• Dr. Nina Siragusa Ph.D. - Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany - Bioconvergence - Bridging Science And Nature To Shape Tomorrow
    Dec 23 2024

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    Dr. Nina Siragusa, Ph.D., MBA, is the Strategy, Business, and Data & Digital Lead within the global R&D organization of Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. In this role, she leads strategic projects, manages business operations, and drives digital transformation.

    Previously, she served as Chief of Staff to Dr. Laura Matz, Chief Science and Technology Officer at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. As part of the Science and Technology Office Leadership Team, she was responsible for fostering cross-sectoral collaboration, innovation, and digitalization across Merck’s three business sectors. She also spearheaded the company’s efforts in Bioconvergence, a multidisciplinary approach that synergizes biology, engineering, data, and digitalization. This initiative promises groundbreaking advancements in healthcare and the life sciences, heralding a new era of scientific collaboration for a healthier, more sustainable future.

    Prior to that, Dr. Siragusa contributed to corporate innovation in several leadership roles:

    • As Biotechnology Lead of a synthetic biology innovation project,
    • As Senior Manager, responsible for creating strategic alignment and building high-performing teams, and
    • As Associate Director, focusing on sourcing innovative ideas to generate new business opportunities.

    Dr. Siragusa earned her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Tuebingen, Germany, and conducted research in Europe and the USA, including at Yale University, before joining Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in 2016.

    In 2024, she completed an MBA in Digital Transformation Management with a focus on Digital Leadership at Goethe Business School, Frankfurt, Germany.

    Dr. Siragusa is also the lead author of the recently published book, Bioconvergence Revolution: Challenges and Opportunities in Research Productivity. You can find it here:

    https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-61593-1

    Home Page Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany - https://www.emdgroup.com/en

    #NinaSiragusa #MerckGroup #Bioconvergence #Ethics #Collaboration #Fungi #NaturalProducts #Biomimicry #AI #DrugDiscovery #Bioremediation #TranslationalMedicine #SmartManufacturing #DigitalTwins #Supermind #MIT #ResearchFunding #Israel #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast

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    32 mins
  • Dr. Jackie Kunzler, Ph.D. - Senior Vice President, Global R&D, Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies - Unlocking The Potential Of Blood
    Dec 16 2024

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    Dr. Jackie Kunzler, Ph.D. is Senior Vice President and Global Head of Research and Development (R&D), and member of the Executive Management Committee, of Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies ( https://www.terumobct.com/ ), where she focuses on innovation and development leading the way for unlocking the potential of blood and cell collections in varied sectors, including blood banking, plasma-based therapies and cell and gene therapies.

    Dr. Kunzler joined Terumo from Baxter Healthcare where she held successive leadership roles in their business, including as Baxter Healthcare's Senior Vice President for Quality and Regulatory and Head of Global Life Sciences.

    Dr. Kunzler holds a Ph.D. in Cell Biology/Neuroscience from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She earned a Master of Science in Toxicology from the University of Florida, Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Medical Technology (Laboratory Medicine) from University of Iowa and an MBA in Healthcare Administration from Benedictine University.

    #Terumo #JackieKunzler #Blood #SickleCell #Alzheimers #Dementia #Biotherapies #Immunology #TherapeuticApheresis #AutoimmuneDiseases #BloodDisorders #BloodBanking #TransfusionMedicine #RegenerativeMedicine #TherapeuticPlasmaExchange #ConvalescentPlasma #ExtracorporealPhotopheresis #Parabiosis #Longevity #Aging #HospiceCare #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast

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    1 hr
  • Sam Murray, MT-BC, CADDCT, CDP - Goodwin Living - Music Therapy For Meaningful Human Connection And Interaction
    Dec 12 2024

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    Sam Murray, MT-BC, CADDCT, CDP, is a Music Therapist at Goodwin Living ( https://goodwinliving.org/ ), a non-profit senior living and healthcare organization, located in Northern Virginia, that serves more than 2,500 older adults in the National Capital Region (Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland) and more than 25,000 older adults across the nation who participate in their brain health programs.

    Sam and her team are exploring novel ways to help residents living with mild cognitive impairment or dementia connect with through music therapy programs. With approximately 7 million Americans facing Alzheimer's today, and the eventual loss of communication that they experience, music therapy is becoming more widely acknowledged by many experts as a viable way to communicate with individuals for whom language is no longer enough, helping to re-establish comfort and connection.

    Goodwin Living’s foundation recently invested in a new instrument called the Crdl ( https://www.crdl.com/ ) that helps translate physical touch into music, in essence transforming a person's body into an instrument, for an entirely new concept in communications and human interaction.

    #GoodwinLiving #SamMurray #SamTedrow #SeniorLiving #Crdl #MusicTherapy #BrainHealth #Neurodivergent #Dementia #Alzheimers #SocialIsolation #PallaitiveCare #Hospice #EndOfLifeCare #Autism #MentalDisabilities #VisualImpairments #FrancisCollins #ReneeFleming #STEM #Innovation #Science #Technology #Research #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #Podcasting #ViralPodcast

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    37 mins
  • Dr. David Feinberg, MD - Chairman, Oracle Health - Making Healthcare More Accessible, Affordable & Equitable
    Dec 10 2024

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    Dr. David Feinberg, M.D., is Chairman of Oracle Health ( https://www.oracle.com/health/ ), where he and his team are committed to making healthcare more accessible, affordable and equitable, building an open healthcare platform with intelligent tools for data-driven, human-centric healthcare experiences to connect consumers, healthcare providers, payers, and public health and life sciences organizations.

    Dr. Feinberg’s work advances thought leadership and strategy related to unleashing the healing power of data through an open and connected healthcare ecosystem.

    Previously, Dr. Feinberg served as president and CEO of Cerner, now Oracle Health, where he led teams delivering tools and technology to execute on this strategy of improving the patient and caregiver experience.

    As a pediatric psychiatrist, Dr. Feinberg built his early career around helping children and families. He served as president and CEO of both UCLA Health and Geisinger Health prior to assuming leadership of Google Health in early 2019.

    Dr. Feinberg began his career at UCLA, researching and publishing in the areas of addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He took on additional leadership responsibilities, including becoming the Medical Director of the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

    Dr. Feinberg earned his M.D. from Chicago Medical School in 1989, finishing at the top of his class and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He also holds an economics degree from the University of California-Berkeley and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

    #DavidFeinberg #OracleHealth #Oracle #LarryEllison #GoogleHealth #GeisingerHealth #UCLAHealth #ElectronicHealthRecords #EHR #ClinicalDigitalAssistant #PediatricPsychiatry #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #ArtificalIntelligence #MentalHealth #AgingInPlace #DigitalHealth #FoodPharmacy #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #Research

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    51 mins
  • Robert Stone, CEO & Dr. Marcel van den Brink, President - City of Hope - Innovative, Compassionate And Accessible Cancer Care
    Dec 9 2024

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    Robert Stone is the CEO of City of Hope ( https://www.cityofhope.org/robert-stone ), a premier cancer research and treatment center dedicated to innovation in biomedical science and the delivery of compassionate, world-class patient care. A seasoned health care executive, he has served in a number of strategic decision-making roles since he joined City of Hope in 1996, culminating with his appointment as president in 2012, CEO in 2014, and as the Helen and Morgan Chu Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair in 2021.

    Mr. Stone has J.D., University of Chicago Law School, Chicago, IL.

    Mr. Stone’s strategic acumen, empathy and visionary leadership have driven City of Hope’s rapid evolution.

    As an independent institution dedicated to advancing the fight against cancer and diabetes, City of Hope is accelerating opportunities for high-impact discovery and ensuring that patients around the world have access to the most advanced therapies. Recent examples include a groundbreaking alliance in precision medicine with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), a leader in genomic analysis and bioinformatics; leadership in CAR T cell therapy research and therapy; and an innovative program to offer cancer support services to the employees of some of American’s largest employers, regardless of geography.


    Dr. Marcel van den Brink, M.D., Ph.D.( https://www.cityofhope.org/marcel-van-den-brink ), is President of City of Hope Cancer Center, main campus in Los Angeles, and National Medical Center, chief physician executive and the Deana and Steve Campbell Chief Physician Executive Distinguished Chair, and is a globally recognized leader in the basic and translational science of bone marrow transplantation (BMT), the microbiome and cancer immunotherapy. His specialties include immune reconstitution and graft-versus-host disease — side effects many BMT patients experience — as well as the impact of the microbiome on immunotherapy for cancer.

    A researcher who has opened new fields of investigation and improved patient outcomes, Dr. Van den Brink has pursued innovative ways to improve and optimize BMT, developing strategies to make the process less toxic and lower the rate of recurrence. Throughout his career, he has maintained an intense focus on converting scientific discoveries in his laboratory into better therapies for patients around the world.

    Dr. Van den Brink joined City of Hope in part because of their shared commitment to advancing the frontiers of cancer care and research. He is known for his inclusive approach to leadership and his devotion to providing junior faculty colleagues with mentorship and career development opportunities.

    A recipient of numerous national and international awards, Dr. Van den Brink is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among many leadership roles, he serves as vice chair of the board for Deutsche Knochenmark Stiftung, a global donor registration that facilitates 40% of all unrelated allogenic blood stem cell donations worldwide.


    Dr. Van den Brink has a Ph.D., Medicine (Immunology), and M.D., Cum Laude, University of Leiden, The Netherlands, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute in Pittsburgh, PA and residency at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC.


    #Cancer #Oncology #CityOfHope #RobertStone #MarcelVanDenBrink #Microbiome #Immunotherapy #CarT #Thymus #ThymicInvolution #Regeneration #BoneMarrowTransplantation #TranslationalGenomicsResearchInstitute #PrecisionMedicine #GraftVersusHostDisease #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #Research

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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Dr. Sudip Parikh, Ph.D. - CEO, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - New Visions for U.S. Science And Technology
    Dec 9 2024

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    Dr. Sudip Parikh, Ph.D. ( https://www.aaas.org/person/sudip-parikh ), is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher of the Science family of journals and has spent the last two decades at the nexus of science, policy, and business.

    Prior to joining AAAS, Dr. Parikh was senior vice president and managing director at Drug Information Association (DIA Global), a neutral, multidisciplinary organization for healthcare product development where he led strategy in the Americas and oversaw DIA programs that catalyzed progress globally toward novel regulatory frameworks for advanced therapies.

    Prior to DIA, Dr. Parikh was a vice president at Battelle, a multibillion-dollar research and development organization, where he led two business units with over 500 scientific, technical, and computing experts performing basic and applied research, developing medicines and healthcare devices, developing agricultural products, and creating advanced analytics and artificial intelligence applications to improve human health.

    From 2001 to 2009, Dr. Parikh served as science advisor to the Republican leadership of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, where he was responsible for negotiating budgets for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and other scientific and health agencies.

    As a key legislative liaison to the research and development ecosystem, Dr. Parikh was on the frontlines of many science policy issues debated during that time, including embryonic stem cell research, cloning, disease surveillance, bioterrorism, cyber security, and doubling the NIH budget.

    An active member of the scientific advocacy community, Dr. Parikh serves as a board member and officer for several impactful organizations, including Research!America ( https://www.researchamerica.org/ ), which he has chaired since 2023, Friends of Cancer Research, and ACT for NIH. He also serves as co-chair of the Science and Technology Action Committee ( https://sciencetechaction.org/ ), Science CEO Group, and the Coalition for Trust in Health and Science ( https://trustinhealthandscience.org/ ). He is also a member of the Board of Life Sciences of the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

    Dr. Parikh is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. He has also received multiple public service awards, including recognition from the Society for Women’s Health Research, the American Association of Immunologists, the National AIDS Alliance, the Coalition for Health Services Research, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

    Early in his career, Dr. Parikh was a Presidential Management Intern at the NIH. He was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship while earning his Ph.D. in macromolecular structure and chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. There, he used structural biology and biochemistry techniques to probe the mechanisms of DNA repair enzymes.

    Dr. Parikh completed undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, first as a journalism major before switching into materials science.

    #SudipParikh #AAAS #AmericanAssociationForTheAdvancementOfScience #Science #Policy #Business #DrugInformationAssociation #Battelle #ResearchAmerica #ScienceAndTechnologyActionCommittee #CoalitionForTrustInHealthAndScience #Appropriations #Congress #ArtificialIntelligence #DrugDevelopment #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilit

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    57 mins
  • Dr. Abigail Stevenson - Chief Science Officer, Mars Inc. - Advancing Science For People, Pets And Planet
    Dec 6 2024

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    Dr. Abigail Stevenson is Chief Science Officer (CSO), at Mars ( https://www.mars.com/ ), the multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products, and a provider of pet care services, where she champions Mars’ involvement in global, cutting-edge science discovery, drives external partnerships with academia, start ups, non-governmental organizations and peers; helps build the pipeline of leading science and technology talent at Mars; and provides leadership of the Mars Science Leadership Team.

    Dr. Stevenson assumed the CSO role in October 2022 and she also oversees the Mars Advanced Research Institute ( MARI - https://www.mars.com/mari ), which connects Mars with emerging science and technology to spark discoveries with the potential to reinvent the future of its business, and the Mars Global Food Safety Center ( GFSC - https://gfsc.mars.com/ ), a state-of-the-art research and training facility that sits at the heart of a global network of partners and collaborators tackling the most significant food safety challenges facing the planet today.

    In her career at Mars, Dr. Stevenson has led significant research outputs, delivering innovative solutions that have delivered significant business value and helped address long-standing food industry challenges. Through her career at Mars she has served in multiple roles with the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, including Head of Science Communications and Engagement; and was Director of the Mars GFSC from 2017 to 2020 before assuming the role of Vice President of MARI in 2020.

    Dr. Stevenson studied Ecology as an undergraduate at University of Stirling and then went on to do a PhD at University College London in nutrition and health.

    Interesting Episode Link -

    COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study - https://cosmostrial.org/

    #Mars #AbigailStevenson #Health #Nutrition #Wellness #Cocoa #Cacao #Chocolate #Flavanols #OralMicrobiome #NaturalBlue #Nutrigenomics #Phytochemicals #MarsAdvancedResearchInstitute #MarsGlobalFoodSafetyCenter #Aging #Longevity #CocoaSupplementAndMultivitaminOutcomesStudy #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #Research

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    55 mins
  • Steve Blank - Co-Founder, Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, Stanford University - Innovation At Speed And Scale For Future National Security Challenges
    Dec 6 2024

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    Steve Blank is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford and Co-Founder of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation (https://gordianknot.stanford.edu/people/steve-blank). He has been described as the Father of Modern Entrepreneurship.

    Credited with launching the Lean Startup movement and the curriculums for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps and Hacking for Defense and Diplomacy, Steve has changed how startups are built; how entrepreneurship is taught; how science is commercialized, and how companies and the government innovate.

    Steve is the author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany and The Startup Owner’s Manual which revolutionized how startups were built. His Harvard Business Review cover story redefined how large companies can innovate at speed.

    Steve blogs at www.steveblank.com

    #SteveBlank #NationalSecurity #DepartmentOfDefense #DoD #Entrepreneuship #LeanStartup #NationalScienceFoundation #InnovationCorps #HackingForDefense #IntelligenceCommunity #SpaceX #ElonMusk #DefenseInnovationUnit #VannevarBush #VentureCapital #PrimeContractors #LockheedMartin #Boeing #GeneralDynamics #Raytheon #NorthropGrumman #Anduril #Palantir #Stanford #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #Research

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    1 hr and 18 mins