Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show

Send us a textDr. Amir Baniassadi, Ph.D. is an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant Scientist in Marcus Institute for Aging Research ( https://www.marcusinstituteforaging.org/who-we-are/profiles/amir-baniassadi-phd ) where he works on environmental impacts on health and well-being of older populations. Dr. Baniassadi works on the impacts of ambient air temperature and air quality (both indoors and outdoors) on outcomes related to the health and well-being of physiologically and socioeconomically vulnerable populations. His research applies novel environmental modeling and measurement techniques along with remote and long-term physiological and functional monitoring of individuals to establish relationships between exposure and outcome variables of interest outside clinical lab settings. The ultimate goal of his research is to develop environmental interventions that optimize the environment for health and longevity of older adults.Dr. Baniassadi has a Ph.D. in Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering from Arizona State University and a B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tehran. His post-doctoral training includes a three-year T32 fellowship in Translational Research in Older adults, and a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. #AmirBaniassadi #HarvardMedicalSchool #MarcusInstituteForAgingResearch #EnvironmentalGerontology #VulnerabilityScience #Exposome #Health #WellBeing #Wearables #SmartHome #AgingInPlace #Thermoregulation #HeatIslands #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Erica Goldman, Ph.D. is Director of Policy Entrepreneurship ( https://fas.org/expert/erica-goldman/ ) and the Day One Program (https://fas.org/day-one-project/ ), at the Federation of American Scientists ( FAS - https://fas.org/ )FAS is an organization formed at the end of World War II, made up of scientists across diverse disciplines, who joined together to advance science policy and counter scientific misinformation, and which currently works to minimize the risks of significant global threats, arising from nuclear weapons, biological and chemical agents, and climate change. The organization also works to advance progress on a broad suite of contemporary issues where science, technology, and innovation policy can deliver dramatic progress, and seeks to ensure that scientific and technical expertise have a seat at the policymaking table.Dr. Goldman has served in various roles spanning the boundaries between science and policy throughout her career. She has a diverse background that includes science writing, science policy, and academic research and her passions lie in making connections between these domains. Most recently, Dr. Goldman served as the Deputy Director of the Global Council for Science and the Environment, where she worked across a network of institutions and diverse groups of scientists to improve the scientific basis of environmental decision-making. Previously, she served as the Director of Policy Engagement for COMPASS, a nonprofit organization that helps environmental scientists effectively share their knowledge in the public discourse and decision-making. She also served a six-month term in the White House Council on Environmental Quality on the Land & Water Ecosystems Team during the Obama Administration. Dr. Goldman has worked as a science writer for the Maryland Sea Grant College Program; served as a Knauss marine policy fellow in the Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives; and worked as a news intern at Science Magazine. Dr. Goldman received her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Washington and her Bachelor’s of Science degree from Yale University.#EricaGoldman #PolicyEntrepreneurship #DayOne #FederationOfAmericanScientists #Policymaking #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textYael Elish is CEO and Founder of StuffThatWorks ( https://www.stuffthatworks.health/ ), a company that offers an online platform where people suffering from chronic diseases can share information to learn which treatments work best for their specific condition, based on the experience of their peers combined with a smart, AI-based crowdsourcing system.A passionate entrepreneur with expertise in crowdsourcing and consumer-facing products, Yael was on the Waze founding team, where she drove the overall product strategy that led the company from User One to one of the world’s most notable crowdsourcing endeavours. She also co-founded eSnips and NetSnippet, and was part of the senior management team that took Commtouch to its successful NASDAQ IPO in 2000.Prior to Commtouch, Yael led the sales and marketing efforts for various start-ups in Israel. Yael holds a first degree in Foreign Relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.#StuffThatWorks #YaelElish #Crowdsourcing #ChronicDiseases #RareDiseases #ArtificialIntelligence #Healthcare #Medicine #Repurposing #ClinicalTrials #RealWorldData #RealWorldEvidence #Waze #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Georges Benjamin, MD is Executive Director of the American Public Health Association ( APHA - https://apha.org/about-apha/executive-board-and-staff/apha-staff/georges-c-benjamin-md ), the professional membership and advocacy organization for public health professionals in the United States. APHA is the largest professional organization of public health professionals in the United States.Dr. Benjamin is known as one of the nation’s most influential physician leaders because he speaks passionately and eloquently about the health issues having the most impact on our nation today. From his firsthand experience as a physician, he knows what happens when preventive care is not available and when the healthy choice is not the easy choice. As executive director of APHA since 2002, he is leading the Association’s push to make America the healthiest nation.Dr. Benjamin came to APHA from his position as secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Dr. Benjamin became secretary of health in Maryland in April 1999, following four years as its deputy secretary for public health services. As secretary, Benjamin oversaw the expansion and improvement of the state’s Medicaid program. Dr. Benjamin is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois College of Medicine, is board-certified in internal medicine, a master of the American College of Physicians, a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a fellow emeritus of the American College of Emergency Physicians, an honorary fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health.An established administrator, author and orator, Dr. Benjamin started his medical career as a military physician in 1978 when he trained in internal medicine at the Brooke Army Medical Center. In 1981, he was assigned to the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, where he managed a 72,000-patient visit ambulatory care service as chief of the Acute Illness Clinic and was faculty and an attending physician within the Department of Emergency Medicine. A few years later, Dr. Benjamin was reassigned to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he served as chief of emergency medicine. After leaving the Army, Dr. Benjamin chaired the Department of Community Health and Ambulatory Care at the District of Columbia General Hospital. He was promoted to acting commissioner for public health for the District of Columbia and later directed one of the busiest ambulance services in the nation as interim director of the Emergency Ambulance Bureau of the District of Columbia Fire Department.At APHA, Dr. Benjamin also serves as publisher of the nonprofit's monthly publication, The Nation's Health, the association's official newspaper, and the American Journal of Public Health, the profession’s premier scientific publication. He is the author of more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters. His recent book Public Health Under Siege: Improving Policy in Turbulent Times explores the impact of policy on our nation's health and offers specific actions to improve health and extend life expectancy. He is also the author of The Quest for Health Reform: A Satirical History, an exposé of the 100-year quest to ensure quality affordable health coverage for all using political cartoons.#GeorgesBenjamin #PublicHealth #AmericanPublicHealthAssociation #APHA #DisasterMedicine #EnvironmentalHealth #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #Aging #Healthspan #Injury #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Thomas Chen, MD, Ph.D. is Founder, CEO & CSO, and Board Director, of NeOnc Technologies ( https://neonc.com/ ), a developer of a proprietary, patented platform technology that can potentially transport pharma-based therapeutics directly to the brain without the normal boundary restrictions imposed by the body’s Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB), providing patients with potentially more effective treatments.NeOnc is developing a portfolio of treatments for brain cancer and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Dr. Chen is a board-certified neurosurgeon and the Director of Surgical Neuro-Oncology at USC where he is also a tenured Professor of Neurosurgery and Pathology ( https://keck.usc.edu/faculty-search/thomas-c-chen/ ). Dr. Chen graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also received Bronze Tablet honors and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa national academic honor society. He attended the University of California, San Francisco, where he obtained his MD, and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society. He underwent neurosurgery training at USC and obtained a Ph.D. degree in pathobiology where his thesis was on the role of immunotherapy in malignant brain tumors. Dr. Chen is also a fellowship-trained spine surgeon and one of a few surgical neuro-oncologists in the country specializing in spine cancer surgery. He maintains a busy clinical practice in both surgical neuro-oncology and spine surgery and heads a research laboratory focused on glioma biology. Dr. Chen has published extensively on glioma biology and neurosurgery. He is on the editorial board for The Spine Journal and on the review board for Neurosurgery and Journal of Neurosurgery. He also serves on numerous national neurosurgery committees.#NeOnc #ThomasChen #NeurologicalSurgery #Neurosurgery #BrainTumor #Glioblastoma #Glioma #BloodBrainBarrier #NeuroOncology #Temozolomide #PerillylAlcohol #Meningioma #Neurology #CNS #SpinalCordInjury #BrainMetastases #Alzheimers #ParkinsonsDisease #Neuropathology #MedicalOncology #Chemotherapy #RadiationOncology #USC #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textVasily Popov ( https://entities-meta.com/index_en.html ) is a contemporary artist, not afraid to go beyond the boundaries of traditional art, using new technologies and formats to express his ideas, combining the talents of a poet, artist, and innovator in the field of art and technology. Mr. Popov's many achievements include:- As a Poet: authoring five books of poetry, testifying to his deep creative potential and love for words;- As an Artist: creating more than 300 canvases, demonstrating a variety of techniques and styles in the visual arts;- As an Innovator: launching the world's first NFT (non-fungible token) into real space on the International Space Station (ISS), a very unique event at the intersection of art, technology and space, which highlights his desire for experimentation and innovation.Mr. Popov has won many of prestigious awards and his contribution to culture and art is recognized at a high level.  He is a laureate of the Bunin Prize in Literature, a laureate of the Lermontov Prize, and a winner of the Grand Prix of the literary forum "Golden Knight". Mr. Popov also serves as a Member of the Union of Writers of Russia, and serves as a secretary of the board of this organization.Mr. Popov attended the Siberian Institute of Law, Economics and Management, Irkutsk, Russian Federation and the Gorky Literary Institute, Moscow, Russian Federation.This episode is recorded in English And Russian with real-time episode translation by Ms. Victoria Ustimenko Laskina, Preto Business Corp - https://pretobusiness.com/#VasilyPopov #Art #Paintings #Poetry #Space #NFT #ISS #SpaceStation #ElonMusk #OlegArtemyev #Blockchain #NonFungibleToken #Cosmonaut #BaikonurCosmodrome #InternationalSpaceStation  #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Hernan A. Bazan MD, FACS, CEO & Co-Founder of South Rampart Pharma, Inc. ( https://southrampartpharma.com/about-us/hernan-bazan/ ), a clinical stage biopharma company developing safer, non-opioid therapies for acute and chronic pain, where he spearheads the company’s scientific, clinical and technology development efforts, as well as it’s fundraising. As an academic vascular surgeon, Dr. Bazan is the John Ochsner Endowed Professor of Surgery in Innovation ( https://www.ochsner.org/doctors/hernan-bazan ). His clinical interests include treating carotid artery disease and acute stroke, using minimally invasive approaches to aortic aneurysms and peripheral arterial disease, and managing acute post-operative pain. Over the years, Dr. Bazan has realized the significant clinical and societal need for safer and non-addictive pain relief in ambulatory and post-operative settings. From these critical unmet needs, South Rampart Pharma, Inc. was founded in 2016 to develop safer, non-opioid therapies for acute and chronic pain.Dr. Bazan authored the first manuscript describing the library of analgesic compounds’ synthesis, lack of hepatoxicity analgesic characterization, and antipyretic properties, published in September 2020 in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and a current paper under advanced review (open access) in Nature Communications.Dr. Bazan is the PI or Co-I on two NIH/NINDS STTR (small business commercialization) grants to develop a novel non-narcotic and non-toxic analgesic to safely treat acute, chronic, and neuropathic pain. He is the co-inventor of 7 issued or pending patents and has authored over 50 publications. He and his team have completed Phase 1 clinical trials, paving the way for Phase 2 RCTs in acute and neuropathic pain. He was bestowed the 2024 NIH HEAL Director’s Trailblazer Award for this work.Dr. Bazan received a B.S. in Molecular Biology (Vanderbilt University). He spent two years in medical school as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Research Scholar at the NIH. He earned an M.D. (Georgetown University), followed by a General Surgery Residency (Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York) and a Vascular Surgery Fellowship (Yale University).#Pain #Opioids #NSAIDS #Acetaminophen #Analgesia #Nociception #PostOperative #HernanBazan #NicolasBazan #SouthRampartPharma #Ochsner #Fentanyl #Aspirin #Ibuprofen   #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #ResearchSupport the show

Send us a textDr. Christopher Stubbs, Ph.D. is the Samuel C. Moncher Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and has recently served as the Dean of Science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, at Harvard University ( https://astronomy.fas.harvard.edu/people/istopher-stubbs ).Dr. Stubbs is an experimental physicist working at the interface between particle physics, cosmology and gravitation. His interests include experimental tests of the foundations of gravitational physics, searches for dark matter, characterizing the dark energy, and observational cosmology. Dr. Stubbs was a member of one of the two teams that first discovered dark energy by using supernovae to map out the history of cosmic expansion. Dr. Stubbs is currently heavily engaged in the construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), for which he was the inaugural project scientist. He founded the APOLLO collaboration that is using lunar laser ranging and the Earth-Moon-Sun system to probe for novel gravitational effects that may result from physics beyond the standard model.Dr. Stubbs received an International Baccalaureate diploma from the Tehran International School in 1975, a BSc in physics from the University of Virginia in 1981, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Washington in 1988.Dr. Stubbs is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a recipient of the National Academy of Sciences Award for Initiative in Research, the NASA Achievement Medal, and is a co-recipient (with other members of the High-z Supernova Team who discovered the accelerating expansion of the Universe) of the Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Dr. Stubbs was awarded a McDonnell Centennial Fellowship, and a Packard Fellowship, and currently serves on the advisory panel for the Packard Foundation. He is an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, in connection with his interest in arms control and technical aspects of international security issues, has served as a member of JASON advisory, a group of elite scientists and engineers who provide technical advice to government agencies on national security issues. He also serves on the technical advisory group for the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He recently published a book entitled "Going Big - A Scientist's Guide to Large Projects and Collaborations"  ( https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262547963/going-big/ ) which describes all the crucial skills scientists need to make a professional transition into large projects and collaborations that require governance and project management.#ChristopherStubbs #Physics #Astronomy #Astrophysics #GravitationalPhysics #DarkMatter #DarkEnergy #ObservationalCosmology #DeanOfScience #HarvardUniversity #ParticlePhysics #Cosmology #Gravitation #JasonAdvisory #QuantumComputing #NuclearWeapons #NuclearReactors #DualUse #CitizenScience #HumanGenomeProject  #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcastSupport the show

Send us a textSteve Rader ( https://www.nasa.gov/people/steve-rader /) serves as the Program Manager of NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation ( CoECI - https://www.nasa.gov/coeci/ ) and the NASA Tournament Lab ( NTL - https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-tournament-lab/ ), which are working to infuse challenge and crowdsourcing innovation approaches at NASA and across the federal government. CoECI focuses on the study and use of curated, crowdsourcing communities that utilize prize and challenge-based methods to deliver innovative solutions for NASA and the U.S. government. In 2015, Steve was named as one of 20 Challenge Mentors for U.S. Government Services Administration’s (GSA) Prizes and Challenges government-wide community of practice. Steve has worked with various projects and organizations to develop and execute over 100 different challenges. He speaks regularly about NASA’s work in crowd-based challenges and the future of work both publicly and internally to the NASA workforce to promote the use of open innovation tools.Steve has a Mechanical Engineering degree from Rice University and has worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center for 33 years. Prior to joining CoECI/NTL, Steve worked in mission control, flight software development for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, command and control systems development for the X-38 (the experimental re-entry vehicle designed by NASA to research a possible emergency crew return vehicle), and led the Command, Control, Communications, & Information (C3I) architecture definition for the Constellation Program.#SteveRader #NASA #CenterOfExcellenceForCollaborativeInnovation #TournamentLab #OpenInnovation #GovernmentServicesAdministration #Prizes #Challenges #MechanicalEngineering #X38 #ConstellationProgram #JohnsonSpaceCenter #SpaceShuttle #InternationalSpaceStation #Crowdsourcing #DualUse #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcastSupport the show

Send us a textPatty Keating is Executive Director of the HypoPARAthyroidism Association ( HPA - https://www.hypopara.org/ ), an advocacy organization that works to improve the lives of people impacted by hypoPARAthyroidism through education, support, research, and advocacy.Patty comes to HPA as a post-surgical hypoPARAthyroidism patient since 2015. She spent over 30 years in leadership roles within the hair salon business overseeing up to 400 locations prior to taking on the executive director role with HPA in February 2024.  Patty is also a licensed real estate agent.As a patient herself, Patty knew she needed to quickly learn as much as she could about this rare disease to be an advocate for herself. Seeing the struggles patients go through she knew she could offer more to the community with her leadership skills so she joined the board and has led the team as Chairman since 2022. Patty has a passion for people and helping them live with this rare disease through education and advocacy.#HypoparathyroidismAssociation #PattyKeating #Palopegteriparatide #Yorvipath #Parathyroid #Advocacy #RareDisease #OrphanDisease #Patients #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show