Stay ConnectedPodcast interviews with genius-level (top .1%) practitioners, scientists, researchers, clinicians and professionals in Cancer, 3D Bio Printing, CRISPR-CAS9, Ketogenic Diets, the Microbiome, Extracellular Vesicles, and more.
Subscribe today for the latest medical, health and bioscience insights from geniuses in their field(s).
Copyright: © Richard Jacobs
Catia Reis is a Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Medicine at Lisbon University. Lisbon University is a public research university, one of the largest in Portugal. And the Faculty of Medicine is a top medical school with an established history dating back to the 19th century.
Catia Reis discusses her interest, and background, in the area of sleep and circadian rhythms. She recounts how her earlier work in marine biology stimulated her interest in sleep deprivation and fatigue, and ultimately deeper into the study of sleep. And her own personal struggles with fatigue, being tired all the time from her work, also piqued her interest in this area of study.
A circadian rhythm is essentially an approximately 24-hour cycle within the overall physiological processes of animate beings such as animals, plants, fungi, cyanobacteria, etc. In a rigid interpretation, circadian rhythms are known to be endogenously produced, however, they may be regulated by certain external cues as well, such as light from the sun and temperature. Reis explains how melatonin affects shift workers. She explains that this kind of work can be very problematic. Unfortunately, regarding shift workers, their melatonin profile may have trouble realigning properly as they work at night and try to get their sleep during the daytime hours. And a misalignment of one's melatonin profile, and the circadian system, in general, can contribute to fractured, or disturbed daytime sleep. Additionally, it may have a profound impact on their alertness during the night shift and could be a contributing factor to other health problems. Reis discusses in detail how inadequate sleep can affect job performance and she talks about the inherent dangers of being sleep deprived on the job.
The sleep researcher talks about genetics, social behavior, and light, and how they influence our cycle. She provides information on the potential for success in the management of these influencing factors. Light, for example, is a strong signal for our internal clocks. Light therapy might be one way to help shift workers ease their bodies into an adjustment to an irregular schedule. Light has a general alerting effect, and it can aid with shifting sleeping patterns, related to the relative timing of light exposure. In light therapy, individuals will sit very near a light box for a preset period of time. Time of day is critical. Bright light exposure early in one's day and dim light exposure at the end of the day can help shift the internal clock to an earlier position, while exposure to light later in the day may delay the timing of one's internal clock. Therefore, the timing of exposure can assist with shifting their internal clock to accommodate needs for work, etc.
Reis wraps up by discussing her overall expectations for further research and how there is so much to learn from people as she digs deeper into her research. She underscores the importance of our sleep and talks about some of the areas she wants to explore in her field.
When Beran Parry was 40 years old, she discovered a lump in her throat; at first, she didn't know what it was, and she also didn't know that its existence would change her life forever—in many ways, for the better. Parry had a five-centimeter polycystic tumor that would require the removal of her thyroid gland. Although she'd almost always had an interest in health, nutrition, and exercise, this event compelled her to learn more about the thyroid gland specifically, how the thyroid hormone interacts with the body, and how to live a quality life without it.
She brings an impressive amount of information to the conversation today, discussing the most common symptoms seen in thyroid diseases, the significant impact of inflammation caused by poor diet and stress and how to go about fixing it, the role of reproductive hormones in health, and her process of patient evaluation, which often includes DNA health testing in order to better understand a number of less common symptoms.
Press play to hear the full conversation, check out https://beranparry.com/ to learn more and send your questions or comments to beran@beranparry.com.
Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D., is the co-founder of the Los Angeles-based Center for Mindful Living, author of Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming Depression with Mindfulness and Self-Compassion and The Now Effect: How a Mindful Moment Can Change the Rest of Your Life, and creator of a six-month program called A Course in Mindful living, whereby he helps people understand and learn how to live mindfully, happily, and healthfully.
On today's episode, he explains the personal background that compelled him to devote his life to these values and help others, the importance of surrounding yourself with people who lift you up and encourage you to achieve the goals you've set for yourself, tips for taking steps towards attaining a sense of inner peace, and misconceptions people tend to have about mindfulness. Overall, he offers an inspiring and enlightening message you don't want to miss.
Kunwoo Lee, Ph.D., CEO, and co-founder of GenEdit delivers an interesting overview of his company's groundbreaking work in gene editing.
GenEdit is a future-forward company that has a primary focus on genome editing, developing advanced technologies for CRISPR/Cas9 based therapeutics. Their proprietary technology supports the delivery of unique gene editors to an array of tissues utilizing nanoparticles that are non-viral and also polymer-based delivery vehicles.
Lee talks about the origin of his company. He provides some background information about DNA sequences and discusses in detail how DNA is assigned at birth, and he explains that although there are some mutations, it has generally been very difficult to change the DNA that we are born with. As Lee states, in the past, if one was born with a genetic disease there was not much that could be done to alter that on the DNA level, but now, with new advancing technologies, there are many more options.
Genetic diseases exist in many organs such as the brain, liver, muscle, and blood. As Lee outlines, their GenEdit platform can screen the polymer-based nanoparticle library to ascertain the optimum delivery to a target organ. Their unique nanoparticles can enclose gene therapy molecules as well as CRISPR proteins.
The gene expert talks about how their system works in detail, explaining their delivery system, delivering genes to target tissue areas. He discusses their many challenges, and some of the processes they have used to accomplish their goals. He speaks about viruses and how the human body reacts. Lee talks about how they utilize CRISPR/Cas9 to precisely impact the gene that has a genetic mutation. CRISPR/Cas9 is a breakthrough technology in the field of biotech that has now become a go-to laboratory tool for many high-end researchers globally. CRISPR is, in its simplest terms, a collective of DNA sequences that can be found in the genomes of various prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria.
Lee explains muscle regeneration and nerve regeneration, and the possibilities for both, considering the technologies his company has developed, and are continuing to advance further. He discusses the permanency of gene editing and how technology is literally changing the way we think about combatting diseases. As animal testing has shown some incredibly exciting possibilities, Lee talks about his enthusiasm regarding their road forward with the technology, and the steps they must take before human clinical trials will begin.
Dr. Lynelle Schneeberg has always had an interest in the area where psychology and medicine intersect, finding it fascinating how correcting a psychological issue can translate to the correction of a physical problem. She found sleep medicine at the center of this intersection and has devoted her life to helping people improve their lives by improving their sleep. She works as a sleep psychologist and assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and centers her focus on cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI). She discusses a common mistake people make once they realize they're not getting enough quality sleep, which is to start allotting more time to being in bed and opting out of activities they would otherwise be doing, such as going to the gym or engaging in social activities. Dr. Schneeberg explains, however, that by doing these things, they're actually just perpetuating the problem.
She joins the podcast to discuss a range of other topics, including the details of how and why CBTI works, and the "three Ps model" that underlies it--referring to precipitating factors, precipitating events, and perpetuating factors. She explains each one in detail, and how CBTI helps people identify and change the way they influence sleep. The two foundational techniques of CBTI are restriction and stimulus control; Dr. Schneeberg explains how she implements both in her work with patients and the kinds of results her and her patients are seeing.
Tune in for all the details and visit drschneeberg.com for more information.
"The first thing to do is to break down those basic myths of… 'At some point I will be happy to die'…It's not in line with an organism's survival to think that way, so we project it off into the future, and that's how we create this illusion of strength and being satisfied with that…what I would rather be satisfied with is…people testing technologies and deciding to take a risk today to make the world a better place tomorrow," says Elizabeth Parrish, and testing technologies and taking risks today for the possibility of a better tomorrow is exactly what Parrish does in her role as CEO of BioViva Science.
At BioViva, the mission is to utilize gene therapy as a new tool in regenerative medicine, with the ultimate goal of genetically modifying humans to live healthier, stronger, and longer lives. She explains the process and hallmarks of ageing, how gene therapy functions as a valuable new tool in regenerative medicine by upregulating a human gene that makes cells function and look like young cells, the type of bioinformatic work they're doing on a daily basis to make these things a reality, the use of telomerase inducers and myostatin inhibitors, and the difficulties and technicalities of developing these biotechnologies.
Learn more at https://bioviva-science.com/.
NVIDIA Clara is a platform that's changing diagnostic imaging for the better by capturing higher-quality images and automatically identifying critical pieces of information, such as by identifying evidence of hemorrhage, measuring the anatomical parts relating to a patient's clinical signs, or calculating the amount of blood being pumped by a patient's heart. This is made possible by graphics processing unit (GPU) circuits and AI, which together are becoming extremely useful tools for radiologists, and ultimately allowing for more accurate, faster, and preventative patient care. For example, when an AI-powered instrument is able to automatically identify which images from thousands indicate a bleed in the brain, it can automatically prioritize that study in the radiologist's work list so that the radiologist knows which images need immediate attention. In this way, the technology being offered by the Clara platform is potentially life-saving.
Head of healthcare at NVIDIA, Abdul Hamid Halabi, joins the podcast to discuss all the details of this technology, its implementation in clinical medicine, the potential it holds, and what's on the horizon.
Tune in for all the details, and visit https://developer.nvidia.com/clara to learn more.
"Not everyone with the disease of addiction is able to access treatment…being a physician, that was very hard for me to digest, and the result is that we see so many preventable overdose deaths…I would like that to change, and I think reducing the stigma associated with the disease of addiction and moving more treatment to an outpatient setting will greatly increase access to care," says Dr. Indra Cidambi. With this vision, she founded the Center for Network Therapy, New Jersey's first state-licensed outpatient detoxification facility.
Dr. Cidambi explains that in contrast to the traditional model of inpatient care, which many insurance policies will not cover, an outpatient detoxification program will allow more patients to obtain care without the consequences of inpatient care, such as the required isolation from friends and family members, and having to take time away from work. In addition, outpatient care allows patients to recover from addiction in their normal environment, encouraging them to integrate what they learn into their daily lives.
Approximately 65% of Dr. Cidambi's patients remain sober after 90 days, and the same can only be said for about 40% of patients who undergo inpatient treatment.
Tune in for an interesting discussion about how exactly outpatient detoxification works, the four key components of Dr.
Cidambi's program, and so much more.
Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9
Ever since he was a medical school student, Dr. Barry Fields knew where his interests rested: in improving and extending people's quality of life and caring for them on a long-term basis. He quickly realized that sleep medicine would allow him to do just that, and just as quickly realized that the patient to provider ratio was high, with many patients being geographically limited in their ability to seek help from sleep center-based specialists. This is what led him to become a leader in sleep telemedicine working for the Atlanta VA Medical Center and Emory University.
Dr. Fields is a wealth of knowledge in the field of sleep medicine, discussing how sleep telemedicine works and what type of patient is best served by it, environmental and genetic causes of sleep apnea, the short and long-term consequences of untreated sleep apnea, the differences between obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea, and novel treatments for sleep apnea, including a hypoglossal nerve stimulator, a phrenic nerve stimulator, drug-based therapies, and the potential for artificial intelligence and machine learning to facilitate the identification of patients with sleep apnea and deliver treatment modalities that best suit their data profiles.
Tune in for all the details and to learn how to contact a sleep telemedicine specialist for yourself.
Dr. Thaddeus Gala, Founder, and CEO of Complete Care delivers a riveting overview of his work in integrative medicine.
Dr. Gala is a skilled chiropractor who has given many of his career years to the goal of improving health and wellness for all. He is a sought-after lecturer on multiple topics related to wellness, including general nutrition, weight loss, management of diabetes, and more. Dr. Gala's research has been published nationally and he is the successful author of notable publications such as the popular, "The Secret to Defy Disease and Decay," cookbooks, and other works.
Dr. Gala talks about the events that motivated him to become passionate about wellness and natural medicine. As Dr. Gala recounts, his mother faced a serious illness that doctors had trouble explaining, but one that put her into a wheelchair. Frustrated by the fact that doctor after a doctor offered little to no help to improve his mother's condition, Dr. Gala devoted his life to find better solutions for people suffering from chronic diseases, to help them naturally reverse their diseases without the use of drugs or surgery. Dr. Gala talks about his integrative medical clinics and his desire to be actively involved in his patients' care.
The natural medicine expert delves into the topic of inflammation and he explains how it happens. He explains how inflammation is the body's natural response to something it considers to be an injurious type stimulus. He details multiple examples and outlines the body's processes. He talks about the many nutritional problems people suffer from and goes into detail about the choices we make that impact our overall health.
Dr. Gala is a strong supporter of lifestyle changes as a means to reverse disease. His philosophy is based in the whole person approach, one that proposes we should be investigating the deeper underlying causes of body disturbances to root them out and make lifestyle adjustments that will help push the body back to a healthy state and normalize body function.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
