The Life Sciences Revolution

In this episode, Alex chats with Dr. Noshir Pesika, a specialist in biomimicry. Noshir is a Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering professor at Tulane University, where he focuses his research on creating novel products based on the natural world.  His research is centered around the concept of biomimicry - the idea that nature has spent millennia designing, testing, and iterating products for highly specialized functions. By analyzing the micro and nano-level structure and design of these products, we can better understand how they work and how we may be able to recreate them for human use.  We discuss: * What is biomimicry, and how to design useful devices with these ideas * Concepts behind reverse engineering natural products  * Noshir's workflow for identifying systems for potential application * Tangible examples of biomimicry in life sciences and the world around us * Cartilage-inspired low friction systems and their applications in medical devices * Gecko-inspired adhesives and their applications * Future advancements in the field of biomimicry and research to be on the lookout for * Noshir's path - moving from Mauritius and career advice for those listening

In this episode, Alex chats with Dr. Esteban Plata, an expert in pharmaceutical development. Esteban is the former vice president of Western Europe and Canada for AbbVie, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. He’s spent nearly two decades working on the company’s commercial development side where he’s held VP and general manager roles across a wide range of geographies such as Turkey, Japan, Spain, and the Asia-Pacific region. He holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the National research council in Spain and is an expert in everything pharma and drug commercial development.   We discuss: * Esteban's background and AbbVie's history * Introduction to drug development and the clinical approval pathway * Clinical trials and the role of pharmaceutical companies in providing new medicines for society * Honing in on a company's indication of choice * The evolution of surrogate markers for an early-stage understanding of a therapy's potential * Pharmaceutical geographic span and local fit * Learning to live anywhere in the world and how to learn to fit in with a new culture as a business professional * Pharmaceutical patent cliffs and internal vs external innovation * Big pharma-small biotech M&A rates * Adaptive regulatory pathways, clinical trial efficiency, and dealing with different global regulatory bodies

In this episode, Alex chats with Dr. Robert Montgomery, one of the world's foremost organ transplantation and research experts.  Dr. Montgomery is the Chairman and Professor of Surgery at NYU Langone Health and is the Director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, one of the US' top transplant centers. Dr. Montgomery has been at the forefront of organ transplantation for decades as both a surgeon and a patient. He was the first surgeon to receive an implantable defibrillator after a genetic heart condition caused multiple cardiac arrests. Later, he received a heart transplant as a patient in the first clinical trials with hepatitis C-positive hearts. He was part of the teams that developed the laparoscopic procedure for live kidney donation, conceived the idea of domino-paired donations, created the Hopkins protocol for desensitization, and, more recently, completed the first successful investigational kidney and heart xenotransplantations.  We discuss: * The life & death & life & death & life of Robert Montgomery: the story of his heart * The state of the organ transplantation field: problems with quantity, quality, and consistency  * How does the US organ transplant waitlist work? * Different organ sources: live donors, deceased donors, altruistic donors, domino transplants, hepatitis-C positive donors * The opioid epidemic in the context of organ transplantation: a harrowing source of organs * Cutting-edge research: how xenotransplantations and bioartificial organs can solve the organ transplantation crisis * Advanced surgical methods: robotics and AI in organ transplants * How to style your mustache with the world's foremost expert in organ transplantation

In this episode, Alex chats with Martin Varsavsky, a serial entrepreneur in the realm of fertility and the founder of Prelude Fertility, the largest fertility clinic network in North America. Before working in the fertility space, Martin was the founder of various companies in the renewables and telecommunications space, many of which have reached unicorn valuations well past the billion-dollar mark.  We discuss: * What does it mean to be infertile and what is IVF (in vitro fertilization)? Why is infertility on the rise and what are the options to work around it? * What is Prelude Fertility, what services are provided, and who are the typical patients who come to Prelude? * Is it advisable for all young people prophylactically freeze gametes? * What made you switch to working in the fertility space from your other ventures? What is it like being on the patient side of your own venture? * Martin's other fertility ventures: Overture Life/overhauling the fertility clinic benchtop and Gameto * Different types of fertilization: natural vs ICSI  * The ethics of working in the fertility realm: CRISPR babies, discarding embryos, genetic testing embryos, abortions, and access to fertility services * Advice for entrepreneurs and blazing your own path

In this episode, Dr. Cuesta chats with Dr. Gustavo Stolovitzky, a thought leader in the realm of computational biology and a pioneer in the realm of precision medicine. Gustavo was the director of IBM's translational systems biology and nanobiotechnology program, an adjunct professor at both the Icahn School of Medicine and Columbia University, and is currently the Chief Scientific Officer at Sema4, a data-driven precision medicine company.  We discuss: * What is precision medicine: the historical and conceptual origins as well as the direction the field is moving today * How the synergy of artificial intelligence and advancements in synthetic biology are enabling precision medicine * Obstacles in artificial intelligence and how they are impeding the growth of precision medicine * Using deep learning in medicine: supervised learning, explainable AI, and overfitting algorithms  * The DREAM challenges and how crowdsourcing solutions in computational biology can help solve issues in precision medicine * How will AI fit into the clinical landscape * Sema4 and how data is translated from concept to clinical practice * Intellectual property and how to protect your algorithms in precision medicine * What is the best path to break into precision medicine