In this interview, Don MacPherson is joined by Dr. Bertalan Meskó. Dr. Meskó is The Medical Futurist and the Director of the Medical Futurist Institute. Don and Dr. Meskó discuss recent developments in the field of medical technology including AI, wearables, telemedicine, risks to privacy, and addiction. They also talk about four different national healthcare models as well as the futures of mental health and the addiction treatment field.
Read MoreIn this interview, Don MacPherson is joined by Dr. Matthew Johnson, an expert in psychoactive drug effects, addiction, and risk behavior. They discuss clinical research on psychedelics including psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT, MDMA, LSD, and more. They also dive into the potential therapeutic applications for psychedelics including treating depression, PTSD, and addiction, and improving individual happiness, creativity, and selflessness.
Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., Professor at Johns Hopkins, is an expert in psychoactive drug effects, addiction, and risk behavior. He has worked with psychedelics since 2004. He developed and published the first psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction in 2014. With colleagues, he conducted and published the largest study of psilocybin in cancer distress in 2016. He is Principal Investigator on upcoming psilocybin studies treating opioid addiction and PTSD, and LSD research treating chronic pain.
Read MoreIn this interview, Don MacPherson is joined by Hank Greely, a specialist in the ethical, legal, and social implications of new biomedical technologies. They discuss the roles CRISPR, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), and in vitro fertilization will have on the future of reproduction. They also discuss the ethical questions that will accompany selecting specific characteristics for implanted embryos and the possibility of creating babies with superhuman capabilities.
Hank Greely specializes in the ethical, legal, and social implications of new biomedical technologies, particularly those related to neuroscience, genetics, or stem cell research. Hank is a genetics professor at the Stanford School of Medicine, the Director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences, and the Chair of the Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics.
Read MoreA generation ago, a cancer diagnosis meant the patient had a 50% chance of living beyond five years. Today, cancer is still an awful disease, but thanks to incredible medical advances, survival is far more likely than ever before. That’s not the only good news. In fact, there is hope that as soon as a decade from now, cancer could possibly be a managed disease instead of a killer.
In this episode, pharmaceutical expert and cancer researcher, Sara Kenkare-Mitra, shares her how she got into the pharmaceutical field, the long road to creating an effective drug, and the importance of celebrating failure.
Sara discusses:
Part One: The Road to Making a Drug
Growing up in India, moving from India to the United States, culture shock, building resilience, joining Genentech, becoming a leader, how her leadership skills as a manager needed to evolve to lead a team of 550 people, the importance of technical competence in a large organization, the drug development process.
Part Two: Curing Cancer
Why it’s good to celebrate failure, how pharmaceutical companies are curing cancer, advice for young women entering STEM fields, encouraging your teams to learn from failures, meditation and leadership, overcoming the minority effect, advocating for yourself, how being a mother made her a more effective leader, the future of cancer, the role of empathy in leadership and drug development.
Organizations, People, Resources, Places Mentioned.
Mumbai, India, Genentech, Austin, Texas, University of Texas - Austin, UCSF (University of California, San Francisco), San Francisco, Kadcyla (Her2+ Breast cancer drug), the FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration)
To learn more about Sara and Genentech, please visit www.Gene.com.
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Thirty years ago, just 16% of Americans favored the legalization of marijuana. Now, 90% support legalization for medical purposes. For people who experience chronic pain, medical cannabis can be a highly effective, affordable treatment. Ten states have legalized recreational use in the United States and 33 have legalized it for medical use. This had sparked incredible opportunity both in the job market and as an investment.
As cannabis rapidly expands in the global market, we all stand to gain advancements in medical treatment, cheaper energy storage, energy efficient crops, and an explosive new job market. In this episode, serial entrepreneur and cannabis expert Giadha Aguirre de Carcer shares her knowledge of cannabis uses, the global market, and the future of cannabis.
Giadha discusses:
Part One: Changing the Dialogue on Cannabis
Being a serial entrepreneur, starting New Frontier Data, working in the field of United States intelligence, being a female tech entrepreneur, the differences in cannabis terms (CBD vs THC vs Hemp), The Farm Bill, the shift in public opinion on cannabis, medical purposes of cannabis, cannabis user profiles (discrete, weekend, medical, etc.), top ten reasons for cannabis consumption, alternative medical applications for cannabis, federal legalization of cannabis.
Part Two: The Market & Future of Cannabis
Global hemp market, cannabis as an alternative to opioids, Big Agriculture’s position in the hemp market, cannabis consumption rates, cannabis investments, creating company policies where cannabis is legal, police testing for cannabis impaired driving, the best locations for cannabis production.
Organizations, People, Resources, Places Mentioned:
New Frontier Data, University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Progressive, Verizon, China, The Farm Bill, Colorado, California, Martha Stewart, A.G. William Barr, Obama and Trump administrations, Australia, Florida, Mercedes-Benz and BMW
Contact info for New Frontier Data:
“I did finally convince her to take some CBD pills. It changed her life. She woke up one morning crying saying to me she had forgotten what it was like to not feel pain.”
Giadha Aguirre de Carcer talking about her mother using CBD instead of the opioids she was originally recommended
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Every day, 40,000 people around the world work in extremely stressful situations to help provide assistance to people in need. People working for Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) leave behind their comfortable lives for the opportunity to make the world a better place. On assignment they expand their self-knowledge and limitations, experience, and adapt to entirely new ways of living while helping those in need. When it’s time to return home, they experience the challenges of re-assimilating to their native culture. In this episode, humanitarian Catherine Carr shares her decade-long experience working for Doctors Without Borders and how the lessons of working as a humanitarian translate to other areas of work once you return home. Catherine discusses:
Part I: The Humanitarian Experience
Applying to Doctors Without Borders, culture shock and adaptation, finding meaning at work, learning from locals, the various roles within Doctors Without Borders, Tea in the Morning, relationship building during “morning tea,” overcoming the fear that prevents personal growth, finding happiness.
Part II: Lessons to Learn from a Humanitarian
Advice for overcoming fear and facing future changes, resistance to change, agility, discovering yourself, getting out of your comfort zone (without leaving the country), the power of teamwork, building trust with employees and community members, the unique skills of a humanitarian, coping in high-stress situations, burnout vs. stress, belief vs. truth, disruption avoidance.
Organizations, People, Resources, Places Mentioned:
Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), PB&J Family Services, Kenya, Iraq, the Philippines, Haiti, Central African Republic, Jordan, South Sudan
“I was scared of making the change, but I think what scared me even more was not making the change.”
Catherine Carr describing her decision to disrupt her career as a Human Resources leader to join Doctors Without Borders
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