Peripheral neuropathy afflicts millions of diabetes patients around the world, causing sensations from tingling to pain to complete numbness. For our season finale, we discussed peripheral neuropathy with bioengineer Christian Metallo, whose recent research has uncovered how insulin-regulated metabolism of lipids and amino acids contributes to peripheral neuropathy. Dr. Metallo spoke with us about the inspiration for this research and explained his team’s key findings about the links between insulin, the amino acids serine and glycine, and peripheral neuropathy in diabetes patients.

Proteins, with their unique structures, have evolved over billions of years to perform a host of different functions essential to the processes that keep us alive. Using the same principles as artificial intelligence chatbots, scientists at Salesforce developed an AI language model called ProGen. Using large protein databases, ProGen was trained on the biological syntax of amino acid sequences, allowing it to design functional 3D protein structures. These proteins have useful properties that may be leveraged in healthcare and biosciences. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Nikhil Naik, Director of AI Research at Salesforce, leading the team of scientists behind ProGen. We discuss the inspiration for ProGen, the implications of AI-generated proteins, and the future of protein engineering in light of ever-evolving biotechnologies. Music credits: “Summer Lofi” and “Summer Winds” by Rukudzo.

Respiratory infections are a major cause of mortality worldwide and pose unique challenges for healthcare interventions due to the antibiotic-resistant nature of many respiratory pathogens. For patients that require ventilation, an additional complicating factor is a protective substance produced by bacteria known as a biofilm. Biofilms can result in chronic infections, preventing the body and antibiotics from clearing the bacteria away. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Maria Lluch-Senar, a biotechnologist working with engineered Mycoplasma (a type of bacteria) with the aim of leveraging it to treat disease. She shares with us why Mycoplasma is a candidate for these interventions, how her lab modifies the organism, and the process through which these bacteria will help us more effectively treat other bacterial infections. Music featured in this episode includes excerpts from “Elevator Pitch” and “What’s the Angle” by Shane Ivers.

Have you ever had a wound that took a long time to heal? What if the bandage on your next wound could heal you faster by harnessing the power of your movement? Dr. Zong-Hong Lin and Dr. Snigdha Barman used their bioengineering expertise to create such a system. Their dressing uses embedded piezoelectric devices to convert the body’s motion into electricity, which powers multiple functions designed to overcome specific challenges of wound healing in clinical settings. The dressing, which can be worn continuously for several days, releases hydrogen peroxide to fight bacterial infection while using electrical stimulation to promote healing via cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. We talked with Dr. Lin and Dr. Barman about the motivation for their work, the obstacles they overcame in developing their dressing, and the promises and challenges in its future application. This episode contains musical excerpts from “Drops of God” and “Dark Matter” by Rukudzo Kanyemba.

Vaccines have revolutionized modern medicine, preventing, and even eradicating devastating diseases worldwide. Vaccines leveraging emerging technologies in cellular engineering may lead a revolution in medicine again, starting in brain tumors. In this episode, we hear from Dr. Khalid Shah, a researcher at the forefront of such developments. Dr. Shah and his team are engineering brain tumor cells to create a treatment with direct tumor-killing effects, addressing incomplete tumor margins during excisional surgery. In addition to this direct effect, the treatment also stimulates the immune system to generate long-lasting anti-tumor activity, preventing future recurrence of the same tumor. Music Credits: “Shaolin,” “Inqusitive,” “Fire,” and “Kutapira” by Rukudzo.

When chemist and Nobel Laureate Carolyn Bertozzi was leaving grad school, she asked her professors for letters of recommendation to pursue a postdoc in immunology. They warned her that she was flushing her career down the toilet. Instead, this was one in a series of opportunities that Dr. Bertozzi recognized and pursued, in a career that has changed the way modern chemists work. For this Fireside Chat episode, Dr. Bertozzi told us how she has made a career out of seizing opportunities in the face of pushback, institutional sexism, and the doubts of colleagues. We touched on her experiences finishing grad school without an advisor, building confidence as a young scientist, moving between disciplines, and launching biotech startups. We also talked about the importance of encouragement from friends and colleagues, the inside game of academia, the challenge of keeping a scientifically open mind, and of course what it's like to win a Nobel Prize and invite your dad to Stockholm. This episode includes musical excerpts from “Nitrogen", "Half Mystery" and "Inspired" by Kevin MacLeod, and "Robots and Aliens" by Joel Cummins.

Social media has infiltrated our society more quickly than any other technological advancement. Kids today have access to endless content and social connections by way of the internet than the generations before them. What effect does a 24/7 connection have on our mental well-being? How does growing up in an age of social media affect our relationships and views of ourselves? In this 360 Perspective episode, we’re exploring the issues surrounding social media and mental health. First, Luisa Fassi tells us about her research on adolescent development and creating a sense of self online. Emma Fyffe opens up about how making a career of her online persona has affected her own mental well-being. Sean Kelley presents his work on algorithms that can identify mental health status from peoples’ language on social media posts. Finally, Dr. Ashley Knapp tells us about the digital tools her team is developing for youth to combat anxiety and how we can make these tools accessible and effective for all. Music Credits: “The Bounce”, “Samba”, “Afrobeat Instrumental”, “Secret Sauce” and “Lofi for Mental Health” by Rukudzo Helpful resources: https://sites.northwestern.edu/ydmhlab/resources/ https://onemindpsyberguide.org/

Varying by country, 5-18% of babies are born pre-term, putting them at risk of medical and developmental complications. While advances in care have greatly improved mortality outcomes for these infants, evidence-based interventions to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes have been more elusive—until now. In this episode, we interview Dr. Martha Welch, a pioneer in pediatric psychiatry, and Dr. Sampsa Vanhatalo, a leading researcher in infant neurophysiology, on their recent work demonstrating how a simple intervention can improve cortical networks and possibly normalize development in this vulnerable population.

Have you ever picked up a video game for the first time and felt completely lost? After a few failed attempts, you surely got better and better each time. In the same way, we can learn how to play a game or use a new piece of technology, scientists at Cortical Labs are teaching brain cells in a Petri dish to play the 1970s arcade classic Pong. With electrical feedback stimulation, the cells can learn to move a virtual platform and volley a ball back and forth with impressive accuracy. In this episode, Dr. Brett Kagan, chief scientific officer at Cortical Labs, tells us how they developed the DishBrain. We discuss how predictable feedback enables neurons to exhibit goal-directed behavior, the question of sentience, and whether we might use synthetic biological intelligence as a medical tool in the future.

As a girl growing up on a remote island farm in western Norway, May-Britt Moser looked at the people and animals around her and wondered what was happening inside them, or in her words, “how the brain is generating behavior, memory, our cognition, our emotions”. Over four decades as a psychologist and neurologist, Dr. Moser has met with astonishing success in answering these questions, leading her team to remarkable discoveries of the neural mechanisms by which we mark time, form memories, and find our way around. In 2014 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discovering the network of so-called grid cells that encode spatial information and enable navigation in humans and other mammals. We talked with Dr. Moser about her research and career; her reflections on science, tenacity, and gender; her analysis of how good science gets done; and (of course) the day she won the Nobel.

The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease has grown more than 50% in recent years, and early onset diagnosis is increasing at an even faster rate. Due to its slow, subtle progression and variable response to medications, this condition can be difficult for clinicians to manage. The work of Dr. Dina Katabi, Director of the MIT Center for Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing, may change that. Her team has shown that discrete, radio wave emitting devices in the home can be used to track patient movement and health parameters like sleep quality. In this episode, Dr. Katabi explains how this work will make healthcare more precise and accessible than ever before. Music Credits: “Land of the midnight sun” and “I hope you hear this” by Rukudzo.

Over 2.8 million people worldwide live with multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the protective myelin coating around nerves in the brain and spinal cord. People with MS can experience pain, fatigue, memory problems, vision loss, and other debilitating symptoms. MS is relatively rare, but new research has found a causal link between Epstein-Barr Virus, one of the most common human viruses, and MS. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Alberto Ascherio, a Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, about the 20-year longitudinal databank that reveals Epstein-Barr Virus as a causal factor in MS.

Imagine having a telescope that could allow you to see whether a syndrome will manifest in the future. Imagine being able to use it to cure diseases before they can even occur. For Dr. Thomas McElrath, MD-PhD in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital, this telescope exists and is called LIFECODES. The LIFECODES Biobank is an extensive biobank of samples collected for over 14 years with data on over 6,000 pregnancies. It is used to look at biomarkers associated with pregnancy complications and the effects of environmental exposures on pregnancy outcomes. In this episode, we have interviewed Dr. McElrath to talk about his recent work published in Nature. He has leveraged these data to shed light on normal pregnancy progression to uncover new biomarkers that can be used to diagnose syndromes months before clinical presentation.  “Zenyatta is my Spirit Animal and Hyacinths’’ music composition administered by Rukudzo © 2022 Rukudzo Kanyemba. All rights reserved.

We do not often think about our past as a species. What are the changes that made us like we are now? When, where, and why did these changes happen? Can we go back in history and find the answers to these questions? Archaeologists reconstruct human behavior in the past, mainly using things that people left behind, or this is what they used to do. In recent years, the possibility to study ancient DNA has revolutionized our way of looking at the past. Ancient DNA allows us to explore human diversity in different places and times and understand what factors shaped it, revealing mysteries about our history. We have interviewed Mary E. Prendergast, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Rice University and a leader of one of the largest-scale studies of ancient DNA in Africa. Listen to this episode to find out how Dr. Prendergast and her team could use ancient DNA from individuals who lived between 18,000-400 years ago to explore how people interacted as far back as the last 80,000-50,000 years. Music by Doug Maxwell, “A good day on the African Planes” and Joel Cummings, “Robots and Aliens”.  

Alzheimer’s disease affects millions of people and their families. Scientists have made extraordinary progress characterizing the pathology of Alzheimer’s and working to find effective treatments. As scientists continue to unlock more and more about the disease and how to combat it, how can we address the challenges currently facing doctors, patients, and caregivers? In this 360 Perspective episode, we talk about the history of Alzheimer’s, the stigma surrounding it, disparities in healthcare, and the impacts on caregivers. We interviewed Drs. Carl Hill, Stephanie Kalb, Jason Karlawish, Gad Marshall, and Stephen Salloway to discuss these issues. Music credits: Myuu - “Suspicious” Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Additional music provided by Aaron Troutman.

Puberty may seem like a chaotic phase of life, but the process is precisely controlled by a series of timed signals beginning in the brain. Before we are born, a set of neurons secreting GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) migrate to the brain and set up the hub that will control reproductive processes. During this time, these neurons recruit newborn astrocytes, and they stick together throughout life. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Vincent Prévot, Director of the Development and Plasticity of the Neuroendocrine Brain Team of INSERM, to discuss his research on the neuroendocrine regulators of reproduction. Dr Prévot tells us about how the GnRH neurons actively recruit astrocytes, and how this process can be interrupted. Listen to hear more about the processes that lead to puberty, environmental factors that affect the natural timing of puberty, and why it is important for puberty to happen at the “right time.” Additional music provided by Aaron Troutman.

The disease that would ultimately become known AIDS was first diagnosed in June 1981. At that time, researchers had not yet determined what caused it, and by the time most patients presented with symptoms, they had only months to live. After four decades of effort by the global research community, the development of promising experimental HIV vaccines has now finally come true. We have interviewed Dr. Paolo Lusso, Chief of the Viral Pathogenesis Section at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to discuss his research in developing and testing promising HIV vaccines. In this episode, Dr. Lusso explains why it took so long to develop a vaccine with the potential to defeat this “master of disguise and transformation”, words he uses to refer to HIV. Listen to this episode to learn more about the immune system, the process of developing a vaccine, and the challenges scientists had to face to stop the most invisible of all viruses.  “I miss you (reimagined)”, music composition administered by Rukudzo © 2022 Rukudzo Kanyemba. All rights reserved.

“Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin' is knowin' what to throw away and knowin' what to keep...”. Have you ever listened to “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers? He knew how to play the game right, and it turns out that so does our body! Dr. Phil Jones, a Professor of Cancer Development at the University of Cambridge UK, works on uncovering the dynamics of cell behavior. He found that human cells play a dice game, balancing the odds between production and shedding. This game protects the genomes of our cells, throwing out most of the damage we accumulate during our lives. However, mutations can change the game's rules and increase the odds in favor of dividing cells, potentially leading to cancer. Acquiring mutations is easier than we think: ultraviolet light in sunshine or tobacco-derived chemicals can cause extensive mutations in our body. Despite this, our tissue can surprisingly continue to look and function normally. Listen to this episode to learn how normal tissues restrain the expansion of mutant clones, so very few of them progress to form tumors. Phew!

In the words of Dr. Ali Khademhosseini, "There is no question that tissue engineering will one day transform medicine.” After his first research experience at the University of Toronto, Dr. Khademhosseini fell in love with tissue engineering and its significant and life-changing impact on healthcare. Today, at the Terasaki Institute in Los Angeles, Dr. Khademhosseini focuses his research on developing various approaches to merge microfabrication techniques with hydrogel biomaterials to generate complex 3D tissues that mimic the natural cellular environment. In addition to being the author of more than 500 journal papers and speaker at more than 300 invited lectures, he is also the recipient of more than 60 major national and international awards and has been selected by Thomson Reuters as one of the World’s Most Influential Minds for five consecutive years. In this episode, Dr. Ali Khademhosseini tells us his story of discovery and passion for tissue engineering and shares some of his secrets for success. Are you in need of some inspiration? This episode is for you. “Believe that you are resolving important things; if you do your work, you can change the world.” - Dr. Ali Khademhosseini

In 1846, Dr. John Collins Warren and William T. G. Morton performed the first public demonstration of surgery under an anesthetic. Today, anesthesiologist and statistician Emery Brown combines his fields of expertise and applies a computational approach to answer questions about neuroscience and to research how anesthetics interact with the central nervous system. Brown is a faculty member at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard, and MIT, and in this episode, he highlights that, while anesthesia practices in the operating room have evolved over the 175 years since Warren and Morton’s first anesthesia demonstration, medical understanding of how anesthetics work is still limited. His work pioneers a new approach to administering anesthetics to patients—by reading and using electrical activity in the brain to determine the appropriate dose of anesthetic. Brown’s curiosity is inspiring, as his exploration of diverse interests expands beyond biomedicine to foreign languages—in this episode, he also speaks on his approach to language learning and how he utilizes language learning in a clinical context. Music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Have you ever felt demeaned, harassed, or humiliated at work? During their training, our future doctors and scientists may often encounter hostile work environments upheld by their supervisors. The academic culture emboldens the bullies and discourages students from speaking up when they experience harmful treatment. Why do bullies continue to thrive in academia, and how can the scientific community take action?  In this episode, we discuss abusive supervision in academia with Dr. Sherry Moss, Professor of Organizational Studies at Wake Forest University, and Dr. Morteza Mahmoudi, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Precision Health Program at Michigan State University. We consult Dr. Bob Sutton, an organizational psychologist and author of “The No Asshole Rule,” and Dr. Steve Anderson, former Director of the Driskill Graduate Program at Northwestern University, to render a multi-layered perspective on the state of bullying in academia.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is considered one of the major innovations in the world of diagnostic radiology. By virtue of its flexible and noninvasive nature, MRI is one of the best tools we have to image the human body. However, conventional MRI scanners are gigantic machines that cost millions of dollars and weigh up to three tons - they are therefore limited in their distribution and point-of-care applicability. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could shrink conventional MRI scanners into portable machines that could be plugged in almost everywhere and provide imaging diagnostics in situations where it would otherwise be impossible? Does this sound like science fiction to you? Listen to this episode to learn how Dr. Clarissa Cooley and her collaborators at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging are working on transforming room-size scanners into TV-size machines that can be transported by cart.

How wonderful would it be if you could deposit your skin cells at a medical facility and get an organ you need within weeks, ready to be transplanted? For decades, scientists have relentlessly worked to recapitulate functionally and physiologically relevant human organs in the lab. Some approaches rely on engineering an unfeasible number of genes in cells or on external cues like growth factors and mechanical signals. But these organs are far from overcoming the barriers of complexity, reproducibility, and time sensitivity, and are thus not ready to be applied in the real world. In today's episode, Dr. Mo Ebrahimkhani, a scientist at Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, discusses how his team used a machine-learning algorithm (called CellNet) to engineer genetic nodes in the stem cells, resulting in the generation of human liver organoids in less than three weeks. Importantly, these organoids were able to capture the complexity of a mature liver. Also learn here how the body map of organs can contribute to the rapid advancement of the field of regenerative medicine. Inspired by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Have you ever wondered whether the brains of computer programmers are wired differently? Are there specific parts of the brain that are dedicated to computer coding? Scientists have outlined other networks in the brain, like those involved in language, but the neural basis of computer code comprehension has remained a mystery. We might call Python, Java, and C++ programming “languages,” but are they represented in the brain in the same way as natural languages? Anna Ivanova, a scientist at MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, chats with us to uncover the answer. Her research uses functional MRI to find the areas in the brain most activated by reading computer code and whether they overlap with those activated by reading natural language. We also discuss the history of coding and the possibility that humans could evolve a brain network solely responsible for computer programming. Music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under CC BY 4.0

Every day devices like the thermometer and stethoscope have become mainstays of modern medicine, but recent advances have significantly improved the ways in which doctors can confidently make diagnoses. While some procedures can be complicated, invasive, and expensive, we are getting closer to overcoming these barriers with the use of technology. In this episode, we discuss the interface between engineering and medicine with Dr. Michael Cima, a leading expert in the field of materials science and engineering. He discusses the development of a medical device that can identify excess fat and scar tissue in the liver – and the best part is that it’s non-invasive and portable. The device will allow doctors to easily screen at-risk patients for liver damage, helping them make treatment decisions to prevent the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Dr. Cima also tells us about the many hats he wears as an engineer, scientist, entrepreneur, and mentor. Music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under CC BY 4.0. 

Professor Paula Hammond is a pioneer in chemical engineering, as well as the Department Head of Chemical Engineering at MIT and a faculty member at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. Her interdisciplinary work focuses on nanoparticle technology with wide-ranging applications. Hammond’s work has and will greatly shape the future of drug delivery, with her nanoparticles able to target hard-to-treat cancers like ovarian cancer. Using her nanoparticle approach, she is currently developing a way to regenerate bone and treat osteoarthritis. She is proud of her visibility within her field, both as a testament to her passion to create new solutions to big problems and to show African Americans and women that their voices are both necessary and important in scientific research. Music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Keywords like "tissue-engineering", "bio-engineered organs", and "3D printing" were considered to be science fiction until only a decade ago. Today, creating living tissue that can repair or replace damaged organs is rapidly becoming reality. The field of regenerative medicine holds enormous potential in changing the way doctors treat many medical conditions. However, the road to advance lab-grown organs from the bench to the bedside is still a long one and requires scientific superheroes to overcome the challenges posed by the anatomical complexity of the human body. Whether this is your first time learning about regenerative medicine or you’re an expert, you won’t want to miss this episode. Dr. Anthony Atala, a world leader in the field of Regenerative Medicine, discusses his 18-year project of developing a lab-grown uterus that can support live birth in an animal model that may one day soon provide a significant treatment option for women with uterine factor infertility. "Half Mystery" by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

It’s 10 pm on a Friday night. You already had dinner, and you could swear your stomach couldn’t handle even another crumb of bread. All of a sudden, your friend offers you some chips, and you tentatively pick just one. Twenty minutes later, all the chips are GONE…! Wondered how that happened? You are not the only one! While the mechanisms by which the brain regulates and controls our appetite are still largely unknown, Dr. Scott Sternson and his team have developed cutting-edge tools for integrating molecular and systems neuroscience which hasadvanced our understanding of the neural circuits associated with thirst and hunger. Ready to listen? Well then, sit back, relax and… go grab your chips!

In the 1970s, most company advisory boards were male-dominated, and it was unconventional for an academic scientist to transition to industry. Yet, Dr. Vicki Sato, an accomplished academic scientist at Harvard University, quickly progressed through many executives and leadership positions at numerous companies, including Biogen Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Today, she is a chairman of the board at Vir Biotechnology and Denali Therapeutics. As one of the early biopharma pioneers, Dr. Vicki Sato shares her eclectic career journey and some hard-earned lessons, as well as the changing face of the biotech industry and the current urgency of science-driven entrepreneurship. This episode will certainly inspire any aspiring scientist to reflect on their own career journey! This episode is sponsored by the Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School. “Inspired” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Have you ever wondered what happens in the brain during sleep? Or what regulates which substances can enter your brain and which can’t? When we think of the brain, we think of neurons. However, neurons can’t do all of this work by themselves! The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a significant player in the brain and helps carry out vital functions, such as cleaning your brain during sleep! So why do we know so little about it? Learn more about the CSF and its fundamental roles in the brain with Dr. Madeline A. Lancaster, a Group Leader in the Cell Biology Division of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. She explains why we should pay more attention to the CSF and how, thanks to the recent in vitro models developed in her lab, we can now study this vital fluid like never before.

Have you ever seen gray hairs on someone? And do they almost immediately blame it on the stress in their life? Well, they could be right! For the first time, researchers have found that key players responsible for the transient flight-and-fight stress response are also involved in permanent stress-induced hair pigment loss. The finding, which was published in the journal Nature, discredited popularly postulated hypotheses regarding stress-induced gray hairs and suggests hopeful pathways to modify the damaging effects of stress on stem cell pools in other organs. Listen to Dr. Ya-Chieh Hsu, an Associate Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard Stem Cell Institute, as she explains how her team zoomed in from the systemic stress response down to the cellular and molecular dynamics of this exciting biology. “Half Mystery” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

This week we are joined by Parkinson’s disease expert and neurosurgeon Jeffrey Schweitzer, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He takes us through a recently published case study in the New England Journal of Medicine on a novel autologous transplantation treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a prevalent and debilitating neurodegenerative disease that primarily affects dopaminergic cells in the brain. It has many existing treatments available, but many lose efficacy over time. This single case study presents evidence that transplantation of a patient's stem cells-derived dopamine neurons into the brain may pave the way forward for treatments that have better longevity and reversal of symptoms than other available treatments on the market.

The human immune system is one of the most adaptive systems in human biology. While environmental impact on the immune system is well documented, more recently, immunologists have begun to study the relationship between the central nervous and immune systems. In this episode, Mehdi and Shen hear from immunologist Dr. Hai Qi from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Dr. Qi’s research explores the impact of behavioral changes on the humoral immune response. He details the inspiration behind his research, his aunt’s dedicated Qigong practice, and the possible drawbacks of using a mouse model to draw parallels to the human immune function.

This week marks our third and final Covid-19 episode of this season (or our final installment, at least until the end of 2020). This episode focuses on coping strategies from healthcare professionals and reflections from our team about their experience of isolation during the pandemic. Special guests joining us in this episode to navigate through this topic include Dr. Michal Elovitz, who specializes in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and licensed mental health therapist and yoga teacher, Sarah Harmon of Sarah Harmon Wellness in Boston, Massachusetts. Our Science Rehashed team round table includes co-hosts Mehdi Jorfi and Shen Ning and two of our long-term staff members: Producer, Shuang Zhang, and Creative Director, Emma Brand.

We launch our new series WWiSE with an empowering discussion with Dr. Joanne Kamens, the Executive Director of Addgene and the founder of the Massachusetts chapter of Association for Women in Science. She was recognized in the list of 2013 PharmaVOICE 100 Most Inspiring-Commanders & Chiefs and 2014 Forty Over 40 - Women Who are Making an Impact. She is passionate about gender equality, workplace inclusivity, and advocates for women and minorities in STEM fields. In this episode, Dr. Kamens gives us a snapshot of her journey in academia, pharma, and biotech, and let us question our prejudices, calls to act on them. She also gives us insights into Addgene’s efforts to build an equitable workplace environment!  “Inspired” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 4.0

In this episode, we explore Dr. George Church’s opinions on CRISPR editing of human embryos, his project to bring back the extinct woolly mammoth, and his journey as a scientific pioneer. Dr. Church is a Professor at Harvard & MIT, a co-author of 537 papers, 156 patent publications, a book, called “Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves,” and significant contributor to developing next-generation genome sequencing technologies. He is a Franklin Bower Laureate for Achievement in Science; some of his honors include election to the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. He is an advocate for cost reduction of technologies, openness in science, and biological automation and multiplexing. Get a peek inside George Church’s brain now! “Half Mystery” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Listen to Dr. Chih-Hao Lee, a professor in the Department of Molecular Metabolism at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, whose team discovered that the metabolic benefits of endurance exercise are triggered by IL-13, a molecule released by immune cells residing in the muscle tissue. IL-13, speculated to have evolved to adapt to the energy stress during human parasitic infections, triggers efficient use of energy during muscle contraction resulting in increased endurance capacity, mitochondrial biogenesis, glucose tolerance, and fatty acid oxidation. “Furious Freak” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

As the world continues to fight against COVID-19, the United States is reopening to try to save its economy. Since our last episode on COVID-19 360 Perspective in April, the central questions for handling the situation have evolved, technologies are emerging, and consensus remains on the significance of testing. So, what is the current state of diagnostics now, as the country heads into the fall? In this episode, we explore COVID-19 diagnostics from experts in Biotech companies, research labs, biological resource sharing centers, and other newly established centers to facilitate the development of innovations and testing that flatten the COVID-19 curve. “How we’ll fight the next deadly virus” by Pardis Sabeti, TEDWomen 2015 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. “Inspired” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

What is it that sets humans apart from all other species on earth? We explore this question with Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga through his extensive research on a concept now dubbed the “Concept Cells”. Dr. Quiroga explains how the same set of neurons in the hippocampus can recognize different pictures of the same person, such as Jennifer Aniston, through conceptual processing. This ability and feature of our neural network is currently thought to be unique to humans. Some theorize this is the reason why our intelligence differs so greatly from our closest related species, chimpanzees, and bonobos. Dr. Quiroga is the Director of the Center of Systems Neuroscience at the University of Leicester.

As one of the most influential researchers in Neuroscience with over 100,000 citations, an international bestseller and a keyboardist with Aerosmith, Dr. Rudolph Tanzi is a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He is also the Vice-Chair of Neurology, Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, Co-Director of the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health and Co-Director of the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital. As an avid communicator of brain health, Dr. Tanzi co-discovered some of the first Alzheimer’s disease genes and received the nation’s highest awards in research and innovation. He also discovered the Wilson’s disease gene and contributed to the discovery of several other neurological disease genes. This episode takes you on his journey into science, music, and mindfulness, leaving no doubt that he truly is a legend!

Images of neurodevelopment trajectory in children may be a tool to predict psychiatric symptoms later in life. We discuss the implications of specific patterns of resting-state functional connectivity in regions of the brain with Dr. Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli, a Professor and the Director of Northeastern University Brain Imaging Centre, and a Visiting Scientist at MIT. Interestingly, this 4-year longitudinal study was able to predict psychiatric issues such as attention disorders, anxiety, or depression in adolescences through fMRI scans. These findings produce a strategy to combat psychiatric illnesses in children through early detection and precise treatment.

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the top health concerns, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is estimated that antimicrobial resistance could cause as many as 10 million deaths per year by 2050. In this episode, we discuss the power of machine learning against drug-resistant infections with Dr. James Collins from MIT and Harvard, and one of the pioneers in synthetic biology. His team discovered a powerful antibiotic molecule by harnessing artificial intelligence to select potential candidates from a chemical library with more than 100 million molecules, and successfully expanded the antibiotic arsenal against a critical pathogen classified by the WHO.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left the world in a state of disbelief and panic. To help mitigate this panic and hopefully address some of the common questions, we will be kicking off our 360 Perspective series with a discussion with a panel of experts in the fields of medicine, sociology, microbiology, economics, and epidemiology. We hope that this episode will give you a well-informed snapshot of this pandemic and what is to come.

Cancer claims the lives of 1 in 6 individuals globally, and most patients suffer from some form of lung cancer. The efficacy of chemotherapy is low due to ineffective targeting and poor drug accumulation. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Samir Mitragotri on how his team assembled a way to utilize the body’s red blood cells to smuggle nanoparticles to the affected lung in a trojan horse-like fashion. Remarkably, this extended the circulation time of the drug and increased delivery by 10-fold in comparison to free nanoparticles. Dr. Samir Mitragotri is a Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. He has been inducted into the National Academies of Engineering and Medicine and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His expertise and hard work have led to 210 publications and around 150 patents.

Living machines seem like a plot for science fiction, but now is a groundbreaking invention! In this episode, we hear from Dr. Josh Bongard from University of Vermont, and Dr. Michael Levin from Tufts University, who invented the WORLD’s FIRST living machines termed Xenobots derived from African frog embryos. This was possible by artificial intelligence processing a million combinations into a few feasible conformations using an evolutionary algorithm. These cells-constructed living organisms can carry cargo, remove debris, and regenerate.

Is it possible to transplant an organ from a donor on the East Coast to a patient on the West Coast without losing its viability? “Impossible with current technologies,” says Dr. Korkut Uygun from the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In the United States alone, one-fifth of patients who need a transplant will not receive one in time. Scientists in the field are combating this problem by developing methods to increase preservation time while reducing organ damage. In this episode, we discuss how Dr. Korkut Uygun and Dr. Reinier J. de Vries were able to extend human liver preservation from the current average of 12 hours to 27 hours. The scientist will help us elucidate two key techniques for organ preservation, namely supercooling and room temperature machine perfusion, and dive deeply into the challenges they faced in this endeavor and the impact of this technology for future patients in need of transplantation.

As bitter cold and gusty winds kick in, a cup of warm tea or coffee brings comfort, but one day might also help deliver actual medicine. In this episode, we will explore this idea with Dr. Sahab Babaee and Dr. Giovanni Traverso. They developed temperature-sensitive materials that change shape with warm water, enabling a range of sophisticated less-invasive gastrointestinal modalities. Dr. Traverso is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Robots! Yes, robotic thread. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Zhao, whose team created a robotic-like thread that can slip through the human brain’s vasculature. Dr. Xuanhe Zhao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. His team bridges the interface between biology and machines by integrating unprecedented functions and capabilities in magnetic soft robots. In this episode, we discuss briefly about the magnetically actuated soft robotics used in healthcare, emergent need of improvement in this field, how his team’s exciting research on magnetic robots obviate these limitations and expands the field to new applications.

Our first Meet the Legend series features Dr. Bob Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. Trained as a chemical engineer at Cornell University and MIT, he is a globally recognized researcher in biotechnology, and one of the 10 most cited individuals in history. He has over 1,400 scientific papers and holds over 1,350 granted or pending patents. He runs the largest biomedical engineering research laboratory in the world, and his research has benefited millions of lives worldwide.

Advances in technology and computational power opened the doors to dissecting human genomic datasets and understanding the complex genetic interactions underlying disease. In this episode, Dr. Manolis Kellis discusses his recent paper with Dr. Tsai analyzing the transcriptomes of 48 postmortem Alzheimer’s Disease brain samples. Dr. Kellis is a Professor of Computer Science at MIT, the head of the MIT Computational Biology Group, the principal investigator of CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab), and an Institute Member at the Broad Institute.

How can you sleep to a better heart? Find out in this episode with Dr. Filip Swirski about the importance of good quality sleep for our heart health. Dr. Swirski is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Can flickering LED lights really cure Alzheimer’s disease? In our first episode, we will explore the 40Hz idea with Dr. Li-Huei Tsai. Dr. Tsai is the Director of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, a Professor of Neuroscience at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, and a Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute.

Our motivations and the story of how Science Rehashed was born.