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As an assistant professor at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Emily Largent focuses primarily on research ethics and issues surrounding Alzheimer's disease. In this episode, you will discover:
Over 5.5 million Americans have dementia, and there is still no disease-modifying therapy and no way to reverse or slow the progression of the disease. It is one of the most feared conditions of old age because it affects people's personal identity, sense of self, and personal relationships in a way no other disease can.
Largent discusses the key premise of her research, which is that our understanding of Alzheimer's disease is changing in ways that will have a fundamental impact on the lived experiences of those who receive the diagnosis, as well as their family members. Largent is interested in exploring the social, legal, and ethical implications of Alzheimer's disease research and how to translate this research into high-quality bedside care.
In addition, she is interested in better understanding how people receive the news that they are (or are not) at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in the future. She expounds on the details of a particular study which aimed to identify the emotional impact of receiving this type of news, and shares some interesting findings. She also discusses the ways in which people respond practically to receiving such news, and explores how it might affect the relationships they have with other people.
Tune in to hear the full conversation. To learn more, visit https://www.alz.org/, https://www.nia.nih.gov/, and https://pennmemorycenter.org/. Available on Apple podcast: apple.co/2Os0myK
CEO of Lantos Technologies John Bojanowski, and Chief Audiology Officer at Lantos Technologies Dr. Brian Fligor, join the podcast to discuss 3D ear scanning. In this episode, you will learn:
Lantos Technologies is a company that spun out of MIT about 10 years ago with the goal of improving the standard of care for creating custom-fit devices for the ear. Up until that point, the technology being used was quite literally about 130 years old. Despite encountering unexpected complications in the creation of digital technology for the ear, the technology at Lantos was brought to market and commercialized in 2019.
The old technology for custom-fit ear devices relied on making ear molds, which quite literally required pouring a substance into the ear of the customer and waiting until it dried. This was not only inefficient and ineffective, but uncomfortable for the client. At Lantos Technologies, custom-fit devices are made based on a simple 60 to 90-second 3D scan of the ear, which is then uploaded via the cloud and sent to the manufacturer. This allows for personalized solutions for a range of products, including hearing aids, hearing protection, professional audio, and consumer audio.
Bojanowski and Fligor discuss the uniqueness of ears—in fact, they even say that an ear print could serve as an excellent biomarker for individual identification. They've scanned over 18,000 ears and have yet to find any two alike—including the left and right ears on one individual. That's right, your right and left ear are not symmetrical, but don't worry, Lantos accounts for this. Among other topics, Bojanowski and Fligor discuss the anatomy of the ear and how it relates to the creation of their technology, some of the most in-demand and interesting applications of their technology, and so much more.
Tune in, and visit https://www.lantostechnologies.com/us/. Available on Apple podcast: apple.co/2Os0myK
Kimothy Smith, DVM, PhD, VP of Pathogen Detection Systems at Nephros, Inc, discusses water-borne diseases, water filters, and more. Dr. Smith earned a BS in biochemistry and earned his Doctorate in veterinary medicine from Oklahoma State University. He holds a PhD in molecular epidemiology from Louisiana State University.
Podcast Points:
Dr. Smith talks about the core technology of Nephros, and how they got their start in filtration systems that provide barriers to many water-borne pathogens, such as Legionella, and others. He goes on to explain some of the newer technologies developed by the company and his personal role in their pathogen-detection systems—to help with mitigation, and to clear potential problems. He explains that certain plumbing and pipes, and the age of buildings, etc., can contribute to bacteria and pathogen growth. Dr. Smith gives an overview of just how important it is for workers to take care and exercise caution when opening up plumbing systems, because there is always an opportunity for bacteria to find a way in, and potentially multiply.
Continuing, the pathogen expert discusses heavy metals, and environments that are ideal for bacteria and pathogenic growth. Expanding on his thoughts and knowledge, Dr. Smith discusses the specifics of buildings, and pathogen entry potential. He explains the importance of testing, and mitigation practices—from chemical to thermal treatments, as well as filtration. Dr. Smith goes on to explain seasonal changes and weather/flooding events that could also play a role in bacteria growth and the risks to human health.
Shawn Patrick O'Brien, chief executive officer of Genomind (genomind.com), discusses anxiety, mental health, and genetic connections.
Before his work began at Genomind, O'Brien founded Key BioPharma Partners, LLC, a private consulting firm focused on biopharma, and he served as president and CEO of multiple influential pharmaceutical and bioscience companies.
Podcast Points:
O'Brien discusses the background of Genomind, and why the company was created. He talks about the company's founder, Dr. Ronald Dozoretz, MD, who sadly passed away recently due to Covid-19. Dr. Dozoretz's career as a psychiatrist focused on building mental health centers, working to improve patient outcomes, and decrease costs.
O'Brien states that according to the CDC, by the end of the decade, depression will be the largest healthcare cost. Genomind seeks to bring real solutions to mental health care. As O'Brien explains, as many as 50% of the total population will need mental health services at some point in their lives. Genomind has developed a system of testing that can eliminate the trial and error of care, by providing genetic testing of 24 different genes which can elucidate which drugs are suitable for the individual and which will be ineffective, how they will metabolize a type of drug, and how that drug will be distributed throughout their body, etc. This valuable information can assist health care practitioners to prescribe medications that will work for their patients, and eliminate the long journey of trial and error that many patients go through en route to finding a successful path to treatment through medication.
The Genomind CEO talks about the ways they have adapted their company's models to facilitate the current Covid-19 period. He discusses particular drugs and drug profiles, detailing therapy and treatment. O'Brien explains that many patients may be currently taking drugs that will simply never work for them, but genetic testing will help correct this. Wrapping up, O'Brien provides an overview of new emerging data in his field, and how drugs are incorporated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), etc., and he talks about his personal story with his son that motivated him to work with Genomind helping others improve their lives.
Professor and virologist Marilyn J. Roossinck describes her work and interesting elements of virus behavior. She tells listeners
Marilyn J. Roossinck, Ph.D. is a professor in plant pathology and environmental microbiology and biology. She's at the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at the Huck Institute of Life Sciences at Pennsylvania State University. She describes for listeners how she first became interested in the field of virology and where that interest took her. Because viruses evolve rapidly, they can be a helpful vehicle for observing evolutionary processes. One of her early studies involved watching virus mutations of RNA viruses, noting the diversity of their populations.
She then describes the work she's done with the cucumber mosaic virus. Because the virus infects about 1,200 different species, they could compare virus evolution by starting with clones of the cucumber mosaic virus and see how the exact same virus progressed differently among host plants. Contrary to general thought, they found the virus behavior and diversity was dependent on the host plant.
She discusses some other studies including on a virus that has coevolved with the jalapeno and other pepper plants and what that plant virus accomplishes for that plant. She also talks about her work on a virus found in fungi that inhabit geothermal soil and viruses in Costa Rican plants. She explains how this work has caused her to think of viruses differently, as beneficial for the most part. In fact, she says pathogenic viruses are actually quite rare.
For more about her work, see roossincklab.com.
Rita Austin looks at human remains from all over the world to try and understand past human experiences and disease processes, particularly for tuberculosis and syphilis. In this podcast, she shares with listeners
Dr. Rita Austin is a Predoctoral Research Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Natural History, where she works to evaluate their human biological anthropology collections to better inform destructive sampling decisions made by the museum. She recently obtained her PhD from the University of Oklahoma. She talks about her work in this podcast, explaining the way researchers use methods like DNA ancestry, skeletal studies, and teeth calculus to reconstruct the impact of pathogens in the near and distant past.
Her studies have focused specifically on tuberculosis and syphilis and she explains that TB is ancient—we have been evolving with it for millennia. Syphilis on the other hand is much more recent and was first documented in the 1400s; however, there are subspecies that are more ancient and non-venereal. She adds that these diseases still exist today and explains how TB invades the body in more detail. Her work helps scientists better understand these pathogens in the past and how they have changed over time: a better understanding can help us target them now and be prepared for how they may continue to evolve.
She also explains one of her overarching interests, namely how cultural practices inform and affect health care. She adds some examples and reminders listeners that one's socioeconomic status affected one's health. People were touched by the plague, for example, due to different socioeconomic situations. She comments that being able to protect one's self from sickness is a privilege. Finally, she shares some interesting examples of how researchers have reconstructed end-of-life circumstances by looking at human remains, including a story about what some nun's teeth told about the ink they used.
To find out more about her work, see the University of Oklahoma's Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research page at https://lmamr.org/.
Jessica Young, PhD is a biostatistician in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School who joins the show to discuss the ins and outs of her interesting and important work. Tune in to learn the following:
Dr. Young's job is two-fold: she works on both the applications of statistical methods for public health and clinical medicine, and also on the development of methods in these areas. She focuses on causal inference, which is the formal process of understanding how to estimate causal effect from data collected in real-world studies. Through examples including a longitudinal study on nurses starting in the 1970s to present day studies revolving around the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Young discusses confounding factors in studies and the effect they have on interpretations of findings, the importance of randomization, the presence of bias regardless of how statistically significant a finding is, meta-analyses, where she sees the field of biostatistics heading in the near future, and more.
To learn about the basics of causal inference, Dr. Young recommends reading The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect. Visit https://www.populationmedicine.org/JYoung to learn more about her work and publications.
Michael Betts and his lab have focused on recoverable viruses like influenza and those that never leave human bodies like HIV. He explains different mechanisms of responses as well as what's been unusual about our immune system and COVID-19. He describes
Michael Betts is a professor of microbiology at the Penn Institute for Immunology. His lab studies human-specific responses to viruses. He begins by explaining the immune system in general from a microbiologist perspective. He comments that our initial response to most viruses of lethargy and fever is pretty similar. This is an active phase to eliminate the virus if possible. He adds that with viruses like HIV, your body is not able to eliminate the virus. He explains in what ways the virus replication is always a step ahead and how its high replication rate is an advantage for the virus. He provides other examples, like the ability of CMV to encode an MHC complex decoy to evade detection by the CD8+ T cells.
He also describes what the field of immunology has observed with COVID-19 and describes his lab work specifically. He says that the initial response is not different from other infections, but the continuing outcomes and manifestations of those outcomes run the gamut. They've focused on reactions of T-cells and the innate immune system, which is mediated by several types of cells like monocytes. They are noticing that severe COVID-19 has an impact on the innate lymphocyte population. They are seeing very dramatic changes in cell surface protein expression and in the population of cells called neutrophils, namely an extreme elevation of these in the blood. The cell surface protein effect is most pronounced in people with severe disease, not mild or moderate, which means it may help gauge reactions and treatments.
To learn more, see his lab's website, bettslab.org, or look him up and contact him. His Twitter account is @BettsLab.
Dr. John H. Rex, MD, has worked in the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) field his entire career. In this podcast, he explains key elements in antimicrobial drug development. He describes
Dr. Rex has several roles, including Chief Medical Officer of F2G, Ltd, which is an antifungal biotech company; Operating Partner for Advent Life Sciences; and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at McGovern Medical School. He began his career as an academic medic focusing on new drugs for fungal infections. He then became head of Anti-Infection Development at AstraZeneca for several years before leaving to take on freelance roles and his work at F2G, Ltd.
He explains the difficulty of drug development for fighting bacteria by describing the three challenges of antibiotic development: antibiotics are hard to discover, hard to develop, and nobody pays for them. He offers an analogy to explain these challenges: antibiotics are the fire extinguishers of medicine. We need to be willing to pay for their very existence though we may not use them. He describes the push and pull maneuvers in the drug development industry and what must happen for both efforts.
He also tells listeners about the nature of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and how their different functions mean different efficacies and ease of drug developments to treat resulting infections. A fungus and bacterium, for example, though challenging, don't equal what developers face when trying to fight a virus. Therefore, while the development of drugs for a fungal infection are difficult as are the outlooks for new antibiotics, viral infections present the greatest challenge. Yet, he says, the path forward is not bleak, just tough.
For more, sign up for his newsletter and see his blog at his website: https://amr.solutions/
Rick DeLano Bio: Rick DeLano has worked as an executive producer, and financial consultant in the music and film industries for more than 20 years. A writer and filmmaker, DeLano is best known for producing the controversial movie, THE PRINCIPLE, an endeavor that has rocked the scientific establishment by using its own discoveries to prove that the Earth is centrally located in the universe and sits in a favored position. His newest production is the film, THE END OF QUANTUM REALITY, a work based on the discoveries of former MIT mathematics professor, Dr. Wolfgang Smith. The movie details how it is that Dr. Smith has solved the legendary "quantum enigma" - the paradox whereby Schrodinger's cat is both alive and dead or one particle can be at two places at once, something that Albert Einstein futilely spent the last 30 years of his life trying to understand. THE END OF QUANTUM REALITY, releases to theaters on January 10, 2020.
Writer and producer of the film The End of Quantum Reality, Rick DeLano, discusses a number of fascinating topics, including the following:
When Rick DeLano set out to write the independent film The Principle, which deals with matters in cosmology, he didn't know that it would ultimately be the key to not only a great friendship with Wolfgang Smith, but also all of the intriguing and compelling information required for what would become his second film, The End of Quantum Reality, in which the genius Wolfgang Smith—who entered Cornell University at age 14 and was teaching mathematics at MIT by age 25—examines quantum theory.
DeLano discusses what he says is perhaps the most widespread belief among humanity today, which is that the world is composed of fundamental particles—what many people call atoms. However, it might not be that simple. How so? DeLano tackles this question by exploring the inconsistencies between Newtonian mechanics and quantum mechanics, the clouds of probability associated with atoms which disallow us from identifying where or how fast or what direction a particle is moving at any particular time...that is, until the very moment that particle is measured, Wolfgang's criticism of Heisenberg's equation, and the profound and fundamental difference between the pre-measured and post-measured system of a particle.
He also explains the many-worlds interpretation (MWI), the Boltzmann constant, what Wolfgang means when he refers to the "physical universe" and in what ways it is a very different place than the world we live in, Heisenberg's take on Aristotle's notion of potentia and how it might help solve the problem of wave-particle duality, what he sees in the near future of particle physics, and so much more.
To watch The End Of Quantum Reality, visit www.theendofquantumreality.com.
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