Beyond Bounds

M42

Healthcare is changing fast. Beyond Bounds: Voices explores the ideas transforming health and what they mean for people, society and our future. Hosted by Mazar Masud, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs at M42, the series brings together leading scientists, technologists, policymakers, innovators and changemakers for candid conversations that go beyond the headlines, challenge conventional thinking and reveal how people are pushing boundaries to shape a healthier future for all.

Episodes

  1. 3 days ago

    Professor Simon Fishel | What If Reproductive Healthcare Started Before Fertility Declines?

    What If Reproductive Healthcare Started Before Fertility Declines? What if menopause and reproductive aging were not simply changes to manage after they happen, but health challenges we could plan for decades earlier? In this episode of Beyond Bounds: Voices, host Mazar Masud, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs at M42, speaks with Professor Simon Fishel, Founder and President of ProFaM, about the shift from treating infertility to protecting reproductive health, choice and healthy longevity. Professor Fishel reflects on the difficult early years of IVF, the resistance faced by its pioneers and the persistence that helped transform reproductive medicine. He shares how unanswered questions in fertility treatment led him to pursue new approaches and rethink the wider role of reproductive science in human health. The conversation explores ovarian tissue freezing and transplantation, the thinking behind ProFaM, and the possibility of preserving ovarian hormone function beyond fertility. It also confronts the scientific uncertainties, the need for informed consent and long-term evidence, and why menopause deserves greater attention as a whole-body health issue. Guest Overview Professor Simon Fishel Founder & President, ProFaM Professor Simon Fishel is a pioneer in reproductive medicine who worked with IVF pioneer Robert Edwards during the early development of the field. Across more than four decades, his work has included advancing IVF education and reproductive techniques. As Founder and President of ProFaM (Protecting Fertility and Menopause), he is exploring how ovarian tissue preservation could support fertility choices and potentially extend ovarian hormone function later in life. In this episode, they explore: • The early IVF revolution: The scientific, ethical and social resistance surrounding IVF, and what persistence made possible. • A career of challenging assumptions: How setbacks, unanswered questions and a commitment to education shaped Professor Fishel’s work. • Beyond infertility: Why reproductive medicine could become a broader discipline focused on lifelong health. • How ovarian tissue preservation works: What is frozen, how tissue may be transplanted back, and how ovarian function can resume. • The ProFaM approach: The potential of ovarian tissue preservation for fertility and menopausal hormone function. • Evidence and uncertainty: Why the long-term benefits, graft duration and comparison with hormone replacement therapy still require further study. • Prevention and personal choice: Why earlier reproductive health planning, transparency and informed consent matter. • Menopause and whole-body health: The potential links between ovarian hormones, bone health, cardiovascular health and cognition. • Women’s healthspan: Why extending healthy years, not only fertility, is central to the conversation. • The next decades: What a more personalized and preventive approach to reproductive health could look like. Chapters 00:00 The early IVF years and the resistance to change 02:23 The lessons of persistence and scientific progress 10:32 Why reproductive medicine is about more than babies 12:41 What is ProFaM and how does ovarian tissue preservation work? 17:02 What evidence is needed for menopause applications? 20:42 Balancing innovation, risk and uncertainty 24:13 Can fertility preservation become preventive care? 27:16 Rethinking menopause as a whole-body health issue 30:27 Why women’s healthspan matters 32:35 A vision for reproductive healthcare in 20–30 years

  2. 23 Sept

    Dr. David J. Bearss | What If Medicine Has Been Asking the Wrong Question?

    What if, instead of only studying why people get sick, we studied why some people stay healthy despite being genetically at risk of disease? In this episode of Beyond Bounds: Voices, host Mazar Masud, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs at M42, sits down with Dr. David J. Bearss, Ph.D., Co-Founder, CEO and President of Halia Therapeutics, to explore how genetic resilience could challenge some of the fundamental assumptions behind modern medicine. David shares the personal experiences that led him into science, his journey from laboratory researcher to biotech entrepreneur, and the moment a family carrying a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s changed the way he thought about disease. Instead of asking only what goes wrong?, David began asking a different question: what is protecting the people who don’t get sick? The conversation explores what that shift could mean for Alzheimer’s disease, precision medicine and the future of prevention, including how population-scale genomics in Abu Dhabi is enabling researchers to identify people at genetic risk before symptoms appear and explore whether earlier intervention could help protect them from disease.  Guest Overview Dr. David J. Bearss, Ph.D. Co-Founder, CEO & President, Halia Therapeutics Dr. David J. Bearss is a scientist, entrepreneur and drug developer with more than two decades of experience translating scientific discoveries into new medicines. He has co-founded eight biotechnology companies and advanced more than a dozen compounds from discovery to clinical development. At Halia Therapeutics, he leads the development of therapies targeting chronic inflammation and genetic resilience, with a focus on extending healthspan and addressing age-related diseases, including Alzheimer’s. In this episode, they explore: Genetic resilience: Why some people remain healthy despite carrying genetic risk factors for serious diseases. Rethinking disease: What happens when researchers ask why people stay healthy, rather than only investigating why they become sick. From treatment to prevention: Why David believes chronic diseases require a fundamentally different approach, with intervention beginning before symptoms appear. Genes aren't necessarily destiny: How protective genetic variants can modify disease risk and what this could mean for precision medicine. Rethinking Alzheimer's disease: How studying people with the APOE4 genetic risk factor led to the discovery of a potentially protective biological mechanism. Inflammation and Alzheimer's: What genetic research is revealing about the role inflammation may play in disease progression. Population genomics: How studying entire populations could help uncover biological protection that conventional healthcare datasets have historically missed. The Emirati Genome Program: Why Abu Dhabi's population-scale genomics capabilities create new possibilities for research and clinical trials. Intervening before Alzheimer's symptoms appear: How M42, the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and Halia Therapeutics are working together on a first-of-its-kind clinical trial. The future of healthcare: A vision of healthcare where people better understand their individual risks and have the information and tools to act earlier. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:34 The personal story that drove David into science 12:35 Why study health instead of disease? 16:39 Has medicine been asking the wrong question? 19:56 Is healthcare really “sick care”? 22:58 What is genetic resilience? 26:58 How population genomics changes what is possible 28:53 Rethinking Alzheimer’s disease 29:23 The genetic discovery that could protect against Alzheimer’s 33:45 Can we intervene before Alzheimer’s develops? 39:00 What would success look like 10 years from now?

    Dr. David J. Bearss | What If Medicine Has Been Asking the Wrong Question?
  • 2 Episodes

About

Healthcare is changing fast. Beyond Bounds: Voices explores the ideas transforming health and what they mean for people, society and our future. Hosted by Mazar Masud, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs at M42, the series brings together leading scientists, technologists, policymakers, innovators and changemakers for candid conversations that go beyond the headlines, challenge conventional thinking and reveal how people are pushing boundaries to shape a healthier future for all.

Information

  • Creator
    M42
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © M42
  • Show Website
    Beyond Bounds