Kia ora,

For a while now I’ve been talking about recording a Memia podcast series, conversations with people around Aotearoa doing amazing work in technology and innovation. Here’s the first episode, I hope you enjoy!

Last week I recorded this fascinating conversation with Aotearoa biotech entrepreneur Rachel Kelly, who is working to reimagine the future of personal health and bioaugmented intelligence. We had a wide ranging discussion spanning topics around extending healthspan, the latest wearables and bio-augmentation technologies, the importance of sleep and ultimately “accelerating the ability for organic and inorganic intelligence to work symbiotically to their fullest potential”. Fascinating stuff.

Rachel’s bio:

Rachel is a scientist, strategist, high-tech product developer and commercialisation professional who has spent the last 20 years in the science and technology sector. After spending 9 years in California working within biotechnology and high-tech manufacturing, she returned to New Zealand in 2014 and has been heavily involved in the Aotearoa technology ecosystem ever since.

Rachel has worked with award-winning and innovative tech startups including CoHired and Nyriad. She led Gallagher's Enterprise Security division as Chief Product Officer, and is currently co-owner of Taylored Health & Performance, a holistic, science-backed health hub and co-CEO of Taylored Technologies, a new biotech startup leveraging advanced technologies to unlock the health and potential of global leaders and athletes.

When she’s not building startups, Rachel has been was a co-founder of the Waikato technology cluster, former Deputy Chair of NZTech, former elected member on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Forum NZ Executive Council and is currently a Ministerial Advisor on the Digital Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and Board Member at Callaghan Innovation.

Episode links:

Items mentioned during the podcast:

* Rachel LinkedIn Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkellynz/

* Theranos Podcast: “The Dropout” by ABC https://abcaudio.com/podcasts/the-dropout/

* Nexus Trilogy by Ramez Naam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nexus_Trilogy

* Lex Fridman podcast: https://lexfridman.com/podcast/

* Project Otto website: https://projectotto.io

* Project Otto contact: [email protected]

Podcast outline:

* Rachel bio: 0:40

* Taylored Health 6:00

* Project Otto 8:55

* Healthspan 12:05

* Epigenetics - what is the Horvath Clock? 15:02

* Brain computer interfaces - Bryan Johnson / Kernel 15:55

* Sleep patterns / REM, deep sleep, circadian rhythms 17:40

* Sleep monitoring headband devices 21:30

* Project Otto data model: building algorithms and “MVT” (minimum viable truth”) 24:30

* Life extension: “For every 2 weeks you’re alive, you gain years of your life” 26:00

* Whole health: four pillars - “how you think, live, eat, move…in that order”. 28:00

* Technologies: CRISPR, machine learning, Alphafold 2, mRNA 29:00

* Water, organic chemistry and quantum physics 32:00

* The Virome 33:05

* Taylored Tech 500 year vision: “Accelerating the ability for organic and inorganic intelligence to work symbiotically to their fullest potential” 37:05

* Cyborgs, BCIs and quantum computing advances: building the “AI Placenta” 38:55

* Accessibility and ethics - who gets this tech first? 45:05

* Looking at 900,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (“SNIPs”) 49:00

Video recording:

You can listen to MP3 audio above or watch the recording on Youtube:

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