Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Ira Pastor

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Dr. David Latshaw, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and CEO of BioPhy ( https://www.biophy.ai/ ), a Philadelphia based artificial intelligence company which has developed a set of platforms that provide quantitative metrics to drug company partners about what drugs and clinical trials will ultimately succeed. Dr. Latshaw is a computational biomolecular and chemical engineer by training and most recently led the deployment of more than 20 programs that leveraged AI across several drug development functions at Johnson & Johnson’s Advanced Technologies Center of Excellence. This impacted $16 billion in yearly sales, reducing costs by 20 percent, and a 50 percent increase in reliability. His work has been recognized by the World Economic Forum, McKinsey & Company, and the National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Latshaw has a BSE in Chemical Engineering from Arizona State University, a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from North Carolina State University, and a Master of Business Administration - MBA, Finance and Operations, from The Wharton School. 
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Dr. Joshua Gonzalez, M.D. is Co-Founder of Popstar Health ( https://popstarhealth.com/ ), a physician-founded sexual wellness company focused on promoting the importance of sexual health for all. Dr. Gonzalez is a board-certified urologist who is fellowship trained in Sexual Medicine and specializes in the management of male and female sexual dysfunctions. He completed his medical education at Columbia University and his urological residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. Throughout his career, Dr. Gonzalez has focused on providing improved healthcare to the LGBTQ+ community, a group often left behind in conversations about sexual and reproductive health. Dr. Gonzalez also serves as an official Sexual Health Advisor to Astroglide Lubricants and is on the board of directors for the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health. Dr. Gonzalez has appeared on The Doctors television show, been featured in Vogue, and is a medical contributor to Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan, and Oprah magazines. He is a sexual health expert that continues to build a robust following on TikTok ( https://www.tiktok.com/@joshuagonzalezmd?lang=en ) where he uses social media to educate the public on sexual and reproductive health. 
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Dr. Jaime Yassif, Ph.D. serves as Vice President of Global Biological Policy and Programs, at the Nuclear Threat Initiative ( https://www.nti.org/about/people/jaime-yassif-phd/ ) where she oversees work to reduce global catastrophic biological risks, strengthen biosecurity and pandemic preparedness, and drives progress in advancing global health security. Prior to this, Dr. Yassif served as a Program Officer at the Open Philanthropy Project, where she led the initiative on Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness. In this role, she recommended and managed approximately $40 million in biosecurity grants, which rebuilt the field and supported work in several key areas, including: development of new biosecurity programming at several leading think tanks; cultivation of new talent through biosecurity leadership development programs; initiation of new biosecurity work in China and India; establishment of the Global Health Security Index; development of the Clade X tabletop exercise; and the emergence of a new discussion about global catastrophic biological risks. Previously, Dr. Yassif was a Science and Technology Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Defense, where she focused on oversight of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and East Asia security issues. During this period, she also worked on the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she helped lay the groundwork for the WHO Joint External Evaluations and the GHSA Steering Group. Dr. Yassif’s previous experience includes work with Connecting Organizations for Regional Disease Surveillance, Chatham House, NTI, the Federation of American Scientists and the Tsinghua University Institute for International Studies. Dr. Yassif holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics from UC Berkeley, an MA in Science and Security from the King’s College London War Studies Department, where she wrote her thesis on verification of the Biological Weapons Convention, and a BA in Biology from Swarthmore College. Important episode link - The International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) - https://ibbis.bio/ 
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Bill Taranto is President of both the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund ( MGHIF - https://www.merckghifund.com/ ), and Merck Global Health Private Equity (GHIPE). He is the founder of MGHIF and is responsible for leading the global health capability for Merck ( https://www.merck.com/ ). The Merck Global Health Innovation Fund was established in late 2010 as a strategic response to the challenges surrounding Merck’s core business of discovering, developing and marketing innovative drugs and vaccines. MGHIF is a $500m evergreen fund focused on identifying opportunities that are adjacent to Merck’s core business of pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Under Bill's leadership, MGHIF has invested more than $1bn in 70 companies, with more than $7bn in exits. Bill has more than three decades of experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining Merck, he spent 18 years at Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in various roles. As VP of healthcare strategy and venture at J&J, he was responsible for evaluating and creating new healthcare business models through venture capital and acquisitions. Prior to joining J&J, he spent eight years in investment banking. 
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Captain (ret) Dr. Gurpartap "GP" Sandhoo, Ph.D. is Director, Emerging Technologies and Architectures - Space Sector at Northrop Grumman ( https://www.northropgrumman.com/space ), where he is focused on leveraging new and emerging technologies and manufacturing process to shape the future of civil and national security space. Dr. Sandhoo previously served at the Defense Innovation Unit ( DIU - https://www.diu.mil/ ) at the Pentagon, a United States Department of Defense organization founded to help the U.S. military make faster use of emerging commercial technologies, supporting that organization’s space portfolio, focused on operationalizing commercial space technologies for national security space. He also served as Deputy Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Project Activity ( IARPA - https://www.iarpa.gov/ ) support the director in the day-to-day management of the organization, and execution of the diverse portfolio of high-risk, high-payoff research programs to tackle some of the most difficult challenges of the Intelligence Community. Dr. Sandhoo previously occupied the Distinguished Visiting Professor Robert A. Heinlein Endowed Chair in Astronautics at the U.S. Naval Academy. At the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, he headed the Spacecraft Engineering Division, and was also the acting director of the Naval Center of Space Technology. He provided executive direction and technical leadership in conducting research of space systems with advanced technologies. He was also a flight controller at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and was a research & development engineer at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, as well as in industry. Since 1986, until recently retiring from public service, Dr. Sandhoo served in uniform in the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy and as a Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve as an Engineering Duty Officer. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland, a Master’s degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, Master’s from the U.S. Naval War College, a Master’s and a Doctorate in Aeronautics and Astronautics from George Washington University, and is a MIT Seminar XXI fellow. 
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Danielle Halstrom is President of the GE HealthCare Foundation ( https://www.gehealthcare.com/foundation ), a philanthropic foundation arm of GE HealthCare that supports nonprofit organizations aimed at making healthcare more accessible, personal, human, and flexible – and ultimately, strives to remove barriers that separate underserved communities from equitable healthcare. With an initial focus on improving maternal health outcomes globally, the Foundation addresses a critical need: Every two minutes, a woman dies due to pregnancy or childbirth-related complications, compounded by a severe shortage in primary care and midwifery professionals worldwide. Ms. Halstrom was previously Chief Communications and Corporate Marketing Officer for GE HealthCare. Prior to GE HealthCare, Ms. Halstrom was SVP and head of comms at biotechnology company Zai Lab, and at Bristol Myers Squibb as VP and head of commercial, research and development and manufacturing comms, including patient advocacy. Before that, she served in roles as senior director and leader of global colleague communications at Pfizer, Director, Product Communications at GlaxoSmithKline, and Manager, USHH Public Affairs at Merck. GE HealthCare ( https://www.gehealthcare.com/ ) is a leading global medical technology and digital solutions innovator, enabling clinicians to make faster, more informed decisions through intelligent devices, data analytics, applications and services. Important episode links Urban Institute - https://www.urban.org/ Lwala Community Alliance - https://lwala.org/ Black Mamas Matter Alliance - https://blackmamasmatter.org/ Project ECHO - https://projectecho.unm.edu/ 
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