Talk Polymath: Evidence-based Conversations

Hear the semifinalists from the ARPA-H Dash talk about their bold ideas for health transformation and what drives them. In this episode, they explore the impact their ideas could have on health — from accelerated healing and customized cell treatments at scale to better mental health treatments and a single drug for cancer. This episode features: Willie Reaves, Cellino Mary Allen, Cure Brain DiseaseJeffry Paten, BrilliantStrings TherapeuticsAnuradha Lingappa, Prosetta Bi...

In this episode, we talk with Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)’s Inaugural Director, Dr. Renee Wegrzyn. ARPA-H, a new federal agency, accelerates accessible and equitable high-impact health solutions that cannot be readily accomplished through traditional research or commercial activity. To do this, ARPA-H aims to create new capabilities and solve important health problems for all Americans through ambitious, well-defined, and measurable programs. During our discussi...

In this episode, we talk with Colin Strong, Head of Behavioral Science at Ipsos. During our discussion, Colin differentiates behavioral science from traditional psychology and how the former can help us understand how to navigate the “liquid changing” sociopolitical and environmental situations currently happening on a global scale. Specifically, he offers his perspective on how the Pandemic affected the human condition, the behavioral changes that manifested, and how they may impact the crit...

In this episode we speak with Dr. Stacy Woods, Senior Data Scientist at the Science Office of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). As the in-house expert in statistics and data visualization, her work primarily focuses on different aspects of water health. Stacy discusses the key role community members play in water health projects, recounting her work on the highly publicized case of lead pipes poisoning residents in Flint, MI. There, she and her team established a public database, ...

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Anastasia Yanchilina, a Research Scientist and “Rock Enchantress” at Impossible Sensing. Anastasia’s work is rooted in applying what we know about the past to what we can learn about the future. Combining her studies in paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, and climate policy with her expertise in geochemistry and geology, she analyzes data coming back from the 2020 Mars Perseverance Mission. Learn about her findings, including whether or not we’ll ever grow cr...

In this episode, we talk with Eric Klingenberg, Materials Science Lead, at the Mars Advanced Research Institute, the research arm of Mars, Inc. Eric discusses how the development of new packaging for Mars products involves thinking beyond recyclability. He and his colleagues at Mars explore a variety of materials and technologies that present opportunities for making use of waste materials while also reducing the amount that ends up in landfills. Learn more about how Eric assembles interdisci...

Ep. 10 | Solving Climate Change on Earth: Sensing Technologies, Ocean Exploration, and Scientific Collaboration In this episode we talk with Pablo Sobron, Founder/Sensing Wizard at Impossible Sensing, and Research Scientist at the SETI Institute. Pablo discusses new sensing technologies that will map the ocean floor, and other harsh environments where these technologies can be applied to inform innovative climate change solutions. Listen to how his team of thinkers, engineers, and scient...

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Farshid Guilak, who was recently elected into the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to regenerative medicine and mechanobiology. Dr. Guilak is both the Mildred B. Simon Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Throughout his career, Dr. Guilak has pursued interdisciplinary collaborations that create just enough chaos, and maybe a little art in the process...

In this episode, we talk with Peter Bergman and Sara Nadel of Learning Collider (https://www.learningcollider.org/), a research lab on a mission to accelerate socio-behavioral research to identify technology interventions that fight inequality. The lab partners with large-scale technology companies and organizations to access the high-dimensional data they collect, then use these massive data sets to assess discrimination and biases that impact hiring, loan decisions, and educational opportun...

In this episode, we talk with Jamie Arbib, who with Tony Seba co-founded RethinkX, an independent think tank dedicated to analyzing and forecasting technology-driven disruption. RethinkX recently released a report on climate change mitigation. It questions conventional forecasting, which they believe underestimates complex system dynamics and the impact of technological disruption.During the conversation, Arbib discusses how a convergence of technologies will catalyze the "fastest, deepest, m...