Behind the Breakthroughs

Carolina Aguilar: Brain-Computer Interfaces that Heal Neural Circuits

Brain-computer interfaces have gained widespread attention largely for assistive applications, but Carolina Aguilar sees their greatest potential in directly treating neurological disease. Through INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, she is developing graphene-based implants designed to read and stimulate neural activity with far greater precision than conventional devices, building on insights from her 13 years at Medtronic and earlier neuroscience research. In this conversation, Aguilar explains why INBRAIN prioritizes therapeutic BCIs, how graphene could advance personalized neurotechnology and AI-driven therapies, and why conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and cardiometabolic disorders are central to the company’s long-term vision. Produced and hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD Audio mixed and mastered by Erick Ziegler Brought to you by Inside Precision Medicine (SAGE Publishing) ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Matthew Rabinowitz: Engineering a New Era of Diagnosis

Matthew Rabinowitz, PhD, moved from engineering to medicine after his Human Genome Project work, motivated by both scientific insight and personal loss that exposed the limits of existing genetic diagnostics. He founded Natera and later Myome, building genomic and AI-driven tools to improve disease detection, risk assessment, and prevention. In the episode, he highlights challenges. such as regulatory barriers, fragmented data, and translating genetics into clinical decisions, while aiming to develop predictive blood tests that enable proactive care. Produced and hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD Audio mixed and mastered by Erick Ziegler Brought to you by Inside Precision Medicine (SAGE Publishing) ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Jurgi Camblong: Data-Driven Doctors Without Borders

Precision medicine promises individualized care through data, but progress remains fragmented. Clinical, genomic, and imaging data are siloed, limiting real-world use. Jurgi Camblong, PhD, founded SOPHiA Genetics to integrate multimodal data into actionable insights, yet variability in technologies and evolving biology complicate standardization. In this episode of Behind the Breakthroughs, Camblong discusses how effective solutions require combining diverse AI methods grounded in context and longitudinal feedback loops. To Camblong, the challenge is not data quantity but making existing information usable in patient care. Produced and hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD Audio mixed and mastered by Erick Ziegler Brought to you by Inside Precision Medicine (SAGE Publishing) ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Molly Gibson: Superintelligence and the Future of Drug Development

As an Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering, Molly Gibson, PhD, co-founded her first company, Generate:Biomedicines, in 2018, where she made her mark by developing models that design novel proteins—work that has already led to a Phase 3 asthma drug. Since then, she has gone on to co-found two additional companies: Expedition Medicines and Lila Biosciences. In this episode, Molly explains why the anticipated boom in AI-guided drug development hasn’t fully materialized and how she’s tackling the challenge by modeling complex chemistry to synthesize novel small molecules at Expedition Medicines. She also discusses building "superintelligence" and closed-loop systems in which AI can autonomously generate, test, and refine scientific ideas at Lila Biosciences. Produced and hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD Audio mixed and mastered by Erick Ziegler Brought to you by Inside Precision Medicine (SAGE Publishing) ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Mike Curtis: Pig Organs as a Bridge to Human Transplants

Xenotransplantation has long been a scientifically promising but ethically complex field, overshadowed by its limited practicality despite the growing shortage of transplantable organs and the urgent needs of patients. Recent breakthroughs, including genetically modified pig heart transplants in 2022 and 2023, have demonstrated its feasibility, marking a turning point even though long-term survival has not yet been achieved. In this episode of Behind the Breakthroughs, Mike Curtis, PhD, President and CEO of eGenesis, explains how the company is building on this success to advance xenotransplantation as a scalable clinical strategy, emphasizing that even temporary extensions of life—such as a recent nine-month kidney transplant case—can provide meaningful outcomes and bridge patients to future treatments. Produced and hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD Audio mixed and mastered by Erick Ziegler Brought to you by Inside Precision Medicine (SAGE Publishing) ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.