S2E14 Mariam Khayretdinova: Decoding Depression – From Trial-and-Error to Precision Treatments

S2E14 Mariam Khayretdinova: Decoding Depression – From Trial-and-Error to Precision Treatments

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Mariam Khayretdinova, - neuroscientist, data scientist, founder of Brainify.AI, and author of ‘Decoding Despair: How AI Is Reshaping Psychiatry’ - about rethinking how we understand and treat depression—one of the most widespread and complex illnesses of our time. Mariam’s journey into mental health began with her own lived experience. Growing up with undiagnosed depression in a culture where mental illness was stigmatized and poorly understood, she spent years navigating symptoms without a framework for what she was experiencing or how to seek help. That experience now informs her work at the intersection of neuroscience, data science, and artificial intelligence. In the conversation, Mariam explains why psychiatry still relies heavily on subjective, symptom-based diagnoses, and why current treatments often follow a trial-and-error approach that can take months—or years—to find something that works. She outlines a new vision: using large-scale biological, behavioral, and digital data to uncover objective biomarkers of mental illness and move toward truly personalized care. From EEG-based models to AI-driven early detection tools, Mariam explores how advances in data and computation could transform psychiatry into a more precise and predictive discipline, leading to better outcomes for patients.

S2E13 Aaron Roodman: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and Mapping the Cosmos

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Stanford Professor Aaron Roodman, about some of the deepest mysteries in the universe: dark matter, dark energy, and the architecture of the cosmos. The conversation begins with a deceptively simple question: what is matter? From there, Aaron walks through the fundamental particles that make up the visible universe before stepping into the far stranger territory of dark matter—an invisible form of mass that shapes galaxies and outweighs ordinary matter by roughly five to one—and dark energy, the mysterious property of space that appears to be driving the accelerating expansion of the universe. A major focus of the episode is the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever built. Aaron describes how the Rubin Observatory and its extraordinary LSST camera will map billions of galaxies over a decade, offering an unprecedented window into the visible and invisible structure and evolution of the cosmos (Aaron led the team that built the LSST, largest digital camera ever constructed for astronomy) . Supporting links of interest: https://rubinobservatory.org https://rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-first-look https://rubinobservatory.org/gallery

S2E12 Dennis Selkoe: Changing the Course of Alzheimer’s Disease

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Dennis Selkoe, one of the scientists whose work helped define the modern understanding of Alzheimer’s disease—and laid the foundation for the first treatments that can alter its course. For decades, Alzheimer’s was viewed as an inexorable disease with no meaningful way to intervene. Dennis helped change that. The conversation traces the arc from the earliest pathological clues—amyloid plaques and tau tangles—to the molecular discoveries that transformed Alzheimer’s from a mysterious clinical syndrome into a biologically tractable disease. Dennis also brings the perspective of a practicing neurologist, describing what it is like to diagnose and care for patients as memory, reasoning, and identity begin to slip away. From biomarkers and early detection to anti-amyloid antibodies, tau targeted therapies, and the possibility of prevention, this conversation explores how far the field has come—and what may lie just ahead. It is remarkable that we now have two FDA approveddisease-modifying anti-amyloid therapies for Alzheimer's Disease on the market — Leqembi (lecanemab) and Kisunla (donanemab) — and it is only the beginning of new medicines that will be available to us in the coming decade.

S2E11 Gabriela Ochoa: Saving Sharks, Protecting Reefs, and Sustaining Coastal Communities

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Gabriela “Gaby” Ochoa, an energetic and passionate marine conservation leader and founder of Ilili, about what it really takes to protect sharks—and the coastal communities whose lives are intertwined with them. Gaby’s path began far from the ocean, growing up in Honduras with a love of animals and biology. What followed was an unexpected journey through turtle conservation, coral reef restoration, and eventually into one of the most complex conservation challenges in Central America: shark and ray protection in La Mosquitia, where marine ecosystems, indigenous communities, and local livelihoods are deeply connected. The conversation explores why sharks matter ecologically, why their populations are in steep decline, and why conservation cannot succeed without understanding the people behind the fishery. Gaby shares how Ilili combines field science, fisheries monitoring, policy advocacy, public education, and trust-building with local communities to create a more durable model for conservation. An engaging conversation about sharks, systems, and the kind of leadership required to protect both biodiversity and human dignity.

S2E10 Sam Blackman: The Quest to Develop Medicines for Children with Brain Cancer

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Sam Blackman—pediatric neuro-oncologist, biotech founder, and storyteller—about the patients who shaped his life’s work and his search for a cure for children with brain cancer. As a physician caring for children with brain tumors, Sam witnessed firsthand the limits of existing treatments—and the urgency felt by families facing devastating diagnoses. That experience became a driving force behind his decision to help build a different kind of biotech company: one focused not on adapting adult drugs for children, but on developing therapies specifically for them. That vision led to the creation of Day One Biopharmaceuticals and ultimately to the development of tovorafenib, a targeted therapy approved in 2024 for children with low-grade glioma, the most common form of pediatric brain cancer. This is a conversation about compassion as a catalyst for innovation—and how one doctor’s commitment to his patients helped turn unmet need into a new medicine.