On this episode of "Halteres Presents", hosts Mickey Urdea and Rich Thayer are sitting down with Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, the Director of the Pandemic Center and Professor of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, to comb through the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess America's readiness for pathogens both natural and from a bioterrorism weapon. This at times sobering conversation covering surveillance methods to curtail disease outbreaks, how to combat health-related misinformation, and improving American prosperity through global health security initiatives can hopefully kickstart the precautions necessary to prevent the worst case scenarios. Please enjoy this episode of "Halteres Presents".

Jennifer Nuzzo is a nationally and globally recognized leader on global health security, public health preparedness and response, and health systems resilience. Together with colleagues from the Nuclear Threat Initiative and Economist Impact, she co-leads the development of the first-ever Global Health Security Index, which benchmarks 195 countries’ public health and healthcare capacities and capabilities, their commitment to international norms and global health security financing, and socioeconomic, political, and environmental risk environments.

In addition to her scholarly work, Nuzzo regularly advises national governments and for-profit and nonprofit organizations on pandemic preparedness and response, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a pandemic advisor for Impact Assets’ Stop the Spread Campaign. She is currently a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s (NASEM) Standing Committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Center for Preparedness and Response.

Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Fox News, Politico, The Hill, and The Boston Globe. She was featured in Debunking Borat, a television series on Amazon Prime Video, and her work was featured on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. She served as COVID Advisor for the Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies, where courses are designed for professionals looking to deepen their expertise in the biotech space. Their core course, In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development, offers a practical, end-to-end look at taking an IVD product from concept to regulatory approval. You’ll learn about product requirements, assay development, instrumentation, risk analysis, and key clinical and regulatory considerations. Learn more about the In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course ⁠HERE⁠.

You can also broaden your skills with their Precision Medicine and Companion Diagnostics course, which covers biomarker-driven development, CDx/therapeutic co-development, and the expanding role of precision medicine. Learn more about the Precision Medicine and Companion Diagnostics course ⁠HERE⁠.

Use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10 at checkout for 10% off the price of your enrollment.

Advance your diagnostics career with UC San Diego Extended Studies - your next step in biotech starts here.

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

On the Season 4 premiere of Halteres Presents, hosts Mickey Urdea and Rich Thayer are talking all about H5N1 with Dr. Dave Engelthaler, the Director and Professor at TGen North and Executive Director of the Health Observatory at Arizona State University. Dr. Engelthaler returns to the podcast to cover the origins of this strain of avian flu, its devastating effects particularly on dairy farms, what our level of concern for human transmission should be heading into 2026, and even some purr-plexing disease vectors that may be going overlooked. Please enjoy this episode of Halteres Presents.

David Engelthaler is the Director and Professor at TGen North, and is a Director of TGen’s Division of Immunology and Microbial Genomics. TGen North focuses on pathogen genomics with a specific mission to advance clinical medicine, public health, and biodefense. Dave is also co-appointed as the Executive Director of the Health Observatory at ASU. During the recent pandemic, Dave oversaw the rapid development of TGen’s FDA-allowed COVID-19 diagnostic test, the creation of a federally-licensed diagnostic laboratory, and the institution of the AZ COVID sequencing reference laboratory—all in support of Arizona’s public health and healthcare response.

Prior to joining TGen, Dave was the State Epidemiologist for Arizona where he was responsible for coordinating outbreak investigations and disease research activities statewide. From 2000 to 2005, Dave was also the Arizona Biodefense Coordinator, responsible for coordinating all state-wide activities regarding public health emergency preparedness and response, including response activities to suspect biothreat events, such as the suspicious powders that were seen following the anthrax letter attacks. He also served as statewide coordinator for Pandemic Influenza and other public health emergency response activities. Prior to 2000, Dave was a biologist for the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he conducted research on highly infectious diseases like plague and tularemia.

Dave has over 170 peer-reviewed publications, garnering over 10,000 citations and has over two dozen patented inventions. Dave received a Ph.D. in Biology from Northern Arizona University with a focus on genomic epidemiology, and a Master’s Degree in Microbiology from Colorado State University, where he studied host-vector-pathogen dynamics.

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies, where courses are designed for professionals looking to deepen their expertise in the biotech space. Their core course, In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development, offers a practical, end-to-end look at taking an IVD product from concept to regulatory approval. You’ll learn about product requirements, assay development, instrumentation, risk analysis, and key clinical and regulatory considerations. Learn more about the In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course HERE.

You can also broaden your skills with their Precision Medicine and Companion Diagnostics course, which covers biomarker-driven development, CDx/therapeutic co-development, and the expanding role of precision medicine. Learn more about the Precision Medicine and Companion Diagnostics course HERE.

Use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10 at checkout for 10% off the price of your enrollment.

Advance your diagnostics career with UC San Diego Extended Studies - your next step in biotech starts here.

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 4 of our award-winning podcast Halteres Presents begins on Tuesday November 18th!

Season 4 of our award-winning podcast Halteres Presents begins on Tuesday November 18th! This season we are honored to interview many more experts across the field of diagnostics to monitor the heartbeat of the community, detect areas of focused effort, and prognosticate where the next waves of innovation may lie. Topics of interest this season include what to expect from H5N1 in the coming year, the potential for multi-cancer early detection, deciphering the human microbiome, advances in home specimen collection and shipment, the future of non-instrumented one-time use tests, and much more!

Season 3 of Halteres Presents was recently named a finalist for “Best Podcast” at the 2025 Fierce Pharma Marketing Awards, the inaugural Zenith Awards by CommsWeek, and the 2025 CineHealth film festival. Past seasons of Halteres Presents have also been recognized with a gold Titan Health Award, a silver Davey Award, a gold Stevie Award at the American Business Awards, and an Award of Distinction from the Communicator Awards.

Learn more about why we started the podcast here.

Season 4 of Halteres Presents is brought to you by the UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course, a unique live-online program designed for managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. This team-taught course by award-winning industry experts covers everything there is to know about the requirements for moving an IVD product from concept to regulatory approval and market launch. Explore real-world product development cases to help you plan for success by covering topics such as setting product requirements & specifications to meet customer needs, critical path management, resource planning, principles of assay development, instrumentation, role and composition of the product development team, risk analysis, and IVD clinical and regulatory issues such as compliance and complaint handling.

Ready to get started? Enroll HERE today and use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10 at checkout for 10% off the price of your enrollment. Accelerate your in vitro diagnostics career with the UC San Diego Extended Studies program – your future in biotech starts here.

⁠⁠UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development Course⁠⁠

Use code: HALTERES10 at checkout!

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

On the finale episode of season 3 of "Halteres Presents", Rich Thayer and Mickey Urdea are honored to sit down with their longtime colleague Nobel Laureate Sir Michael Houghton.

Sir Michael Houghton is a British-born virologist known for his contributions to the discovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV). The identification of HCV facilitated the development of improved blood screening tests and diagnostic methods for the detection of hepatitis caused specifically by HCV. For his breakthrough, Houghton was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with American virologists Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice.

Dr. Houghton was born into a working-class family; his father was a truck driver. After successfully passing exams, Houghton was admitted to a private high school. He later won a scholarship to study at the University of East Anglia, where he completed a degree in biological sciences in 1972. He then attended King’s College London for graduate studies. His research focused on elucidating the human beta interferon gene; interferons produced by the body’s cells are a key defense response against viruses. In 1977 Houghton graduated from King’s College, earning a doctoral degree in biochemistry.

Dr. Houghton subsequently moved to the United States. After a short period at the pharmaceutical manufacturer G.D. Searle & Company (later G.D. Searle, LLC, a subsidiary of Pfizer), he joined the California-based biotechnology firm Chiron Corporation. At Chiron, Houghton worked closely on investigations of non-A, non-B hepatitis with fellow Chiron scientists George Ching-Hung Kuo and Qui-Lim Choo and American virologist Daniel W. Bradley, who was based at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using a complementary DNA library developed from blood plasma containing a non-A, non-B hepatitis virus, the researchers successfully identified a DNA clone derived from the HCV RNA genome. Houghton and colleagues subsequently developed an assay to screen for HCV in blood samples. The breakthrough facilitated the development of highly effective blood screening tests to prevent the transmission of HCV via blood transfusion. While at Chiron, Houghton also contributed to the discovery of the hepatitis D virus genome.

In 2007 he left Chiron to join Epiphany Biosciences, where he was the chief scientific officer. Two years later he moved to Canada, having accepted the position of Li Ka Shing Professor of Virology at the University of Alberta. His later research focused on the development of an HCV vaccine.

Dr. Houghton received various honors and awards during his career, including the Robert Koch Prize (1993) and the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award (2000, shared with Alter). He declined the Canada Gairdner International Award (2013) because of its exclusion of his colleagues who helped identify HCV. In 2021 Sir Houghton was made a knight.

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course, a unique live-online program designed for managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. Enroll today and use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10

⁠UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development Course⁠

Use code: HALTERES10 at checkout!

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

On this solo episode of "Halteres Presents", Rich Thayer and Mickey Urdea are highlighting the potential market applications for wearable diagnostic devices. The recent increased interest in the wearables space has been ignited by significant technological improvements in microfluidics and microelectronics, as well as the use of smart phone apps and AI-driven algorithms that help to enrich the data stream and the actionability of the diagnostic results. Rich and Micky cover new detection technologies, improved biomarkers and biofluid collection capabilities, the unique value of continuous monitoring for assessing women's health, and applications beyond human health, such as for companion, herd, and wild animals.

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course, a unique live-online program designed for managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. Enroll today and use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10

UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development Course

Use code: HALTERES10 at checkout!

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course, a unique live-online program designed for managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. Enroll today and use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10 at checkout for 10% off the price of your enrollment. 

⁠⁠UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development Course⁠⁠

Use code: HALTERES10 at checkout!

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

On this week's episode of "Halteres Presents", Rich Thayer and Mickey Urdea are discussing with David Engelthaler, the director of the Pathogen and Microbiome Division at TGenNorth, the status of today's most cutting-edge genomics tools and how they're being utilized for clinical medicine, public medicine, and the One Health space. These next-gen genomic tools are more useful, flexible, accurate, and affordable than ever before, but they are only as intelligent as the hands they're in, so Dave is here to help uncover the best applications for these tools and the most applicable data to mine for the most useful and expansive possible inferences. Tune in to raise the level of your own pathogenic intelligence with David Engelthaler.

Dave Engelthaler, Ph.D., is a professor and the director of the Pathogen and Microbiome Division (aka TGen North). His research team at TGen North has a specific mission to advance human health through the application of pathogen genomic sciences and next generation technologies.  He is also director of the TGen North Clinical Laboratory, and Co-Director of the TGen Integrated Microbiomics Center.
Dave was formerly the State Epidemiologist for Arizona and a biologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has over 160 peer-reviewed publications and over two dozen patented inventions. Dave's team at TGen North led TGen's emergency response operations to COVID, providing direct support to the residents of Arizona, especially for tribal nations and rural communities. Post-pandemic, his translational research is heavily focused on detecting and tracking outbreaks, characterizing and monitoring drug resistance in tuberculosis patients, and studying disease emergence and pathogen evolution.
Dave received a Ph.D. in Biology from Northern Arizona University with a focus on genomic epidemiology, and a Master’s Degree in Microbiology from Colorado State University, where he studied host-vector-pathogen dynamics.

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course, a unique live-online program designed for managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. Enroll today and use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10 at checkout for 10% off the price of your enrollment. 

⁠⁠UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development Course⁠⁠

Use code: HALTERES10 at checkout!

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

On this week's episode, Rich Thayer and Mickey Urdea are hosting Jennifer Leib and Elliot Cowan for their first-ever roundtable discussion in order to parse through the ramifications of the FDA's recent final rule on laboratory-developed tests (LDTs), which amends FDA regulations to make explicit that in vitro diagnostic products (IVDs) are devices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) including when the manufacturer of the IVD is a laboratory. This new LDT regulation has massive implications for test developers, patient care, and the FDA itself, so having Jennifer and Elliot, who possess very different experiences and opinions on the FDA's final rule, on the podcast together for this special roundtable discussion was critical for putting the new rule and its fallout in the proper context. This unique, frank conversation is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to see the whole picture of this complicated subject matter; please enjoy.

Jennifer Leib is a board-certified genetic counselor and experienced government affairs professional with an expertise in genomics and precision medicine policy, having studied at the undergraduate program at University of Michigan and the masters program at Johns Hopkins University. She is the founder of Innovation Policy Solutions (iPolicy), a leading government affairs consulting firm that promotes innovation through policy change. The firm actively advises and advocates on behalf of patients, providers, and innovators in laboratory medicine, precision medicine, public health, synthetic biology, gene therapy, neuroscience, rare diseases, and more. Grounded in a foundation of scientific expertise, iPolicy identifies data-driven solutions to health and science policy issues and builds coalitions of support to drive the adoption of clinical advances and enhance patient access to cutting-edge diagnostics and therapeutics. iPolicy is headquartered in Washington and supports clients across the country.

Elliot Cowan is the founder and principal of Partners in Diagnostics after 20 years of service at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As Chief of the Product Review Branch in the Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases at FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, he was responsible for the regulatory oversight of all blood donor screening tests and retroviral diagnostics, covering every facet of the regulatory review process. He served as chair or supervised the review of numerous IVD applications, as well as acting as the product expert for manufacturing facility inspections. He played key roles in the development of policy, coordinating decisions on issues such as the approval and use of the first of rapid HIV tests and the first over-the-counter HIV test system. He served as the Chair of the HIV Diagnostics Subcommittee of the Laboratory Technical Working Group in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and assisted the World Health Organization in the development of its Prequalification of Diagnostics Programme. Elliot received a BA from Williams College and a PhD in biology and biomedical sciences from Washington University in St. Louis.

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course, a unique live-online program designed for managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. Enroll today and use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10 at checkout for 10% off the price of your enrollment. 

⁠⁠UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development Course⁠⁠

Use code: HALTERES10 at checkout!

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

On this episode of "Halteres Presents", Rich Thayer and Mickey Urdea are chatting about decentralized diagnostic testing with Dr. Donna Wolk, division director of Molecular and Microbial Diagnostics and Development at Geisinger Medical Laboratories. Dr. Wolk helps to put into perspective the market explosion of decentralized diagnostic tests designed for point-of-care, near-patient, at-home, over-the-counter, and pharmacy-based use, and the patient-driven factors to weigh when considering which tests to offer in which decentralized venues.

Dr. Donna Wolk is the division chief, Molecular and Microbial Diagnostics and Development, at Geisinger Medical Laboratories and director of the Infectious Disease Research Laboratory at the Weis Research Center. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Medical Microbiology, a board-certified medical laboratory scientist, and a professor at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. Dr. Wolk also serves on the faculty of the Geisinger Pathology Residency Program. 

Dr. Wolk received her master’s in health administration at Wilkes University and her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical and molecular microbiology at the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education in Rochester, Minnesota.

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course, a unique live-online program designed for managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. Enroll today and use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10 at checkout for 10% off the price of your enrollment. 

⁠⁠UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development Course⁠⁠

Use code: HALTERES10 at checkout!

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

On this episode of "Halteres Presents", Rich and Mickey are sitting down with David Persing, the Executive Vice President, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for Cepheid, to reflect upon his experiences at the dawn of molecular diagnostics, the effectiveness of surveilling animal reservoirs to monitor for disease outbreaks, and just how nervous we should be about the

David Persing, MD, Ph.D., has spent most of his 30-year career in biomarker discovery, translational medicine, and innovation in the diagnostics space. Dave joined Cepheid in 2005 and has focused on the enablement of molecular diagnostic technology to meet global needs in infectious diseases and oncology. He conducted his scientific and medical training with Don Ganem and Nobel laureate Harold Varmus at the University of California, San Francisco. After residency training in Clinical Pathology at Yale University, he held leadership roles in academia and industry starting in the early 1990s with the design, implementation, and operation of the first PCR reference laboratory at the Mayo Clinic.

His interest in the democratization of molecular diagnostic methods has been longstanding, starting in 1993 with his publication of the first of five widely adopted textbooks to include PCR protocols and guidelines for laboratory operations. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and reviews, including multiple articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, Science, and PNAS. In 2020, he was named to the Fierce Pharma list of the 22 most influential scientists in the fight against COVID-19. To maintain a connection with the latest trends in translational medicine, Dave also serves as Consulting Professor of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He obtained his MD and Ph.D. degrees from UCSF in 1988.

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course, a unique live-online program designed for managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. Enroll today and use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10 at checkout for 10% off the price of your enrollment. 

⁠⁠UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development Course⁠⁠

Use code: HALTERES10 at checkout!

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Welcome to Season 3 of "Halteres Presents", the award-winning, brand-agnostic interview podcast designed to unbiasedly highlight the happenings within the diagnostics industry. 

Our first guest of Season 3 is Holden Thorp, the editor-in-chief of Science Magazine and family of journals. Holden brings his unique perspective to the subject of science communications, discussing his thoughts the quandary of fostering public trust in science, how to improve the way science is taught in schools, and just what made the greatest scientific communicators so great.

Holden Thorp became Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals on 28 October 2019. He came to Science from Washington University, where he was provost from 2013 to 2019 and professor from 2013 to 2023.  He is currently a professor at George Washington University and on leave to serve as the Editor-in-Chief at Science.

Thorp joined Washington University after spending three decades at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where he served as the 10th chancellor from 2008 through 2013.

Thorp earned a bachelor of science degree from UNC, a doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, and completed postdoctoral work at Yale University. He holds honorary degrees from Hofstra University and North Carolina Wesleyan College and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  

Thorp cofounded Viamet Pharmaceuticals, which developed VIVJOA (oteseconazole), now approved by the FDA and marketed by Mycovia Pharmaceuticals. Thorp is a venture partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, a consultant to Ancora and Urban Impact Advisors, and is on the board of directors of PBS, the College Advising Corps, and Saint Louis University.  He serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Yale School of Medicine and the Underwriters’ Laboratories Research Institutes.  In 2023, STAT named Thorp to its STATUS list of top leaders in the life sciences.

Thorp is the coauthor, with Buck Goldstein, of two books on higher education: Engines of Innovation: The Entrepreneurial University in the Twenty-First Century and Our Higher Calling: Rebuilding the Partnership Between America and its Colleges and Universities, both from UNC Press.

This episode of "Halteres Presents" is brought to you by the UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development course, a unique live-online program designed for managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. Enroll today and use our exclusive discount code HALTERES10 at checkout for 10% off the price of your enrollment. 

⁠⁠UC San Diego Extended Studies In Vitro Diagnostics Product Development Course⁠⁠

Use code: HALTERES10 at checkout!

Learn more about Halteres Associates ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.