Heartbeats of Hope is the 2025 International Project for Interact District 5170, focused on making a meaningful impact in Vietnam.

This year, Interact District 5170 is partnering with the VinaCapital Foundation’s Heartbeat Vietnam initiative to help provide life-saving heart surgeries for children born with congenital heart defects.

High school students from Interact clubs across the San Francisco Bay Area are working together on fundraising efforts, to support medical treatment that can transform the lives of these young children. Through their collective efforts, these students are not only raising funds but also raising awareness about the critical need for healthcare access in underserved communities. By collaborating with Heartbeat Vietnam, Interact District 5170 hopes to bring hope and healing to children in need, creating a lasting impact in the lives of both the recipients and the students involved.

Our speaker, Chloe Nguyen, is a graduating senior at Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy. She currently serves as the International Project Coordinator for Interact District 5170, collaborating with over 20 individuals as part of the Daydream District Council 2025.

Chloe is the founder of the Heartbeats of Hope Initiative, which aims to bring positive humanitarian change through healthcare. With a deep passion for the medical field, she plans to pursue a career in nursing and eventually specialize as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).

To learn more about Heartbeats of Hope, watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGyDqNupJ3w

This episode refers to a number of visuals that are in the video version which can be seen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3fbnO3K6fxKt9pfaTp8mYn or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/24FR5Knwvfs

We believe the message is an important one, even if you do not watch the video, and hope that you will enjoy this and every episode of our series.

Dr. Matthew O'Connor, was awarded his master’s degree in neuroscience from Northwestern Medical in 1999 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Baylor College of Medicine in 2005.

His doctoral and postdoctoral research includes work at Baylor College of Medicine and UC Berkeley on telomeres and muscle stem cells in aging.

He is the former VP of Research at SENS Research Foundation (now Lifespan Research Institute), where he oversaw a broad swath of research projects spanning many aspects of rejuvenation biotechnology, from which he authored many papers and patents. Dr. O'Connor co-founded Cyclarity Therapeutics in 2019 to develop drugs targeting molecular toxins that accumulate with age in various cells and tissues. Their first drug product targets oxidized cholesterol in cardiovascular disease.

Cyclarity Therapeutics is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical startup committed to developing drugs to prevent and treat age-related diseases by addressing root causes - the buildup of toxic molecules that accumulate in the body over time. Their current target is atherosclerosis, the culprit behind most cardiovascular disease and stroke deaths worldwide. The company's first product, UDP-003, is a novel therapeutic which is able to bind and extract oxidized cholesterol from cells and tissues to restore their function. This therapeutic has the potential to not only prevent the accumulation of atherosclerotic plaque, but also to reduce plaque which has already accumulated - an ability never before achieved with drug treatment. It also has applications in a range of additional age-related conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases, stroke, age-related macular degeneration, and liver disease. Cyclarity recently launched its first-in-human Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Australia.

Cyclarity has also developed a computational platform for the design of specialized molecules to bind any target of interest. This platform was used to design UDP-003. The company incorporates AI and ML with the goal of automating the process of designing molecules for a range of uses, including anesthesia reversal in surgery, nanoplastic removal, and nutritional modifications for food products. The goal is to use this technology to design molecules to help people across various industries, from medicine to food to the environment, and beyond.

To learn more, go to:

https://cyclaritytx.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyclarity/

https://m.facebook.com/Cyclarity/

This episode refers to a number of visuals that are in the video version which can be seen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3fbnO3K6fxKt9pfaTp8mYn or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ml1lSxKQix8

When we look to science fiction, there are many examples of impossibly smart materials. The T-1000 from Terminator 2 comes to mind, being able to have a body that can heal and reshape at will. Or, much friendlier, the "nanobots" from Big Hero 6, a large collective of small robots that can create any shape at will.

In real life, embryonic tissue is the closest thing to these fantastical materials. It can change its shape, create complex structures, and even change its internal strength, able to melt and flow like a liquid. In a collaboration of roboticists and embryo physicists, the speaker and his co-authors made a collective of robots that embeds these principles, hopefully representing the first step toward uncovering the physics that could govern these sci-fi robotic materials.

Our speaker, Dr Matthew Devlin, is a mechanical engineer from UC Santa Barbara who has recently published a paper called "Material-like robotic collectives with spatiotemporal control of strength and shape" in the journal Science. A small team made up of robotics engineers and embryo physicists were able to distill some of the key principles of embryonic tissue and demonstrate them in robots. He believes it is a key piece of the puzzle for a Big Hero 6 or Terminator-like robotic material.

To learn more, go to this paper published in the Journal Science:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads7942

A news article written by UCSB giving a high-level explanation:

https://news.ucsb.edu/2025/021769/how-get-robot-collective-act-smart-material

The Philosophy and Literature Circle provides learning opportunities for scholars incarcerated in prisons and jails in South-Central Texas to engage with and create works of literature and philosophy.

The program draws on the strengths of humanistic inquiry and engagement to redress the isolation and exclusion central to U.S. punishment cultures. The mission of the Circle is to cultivate collaborative learning communities so that people in prison and beyond can thrive and build trust across divides.

The vision of the Circle is to foster a world filled with thriving communities of trust and accountability that embody commitments to justice, peace, and freedom. Program content and structure seek to bring such a world about through critical, compassionate, and creative engagement with texts, ourselves, one another, and our worlds.

Our speaker, Judith Norman, has been engaged with community organizing for 20 years. She has worked with movements for economic justice, anti-militarization, educational justice, and the liberation of Palestine as a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

In 2020 she helped start the Philosophy and Literature Circle at the Torres Unit, a learning circle that brings undergraduate students together with incarcerated scholars to read, write, and discuss works of philosophy and literature.

Judith is a Murchison Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Trinity University.

Her research focuses on the history of philosophy, and German philosophy in particular, and she has published numerous articles on the subject.

She has translated the works of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche and teaches classes in the history of philosophy as well as indigenous philosophy and the philosophy of art.

To make a donation to the Classroom on the Inside program (UTSA): https://giving.utsa.edu/thecircle

To learn more, go to:

https://www.trinity.edu/news/classroom-inside

To read Mary Oliver's Wild Geese: https://www.empoweredstl.org/courageinactionblog/k8yuhtr76c6s58w3368kamhw0mxit2

The Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network and the words we use: https://ficgn.org/our-pledge

A little over seven years ago, we had a program from this week's speaker that is one of the most-watched programs our club has shared with the world. It's focused on the fascinating topic of tiny homes.

Today we'll have a chat about how Ariel's life has grown and changed since the last program with our club. Was living in a tiny house the right decision for her circumstances? What is she doing now? How many of the things she was doing then have stayed the same? What has changed over the years? Are there choices she regrets or would do differently in hindsight? How has she worked to make her housing choices fit pursuing what is important to her larger life goals?

Our speaker is Ariel McGlothin. Ariel, along with her husband Clay, their dogs, cats, bees, and poultry, strive to live a simple and regenerative life in the mountains of western Wyoming on their little homestead. They collect and split wood for heating, gravity feed water from a natural spring, use a composting toilet, do laundry by hand and dry it with the latest in solar & wind technology, store some crops in a root cellar, can/ferment/dehydrate/freeze others, and attempt to grow, hunt, or forage as much of their own food as possible between the weather and wildlife.

Ariel loves to share the skills she has learned with others. She tries to share real life around their place. The good and the bad. The ups and the downs. What works, and what doesn't. The parts she loves (most of it!), and the things she doesn't. Not just the romantic idea of "homesteading" or a more self-sufficient life, but the everyday details of this lifestyle.

She hopes to help others learn from her mistakes and make life just a little easier for anyone else interested in pursuing a similar lifestyle.

They live in a somewhat harsh and cold climate at a little over 6000 feet above sea level tucked into the mountains, but enjoy the stunning scenery and wildlife that they are surrounded by on a daily basis. When not busy in the garden, taking care of the animals, or cooking something, Ariel really enjoys spending time reading, hiking, and photographing the natural world around her.

Find Ariel, wildlife & nature photography at any of these spots:

https://arielcelestephotography.zenfolio.com

https://youtube.com/fynyth

https://odysee.com/@FyNyth:d

https://rumble.com/c/c-5592588

Lots of info from my first years in the tiny house:

https://fynyth.blogspot.com

Our speaker, Steffek Rainey, is an innovator deeply committed to sustainability, with a focus on developing ventures that encourage everyday people to participate in impactful environmental change. A student at Harvard,

Steffek is exploring cutting-edge design and engineering principles to create solutions to significant societal challenges like plastic pollution and climate change. Before joining Harvard, he founded an award-winning company dedicated to reducing plastic waste through innovative product design.

Steffek’s designs have been recognized by the US President and EPA and he has been twice voted a People’s Choice Student Entrepreneur.

Steffek Rainey’s journey is not just about creating a product—it’s about creating change. He shares with us how a single idea turned into

Evera Bottle, a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics, and how his advocacy for a cleaner world has challenged industries, inspired communities, and redefined what it means to be a young innovator. With stories of struggle, resilience, and breakthrough moments, this talk is a call to action for everyone to think about how they could change the world with one simple idea. Because the future doesn’t belong to those who accept the world as it is—it belongs to those bold enough to change it.

To learn more, go to:

https://www.everabottle.com/

Rotary Clubs around the world have successfully united toward the eradication of polio.

Now, we, Rotarians, have the opportunity to use the same strategies, the same tools, the same determination to eliminate cervical cancer.

From prevention to treatment, there are many entry points to intervene ranging from preventive HPV vaccination, promotion of screening and follow-up, and social mobilization.

This presentation will focus on why cervical cancer elimination is an achievable goal, and lessons learned from small actions that are leading to major impact.

Our speaker, Dr Isabel C. Scarinci, is a professor and Vice-Chair for Global and Rural Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham, Alabama.

Professionally, she has dedicated her career to the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based programs in cervical cancer prevention and control among underserved populations.

As a Rotarian, she has partnered with the Rotary Club of Colombo (Sri Lanka), and more recently with the Rotary Club of Guatemala-Sur, toward the elimination of cervical cancer in these countries. In 2023 Alabama became the first and only state in the U.S. to launch a statewide plan to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem through a partnership between the Rotary Club of Birmingham and other organizations.

In 2021, Dr Scarinci was chosen as one of the six champions of health worldwide by Rotary International for her work in cervical cancer.

To learn more, go to:

https://operationwipeout.org/

The Constellation of Living Memorials (CLM) represents a groundbreaking approach to redefining community engagement in historic cemeteries.

Rapid urbanization has caused populations to lose touch with an authentic sense of place, including the memories of our ancestors and the surrounding natural environment. By reimagining these spaces as mixed-use areas, CLM creates a tapestry that educates about local culture and highlights the importance of restoring native ecosystems, bridging the gap between humanity and nature, one cemetery at a time.

Fostering a sense of renewal, rediscovery, and nurturing the soul, CLM addresses climate adaptation, environmental justice, human health, biodiversity conservation, and equity. It is a constellation of interwoven landscapes, connecting the heart of cities to their rural environs and even to oceans. In a country where more than 85% of Americans are urbanites, CLM creates an opportunity to partner with spirit, reverse nature deficit disorder, and drive unity.

Our speaker this week is Julie Ann Fineman, the president of Friends of the Warren Ferris Cemetery, and Founder of Constellation of Living Memorials.

After thirty years as an award-winning Hollywood photographer, Fineman’s photographic legacy is now housed in the permanent collection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Library. Subsequently, she re-envisioned her life’s focus through a year’s internship on an organic farm in upstate New York. She now advocates for wildlife conservation through multiple programs that she has developed.

To learn more, go to:

https://www.constellationoflivingmemorials.org

Celebrating 10 years since their first Magical Bridge playground opened in 2015, the foundation just completed its 10th custom playground this year.

It's a child's first outdoor classroom, yet it's incredible that today's public playgrounds do not serve the needs of most children and their families. About 25% of us live with a visible or invisible disability, and data continues to show more outdoor time is critical to our mental health. So why aren't playgrounds built to be places of community connections that serve today's families, from the youngest to the oldest?

As the only design that considers the whole family, Magical Bridge is committed to creating more inclusive communities through its truly magical playgrounds and multi-generational programs. Learn how we are different and we invite you to understand why "accessible" is no longer enough, and a Magical Bridge means every"body."

Our speaker, Olenka Villarreal, is founder and CEO of Magical Bridge Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating the world's most inclusive playgrounds for guests of all ages and all abilities, far surpassing what is typically known as "accessible." With a passion for community-building, Olenka leads the foundation's efforts to create a more inclusive world through these innovative spaces coupled with their multi-generational programs.

To learn more, go to:

https://www.magicalbridge.org/

This week's speaker, Margaux Charpentier, is the Grants Manager for One Heart Worldwide, an NGO whose mission is to make pregnancy and childbirth safer for all, with a particular emphasis on the underserved women and infants of Nepal.

Margaux has a background in anthropology and is currently completing a Master's in International Development from University College Dublin in Ireland. At OHW, she is in charge of communication with donors, providing grant reports for partners, and researching new funding opportunities.

Each year in Nepal, 1,500 mothers and 12,000 newborns die from preventable causes related to pregnancy or childbirth.

Many health workers lack the specialized skills to deliver quality maternal and newborn care, and even those who participate in government programs such as the official certification training to become Skilled Birth Attendants lack follow-up or opportunities to gain new information or updated techniques. Further complicating these factors, health providers, particularly in rural areas, frequently cite isolation and lack of opportunities as impacting their overall satisfaction and, ultimately, a loss of skills retention.

To better address the training needs of maternal and neonatal healthcare (MNH) service providers and improve the quality of essential obstetric and newborn care services in rural Nepal, One Heart Worldwide developed, piloted and is now deploying an innovative simulation-based training and mentorship program (SBMP) for rural healthcare providers. Simulation-based approaches create rich learning environments by providing MNH providers with opportunities to practice their clinical and decision-making skills through various real-life situational experiences. Practicing in realistic scenarios builds competencies to manage emergencies and rare adverse events, directly impacting patient outcomes.

OHW, with support from a Rotary Global Grant, is currently expanding the SBMP into each of our active program implementation districts as an integral part of our intervention.

To learn more, go to: https://oneheartworldwide.org/