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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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). 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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