer from a lack of doctors - they suffer from a lack of synthesis. Modern medicine excels at specialization, but often struggles to connect information across disciplines, timelines, and life experiences.Today, Haresh is the founder of Sanare Health AI, an AI-powered diagnostic intelligence platform designed to help patients with complex, chronic, and undiagnosed conditions uncover patterns hidden within fragmented medical data. His mission is to give physicians a more complete picture of the patient, empower individuals to own their health stories, and help solve one of healthcare's most overlooked challenges: the millions of people still searching for answers.We discuss diagnostic failure, AI in medicine, data sovereignty, root-cause healthcare, and what happens when a patient spends a lifetime becoming the expert on his own condition.#HareshPatel #TheGhostInMyBody #SanareHealth #ArtificialIntelligence #AIHealthcare #RareDisease #UndiagnosedDisease #DiagnosticOdyssey #PrecisionMedicine #RootCauseMedicine #HealthcareInnovation #FutureOfMedicine #MedicalAI #HealthTech #ChronicIllness #PatientAdvocacy #Longevity #MedicalDiagnostics #ComplexPatients #ProgressPotentialPossibilitiesSupport the show

Send us Fan MailBefore your heart, brain, or lungs fully developed, one remarkable temporary organ was making decisions that may influence your health for decades. Dr. Perrie O'Tierney-Ginn ( https://www.placentascience.com/ ) explains why the placenta could be the most important organ you've never thought about.Dr. Perrie O'Tierney-Ginn, Ph.D. is Executive Director of the Woman, Mother & Baby Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center ( https://www.tuftsmedicine.org/research-clinical-trials/research-institutes-research-specialty/woman-mother-baby-research-institute ) and a Research Associate Professor in both Obstetrics & Gynecology at Tufts University School of Medicine ( https://www.tuftsmedicine.org/research-clinical-trials/research-institutes-research-specialty/woman-mother-baby-research-institute/laboratories/otierney-ginn-laboratory ) and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy ( https://nutrition.tufts.edu/academics/faculty/perrie-otierney-ginn ).A self-described "Perinatal Ecologist," Dr. O'Tierney-Ginn studies one of the most remarkable - and often overlooked - organs in human biology: the placenta. Her research explores how a mother's nutritional status, metabolism, and environment shape placental function, influence fetal growth, and ultimately affect lifelong health outcomes.Supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Dr. O'Tierney-Ginn's work focuses on understanding how nutrients are transported from mother to baby, how maternal obesity and metabolic health alter fetal development, and how the placenta acts as a sophisticated biological sensor that helps determine the earliest foundations of human health.With a Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Anatomy from Queen's University and leadership roles at Case Western Reserve University and Tufts Medical Center, Dr. O'Tierney-Ginn is helping redefine our understanding of pregnancy - not as a nine-month event, but as one of the most important developmental windows influencing health across the entire lifespan.#Placenta #Pregnancy #MaternalHealth #WomensHealth #DevelopmentalBiology #Longevity #Metabolism #Obesity #Diabetes #Nutrition #PrecisionMedicine #Epigenetics #Microbiome #SciencePodcast #Medicine #FetalDevelopment #TuftsMedicine #PublicHealth #PreventiveMedicine #FutureOfHealthSupport the show

Send us Fan MailWhat if aging isn’t just biology…but also psychology - and your brain is quietly shaping how fast you age every day?Dr. Srini Pillay, MD ( https://drsrinipillay.com/ ) is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, brain researcher, entrepreneur, author, and expert in the science of human potential, resilience, and longevity.Dr. Pillay previously served as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and directed both the Outpatient Anxiety Disorders Program and the Panic Disorders Research Program in Brain Imaging at McLean Hospital, one of the world’s leading psychiatric institutions.Over the course of his career, Dr. Pillay has focused on understanding how the brain shapes performance, creativity, emotional health, leadership, and even biological aging. His work bridges neuroscience, psychiatry, technology, and human behavior - translating cutting-edge brain science into practical tools for individuals, organizations, and healthcare systems.Dr. Pillay is the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Reulay ( https://www.reulay.com/ ), an AI-driven digital therapeutics and mindset technology company focused on healthy longevity, stress reduction, and human performance. He is also founder of the NeuroBusiness Group ( https://nbgcorporate.com/ ), where he works with leaders and organizations around the world on brain-based approaches to innovation, adaptability, resilience, and navigating complexity in the age of AI.Dr. Pillay is the author of several influential books including Tinker Dabble Doodle Try ( https://www.amazon.com/Tinker-Dabble-Doodle-Try-Unfocused/dp/1101883650 ), which explores the neuroscience of creativity and the untapped power of the brain’s unconscious processing systems.Today, we’ll explore the fascinating intersection of neuroscience, psychobiology, longevity, mindset, AI-powered therapeutics, creativity, and the future of human performance - and ask how our thoughts, attention, and environments may be shaping our biology far more than we realize.Important Episode Links - Reulay: https://www.reulay.com/mindset?via=dr-sriniImplementing The Science Behind the Law of Attraction: https://loacourse.drsrinipillay.com/specialDr. Srini Pillay Socials:IG: https://www.instagram.com/drsrinipillay/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsrinipillay/Meta: https://www.facebook.com/SriniPillayMDX: https://x.com/drsrinipillayTikTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.srinipillaySubstack: https://drsrinipillay.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chipsDr. Srini Pillay Free products:Ideal Self Guide: https://nas.com/drsrini/products/ideal-self-guideWeekly newsletter on mind-body connection: Sign up here: https://drsrinipillay.com/Dr. Srini Pillay Paid products:Book: Tinker Dabble Doodle Try: https://www.amazon.com/Tinker-Dabble-Doodle-Try-Unfocused/dp/1101883650Book: Life Unlocked: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Unlocked-Revolutionary-Lessons-Overcome/dp/1609611462#Neuroscience #Longevity #HumanPotential #MindsetMatters #Psychobiology #BrainHealth #AgingScience #Healthspan #MentalHealth #StressManagement #AIHealth #DigitalTherapeutics #Neuroplasticity #FutureOfHealth #HealthTech #WellbeingScience #PerformanceScience #MindBodyConnection #LongevityScienceSupport the show