SKRAPS: Deep Dive

Where were you on June 18, 1971? Did you know that was when Richard Nixon, the United Nations, and other world leaders changed the course of popular culture, scientific experimentation, and mind exploration for the next five decades? Did you know that substances that have the potential to change the way we treat myriad diseases and conditions - ones that have little or no reliable treatments today - were fated on that day to be imprisoned like Hannibal Lecter?

Join us for the first of a series of Skraps Original episodes as we explore the use, misuse, and history of psychedelics. In this episode, we will cover the most important question of what these substances are, and begin to question why they were lumped in with other addictive substances by exploring the history of how curiosity-induced exploration on one side clashed with religious single-mindedness. This manifested itself in how these plant-based substances were viewed then and for centuries later, in the eyes of the western world. 

PsychedeRx will cover the ancient history of plant-based psychedelics including their religious, ceremonial, tribal uses and the dangers imposed by the European views of those uses. We’ll experience murder, mayhem, executions, displacement, and more. We’ll talk to psychedelic historian Mike Jay to get the full story of the full journey - one that started long before Nixon and other world powers set their limited, short-sighted fear loose upon the world.

Subscribe to SKRAPS on your favorite podcast platform to make sure you don’t miss a minute of this riveting journey.

This is PsychedeRx - A SKRAPS original podcast series detailing the journey of an improbable drug class (Psychedelics) and its journey - past, present and future. 

After almost 40 episodes of a project that Arun apparently had little faith in, we're going to take a look back at some of our favorite episodes, some hints of what's coming up next, and what celebrity researcher intimidates JoJo the most.

After this episode, we're going to take a week or two sabbatical in order to wrap up our big project. In the meantime, have a listen to what we thought Skraps would be vs. what it has become - and maybe reach back and take a listen to one of our many, many amazing guests.

We also want to be sure to thank a few special people -

Sharena Rice, in addition to her many academic responsibilities and generally awesome professional life, volunteered to do a ton of research for the aforementioned project. What we suspected would be one episode has turned into a full-fledged series.  Thanks, Sharena, we know you will be wildly successful in everything you do.

Romeo Racz is another magnificent human. He is taking our dinky website and making all of the necessary corrections to take our playdough version and rendering it in a fancy, user (and search-engine) friendly beast of Skraptacular greatness.

Swarna Solanki is not only wrapping up the Cleveland NeuroDesign Fellowship, she is also a new mom and still volunteering to work on post-production of some of our earlier episodes. Amazing focus and endless energy.

Thanks to Sharena, Romeo, and Swarna - and to everyone who has listened. 

Stay tuned for the next chapter of Skraps!

-Arun and JoJo

Daniel Powell and Navid Khodaparast are getting on peoples' nerves. No, really. They're disrupting everything you know, or think you know, about opioid use disorders and tackling the hardest part of helping people break free of the vice grip of addiction - acute withdrawal.

Spark Biomedical has developed two systems to help alleviate the worst symptoms of withdrawal. Using transcutaneous auricular neurostimulation, their wearable devices are changing lives. Check out the story behind the story in this episode of Skraps. 

Join us for an invigorating chat with Dr. Howard Levin.

Howard is an MD and together with his friend and professional colleague, Mark Gelfand has created some of the landmark medical device companies in cardiology. Between them, they have created 10 companies via their incubator, Coridea and are inventor-founders of Ardian, Cibiem, Respicardia and Axon Therapies.

Recently, they joined hands with Deerfield Management to found a Medtech incubator called Deerfield Catalyst. 

Join us for a conversation with one of the true pioneers in the field of neuromodulation, outside the brain and spinal cord. 

There's not much in this life that the COVID-19 Pandemic hasn't changed, and that includes the 20th anniversary of the IEEE's Neural Engineering Conference (NER). NER began under the leadership of Professor Metin Akay as a way for members of the nascent field of neural engineering to gather, share ideas, share research, and yes, share a beer or two.

Now, twenty years later, the conference has grown into one of the preeminent gatherings for the field of neural engineering and was set to return to Italy. The original conference - you may have heard folk tales of the legendary event - was held on the island of Capri off the coast of Italy. Because of its sizeable growth, the conference no longer fits within the confines of the beautiful island and had been intended to be held in Sorrento - the mainland sister of Capri. Unfortunately, well, COVID (it's always stupid COVID - just go away already.)

Arun and JoJo sat down with this year's Conference Co-Chairs, Professor Thomas Stieglitz and Professor Silvestro Micera to find out what makes this particular conference so special (hint: you'll be singing this Sister Sledge song for the rest of the day), how they dealt with moving this beast online, and how young folks in the field can get involved in their favorite conferences, societies, editorial boards, and more. 

Enjoy!

Join us for part 2 of the coverage on what it means to be and feels like a fellow in the Cleveland NeuroDesign Innovation Fellowship Program run collaboratively by the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic.


Here we are joined by the inaugural cohort comprising: Efstathios Kondylis, Swarna Solanki, Patrick Smith and Nick Couturier with strong recognition for a Case Western Biomedical Engineering Alum, Michael Ackermann.

The next cohort applications are now open: https://www.clevelandneurodesign.org/application

Each of them have a unique story that led them to this point. They walk us through what drove them here, how the process was, their experiences, what they learned, gained and more importantly implement moving forward.

This one is surely one not to miss, as it exposes what it means to be in a program that teaches scientists and engineers how to innovate based on need., a principle well documented by the Stanford Biodesign. 

It is not often that we  get to cover and you get to hear the story of an innovation design program. This is part 1 of the chat on Cleveland Neurodesign Innovation Fellowship Program with Andy Cornwell of Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic and the faculty at the program.

Part 2 will follow in relatively short notice tomorrow!

Link to Neurodesign Program website: https://www.clevelandneurodesign.org/application

What is the difference between intelligence and wisdom and why should you care? Dr. Robert Sternberg introduces us to his theories of adaptive intelligence and his triangular theory of love. He provides insights as to how our society misdirects and prioritizes our focus on exactly the traits that lead us down untenable social and political paths. He also proves to us once and for all that it's a bad idea to use an IQ test to get a first date.

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all." - Aristotle

Of course, intelligence is for naught if we fail to care for the heart; Dr. Sternberg has that one figured out, too with his appraisal of the types of love and how we can best find our match with The Love Multiverse (shoulda had this one on for Valentine's Day - sorry 'bout that!)

Take a listen while he walks us through his theories as well as the results he's obtained by applying his theories of learning to university administration policies.

Check out his recent cover story in New Scientist, "Rethinking Intelligence" 

There is a Vietnamese proverb that reads "Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet." Theo and Stavros Zanos are perhaps one of the best personifications of this notion. They are independent, they accomplish vastly different things, yet they are perfectly paired and, at the end of the day, part of the same system. 

So, grab an espresso from Theo's lab and join us for a chat with the brothers of The Feinstein's Institute for Bioelectronic Medicine.