Danielle Halstrom is President of the GE HealthCare Foundation ( https://www.gehealthcare.com/foundation ), a philanthropic foundation arm of GE HealthCare that supports nonprofit organizations aimed at making healthcare more accessible, personal, human, and flexible – and ultimately, strives to remove barriers that separate underserved communities from equitable healthcare. With an initial focus on improving maternal health outcomes globally, the Foundation addresses a critical need: Every two minutes, a woman dies due to pregnancy or childbirth-related complications, compounded by a severe shortage in primary care and midwifery professionals worldwide. Ms. Halstrom was previously Chief Communications and Corporate Marketing Officer for GE HealthCare. Prior to GE HealthCare, Ms. Halstrom was SVP and head of comms at biotechnology company Zai Lab, and at Bristol Myers Squibb as VP and head of commercial, research and development and manufacturing comms, including patient advocacy. Before that, she served in roles as senior director and leader of global colleague communications at Pfizer, Director, Product Communications at GlaxoSmithKline, and Manager, USHH Public Affairs at Merck. GE HealthCare ( https://www.gehealthcare.com/ ) is a leading global medical technology and digital solutions innovator, enabling clinicians to make faster, more informed decisions through intelligent devices, data analytics, applications and services. Important episode links Urban Institute - https://www.urban.org/ Lwala Community Alliance - https://lwala.org/ Black Mamas Matter Alliance - https://blackmamasmatter.org/ Project ECHO - https://projectecho.unm.edu/ Support the show

Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, Ph.D. is Owner of Nonlinear Solutions LLC., an advisory group that provides strategic scientific and intelligence consulting services, with a focus on emerging science and technology trends, to clients in both the defense and intelligence communities. Dr. Kirkpatrick recently retired from federal Senior Service in December 2023 and prior to his current responsibilities he answered to the Deputy Secretary of Defense to stand-up and lead the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office ( AARO - https://www.aaro.mil/ ) in early 2022, leading the U.S. government’s efforts to address Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) using a rigorous scientific framework and a data-driven approach. Dr. Kirkpatrick attended University of Georgia as an undergraduate, to study physics, where he also did his Ph.D. work in nonlinear and nonequilibrium phonon dynamics of rare earth doped fluoride crystals, and currently serves as an adjunct professor at UGA. Dr. Kirkpatrick began his career in Defense and Intelligence related science and technology immediately out of graduate school. After receiving his Ph.D. in Physics in 1995, he subsequently took a postdoctoral position at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, investigating laser-induced molecular vibrations of high explosives under an AFOSR program. In 1996, he was offered a National Research Council Fellowship at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. investigating novel solid-state lasers for the Department of the Navy. In 1997, he was recruited by the Air Force Research Laboratory to build an Ultrafast Laser Physics Lab to investigate nonlinear optics, novel ultrafast spectroscopic methods, and nonlinear micro/nano-fabrication techniques for the Air Force. In 2003, Dr. Kirkpatrick was offered a program manager position in the National Reconnaissance Office and converted to CIA in 2005. In 2007, he was assigned as Chief Technology Officer in a joint CIA-DIA program office, where he later became division chief as a DIA officer. In 2010 he was asked to serve as the space control portfolio manager for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Space and Intelligence, Office of the Secretary of Defense. In 2012, Dr. Kirkpatrick returned to DIA and served as the Defense Intelligence Officer for Scientific and Technical Intelligence, serving as the Department of Defense’s counterpart to the National Intelligence Manager for Science and Technology until 2016. Towards the end of his tenure as DIO/S&TI, Dr. Kirkpatrick served on special assignment to the Principal Deputy Director National Intelligence leading the Intelligence Community’s support to the Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center (now the National Space Defense Center). From 2016 onwards, Dr. Kirkpatrick served in a variety of no-fail roles including Deputy Director of Intelligence, US Strategic Command; Director, National Security Strategy, National Security Council; Deputy Director of Intelligence and the DNI Representative for USSPACECOM. The USSPACECOM Intelligence Enterprise was the fifth organization he has been the IC lead for establishment, with AARO being the sixth “new start” he’s led. Dr. Kirkpatrick is the recipient of several scientific, military, and intelligence awards. These include the Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal, four National Intelligence Collaboration medallions, the NRO Innovation and Achievement Award, the Cleary Award for Scientific Excellence, and the DIA Director’s Award for Excellence. Dr. Kirkpatrick holds 2 open patents and has contributed to several scientific books on nonlinear phenomena as well as written multiple strategies for the National and Defense Intelligence Communities. He was appointed to the Senior Service in 2012. Support the show

Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed, MD, PhD is Executive Director of the icddr,b ( https://www.icddrb.org/ - formerly known as the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh), an organization committed to solving public health problems facing low- and middle-income countries through innovative scientific research – including laboratory-based, clinical, epidemiological and health systems research. By developing, testing and assessing the implementation of interventions specifically designed for resource-poor settings, they aim to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in the world’s poorest nations. Dr. Ahmed has been working for the last three decades in simplifying the management of childhood malnutrition, childhood tuberculosis, and diarrheal diseases. He leads the BEED (Bangladesh Environmental Enteric Dysfunction) study that attempts to discover non-invasive biomarkers of environmental enteric dysfunction, an important cause of stunting in children. Together with Dr Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University in St. Louis he discovered microbiota directed complementary food (MDCF) - a novel intervention for childhood malnutrition. This discovery was highlighted by the prestigious journal Science as one of the scientific breakthroughs of 2019. He is continuing the research on MDCF with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Ahmed studied in St. Gregory’s High School and Notre Dame College, Dhaka and then obtained his medical degree from Mymensingh Medical College. He received residential training in Dhaka Children’s Hospital and subsequently studied at the University of Tsukuba in Japan for his PhD. He has recently been appointed the Executive Director of icddr,b where he has been working for the last three decades. As a member of the Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group of the WHO, Dr. Ahmed revised the global guidelines for management of childhood acute malnutrition. He advises the Global Task Force on Cholera Case Control (GTFCC) on case management of cholera in children. Dr Ahmed was awarded the Bangladesh Academy of Science - Dr Sultan Ahmed Choudhury Gold Medal for outstanding achievement in Medical Science in 2003. He received from the Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, the Islamic Bank Development Transformers’ Roadshow Award in 2018. Dr Ahmed works closely with the Ministry of Health of Bangladesh, WHO, UNICEF and the International Atomic Energy Agency in research, policy issues and training on nutrition. He has more than 400 papers published in international journals and books. Dr Ahmed was the President of the Commonwealth Association of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (CAPGAN), an association of professionals in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition from the 54 Commonwealth nations. He is Professor of Public Health Nutrition of James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka and also Affiliated Professor of School of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle. Dr Ahmed has recently been appointed Honorary Senior Fellow of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). Social Media - icddr,b - icddr,b Twitter - https://twitter.com/icddr_b/ icddr,b LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/icddrb/ Support the show

Professor Dr. Thomas Rademacher, MD, PhD, is CEO and Co-Founder of Emergex ( https://emergexvaccines.com/ ), a company that has developed a novel nanoparticle-based vaccine technology to deliver synthetic viral fragments via microneedles on a skin-adhesive patch. Emergex’s approach works on the principle of priming immune T-cells, opening the door for the development of universal vaccines against highly mutagenic viruses such as the seasonal flu and covid. T-cell priming offers a superior inoculation strategy over traditional vaccines, which rely on the body’s generation of antibodies and fail to keep up with seasonal mutations. A serial entrepreneur, Professor Rademacher also serves as Emeritus Professor of Molecular Medicine at University College London (UCL) and is widely considered one of the founders of biotech from the early 1980s (having been involved in many of it’s core disciplines – from recombinant proteins, to monoclonal antibodies, to glycobiology). Professor Rademacher has authored over 200 publications and 50 patents – 19 of which are in the nanomedicine field. In addition to being a world leader in nanomedicine, he is also an expert in fetal-maternal medicine, having produced 25 publications and filed 5 patents related to preeclampsia. Professor Rademacher was co-Founder of the field of Glycobiology and subsequent Glycobiology Institute in Oxford and co-founded Oxford GlycoSciences, the first of Oxford University’s biotech spinouts, which, in 1998, was listed on the London Stock Exchange and reached a market capitalization of £1.7 billion. After moving to UCL, Professor Rademacher founded several biotech spin-out companies, including Rodaris Pharmaceuticals Ltd. In 2000, Professor Rademacher entered into a collaboration with the Spanish Research Council and co-founded the first nanomedicine company, Midatech Ltd. Midatech floated on the AIM and NASDAQ stock exchanges in December 2015. Support the show

Ashley Kalinauskas is the Founder and CEO of Torigen Pharmaceuticals ( https://www.torigen.com/ ), a company dedicated to researching and developing novel immuno-oncology products and services specifically for the veterinary market, with a focus on autologous cancer vaccines. Torigen Pharmaceuticals is a start‑up that resulted from Ashley’s graduate thesis project at the University of Notre Dame, as she was working on her Masters in Engineering, Science and Technology Entrepreneurship in collaboration with Dr. Mark Suckow ( https://www.research.uky.edu/staff/mark-suckow ). Ashley also received an undergraduate degree in Veterinary Pathology and Pathobiology from University of Connecticut. Support the show

Dr. Mariângela Simão, MD, MPH is the Director-President of the All For Health Institute ( Instituto Todos pela Saúde - https://www.itps.org.br/ ), a non-profit organization based in São Paulo that focuses on outbreaks, epidemic and pandemic preparedness, in support of the Brazilian health system. Dr. Simão is also a Member of the Supervisory Board of the Access to Medicine Foundation ( https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/our-team/mariangela-simao ), an organization working to stimulate and guide the pharmaceutical industry to do more for people living in low- and middle-income countries, and recently became a member of the Science & Technology Expert Group (STEG) of the G7 International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat ( https://ippsecretariat.org/about-us/ ). Dr. Simão attended medical school in Brazil, with degrees in Pediatrics and Public Health, and received a MSc in Mother and Child Health at the University of London, United Kingdom, and she has worked in Brazil’s public health system since 1982, from the primary health care level to a series of managerial positions throughout the years. As a public health professional, at municipal, state and national levels, Dr. Simão played an active role in the decentralization of the national health system, acquiring an extensive experience in health system strengthening. She has also served on the boards of a number of organizations and government committees related to public health and HIV. Between 2006 and 2010, Dr. Simão worked for the Ministry of Health in Brazil as the Director of the Department of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS. She also worked in the UN Program for HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) as Director for Prevention, Gender, Community Mobilization and Human Rights for 7 years. Most recently, Dr. Simão was Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products at the WHO from 2017 to 2022. Support the show

Dr. Phyllis Ferrell, DrPH, MBA, is Chief Impact Officer for StartUp Health’s Alzheimer’s Moonshot ( https://www.startuphealth.com/alzheimers ), a new global initiative created to develop a collaborative innovation community alongside leading companies, research teams, and stakeholders, with a mission to accelerate progress in prevention, diagnosis, and management of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. With support from the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and Gates Ventures, StartUp Health is looking to break down silos and foster meaningful collaboration between mission-aligned founders, funders, and partners. Dr. Ferrell also serves as Strategic Advisor, Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative ( https://www.davosalzheimerscollaborative.org/ ) which is building a global clinical trial network and technology platform that will link trial sites around the world. Prior to these roles, Dr. Ferrell served almost three decades at multiple roles at Eli Lilly including as Global Head External Engagement, Alzheimer's and Neurodegeneration, Chief Commercial Services Officer, and Vice President, Global Alzheimer’s Disease Platform Team Leader in Lilly BioMedicines, where her team were responsible for the late-stage development, global registration and launch of 4 late-stage assets including Solanezumab, Amyvid and AZD3293. Dr. Ferrell received a DrPH, Public Health from Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, an MBA in General Management and a certificate in Public Management from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and management from DePauw University. Dr. Ferrell was recognized with the Rising Star Award from the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association and the Indianapolis Star Top 40 Under 40. She serves as a member of the World Dementia Council, a steering committee member of the Milken Institute Center for Aging Alliance for Dementia Care and National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) Alzheimer’s Disease Index working groups, and a strategic reviewer for the Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Discovery Foundation Diagnostics Accelerator. She is also a member of the Indiana Chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association; on the Boards of Directors for Alzheimer’s Research UK EDoN, Gates Ventures Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative, the Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, Stanford Associate Board of Governors, Indianapolis 500 Festival, and the Lebanon Area Boys & Girls Club. She is a founding member of Women Against Alzheimer’s and Women of Impact Boone County; co-chair of the Women’s Leadership Council; the alumna sponsor of the Women in Economics and Business Program at DePauw University; a member of the Washington C. DePauw Society; a Tocqueville donor to United Way; an active supporter of Boone County Special Olympics and the Boone County Community Foundation. Support the show

Dr. Doron Behar, MD, PhD is Founder & CEO of an end-to-end genetic platform company, Igentify ( https://www.igentify.com/ ), that provides a suite of digital tools designed to scale the provision of genomic medical services to more people worldwide, making it more accessible and actionable for clinicians, laboratories, and patients. Dr. Behar received his degrees from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. As an MD, he has dual specialization in Internal Medicine and Critical Care Medicine from Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel. Dr. Behar's research areas of interest are across the broad range of evolutionary genomics, ancestry, phylogenetics, and translational genomics. He has been the leading author and co-author of numerous research papers in these areas. Dr. Behar is the former Chief Scientific Officer of Gene-by-Gene Ltd., a commercial genetic testing company. His expertise covers various aspects of mass genotyping, including regulation, privacy, genetic analysis, quality assurance, and more. Support the show

Dr. Ira Spector, PhD is CEO and a Co-Founder of SFA Therapeutics ( https://sfatherapeutics.com/ ), a microbiome-derived biopharma company focused on new advancements in the treatment inflammatory diseases. Dr. Spector is an experienced drug developer, with over 30 years of experience. He has helped develop 34 approved drugs, including Enbrel, Effexor, Protonix, Prevenar-13, Mylotarg at Wyeth/Pfizer, where he was Vice President of Clinical Operations and Vice-Chief of Development. At Allergan, Dr. Spector helped develop Ozurdex for Diabetic Macular Edema and Retinal Venous Occlusion, Botox for Overactive Bladder, Botox for Chronic Migraine, Juvederm XL and Botox for Cerebral Palsy. Prior to Wyeth, he was Vice President and Partner at the PA Consulting Group. Before founding SFA Therapeutics, Dr. Spector was Executive Vice President of Analytics & Consulting at ICON. Dr. Spector holds BS degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering from Washington University, where he was a Langsdorf Fellow, an MBA from Drexel University, and a PhD in Health Sciences from UMDNJ. Support the show

Dr. Ariel Dowling is a Senior Director and Head of the Sensing and Measurement group within the Data Sciences Institute at Takeda Pharmaceuticals ( https://www.takeda.com/our-impact/our-stories/integrating-data-sciences-into-clinical-development/ ). In this role, her group oversees the assessment, validation, and deployment of digital devices and endpoints across the organization. Dr. Dowling was previously a Senior Clinical Data Scientist at Biogen Inc. where she managed the wearable sensors deployed in clinical trials for Parkinson’s Disease. She was also the algorithm team lead at MC10 Inc., a company developing thin, conformal electronics systems that flex, stretch, and bend seamlessly with the natural world, and worked at BioSensics LLC., a company developing of wearable sensors and digital platforms for clinical trials, patient monitoring and health assessment. Dr. Dowling holds an MS and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, an AB and BE in Mechanical Engineering from Dartmouth College, and did post-doctoral work in robotics at Technion in Israel. She currently serves on the Strategic Advisory Board of the Digital Medicine (DiMe) Society. Support the show

Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, MD ( https://arpa-h.gov/about/people/darshak-sanghavi ) is Program Manager, Resilient Systems Mission Office, at ARPA-H where he heads up the HEalthcare Rewards to Achieve Improved OutcomES ( HEROES - https://arpa-h.gov/research-and-funding/programs/heroes ) program which aims to trial and validate radically different approaches to creating preventative care incentives in the health market, one example being offering direct payments to individual “health accelerators” – such as non-profits or care consortiums – that successfully implement preventative care campaigns that improve the rates for specific health harms in an entire geographic population. Dr. Sanghavi joined ARPA-H in May 2023 from Babylon – a digital-first, end-to-end health care provider serving more than 24 million people across the globe. As chief medical officer, he was responsible for overseeing the company’s international operations as well as leading its wider mission to help bring affordable and accessible health care to everyone worldwide. Previously, Dr. Sanghavi worked as national chief medical officer for UnitedHealthcare and OptumLabs, as a group director at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center during the Obama Administration, as managing director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institute, and as a pediatrician for the U.S. Indian Health Service. Dr. Sanghavi has a doctorate in medicine from Johns Hopkins University and specializes in pediatric cardiology after training at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Sanghavi is also a best-selling author, with his book "A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body", available at all major book sellers, and a regular contributor to the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post. Support the show

Dr. William Karesh, DVM ( https://www.ecohealthalliance.org/personnel/dr-william-karesh ) is an internationally recognized expert on infectious diseases, wildlife conservation, and the environment. He is the Executive Vice President for Health and Policy for EcoHealth Alliance. Dr. Karesh also serves as the Co-Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) Wildlife Health Specialist Group, Chair of the World Animal Health Organization’s Working Group on Wildlife, and on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations Roster of Experts focused on the human-animal interface and wildlife health. In 2016, Dr. Karesh was appointed as an ex-officio member of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense ( https://biodefensecommission.org/teams/william-b-karesh-dvm/ ) and became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He works with government agencies around the world and is an invited expert for intergovernmental and development organizations including United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), FAO, WHO, and the World Bank. Dr. Karesh has pioneered initiatives focusing attention and resources on solving challenges created by the interactions among wildlife, people, and their animals, developing and leading projects in over 50 LMIC countries. In 2003, he coined the term “One Health” to describe the interdependence of healthy ecosystems, animals and people. Dr. Karesh received a BS, Biology from Clemson University, and a Doctorate, in Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. Support the show

Gladys H. Morales is Senior Officer, Global Head of Innovation in the International Fund for Agricultural Development ( IFAD - https://www.ifad.org/en/w/gladys-morales ), where she leads the design and implementation of innovation initiatives and partnerships aiming to support testing, learning and scaling up of innovative solutions that impact poor rural people directly. She is also currently the Regional Ambassador in Italy of the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC). Prior to joining IFAD, Ms. Morales led the digital transformation of a range of Multilateral Development Banks and United Nations agencies’ projects in Latin America, Asia, and Europe; and worked for the International Poverty Reduction Centre in China (IPRCC) where she led the design of digital platforms and established partnerships and knowledge networks for the Global Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Growth (GPIG) Portal. She is also familiar with the startup eco-system having been part of the management team for a digital advertising startup in Indonesia and founding her own startup in Italy. Ms. Morales is a graduate from the Executive Program on Digital Business Leadership at Columbia Business School, Columbia University in New York. She also has a Master’s in Development Economics and International Cooperation, Food Security and Rural Development from University of Rome, a certificate on Leadership and Innovation from MIT, and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service and International Economics from Georgetown University. She also has a series of certificates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, United States, in Artificial Intelligence and Leadership and Innovation. IFAD is an international financial institution and specialized United Nations agency based in Rome, the UN’s food and agriculture hub and since 1978, and has provided US$23.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans, investing in rural people, empowering them to increase their food security, improve the nutrition of their families and increase their incomes, ultimately helping them build resilience, expand their businesses and take charge of their own development. Support the show

Dr. James Murphy, PhD is Director, Research and Science, at British American Tobacco ( BAT - https://www.bat.com/DOCNLKSF.html ) where he plays a central role in leading the organization’s extensive research and development programs, which supports the company’s commitment to reducing the health impact of its business by offering consumers a range of alternative tobacco and nicotine products with a reduced risk profile. In this role, Dr Murphy leads the global Research and Science team, ensuring world-class science and best practice are applied to all aspects of BAT’s work and helps to deliver further scientific evidence that supports BAT’s New Categories products. Dr. Murphy has played a significant role in the development of BAT’s New Categories having been Product Development Lead for BAT’s first vapour launches and as Head of Reduced Risk Substantiation, he created and published the Group’s nine-step scientific assessment framework to assess BAT’s New Category products. Dr. Murphy brings two decades of experience and has held a number of senior roles in R&D, Operations and Marketing at BAT. He was most recently Executive Vice President, U.S. Scientific Research & Development, based at the headquarters of BAT’s U.S. business in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Dr. Murphy has a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry from the Queen’s University of Belfast, a PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh, and did his Postdoctoral Studies in Sugar Based Synthetic Organic Chemistry Polymer Chemistry, at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan. Disclaimer: Reduced-risk product statements in this podcast are based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from cigarette smoking. These products are not risk-free and are addictive. BAT's products as sold in the U.S., including Vuse, Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, and Camel Snus, are subject to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation and no reduced-risk claims will be made as to these products without FDA clearance. Support the show

Dr. Omid Veiseh, Ph.D. ( https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/omid-veiseh ) is Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering, CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research and Director of the Biotech Launch Pad at Rice University ( https://biotechlaunchpad.rice.edu/ ), where he leads a research program aimed at engineering next-generation treatments for a wide range of human diseases by leveraging the latest techniques in synthetic biology, immuno-engineering, and materials science to develop innovative cell-based platforms for real-time production of biologics. He is also a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded Sigilon Therapeutics (Nasdaq:SGTX), Avenge Bio, Sentinel Bio, and Curada Bio. These companies collectively have attracted ~ US$500M in private and public investment capital. Dr. Veiseh received a dual Ph. D. in Materials Science & Engineering and Nanotechnology from the University of Washington. He completed his postdoctoral research with Prof. Robert Langer and Daniel G. Anderson at MIT and Harvard Medical School. Throughout his career, he has authored or co-authored more than 75 peer-reviewed publications, including those in Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Materials, Nature Medicine, and Natural Biomedical Engineering. He is an inventor of more than 40 pending or awarded patents. Dr. Paul Wotton, Ph.D. ( https://biotechlaunchpad.rice.edu/paul-w ) is Rice Biotech Launchpad, Executive Director. Dr. Wotton received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Nottingham and is an experienced CEO, Board Member, named inventor and entrepreneur. He has extensive experience in strategic growth management, business transactions and product development. Dr. Wotton serves on the Board of Directors of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ: VCEL), Cynata Therapeutics (ASX: CYP), Kytopen (Chairman), Combined Therapeutics and is a Co-Founder and Director of Avenge Bio., a clinical stage biotechnology company. Dr. Wotton was President and CEO of Ocata Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OCAT) until its acquisition by Astellas Pharma in 2016. Paul was named as a “Top 100 Innovation CEO” by World Biz Magazine and won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Regional (NJ) Life Sciences award in 2014. Support the show

Dr. Thomas Karr, PhD ( https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/1808202/dr-thomas-j-karr/ ) is the Former Assistant Director, Directed Energy in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Research and Engineering), U.S. DoD. His responsibilities covered all Directed Energy research and development in the Department of Defense. Dr. Karr has four decades of experience in the application of science to national security. Prior to joining OUSD(R&E) he was a DARPA program manager for six years, where he created new programs for kinetic and non-kinetic effects, communication, information processing and exploitation, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Dr. Karr was the Director of Innovative System Solutions at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, Director of Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) Technology at Northrop Grumman, and was a Group Leader, Program Leader and senior scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for twelve years. He also co-founded a commercial space company, and consulted for many companies in the national security industry. Dr. Karr earned his A.B. cum laude in Physics from Princeton, his Ph.D. in Elementary Particle Physics from the University of Maryland, and was a Joliot-Curie Fellow of the Atomic Energy Commission of France. He has published over 50 scientific papers, serves on the Organizing Committees of three scientific conferences, holds three patents, and he is a Fellow of the Military Sensing Symposia (MSS), the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), and the Optical Society of America (OSA). Support the show

Dr. William Kapp, MD is Chief Executive Officer of Fountain Life ( https://fountainlife.com/about/ ), a company focused on transforming the current healthcare system into one that is both proactive and data-driven, enabling enhanced longevity and catching and treating illnesses earlier than ever before, focusing on the detection and reversal of asymptomatic diseases and advancing an entirely new healthcare paradigm. Dr. Kapp received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Georgia and his M.S. in Immunology and M.D. at the Medical College of Georgia, where he graduated with honors and was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society. He attended the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas for residency in Orthopaedic Surgery and completed his specialty training in 1994. Dr. Kapp is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon and a Fellow in the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, has served on the Board of Directors of the Missouri Orthopaedic Association and has been chair of the Legislative Affairs Committee. Until 2005, he served as flight surgeon in the US Air Force Reserves with the rank of Major. Dr. Kapp is a dynamic entrepreneur who has founded several healthcare start-ups, ranging from surgical centers and hospitals to electronic health record systems and medical real estate developments. Previously Dr. Kapp served as Founder and Chairman of Landmark Hospitals, with several regional referral centers for critical care and medically complex patients requiring hospital-based post-acute care; managing partner and leader for Physicians Alliance Surgery Center, a multi-specialty outpatient surgical center; and managing partner for Orthopaedic Associates of SE Missouri, the region’s only orthopaedic center. Dr. Kapp is also a founding advisory board member of Missouri Physicians Mutual, a company focused on providing affordable medical malpractice insurance. Support the show

Dr. Melanie Egorin, Ph.D. ( https://www.hhs.gov/about/leadership/melanie-egorin.html ) is Assistant Secretary for Legislation (ASL), at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Dr. Egorin has a unique roll at HHS at the intersection of the executive and legislative branches of government, with responsibility for interacting with Congress and responding to various congressional oversight requests as it pertains to HHS role across its 12 operating divisions, which are responsible for administering a wide variety of health and human services programs to more than 100 million people. Dr. Egorin has had a 25 year career in the health policy domain and has recently served as Democratic Deputy Staff Director, Subcommittee on Health, Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she was staff lead for Affordable Care Act, Medicare Advantage, dual-eligible beneficiaries, women’s health, and health tax issues. Prior to joining Ways and Means, Dr. Egorin worked for the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the University of California Office of the President, as well as teaching at San Francisco State University. Dr. Egorin holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Emory University, where she studied Sociology and Public Health, and a Ph.D. from the University of California San Francisco in Medical Sociology. Support the show

Ronald Tong is Senior Vice President of the Singapore Economic Development Board ( EDB - https://www.edb.gov.sg/ ) and Deputy Executive Director of the Office of Space Technology & Industry ( OSTIn - https://www.space.gov.sg/ ), Singapore’s national space office, where he leads teams of mission-driven Space champions to 1) develop and carry out Singapore’s national space strategy, 2) grow a vibrant and thriving Space industry and ecosystem, 3) promote research & development in Space technologies and translating them to commercial use 4) develop workforce and talent for Space, 5) shape international Space norms and build fruitful international relationships with public and private Space entities, and 6) create local legislation to govern Space activities. Mr. Tong has also been an officer and fighter pilot with over 1,000 flying hours on the F-16s. He joined the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) as a pilot trainee in 2003 and was subsequently awarded the President’s cum SAF Overseas Scholarship. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated (Summa cum Laude) with a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology and Economics in 2007. He also graduated from United States Air Command and Staff College in 2017 with a Master in Military Operational Art and Science, and in 2022 from Stanford Graduate School of Business with a Master of Science in Management for Experienced Leaders (MSx), also known as the Sloan Fellow program. Mr. Tong has held various command and staff appointments in the defense and diplomacy sectors. He has served Command tours at the Flight and Squadron levels with 145 Squadron, participating in various exercises such as Ex PITCH BLACK and Ex COPE TIGER, and supporting various high key Air Defense operations such as the Trump-Kim Summit. He held various staff appointments including Staff Officer (Fighter) and Head Force Development Branch (Covering) in Air Plans Department, where he oversaw the force structuring and long term strategic planning for the Air Force. He served as Director (International) in MINDEF Policy Office where he oversaw the bilateral defense relations between Singapore and the Americas, Europe, Middle East, South Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States, and Africa. He also served as Military Private Secretary to the Minister for Defense, and as Secretary to MINDEF HQ Meeting. Most recently, he served as the Group Head of Strategies and Plans in the Air Operations Department, where he oversaw current and future operations for the RSAF. Support the show

Dr. Calvin Roberts, M.D. is Program Manager at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) where manages for the Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts ( THEA - https://arpa-h.gov/research-and-funding/programs/thea ) program, which aims to transplant whole human eyes to restore vision in patients who are blind or visually impaired by reconnecting the nerves, muscles and blood vessels of whole donor eyes to the brain. Dr. Roberts joined ARPA-H in September 2023 from Lighthouse Guild International, where is the president and chief executive officer. Lighthouse Guild is a not-for-profit organization that provides programs and services to people who are blind or visually impaired. Previously, Dr. Roberts was the chief medical officer for the global eye care company Bausch + Lomb. For the past 40 years, Roberts has also served as a clinical professor of ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medical Center. As a practicing ophthalmologist from 1982 to 2008, he performed more than 10,000 cataract surgeries, as well as 5,000 refractive and other corneal surgeries. He is credited with developing surgical therapies, over-the-counter products for vision care, prescription ocular therapeutics and innovative treatment regimens. He also holds patents on the wide-field specular microscope and has done extensive research on ophthalmic non-steroidals and post-operative cystoid macular edema. Dr. Roberts also hosts the podcast series “On Tech and Vision” ( https://lighthouseguild.org/technology/on-tech-and-vision-podcast/ ) – where innovators discuss how rapidly evolving assistive technology creates equity among those who are visually impaired. Dr. Roberts received his medical degree from Columbia University, completed an internship and ophthalmology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and conducted cornea fellowships at Massachusetts Eye and Infirmary and the Schepens Eye Institute. Support the show