Jacob Hooker | From motifs to medicines: Harnessing nature’s pharmacopeia for novel CNS therapies | TPM podcast #59

Are we measuring progress in AI-driven drug discovery the right way? Rafael Rosengarten explores this question with Andrii Buvailo, co-founder of BioPharmaTrend and one of the industry’s most perceptive analysts of AI in biotech and pharma. They trace the evolution of AI-driven drug discovery, examine why counting AI-discovered drugs gives an incomplete picture of progress, and explore where AI can create value today. Andrii also considers why the technology has become so polarizing, what remains distinctly human in an AI-enabled world, and how patient data and more representative biological systems could reshape drug development.TPM E61 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 61 links:andriibuvailo.comBioPharmaTrendMolecules & Empires SubstackWhere Tech Meets Bio SubstackThe Biotech Edge LinkedIn newsletterDrug Discovery Has No Magic Wands by Daphne Koller

Artificial intelligence may be transforming drug discovery, but AI is only as powerful as the data it learns from. Behind many of today's scientific breakthroughs sits an invisible layer of expertly curated, harmonized knowledge that allows researchers to ask better questions and trust the answers. In this episode, Rafael speaks with Tim Walberg, President of CAS, about why scientific data curation remains essential in the age of large language models, how CAS has evolved from Chemical Abstracts Service into a global scientific intelligence platform, and why the future of AI in science depends as much on data quality as on model sophistication.TPM E60 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 60 links:CASAmerican Chemical Society (ACS)CAS SciFinderCAS BioFinder

Mental health remains one of medicine's greatest unmet needs. In this episode, Jacob Hooker explains how Sensorium Therapeutics is searching for new psychiatric medicines by combining traditional plant knowledge with cutting-edge drug development. Jacob joins Rafael Rosengarten to discuss how centuries of ethnobotanical knowledge, modern AI, and medicinal chemistry are helping uncover new treatments for anxiety, epilepsy, and cognitive disorders. Along the way, they explore the science behind psychoactive plants, the growing global burden of mental health conditions, and what the future of psychiatric medicine could look like if researchers can move beyond symptom management toward lasting brain health.TPM E59 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 59 links:Sensorium Therapeutics Aether in Mind SubstackBook recommendationsRichard Evans Schultes: Plants of the GodsMark J. Plotkin: Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice Wade Davis: One River The Plants of the Gods podcastUpdated trends in the global prevalence and burden of mental disorders, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023Americans for Ibogaine

In episode 58, Rafael sits down with James Zanewicz, CEO of Connect, to discuss the art and science of building innovation ecosystems. From Connect's origins as the world's first accelerator to the future of AI-powered healthcare, James shares lessons from a career spanning science, law, technology transfer, academic medicine, and ecosystem development. Together, they explore what makes San Diego a global innovation hub, why collaboration matters more than competition, and how organizations can create the connective tissue that helps ideas become impactful.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TPM E58 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 58 links:ConnectConnect Current PodcastAlliance for AI in HealthcareBIO International ConventionBLPN BIO Week Summit event

In this episode, Rafael Rosengarten sits down with Lisa Gurry, Chief Business Officer at GeneDx, to discuss the transformative role of genomic testing in rare disease diagnosis, therapeutic discovery, and precision medicine. Lisa shares GeneDx's mission to shorten the diagnostic odyssey for patients and families, explains how genomic data is accelerating drug development, and reflects on her deeply personal experience raising a daughter with a rare disease. Together, they explore how advances in sequencing, AI, and data integration are creating new possibilities for patients, clinicians, and biopharma alike.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TPM E57 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 57 links:GeneDxGeneDx InfinityTruveta

In this episode, Rafael Rosengarten sits down with Dr. Kamal Jethwani, VP of Digital Ventures at Moffitt Cancer Center, CEO of AccelerOnc Studio, and consulting CEO of Decimal Health. With over two decades in digital health, Kamal shares how Moffitt is transforming cutting-edge oncology expertise into scalable AI-native companies, why operational implementation matters more than most founders realize, and how digital health adoption succeeds or fails inside real clinical workflows. From “concierge MVPs” to explainable AI, the conversation covers the hard-won lessons of building digital health programs at the ground level and why oncology innovation may be entering a completely new era.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TPM E56 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 56 links:Moffitt Cancer CenterAccelerOnc StudioDecimal Health

Precision oncology promises more data, more insight, and better decisions, yet in practice it often brings more complexity. In a new episode Rafael Rosengarten is joined by Dr. Shakti Ramkissoon, VP of Oncology at Labcorp, to unpack the realities on the ground. From access gaps, reimbursement challenges and fragmented workflows to the promise of longitudinal data and AI-enabled clarity, Dr. Ramkissoon shares how Labcorp is working to simplify complexity while preserving what matters most: human connection in care.⁠⁠⁠⁠TPM E55 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 55 links:Pulse of the Oncologist 2026 reportShakti Ramkissoon on LinkedIn

In this episode, Rafael Rosengarten speaks with Dr. Sean Khozin, CEO of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer. Sean shares how pre-competitive collaboration across industry, academia, and regulators is helping address some of the biggest challenges in oncology. The conversation explores the role of data sharing initiatives like Project Data Sphere, the promise of AI in clinical trials and discovery, and Sean’s unique journey from music to science. ⁠⁠⁠⁠TPM E54 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 54 links:CEO Roundtable on CancerProject Data SphereSean Khozin webpagePhyusionBio substackSean Khozin on LinkedIn

In this episode, I’m joined by Colette Delawalla, founder and CEO of Stand Up For Science. What began as frustration over a federal “banned words” list evolved into a national mobilization effort to defend scientific freedom and evidence-based policymaking. We talk about the organization’s origin story, its National Day of Action on March 7, 2026, the communication gap in science on the political left, the campaign to impeach RFK Jr., and what rebuilding American science might require in the years ahead. Come on in and have a listen.⁠⁠⁠TPM E53 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 53 links:Stand Up For Science homepage National Day of Action map (March 7, 2026)Impeach RFK Jr. & the Quack-o-gram campaignArticles of impeachment against RFK Jr.Stand Up For Science SubredditBook recommendation: Nothing is True and Everything is Possible

In this episode, I’m joined by my longtime friend Ian Simon, Head of Biotechnology at Aspis Intelligence. Ian’s path runs from grad school vaccine research at Yale to senior roles at the White House, HHS, NIH, the State Department, and the Office of Long Covid. We talk about de-risking young biotech companies, what Covid taught us about science and public health, and how new technologies like AI might change how we do science altogether. ⁠⁠⁠TPM E52 highlights >⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode 52 links:Ian Simon on LinkedInAspis Intelligence