On April 30, we celebrated the kickoff of the 5th annual, global Medical Innovation Olympics (register today at https://medicalinnovationolympics.com) with a moving interview in which a 5-Time Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer, Type 1 Diabetes patient advocate and CEO, Anchor Line Sprots, Gary Hall Jr openly shared the devastation he went through losing all his Olympic models, his house and business in the Los Angeles Fires in 2025. He describes how the "fire left some piece of it in his belly" to pursue what he calls a new do-or-die mission for Olympic-adjacent sports to grow their fan engagement, funding, and popularity. In this conversation Gary demonstrates why he is a true leader of the people who fights daily for a bigger purpose, who cares deeply for the plight of the human community, patients. He shares deep reflections that scratch far beneath the surface with a call to action for innovators in tech and healthcare who have sacrificed their own jobs to be rewarded appropriately and aligned with the priorities they deserve in their respective industries - something all of us need to think about and address.

Timeline

0:00 Episode Introduction

1:57 Medicalinnovaitonolympics.com - Sign up for the event

2:36 Meaning of 10 replacement medals Gary lost in the LA fires in '25

5:14 The Real-World Story of the LA Fire Disaster and Devastation

6:36 How the IOC presented the replica medals - 2nd time in history after Muhammad Ali

7:14 Last time the International Olympic Committee replaced a medal was Muhammad Ali

10:10 How Gary as T1Diabetes Patient defines Healthcare ChampionsGary Hall: Medical Innovation Olympics is a Noble Pursuit

11:21 Coders like Researchers have built AI that can replace them - Tremendous Sacrifice

11:54 How do we realign incentives so that people are rewarded on their sacrifice

12:26 Update on the latest research in T1Diabetes - we are on the doorstep

14:04 CEO of iTolerance's recent passing & promise of curing T1D without immunosuppression

14:53 Gary's opinion on Lindsay Vonn's comeback attempt and fall at Milano Cortina

17:06 Milano 2026 Olympic Highlight Alyssa Liu, Figure Skater's Charisma and Embodiment of Joy

18:11 Men's Hockey - U.S.A.

18:30 Sara Conti, Italian Figure Skating's visible

21:35 Gary Hall's new company, Anchor Line SportsOlympic adjacent sports betting fan engagement tool Olympic sports remain underfunded

23:30 U.S. is one of few countries where not one single dollar supports Olympic athletes

24:19 Anchor Line Sports is the silver lining Gary took away from losing his house, business, medals

27:57 Q & A: Parallels between building championship teams and healthcare companiesThe team is most important and the reflection of the leadership - pushing you to the point of failure every single day in a tough, and are able to do it in a tough, demanding and respectful way. This is exactly what great leaders do in the workplace. They lead by example, and they earn their respect. All ships rise with the tide.

30:09 Q & A: Support Gary Hall & Upcoming Announcement from Anchor Line Sports

31:14 Public Promise to Gary Hall Jr and Bob Beamon, former world record holder for Medical Innovation Olympics to Leave a Global Legacy

32:32 Gary's Endorsement and Best Wishes for the Growth of Medical Innovation Olympics

Years ago, watching TV at home, I discovered a true modern age humanist and true ambassador, Francesco Trecci, political science and history graduate, author, historian and commercial director who challenged himself to connect two antique and proud cultures, Italy and Republic of Georgia, illuminate them with knowledge to connect them on a deeper level. Ever since, I can proudly say we have become friends due to a common passion and interest that is central to the multicultural, global business leadership mission of the Alloutcoach Podcast. Enjoy this episode, which is a deeply personal conversation between us in which we discuss Francesco's journey and essentially describe how far a person's patriotism, humanism, as well as curiosity can go in becoming a celebrated, respected and admired figure an entire country knows based on the three books Trecci has written and his own inspiration to learn about a new culture in such incredible depth. Get to know Francesco Trecci on Facebook and across social media channels. The podcast is in Italian, but is fully subtitled in English. As a bonus musical dedication to this podcast, you will also hear a song called "Born in Georgia" I had written and produced completely with a new arrangement years ago based on a worldly famous Italian patriotic song "L'Italiano" by Toto Cutugno. The production in the studio involved people from 6 different cultures - a testament to how modern age humanism, respect, and curiosity for not just one's own but other countries can build bridges between people, illuminate, and enrich them, which is ever so critical in today's world.

Timeline

0:00 Speaker and Episode Introduction

3:30 What inspired you initially to learn about the Republic of Georgia?

4:40 Where does your curiosity come from?

6:39 How do you define a person to whom one culture or one passion is not enough to be happy?

7:52 What are some historic figures that transcended borders that influenced you?

10:36 Why studying a foreign country in depth does not reduce your patriotism

12:54 Personal Story - Returning to my native Georgia after 8 years and its personal impact

14:06 Value of Modern Humanism and Ambassador Connecting 2 Cultures

14:48 Francesco Trecci's Three Books in Italian about Georgia

16:47 Biggest Success and Lesson in Francesco's Journey

Connecting with people in Georgia thanks to the books he has written

18:02 Greetings and announcement of a musical dedication

19:04 Song: "Born in Georgia" - new arrangement based on an Italian Patriotic Song in Georgian

22:37 Closing Remarks: How a patriotic song dedicated to 1 song connected people from 6 different cultures in the recording studio

The unprecedented rapid pace of AI and tech innovation has transformed healthcare and life science organizations. With many new answers however come lots of new questions about how to ensure continuous reinforcement of deep, hands-on knowledge of the science and detailed steps behind the art of diagnosis or steps in an experiment, and to enable the best talent in healthcare truly express itself despite the real-world struggles to find the resources they truly need and fill the job positions where their innovation can flourish.

At the 2025 Medical Innovation Olympics, Tim Mikhelashvili (CEO, Amedea Pharma, Host #MIO2025) brought together an expert panel of executives in Human Resources, Life Sciences, Marketing, Founders and Investors (Kim Mack, Founder & Principal, HR Reinforced; Christina Smith, Founder, Neo HR Consulting Group; Christopher Piedmonte, Managing Director, NeoTerra Capital, and Bart Zoni, SVP Innovation & Product, Woven Health Collective) addressed a sensitive question on top of millions of people's minds in healthcare - in an AI-powered talent market, how do we hire, reward, and retain teams where deep scientific judgment and technical execution must win together—every single day?

This session focused on the underlying human factors behind both layering and rewarding the best talent across science and tech in healthcare. Speakers shared practical solutions to build a strong culture that rewards both as leaders, hire, interview, onboard teams, as well as distinguish talent through innovative methods such as video submissions of candidates' CV's or work samples.

0:00 Episode Highlight 1 - Move from "No But to Yes If" in Medicine

0:49 Episode Highlight 2 - Fusion of Science & Tech

1:34 Opening Remarks - Lots of Talent - Few Ways to Express It

3:07 Expert Panelist Introductions

5:41 How do you reward Science versus Tech in Life Sciences?

10:11 Hiring True Talent in the Age of AI crafted Resumes

16:38 Onboarding & Retaining Best Talent

17:05 What the Tech Industry should learn from Science?

19:24 What Life Science should learn from Tech

20:17 Driving Quality Science despite more Informal Training

21:05 Building Cross-Functional Pods across Science & Tech

26:28 Q&A: How do you balance and upskill Medical Talent?

27:57 Q&A: How do you work around AI to hire best talent?

30:50 Q&A: Value of Video Submissions of CVs/Resumes

31:42 Q&A: Work Sample or Task Completions in Interviews

32:27 Final Thoughts - Optimism about Rewarding Best Talent

At the 2025 Medical Innovation Olympics, a powerful all-star expert panel moderated by Melissa Norcross (Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Hyland Software) featuring Eddie Power (CEO, Empower Medical, former Global Medical Affairs Leader at Pfizer), Vivek Mukhatyar (Senior Director, Medical AI Team Lead, Pfizer), and Ravi Kiran Koppichetti (Senior Analyst, Manufacturing Technology, Vertex; former Lead IT Data Engineer, Novo Nordisk) cut through the hype and delivered a practical playbook for leaders in healthcare:

1) Fall in love with the problem, not the tool; 2) Think in systems, not silos; and 3) Train your people, not just your models.

Timeline

00:00 Highlight 1: Why AI Innovation Fails When the Problem Is Mis-framed

01:20 Highlight 2: Probable vs Precise Decisions: Where AI Helps vs Where Governance Must Lead

03:38 Highlight 3: Falling in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution

04:38 Highlight 4: Non-Patient AI Use Cases: Process, Partnership & Proof

06:00 Leadership in the Age of AI: Framing the Right Questions

08:52 Systems Thinking in Healthcare Innovation (Hepatitis C Case Study)

11:35 Constraints in Medical Affairs: Where Humans Must Stay in the Loop

13:19 AI as “Intelligence on Tap” vs Clinical Decision Authority

17:53 Defining Target Conditions and What “Done” Really Means

20:15 Systems Failures in Real-World Healthcare Environments

22:50 How Providers, Payers, and Pharma Are Using AI Today

25:47 Who Decides: Human vs AI Agents in Regulated Healthcare

27:18 Industry 4.0 Explained: Integrating OT and IT in Pharma Manufacturing

30:33 Data Quality, Trust, and Why Most Organizational Data Is Unstructured

32:03 Probabilistic AI vs Precision Decisions: A Leadership Framework

34:35 Trust, Evaluations, and Human-in-the-Loop AI Design

39:11 Why 95% of AI Pilots Fail — and the Role of AI Ambassadors

43:08 Closing Reflections: Systems Thinking, Learning Loops, and Fearless Curiosity

Advancing longevity research is about honoring the value of life—and translating that respect into evidence-based prevention. If healthcare is judged by life expectancy + quality of life, longevity medicine may be one of the most meaningful metrics we can pursue: extending health span through early detection, validated biomarkers, and interventions that scale.

This unforgettable Expert Panel from the 4th annual Medical Innovation Olympics (#MIO2025) convened all-star global leaders in Longevity and Preventive Medicine who separated hype from reality and outlined what it will take to bring longevity into mainstream care - rigorously, ethically, and accessibly.

Topics include: breakthroughs (including epigenetic approaches pointing toward functional restoration of eyesight), biomarkers/endpoints as the “keystone” for faster trials, the TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin) concept, and the role of standards, education, trust, and shared responsibility—keeping dignity central.

Panelists:
Dr. David Barzilai (Harvard Medical School; Geneva College of Longevity Science, GCLS) • Dr. Dominik Thor (President, GCLS) • Dr. Mishkat Shehata (Emirates Lifestyle & Longevity Medicine Society) • Keith Comito (Lifespan Research Institute) • Dr. Uma Senthilkumar (Three Five Revive)

🔗 Amedea Pharma: www.amedeapharma.com
🏅 Medical Innovation Olympics: #MIO2025
🎧 Subscribe for more episodes on longevity, innovation, and performance in healthcare.
#MIO2025 #LongevityMedicine #Healthspan #AgingResearch #PreventiveMedicine #AmedeaPharma #Alloutcoach

00:00:00 Highlight 1: Four takeaways: fund research, education, transparency and
00:01:16 Highlight 2: TAME trial explained: endpoints beyond one disease
00:02:05 Highlight 3: “Do something now”: Alzheimer’s screening + vocal diagnostics
00:02:43 Highlight 4: Multi-omics: organ ages, pace of aging, microbiome, proteomics
00:03:54 Highlight 5: Meaning of longevity: purpose, shared responsibility, dignity
00:04:41 Highlight 6: Present Longevity Medicine as an Economic Benefit
00:05:58 Host Welcome: Longevity as duty, continuity,
00:09:54 Which breakthroughs in longevity show biggest promise
00:11:15 Pharma signal: GLP-1s + industry entering “by proxy” to aging biology
00:12:44 Precision era: epigenetics + multi-omics become clinic-standard
00:14:19 Case study: epigenetic reprogramming restores vision in models
00:16:42 Breakthroughs needed in next 1–2 yrs for longevity to go mainstream
00:17:30 Composite biomarkers regulators & public can trust
00:19:14 Biomarkers → shorter trials + precision feedback loops
00:23:10 Regulatory fragmentation across countries
00:26:21 How do we fit longevity into health systems?
00:27:30 TAME trial: “aging as target” + diagnostics role in preventive care
00:30:36 Call to action: fund TAME + UAE leadership recognition
00:31:05 Steps you can take now: Alzheimer's vocal screening
00:36:05 Where can stakeholders intersect - take action anywhere they live?
00:37:00 How patients, biopharma, regulators, payers align on health span
00:39:12 Is the goal to live forever? Health span vs lifespan
00:39:49 Tithonus myth: why “health span” changes public acceptance
00:41:34 Lifespan vs health span—and “how about both?”
00:42:15 Q&A: How do we attract top talent into longevity research?
00:42:15 Economic + ethical case for talent/policymakers
00:44:37 Q&A: Categorizing aging as disease—impact on regulation/cost/access?
00:44:39 Most effective way to reduce suffering + economic burden; society-wide case
00:46:08 Longevity reflects dignity, vitality and purpose: “health span is a shared responsibility”
00:47:18 Mindset shift: passive consumers → active participants
00:47:46 Get involved: Lifespan + public engagement campaign
00:48:32 Education + trusted sources vs “abbreviated” biohacking info
00:49:30 Four calls to action: increase funding, training, evidence, & access
00:52:25 Closing

The 2025 Medical Innovation Olympics featured one of the most memorable and personal interviews with Amber Salzman, CEO at Epicrispr Biotechnologies, an extraordinary leader with unparalleled sense of purpose, urgency, PhD in mathematics and illustrious track record of success as a pharmaceutical industry executive with over 30 years of experience that included growing revenue, shareholder value, and accelerating innovative treatments.

She began her career leading R & D at GSK with a clinical pipeline responsibility for $1.25 billion, prior to serving as CEO at Cardiokine, CEO at Avalanche, co-founder of Annapurna, SAS, CEO of Adverum, Ohana Biosciences. She currently serves on the Osler Diagnostics (UK) and AviadoBio (UK) Boards. In addition to advocating for patients living with rare diseases, Dr. Salzman leads the Stop ALD Foundation, a non-profit medical research foundation focused on developing.

In this interview Amber speaks about her personal and family's struggle with neurodegenerative rare diseases and the critical new discoveries in gene regulation to switch genes on and off rather than cut DNA which she has guided and accelerated with the support of an extraordinary team of Nobel Prize laureates and scientists at Epicrispr.

0:00 - Highlight 1 - Amber's Family's Personal Struggle with Rare Neurodegenerative Disease

1:02 - Highlight 2 - Patient's Real-World Story from the 9/11 tragedy

2:31 - Highlight 3 - Vision & Stamina Needed to Address Unpredictability of Human Biology

4:03 - Speaker Introduction

7:19 - Keys to Transition from R & D to CEO/Commercial Leader

10:22 - Approach to decision-making as a leader with urgency & purpose

14:00 - Epigenetic Editing and How it is different from CRISPR

16:36 - Challenges on the journey to Epicrispr's discovery

18:14 - Second challenge - finding a gene modulator with which to fuse it

18:49 - Patients vary significantly in how they express their symptoms

19:52 - Springbuck Analytics Partnership - Whole Body Imaging

21:14 - Recent disappointments from Sarepta in Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy

25:48 - How Amber’s personal family experiences with Genetic Diseases impacted her leadership journey

29:47 - When could FSHD patients finally access this new treatment?

31:27 - What other disease conditions is Epicrispr considering in its development program?33:27 - Amber's Lessons: Stay focused on patients, learn, and co-develop treatments together

Sandra Walker is CEO, Viacern Group, and Venture Partner at Hard Climate, a seasoned and inspirational pharma and biotech executive leading Commercial, Medical Operations and Excellence, Government Affairs, Global Strategy and Product Planning at companies such as Genentech, Roche, Eli Lilly and Abbvie. She delivered a state-of-the-art, candid, and intriguing keynote presentation that forces you to reflect on the language and process you use to make decisions in medicine, healthcare, and how you can challenge your current approaches and biases using neuroscience-based practical, real-world solutions to make bolder decisions with evidence to drive innovation forward.

3:10 Speaker Introduction

4:12 Turning Innovation into Outcomes

Three Common recurring Decision Patterns

Explaining Biases in Decision-making

Practical Solutions to Transform Decisions

The Bolder Way

Decision Audit

5:56 Three Invisible Decision Patterns

6:37 Status Quo Bias

8:51 Countermoves You Can Use vs Status Quo Bias

9:29 Confirmation Bias

11:54 10-Minute Challenge Round To use Vs. Confirmation Bias

13:09 Completion Bias - Relief of Feeling Done

16:30 Explaining the Brain under Pressure with Neuroscience

18:50 How to Quiet the Noise in Bias

Label the state – identify the bias, problem, risk

Externalize thinking – move ideas onto paper to createpublic reasoning

Teach the cheerleader to celebrate learning not justfinishing.

Train for Learning not Finishing

21:01 The Bolder Way - 6 steps to turn Awareness into Action

B - Bias and Blind Spots visualization (see the invisible)

O - Observe: Disciplined Curiosity

L - Learn: Broadened Perspectives

D - Decide with clarity and transparency

E - Empower: Trust with Context

R - Recalibrate: Boldness into Learning

27:11 Bolder Way Framework Aligned to the Scientific Method

28:02 Language You Use is Key to Decision Outcome

28:38 The Decision Audit to Deliver Clarity in 5 Minutes

31:09 How Speed of Decision Impacts the Outcome

Alex Giorgetti is a celebrated professional water polo World Champion, Olympic Silver Medalist and owner of a non-profit organization, Giorgetti Athletics where his goal it to build next generation champions ready to earn top scholarships in best U.S. universities or reach professional water polo leagues across Europe. He was a guest keynote speaker at the 4th annual Medical Innovation Olympics where he shared vivid lessons from Olympics and World Championships on maintaining a resilient mindset, the power of generating strong unity and habits in teams, Medical Innovations in analytics to personalize training to a given player or position, and tangible lessons to build winning teams in business.0:00 Team Sport is like an Orchestra - Highlight

2:22 Speaker Introduction3:25 Lessons from Championships on BusinessDiscipline, power of teamwork. Tough sport mentally and physically. Giorgetti Athletics is a non-profit organization. We teach young swimmers about water safety, teach young athletes how to achieve sports scholarships at the most competitive colleges in the U.S., reach professional leagues in Europe. Our goal is to be an inspiration for the next generation.5:15 - Secrets to 4-year Championship Streak on Italy's Water Polo Team5:59 - Team Sport is like an Orchestra Everyone needs to be connected and synchronized in the right moment or music loses its flow. Sports teams without unity lose rhythm. Unity with strong mindset is what Alex calls the magic bubble. Our winning teams during this 4-year streak won games 2 hours before we even jumped into the pool. We did not have to think or plan - we were spontaneous.8:04 - Role of Preparation, Visualization and Recovery on Winning80% of the result depends on your mindset. Visualization and Recovery are most critical9:42 What types of medical approaches did you use in those Championship teams?Cold water therapy, heart rate monitoring scans. 10:20 - Physicians were taking blood tests during 100% fatigue and pressure. This allowed our coaches to know when to rest which roles - centers who fight a lot under water. These medical analytics and tools11:44 - What role do rules and formats of competition play on the outcomes in sports and business?The pool length has shortened from 33 to 25 meters to , lower threshold for exclusions or penalties including physical contact even with one hand blocking a player.13:16 Key in Sports & Business - who is quicker to adapt & keep calm?Peace of mind. Those more calm, self-confident who understand that they have all the answers inside ultimately win.15:18 Life & Business LessonOnly 1 Good Habit can build the Best Version of Yourself

#MEDICALINNOVATION #OLYMPICSWIMMING #championmindset

This is an inspirational keynote presentation on October 6, 2025, at the Opening Ceremony of the 2025 Medical lnnovation Olympics from Chris Cook, double Olympian swimmer, double Commonwealth Games Champion, World Championship Bronze Medalist, motivational speaker at companies such as Microsoft and some of the largest health systems across the globe, and consultant to the U.K.'s government's National Health Service.Chris shares three specific personal stories that span Olympic level training, building the next generation of Olympic champions, and transformation of teamwork across a Healthcare system with psychological safety.

0:00 Timeline - Highlights

2:12 - Intro: 3 Key Messages - Evidence-based Confidence, Clarity, and Psychological Safety

3:28 - Biggest lesson on Confidence during the Toughest Season (2006)

4:57 - Measure what Matters: Heart Rate, Stroke Rate, Time, Perceived Exertion

5:35 - Challenge: Beat the Average from Previous Week

5:51 - Turning Point: Started to be obsessed with Progress

7:10 - Leadership Phase after Retirement

7:27 - Ambition Programme - Team Great Britain - less than 8% of first time Olympians medal, intense build-up, media attention of the Olympics

8:35 Pilot Project of First-time Olympians Created environment for potential stars to feel like Olympians, media mock-interviews, etc.

9:41 Ambition Programme Alumni & Results307 athletes have finished this program40% represent Team GB 11% of the athletes in the program win a medal

10:12- When we get clear we level up certainty

Ask it, answer it, and action it - the last one drives certainty

10:50 - Collaboration with the National Health Service in the UK

New programs: 1) Creating Psychological Safety to share, contribute, and debate; 2) Radical Candor. In less than 18 months, the pilot transformed one department, then started to spread

12:34 - Teamwork thrives on Psychological Safety

12:56 - Keynote SummaryConfidence is built from evidenceWhen we are unclear, things become uncertain - Challenge to the audience!True teamwork starts when we are safe to take risks

On October 6, the Host of the 4th annual global, virtual Medical Innovation Olympics, recognized as one of the top 4 innovation challenges across the globe by Fierce Pharma in 2025, Tim Mikhelashvili, CEO and Co-Founder of Amedea Pharma, welcomed all the guests and competitors at this 16-day competition along with two industry executives on the Board and Expert Judges - Melissa Norcross, Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Hyland Software, and Eddie Power, CEO, emPower medical.

0:00 Welcome - Tim Mikhelashvili, CEO, Amedea Pharma, Host #MIO2025

1:38 Power of Gathering Leaders who do not usually Interact Together

1:58 Layer the Science - Horizontal Innovation to Master Consistency

2:21 Power of Creating Momentum - Lorne Whitehead's Domino Experiment

3:13 Leap with Defiance - Healthcare Ecosystem is hostile to Innovation

3:47 Advances in Neurocircuitry, Alzheimer's biomarkers, Wearable Devices

4:58 Why Humans are Resilient and Innovators by Design

5:36 Today We have to be More Responsible than ever, not only Resilient

6:14 Innovation in Medicine is like Building a Tall Jenga Block Tower6:54 Why MIO2025 requires Competitors to Present Multiple Times x 16 days

7:54 Goal = Feel Like Healthcare Champions Ready for Future Challenges

8:25 Melissa Norcross, PhD - Peer Group to Bring out Your Best

9:20 Eddie Power, CEO, emPower Medical - Power of Learning, Curiosity