Podcasts about genomic sciences

We're thrilled to share a special episode drop from one of our producers, Kira Dineen, and her flagship podcast, DNA Today! As a multi award winning genetics podcast with over 12 years of groundbreaking episodes, DNA Today explores the latest in genetics and genomics through expert interviews and engaging discussions.    To celebrate the new year, this episode reflects back on the top genetics and genomics news stories during 2024. The top stories we chatted about are from the American Journal of Human Genetics' “Genomic medicine year in review: 2024” paper.    Joining Kira Dineen for this discussion are two leaders in genomics: Dr. Bruce Gelb and Dr. Eric Green. In this reflective conversation, Kira Dineen, Dr. Bruce Gelb, and Dr. Eric Green discusses the significant developments in genetics and genomics over the past year, including the recent American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) conference. They explore themes such as variable expressivity, the integration of genomics in human genetics, and the importance of diversity in genomic research.    The discussion also highlights key publications in genomic medicine and the evolving landscape of genetic research, emphasizing the need for continued focus on prevention and the implications of polygenic risk scores. They converse about the evolving landscape of genomic medicine, highlighting key advancements in research, particularly in areas like hemochromatosis and CRISPR technology. They reflect on the rapid progress made in genomic sequencing, especially in newborns, and the transformative impact it has on healthcare, particularly in NICUs. The discussion emphasizes the importance of diverse studies and scalable solutions in genetic counseling, as well as the future potential of genomic medicine to save lives and improve health outcomes.    Top 2024 Genomic Medicine Advancements Testing and managing iron overload after genetic screening-identified hemochromatosis Actionable genotypes and their association with lifespan in Iceland Impact of digitally enhanced genetic results disclosure in diverse families Chronic disease polygenic risk scores for clinical implementation in diverse US populations Skeletal Muscle Ryanodine Receptor 1 Variants and Malignant Hyperthermia Treating inherited retinal disease with gene-editing Validation of a clinical breast cancer risk assessment tool for all ancestries Broader access to clinical genome sequencing benefits diverse individuals with rare diseases Benefits for children with suspected cancer from routine whole-genome sequencing Clinical signatures of genetic epilepsies precede diagnosis in electronic medical records   The Guests:    Bruce D. Gelb, M.D. is the Director and Gogel Family Professor of the Mindich Child Health and Development Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is Professor of Pediatrics and of Genetics and Genomic Sciences. Dr. Gelb completed a pediatric residency and pediatric cardiology fellowship at Babies Hospital of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and Texas Children's Hospital at the Baylor College of Medicine, respectively. He joined the faculty at Mount Sinai in 1991 after fellowship and has remained there since. He developed and now oversees an extensive program in genomics/gene discovery for congenital heart disease. Dr. Gelb has received the E. Mead Johnson Award from the Society for Pediatric Research and the Norman J. Siegel New Member Outstanding Science Award from the American Pediatric Society. He was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the National Academy of Medicine (formerly, the Institute of Medicine). Dr. Gelb is the President for the American Pediatric Society, Immediate Past President for the International Pediatric Research Foundation and Treasurer-Elect for the American Society of Human Genetics. In addition to his research, he co-directs the Cardiovascular Genetics Program at Mount Sinai.   Dr. Eric Green is the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). As NHGRI director, Dr. Green leads the Institute's research programs and other initiatives. He has played an instrumental leadership role in developing many high-profile efforts relevant to genomics. Dr. Green received his B.S. degree in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1981, and his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Washington University in 1987. Coincidentally, 1987 was the same year that the word “genomics” was coined. Dr. Green's relationship with the Institute began long before his appointment as director. He served as the Institute's scientific director (2002 - 2009), chief of the NHGRI Genome Technology Branch (1996 - 2009) and founding director of the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center (1997 - 2009). Prior to that, he played an integral role in the Human Genome Project. Dr. Green is a founding editor of the journal Genome Research (1995 - present) and a series editor of Genome Analysis: A Laboratory Manual (1994 - 1998), both published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. He is also co-editor of Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics (since 2005). Throughout his career, he has authored and co-authored over 385 scientific publications.    Dr. Green is a recurring guest on DNA Today, and he might hold the title as the guest who has been on the show the most times! He was featured on Episode #182 when we chatted about the Human Genome Project and the recent completion of the human genome sequence -- from telomere to telomere. Dr. Green was a panelist on the PhenoTips Speaker Series installment that our host Kira Dineen moderated about population genomics in clinical practice, this was also released on the DNA Today podcast feed as Episode #260. He was also on the last couple years for our genetics wrapped 2022 (#214) and 2023 (#263).    Be sure to subscribe to DNA Today wherever you get your podcasts to explore hundreds of episodes on topics ranging from genetic counseling to cutting-edge research in genomics. New episodes are released every Friday. In the meantime, you can binge over 300 other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, streaming on the website, or any other podcast player by searching, “DNA Today”. Episodes since 2021 are also recorded with video which you can watch on our YouTube channel, this includes some episodes recorded at NBC Universal Stamford Studios.    DNA Today is hosted and produced by Kira Dineen. Our video lead is Amanda Andreoli. Our social media lead is Kajal Patel. Our Outreach Intern is Liv Davidson. And our logo Graphic Designer is Ashlyn Enokian, MS, CGC.    See what else we are up to on Instagram, X (Twitter), Threads, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and our website, DNAToday.com. Questions/inquiries can be sent to info@DNAtoday.com. 

BUFFALO, NY- October 23, 2024 – A new #editorial was #published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on October 11, 2024, entitled, “Gene regulatory network and signalling pathway rewiring: How blood cancer cells shift their shapes to evade drug treatment.” As highlighted in the paper, Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a complex and diverse disease caused by multiple mutations in genes that regulate transcription and growth. These mutations lead to extensive rewiring of the gene regulatory network (GRN), which alters the identity of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, ultimately blocking normal myeloid differentiation. A key feature of AML is the presence of mutations in growth factor receptor and signaling genes, such as FLT3, KIT, and RAS. Notably, FLT3 is one of the most commonly mutated genes in AML, with around 25% of cases showing an internal tandem duplication (ITD) that causes the receptor to remain constantly active. In their paper, researchers Constanze Bonifer and Peter N. Cockerill from the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham, UK, and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, discuss recent publications from their group addressing this issue through a multi-omics study. The authors investigated how gene regulatory networks (GRNs) in FLT3-ITD patients were rewired compared to normal cells and in response to FLT3 inhibitor treatment. Several key findings stood out, including: 1) Mapping of open chromatin regions revealed that patients initially responsive to FLT3 inhibition showed significant rewiring of their GRNs, forming new connections between transcription factors (TFs) and target genes, while non-responsive patients did not; 2) Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiments showed that drug treatment led to the loss of binding of RUNX1, the master regulator of hematopoiesis, and the MAP-Kinase (MAPK)-inducible TF AP-1; 3) Disruption of AP-1 binding via a dominant-negative version of the TF (dnFOS) also abolished RUNX1 binding at hundreds of sites, indicating that RUNX1 binding is AP-1 dependent; and 4) Inhibition of both AP-1 and RUNX1 led to a pronounced cell cycle block. “In summary, drugs that target individual signalling pathways in AML often fail to stop proliferation malignant growth, due to the wide variety, redundancy and cross talk between multiple pathways regulating and differentiation.” DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28662 Correspondence to - Constanze Bonifer - constanze.bonifer@mcri.edu.au Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c_uT6aE36A Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article: https://oncotarget.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Foncotarget.28662 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Oncotarget: https://www.oncotarget.com/subscribe/ Keywords - cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, gene regulatory networks, aberrant growth factor signaling, transcription, RUNX1/AP-1 axis About Oncotarget Oncotarget (a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal) aims to maximize research impact through insightful peer-review; eliminate borders between specialties by linking different fields of oncology, cancer research and biomedical sciences; and foster application of basic and clinical science. Oncotarget is indexed and archived by PubMed/Medline, PubMed Central, Scopus, EMBASE, META (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative) (2018-2022), and Dimensions (Digital Science). To learn more about Oncotarget, please visit https://www.oncotarget.com and connect with us: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Oncotarget/ X - https://twitter.com/oncotarget Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/oncotargetjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@OncotargetJournal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncotarget Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/oncotarget/ Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/user/Oncotarget/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0gRwT6BqYWJzxzmjPJwtVh

Andrew Beggs is a Professor of Cancer Genetics & Surgery at the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, and the Deputy Director of the Birmingham Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and Theme Lead for Biomarkers and Liquid Biopsy. He is also Head of Somatic Cancer in the Central and South Genomic Medicine Service Alliance and Co-Lead of the Translational Biology and Genetics research theme within the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences. He is a fellow of the Alan Turing Institute and has recently been awarded an MRC Senior Clinical Fellowship.SummaryThis conversation explores the role of genetics in cancer and why the disease is hard to treat. It discusses assessing cancer risk and the benefits of annual MRI scans. Advances in less invasive and targeted therapies are highlighted, along with the importance of accessing new treatments and seeking second opinions. The conversation also touches on the progress in treatments, the cost of care, cancer genetics research, ways to reduce cancer risk, and the uncertain effects of vaping.Key Moments02:13 Understanding cancer07:36 Why is cancer difficult to treat?13:12 Assessing personal risk of cancer16:01 The effectiveness of annual MRI scans24:55 Advancements in Less Invasive and Targeted Therapies28:20 Availability and Access to New Treatments29:04 Importance of Seeking Second Opinions31:59 Progress in Cancer Treatment and Cures33:38 The Cost of Cancer Treatments36:42 Cancer Genetics Research and its Process44:19 Reducing the Risk of Cancer46:14 Vaping and its Unknown Effects on CancerMusic credit: David Cutter Music / @dcuttermusic Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few weeks ago, I had a fantastic conversation with Dr. Amy Divaraniya, CEO of Oova, a hormonal health testing company. We talked all about how very few women have regular 28-day cycles (only 13%, and maybe even closer to 5% according to Oova's latest data!) and what that means for those who are trying to conceive or who are hitting perimenopause.⁠⁠I love a good #femtech story where a woman brings a product to market to solve her own health issue. Congratulations to Dr. Amy for raising a whopping $ 10.3 million for their Series A. That's big money in femtech! ⁠Here's to taking our health into our hands, and I hope you enjoy the story! Listeners of Misseducated get 10% off Oova. Go to https://oova.life/misseducated and apply the promo code MISSOOVA10 when you checkout.Episode Transcript I apologize in advance for typos or misattribution of words. We'll gladly make any corrective updates that you identify. [Intro] [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] They say that if you have PCOS or irregular cycles, our data may not be reliable for you. And I was like, well, that's great because we know that 87 percent of women don't have a 28-day cycle. So, who are you trying to solve this problem for?[Tash Doherty] Hello everyone. And welcome back to Misseducated with me, your host, Tash Doherty. And today my guest is Dr. Amy Diverania, the founder and CEO of Oova. A personalized at-home test to help females understand their unique hormone profile. There's been a lot of talk of hormonal health in Femtech over the last couple of years, and Oova is leading the way in measuring LH, estrogen, and progesterone, three key hormones in the menstrual cycle.In 2023, Dr. Amy and her team raised a whopping $ 10.3 million Series A, which is big money in Femtech, so we're super excited to dive into all things hormonal health. So, Dr. Amy, welcome to Miseducated. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk to you today. You got your PhD from the Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai in Genetics and Genomic Sciences.So what inspired you to get your PhD, and what did you discover in your thesis and your research?  [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Before I did my Ph.D., I was actually working in the industry as a data scientist, and I've been really fortunate in my career to be surrounded by folks who are smarter than me and amazing mentors. I've never really disliked a boss; they've always pushed me.To be better and move forward. My director actually took me out to lunch one day and was like, Amy, he was so mad. Right. It's really weird to see your manager mad. And it's not directed towards you, but he's like, I want to give you a promotion, but I can't because you either need a PhD or ten years of experience.And at that point, I only had five years. So he was like, leave here. Go get your Ph.D., and then wherever you go, I'm coming, and I was like, all right, fine. Like, I'll invest in myself. Like, don't invest the time here invested in you and go and get your Ph.D., so I did, and I was really particular about where I wanted to go.Who I wanted to work with. I was kind of a groupie of my 2 Ph.D. advisors, who were at the time also leaders in the genomic space, very visionary, and I was always that person in the audience listening to the same talk over and over again, just inspired beyond belief. I wanted them to be my mentors, and they both accepted me.I got into the school. They agreed on my Ph.D. dissertation topic. We kind of hit the ground running from there. And believe it or not, my director that had advised me to do this actually came in as an investor in the company, too. So he did follow me, which is really exciting. But my Ph.D. work had nothing to do with what we're doing today.It was really looking at genetic networks and figuring out why women or not women, why people were developing certain diseases in the inflammatory. Like, why were you getting lupus over cardiovascular disease when they're so related? What's that trigger that says you're going to get this disease versus another?And we were able to actually model out various genetic networks by looking at different tissues and health records to validate everything, which is really cool. I had beautiful pictures throughout my dissertation. [Tash Doherty] Wow. So, you planned to go back to your industry job when you finished your PhD? [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Well, yes and no, I wanted to go back to work. I wasn't really in this, like, I need to start my own company mentality at all, but I didn't really want to go back to big pharma because I felt like. Those companies are so big, and you have all these great ideas; you often get lost, and it takes so long for innovation to come to real life. At that point, it's not even innovative anymore.My plan was either to go into a biotech or startup and my PhD advisors were really well connected there. So they were like, what kind of company do you want to go into? And at that point, I was going through infertility myself. And I was experiencing the gaps in women's health and not understanding what my body was doing.And so what I unintentionally did was pitch Oova. I basically said, do you know any company that is monitoring hormones, helping women navigate various phases of life, and doing it in a nonblood form? And they both looked at me and were like, no, you need to build that. And I was like, okay, sure.They're like, I have an investor coming tomorrow, get a pitch deck together, and I'll put you in front of them. I was like, all right, fine. I happily walked back to my desk, Google, like a good student. What is a pitch deck? And I put together an 87-page deck to put in front of this investor. [Tash Doherty] 87-pages. That's quite extensive.I mean, I had just written a dissertation that was hundreds of pages long. So, 87 pages felt like nothing. He was very kind and tore that deck apart with so much grace and was like, you only need these seven slides, Amy. And I was like, Oh, okay. And that's really where it started. Wow. Well, I love the idea of having so many mentors that you can learn from, and he will just give you the honest truth.Like nobody needs that many pages. This is Silicon Valley. Like people do not have time to sit through hours and hours of research. So that's really amazing.[Tash Doherty] And so when you talk about your own experience with infertility, because you were trying to conceive like with your partner and was it like a question of like, Do you know anything about, you know, your unexplained infertility? Was it when you were cycling, or did you have PCOS or some other kind of like other condition that was affecting whether or not you could conceive? [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Yeah. So, I've always had irregular cycles since my first period. It's always been a regular, and I've kind of tried everything like I was misdiagnosed with PCOS for multiple years.I was put on the hormone birth control, all of that to find out finally with like a sane OB that, okay, having an irregular period is just normal for you. So I kind of accepted that, and I let it go, but when it was time to start trying to conceive, I was doing everything right. I was using my fertility tracking apps.I was peeing on sticks. I was tracking every symptom like I was a data scientist by training. So like, give me data, and I will find that golden nugget. But there was no pattern to be found in this data. All I was learning was that I'm irregular, and it's so frustrating because my train ride to work every day was literally dissecting all my data.That's what I would do. Like, no one can sit on the seat. I have my stuff spread out. Like, this is my time to really dig in, and I couldn't find anything. The most frustrating part was when you were looking at the fine print of all these products. They say that if you have P. C. O. S. or irregular cycles, our data may not be reliable for you.And I was like, well, that's great because we know that 87 percent of women don't have a 28-day cycle. So, who are you trying to solve this problem for? And that's really where the light bulb started coming up. I don't know if I'm ovulating or not. I can't not be ovulating in the 18 months it took me to conceive.I have to be ovulating much more frequently than I am. And I just didn't have those answers. The breaking point for me was more so sitting on my bathroom floor. After getting another pregnancy test, it was four in the morning. I was bawling and crying, and I had my dad's magnifying glass in my hand, trying to find a double line on a pregnancy test, and I couldn't find it.And I was like, my Ph.D. work is so innovative, and I'm doing such crazy things, yet I'm sitting here with a 60-year-old magnifying glass, trying to figure out if I'm pregnant or not. It just didn't feel like real life. And there was such a broken piece of the puzzle that I wanted to fix. These are the kinds of stories that I love to feature on this podcast because it's amazing how we now have so many women in STEM, so many women, OBs, you know, women doing PhDs.There are nice, fancy things that we're all studying and researching. And yet, there's our lived experience of going to the doctor and trying to understand their own bodies. And we're so behind still on that. [Tash Doherty] I always get really excited and inspired when I'm like, okay, here's a person who is like STEM, literate, educated, and like enfranchised basically.Like when you have a Ph.D., or you're assigned as like, you can do all these things and study these things. So that's really great that, you know, unfortunately, you have to take one for the team and put your own body on the line for the greater good. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] You bring up a really good point. Yes, there are a lot of women in STEM and making moves here, but it wasn't until I started this company that I actually felt like the only woman in a room.And I don't know if I was just oblivious to it, or I don't know what it was. Still, I didn't feel like I was actually treated like a woman until I started this company in an environment like a group setting; I felt like I was always treated like a person. And now I'm feeling like, oh my God, like I, everyone is looking at me like I am the only woman in a room because I am defending a woman's health issue for a woman's health company being run by women.[Tash Doherty] Yeah, it's crazy. I've had, um, Anna Lee as well from Lioness on the podcast, and she talks about like pitching sex toys to all male investor panels in Silicon Valley, and I'm like, oh wow, really respect for that girl. Yeah, to be a fly in the wall, right? Wow, and so did you end up discovering, you know, through your data and all your research, like, were you ovulating, or also it randomly, like, through your cycle?[Dr. Amy Divaraniya] So, no, I was ovulating every cycle, but the issue for me was that my luteinizing hormone search was just on the lower end. So when you look at these over-the-counter tests that are available, they're all threshold-based. So my LH just wasn't reaching their threshold. So, I was getting false negatives every month.So, literally, I was missing my window because the test wasn't reading it. [Tash Doherty] That's crazy. Yeah. I've also interviewed Dr. Amy from Proov, and I would love to get into a little bit of Proov as well because it's kind of a similar market. Still, parts of Oova's applications, but yeah, she was just talking again about how, like, even with COVID vaccines, it's like, they were only testing it on female bodies that were, like, not cycling.This is, again, of course, you're going to have outside effects on people who are cycling, which is the vast majority of people. Still, it's just like a really, a really difficult thing where I think, obviously, because so much of this medical history is like very patriarchal and like driven by men, it's like the added level of cycles is just too complicated, or women were assumed to be like too unintelligent, or we didn't have enough education to be able to figure out our cycles on our own.So it's kind of just this, You know, clusterfuck medical issues. And I think that's why it's really starting to unravel now. And we have a chance of getting really great gains in this generation of women and beyond, which is awesome. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Yeah, no, you bring up a great point. There are definitely those two aspects that you highlighted that women just aren't accepted to be able to handle this data and understand what's going on. But then you go to the other end of the spectrum, right? When your cycle stops. In science, there are very few things that you can say affect 100 percent of a population. Menopause is one. If a woman is to live to a certain age, 100 percent of those women will go through menopause. Yet we know nothing about it.It is a mystery. I don't understand that. Like, why do we not understand this transition that is inevitable and are able to guide women through that? I understand everyone's different and everyone's going to have different symptoms, but the fact that no one has, there's no holy grail. Like, if I experienced this, it could be X, Y, or Z. There's none of that. And after generations of women going through this. We still don't have any sort of answers there. I think it's completely a disservice to women. Totally. I think perimenopause is a huge area that we need a lot more advancements in.[Tash Doherty] And I think that's a great segue actually to some of the product questions that I was going to ask you about, and maybe we could give an example of a perimenopause user with Oova so far. So I think it's like digital urine tests; if I'm right, it's like the same test over and over again. So yeah, tell us a bit about the product and like how a woman who's experiencing perimenopause might want to use it.[Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Sure. So I'll explain the product a little bit so people understand what it looks like. I can show it to you, but, um, I can describe it for your listeners. It's a urine-based test, so every kit comes with 30 strips. There are 15 strips to measure luteinizing hormone and progesterone and 15 that measure estrogen.Each one of our cartridges has a QR code on it, so we know exactly what tests are measuring. You don't need to worry about, like, am I using LH or estrogen? Am I misrepresenting it? We work, we take care of all of it. But you basically provide a urine sample, and then you scan it with your phone. Very similar to how you would do a mobile deposit, right?You're not entering data in. We get the data directly from the test strip, and then we interpret it all for you and let you know exactly what your hormone levels are every day that you use a test. Now, for perimenopause, we expect you to use it for 15 consecutive days. So we can really understand what your hormone profile looks like.Oova's forte is not on a single time point measurement. We really value looking at the trend of your hormone over time. Because we're not robots. We don't stay stagnant. We have fluctuation. And you need to understand what that fluctuation is for every woman to really guide her. So what we're looking for on the perimenopause side is 1; how are the symptoms that you're experiencing relating to the hormone levels that you're having?Is there a hormonal imbalance there? Can we help navigate you by giving you lifestyle recommendations to alleviate those symptoms or not? And really, are you in perimenopause or not? We have so many women who are using our perimenopause kit right now, thinking they are. But when you look at the data, they're still cycling.It's just Irregular. And yeah, you could say that's a sign for perimenopause, but does that mean I've been in perimenopause for 20 years? No, it's just my norm. Right? So we're really trying to help navigate women through this transition because the biggest issue is that it's so unknown. And we just don't know what's going on.[Tash Doherty] Yeah. So they're basically maybe experiencing some symptoms, but then they're still cycling, but basically the, I don't know, the hormones are winding down or they're irregular. And so, yeah, that's just helping them to measure that. And so is that also something that you really focus on is not having a threshold for these different types of hormones, just saying like, this is your level.That doesn't mean you're over and above or below whatever; this is personalized to you as a kind of hormone package, in a way. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] That's exactly it. So, we don't have a threshold on our test at all. You're getting an actual level of all your hormones every day. We really focus on understanding every woman's unique hormone baseline.So I get this question all the time. I understand these are my levels, but what's normal? And my answer is always, well, whatever is normal for you, like that 20-day cycle, which is not normal. We're not striving for that anymore. We're not 19, 18, 20, trying to get pregnant anymore. If that was great from the previous generation for us, now we're in our late 20s and early 30s, trying to get pregnant, and we're not following a 28-day cycle.For the most part. So, how do we really embrace your uniqueness and understand what's happening in your body? So our answer is always like, it may be normal for you. Let's look at your historical data. And then we help women educate themselves on what their body is actually saying. Yeah, and I think that's just so powerful, like, because there's so much, as you've talked about in your experience, like even my experience getting birth control, whatever, and like having painful periods, there's so much shame that is built into like, what is the normal female body doing?[Tash Doherty] And I just love that, you know, with personalized products like yours, you can just understand and be kind of proud and be like, yeah, I'm irregular and like, this is what happens to me. And like, this is how I deal with it. Or, you know, and then have more personalized, you know, recommendations around like health or nutrition or whatever it is.Cause you guys have quite a holistic look at the fertility windows and things there. Um, yeah, so that's pretty, pretty crazy. Less shame, less guilt for being a female. Yeah, absolutely. And what I love as well about the product is that, like, you can just tell from the, from how it's made that, like, you don't even have to input any data.You just scan the QR code. Like, that's kind of cool. I don't know if you can go into the details, but I like how that actually works. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Yeah, sure. I'll be honest with you. We had the QR code way before COVID. So when we were thinking about the product learning curve, I was like, people are going to not know how to use the QR code. Well, thank you. COVID everything. Everyone knows what these things are now, and it's not a learning curve anymore, but we basically print a QR code on every cartridge. And we know it's embedded with a lot of data. It's not just there for. Positioning. It actually has data in it that we use internally to help interpret your results.The test strip that's inside of that cartridge, it's designed to quantitatively measure your hormones. So, the intensities of the lines actually vary based on how much hormone is present in your sample. But I don't want a woman interpreting that by eye. So when she scans her test strip, not only do we understand what hormones she's testing, plus all of the backend information that we need.But we're able to use our AI and image processing to really fine tune and get to two levels, two decimal places of accuracy in our hormone levels on a daily basis. So there's a lot of going on in that test strip. It's not just meant for you to visually interpret it. Wow. Yeah, that's kind of exactly what we need, though, is that there's the variations of levels, obviously the different types of hormones, but yeah, just having that level of accuracy is super important.[Tash Doherty] And I mean, I'm also. I've studied a lot of statistics around birth control and stuff. And it's just like, if you're using something over a long period of time, it's like, we just want to remove human error and also make the user experience easier. That's super awesome. And maybe you can then tell us a little bit about the other daily action plan or like tips and recommendations that you include in the app experience. So, for nutritional, emotional, and physical health. Like what does that look like when you're in Oova? [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Yeah. When you're going through any of these transitions, whether it's trying to get pregnant or going through debating if you're in perimenopause or not, you're already stressed out, right? Like there's some level of stress that is pushing you to buy this product to get some answers. So we're not trying to layer on more work for you or add more to your checklist of things to do every day. But what we are trying to do is, as we're seeing your hormone patterns and understanding what's going on with your body, there are some lifestyle changes that you can implement to reduce some of the discomfort that you're experiencing. So we will try to give it to you in bite-sized pieces. For example, let's look at PCOS, which is a very common and one of the most common diagnoses that we have in our platform. If you notice that you are showing signs of PCOS because your hormones look a little unbalanced.We're going to start implementing physical activity that is very lightweight. So giving you tips like, let's go for a 10-minute walk after a meal today, right? Or let's stand after eating our meal today for 5 minutes before we become sedentary because you want your insulin to be working; you need it to be like digesting your food properly.So we start giving you these little habits. That will actually have a long-term impact rather than, say, you need to exercise after every meal. That's not going to happen. So we're really just trying to embrace healthy living and long-term healthy living. Right. [Tash Doherty] And do you see any other use cases for Oova, apart from trying to conceive and perimenopause in the future? We can go more into the future unless it can translate in the conversation to more like the business model stuff as well. So, yeah, what are you thinking for more use cases? [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] So women aren't just like baby-making machines, right? Like our bodies are designed to have babies. Yes, but we go through so many transitions from our first period to the last, and it's all driven by hormones. So yes, Oova started with fertility. Yes, we moved into perimenopause, but we're really trying to scale across all the different sectors of a woman's life.Using the hormones that we have plus additional ones that we're thinking of adding as well. My goal as a company is to ensure that we're providing women and people in general just all the information they need so they can navigate every transition with information and not Google articles. Right. I want to be able to empower a woman to advocate for her own health and have that two-way conversation with her doctor, which kind of moves into our business model, but that's kind of the long-term plan of Oova, helping women navigate through every phase of life. [Tash Doherty] Totally. And we want more data, and we need more data in order to do that. So yeah, part of your business model, in addition to the kits and stuff that you have, is a membership. So, I didn't look too much into this, but I would love to know what the membership consists of. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Yeah. So it's kind of funny. What we ended up doing was we just had our one-time order and a subscription model for the longest time. And we always offered these free consults with our team. If you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out. It was always a console with either our support team or me, but it was a face-to-face Zoom call. Um, and the questions that we got were pretty similar. Can you just talk me through my data?Like, I understand everything that's happened, but I just need someone to verbalize it for me. So I was like, this is we're onto something because people are using this. Let's embed that into the product because it is so useful and it's such a distinguishing aspect of what we can offer. Since we have actual data, not just a bunch of yeses and nays or smiley faces like we have actual numbers to talk about.So, with our membership model, what we did was we embedded these consultations that are available to all of our members monthly. We also have events that are. Secure for our members to be able to talk to clinicians in our network about their own data. It's a really safe forum. So, of course, we're always HIPAA compliant, but oftentimes, you don't want to go to your regular doctor to ask certain questions.So, we offer these events where a patient can log in with one of our providers, and the provider can view their data once a patient gives them access and answer any specific questions they want. We also have office hours with these clinicians. So, if they want to talk to them one-on-one, don't feel comfortable in a group setting.That's always available too. It's so clear that women are hungry for this information, and they're just not able to get it elsewhere. So if we're able to provide that trusted circle for them, it's an honor to be able to do that. [Tash Doherty] Totally. And super cool. And so through your experience, like building the product, like scaling, um, exploring all these different use cases, uh, what are some interesting features or insights that surprised you as you were going through the process?[Dr. Amy Divaraniya]  Are you talking about building or just like after the product kind of got out there?[Tash Doherty] Um, let's do building and then one example of, like, an insight from users as well. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Okay, so building, I think, it was an assumption for me. So, like, my husband always makes fun of me when I'm like, I think we want to add this feature in here like, how do you know people want this?I'm like, well, I want it. And I'm assuming 10 other women want it. So I'm going to go with it. And so far, it's been right. So, one thing that I had a hunch about was. People are going to want to compare their data to normal, whatever is normal. So, we added this feature in our report where you can overlay a typical 28-day cycle on top of your own.But then all the messaging that's associated with that is that it's okay. You're different from this, but this is why, and it's okay, right? So, really trying to embrace the fact that you're not normal. You're normal for you. And I was floored by how many women appreciated that because they felt like they were spiraling and not knowing what was wrong.Yeah, and there's so many, like, undiagnosed people, even yourself, being misdiagnosed, and it's just like, without any understanding. I mean, the baselines are helpful. Um, but I think it's also the fact that we're not treating women, especially in the ways that you provide people with recommendations and stuff for their health.[Tash Doherty] It's like, you're not treating them as, you know, different or like, You're just saying this is, you're actually personalizing the experience more. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya]  Yeah, but it is a fine balance. [Tash Doherty] And then what was something that surprised you about either the data or something else that was interesting?[Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Well, I'll share two things. So one is we're so heavy on the data side and being sure that we're clear on research and backing all of our claims with doing the studies that we need to, um, there was a study that came out a couple of years ago saying that only 13 percent of women have a 28-day cycle. And I was like, let's, let's test that out.How many women on our platform actually have a 28-day cycle? We found it was 5%. [Tash Doherty] Oh my gosh. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] And yet, everything is designed for a 28-day cycle. [Tash Doherty] Yeah. Well, it's also probably because, like, my grandmother, she's, like, 86, but she took part in the first nurses' health study, which was, again, only tested on, like, white women who were nurses in the 50s and 60s.So, you know, whatever data set they were working with is probably, like, 100 years old, and was only testing, like, women in Indiana who were white Christian churchgoers or something under the age of 30, like. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Yeah. So it's, it was amazing as we published that last year, and that's gotten a lot of traction, but then the, so I'm like, glad that we're starting to like myth bust some of the assumptions that we have about women's health and we're doing it with data.But the 2nd thing that really surprised me, I know women want this information. I didn't know how badly. So when we launched our perimenopause product or our 3 hormone tests, I should say, in December of last year, we obviously had projections. We were prepared for whatever we wanted. We sold out of 15 weeks of inventory in 2 weeks.[Tash Doherty] Oh, my God. That's crazy. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya]  And I was just like, what do we do now? Like this is a great problem, but it's not like it just really opened up my eyes to how badly women want this. Yeah. And we're solving a true need here. Yeah. I'm excited. There are other players that are really starting to navigate this.[Tash Doherty] I've had a lot of other friends on here as well. Kristina from Kegg Tech is one of my best friends, um, in the fertility tracking space, and the same thing. It's like HSA approved suddenly, you know, all the stocks are gone, and you've got to order. But they have physical devices. So it's like, you have to have a six-month delay or something. And it's incredibly difficult. So, yeah, it's, uh, I'm, I'm glad it's like people, it's more accessible and yeah, better ramp up production because now that we, as Cindy Gallop also says, there's a lot of money that you can make from like believing women. So, as soon as you make a product that people are willing to use, it's incredible in that sense. And so, in June of 2023, you raised 10. 3 million to Series A. Congratulations. That is huge. So, what was your fundraising journey like? [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] It was very interesting. Like I told you earlier, I've never felt like the only woman in a room. The first time, I felt that wasn't always fundraising, not specifically in this round, but just in general. I mean, the world is very different today than it was a year ago than it was a year before that. So it was a very unique experience of fundraising like the markets are crashing and whatnot. But what I had done.I'm a big believer because I'm a first-time founder. Let's caveat everything with that. So I don't have a network of investors to tap into, Hey, guys, I have this new effort. Believe in me, put money in. Like, I don't have that. So, um, what I've always been really adamant about is.Build a relationship with these people before you ask for money because. You never know. And what people are innately always willing to do is offer help and advice. If you're open to it. So I've always done that. So, when I closed my seed round, I actually started talking to Series A investors right away. The next day, I didn't even give myself a moment to celebrate that I closed my seed.[Tash Doherty] I feel like you at least have a moment to celebrate, like just an inch. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] It was just, it was more of a breath of fresh air. It's like, all right, now what's next? Right. Um, but in that year and a half between our seed or whatever the time limit amount was, I spent so much time speaking with Series A investors and building relationships. So when it came time for our A. We were preempted, and then people jumped on very quickly, so it still took us time to close. But I had already built that trust with a lot of investors where we were able to bring in some amazing funds, and I'm just really proud of what we were able to build. Such a like, truncated amount of time.[Tash Doherty] Yeah, that's huge. And also, it seems like you're quite well connected because you're, like, living in New York, right? [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] The company's based in New York. I live in Connecticut, which is about 30 minutes north of New York City. But I think it's not so much about where you are physically. It's more so about being open to feedback, questions, and help. Because I've always been able to accept that. And I'm always hungry for it. And I feel like you can only grow when you surround yourself with folks that are smarter than you and more established and know things that you just haven't experienced before. Um, and I think that's really attractive to some of these people that just genuinely want to help founders. [Tash Doherty] Yeah, totally. That's actually something that I wrote down in my own journals recently. I'm doing all my own social media and platform building as an author as well. I had watched a talk about self publishing like over a year ago and then forgot about it. I didn't implement any action items from the talk. And then obviously the woman, I watched it again last week, and then she's like, yeah, you gotta go with like Ingram Spark. And I had gone with a different self-publishing platform, so I was like, oh man, if I had just actually taken these people's advice, you know, and again, it's a tricky balance because you wanna, you know, you have your own view of the product, right?Like you have the features that you wanna build that you think, uh, the user's gonna need. But then, when it comes to stuff that you have no idea about, or I'm seeing myself when I don't know something. That's exactly what I need: just take the best advice that I can and then keep going with my own vision and my own thing that I'm working on.Yeah, it's definitely an art, right? Like the advice is always out there. [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] And the thing that I've also learned is that people have so many ideas. It's all about the execution. So when you take a piece of advice, it is an idea. Now you have to go and execute on it, which is the hard part. So, if you do your diligence on all the ideas and advice that you're getting, you'll have a solid path forward.But if you're closed off to that great resource, you're only going to be moving forward with what you think is best. And that may not be necessarily the most important choice. [Tash Doherty] Right, exactly that. And also, I'm somebody who's struggled to ask for help for various reasons, you know, depending on your upbringing and how you've managed to survive as a woman in the world thus far. I mean, being a trailblazer and doing your own thing as much as possible. It's like sometimes you're trained not to ask for help. So that's a good skill we can all implement in 2024. Yes, let's finish with a couple of more personal questions as we're wrapping up today. Um, if you were going to do a PhD again today, what would you do it in?[Dr. Amy Divaraniya] I would probably do something in education but tailor it a little bit. Um, if I could start another company, it would be focused on redefining what sexual wellness means when you're learning about sex and sex ed. Like I want to redefine that entire program across the world. We should not be teaching girls that their period is something to be ashamed of.They need to understand what the biology of this is and why you're having a period. It is not true that if you have sex, you're going to get pregnant. That is absolutely not the case. And I'm living proof of that. What we do need to understand is why you have a cycle, that there are certain days that you can get pregnant, and what that means.Yes. Like you, you can make the argument that when the kid's minds aren't developed yet, they won't understand those nuances. That is feeding into that entire scope of women not needing or being able to handle data about their bodies. It's just not true. I gave my nine-month-old a phone, an iPhone. He grabbed my phone.He knew how to swipe. Yeah. Like, they know way more and are much more capable of handling information and knowledge than we give everyone credit for. And I'd want to redo what the entire program looks like. [Tash Doherty] Yeah, and I think an aspect of that is that, like, you know, it's kind of like when you're in that awkward puberty phase where you're like, am I going to sit at the adult's table or the kid's table at Thanksgiving?Um, but the reality is that we treat young girls, you know, like children; they're already fertile and have been cycling since I was like 11 when I got my period. So, I probably should feel equipped, empowered, and enfranchised with the data that I can understand about my body.So yeah, it's a very, it's a very strange, again I think that's like a patriarchal thing where it's like the infantilization of women, um, because that's what, you know, in our society people have historically found attractive. So changing that sounds like a great thing to do. And what are some other areas of research or women's health questions that you think people who are interested in STEM should be answering or trying to answer?[Dr. Amy Divaraniya] I would hope that anyone that's addressing any women's health issue is looking at objective data. I think a lot of the, like, conclusions that have been made or assumptions that have been made about women's health are based off of subjective things. Like, if you look at period tracking apps, it's all subjective data.We're one of the first actually to bring objectivity to those symptoms. I mean, I have years of data and all these apps, but if I look at it, there really aren't many patterns there that I can draw conclusions from. Now, when I look at my three years of data, that's powerful. Cause I'm seeing what the hormone trends were.I'm seeing the days that I was super stressed and that my cycle was completely off. And there are explanations that I can draw from looking at actual objective data. So, there are so many areas that are exciting right now. Like, I think menopause is having its moment finally, like, man, I guess women have started going through menopause, right?It's finally having its moment. There are companies that are looking at the microbiome, the vaginal microbiome. I think that's fantastic too. Like, let's understand what cervical mucus is and really get to the bottom of why you're having that and other issues there; Priyanka Jain (at Evvy) is wonderful. Like, I love the way that they're approaching the vaginal microbiome, they're really normalizing this as a body part, and it's not something to be ashamed of, like. There's a purpose to having a vagina, and we shouldn't be shy about that. Um, so I'm really excited about some of the innovation that's happening and the way the conversation is shifting.[Tash Doherty] Yes, exactly. And if you had any career advice for women interested in STEM and startups today, what would you tell them? [Dr. Amy Divaraniya] The number one thing that has helped me get to where I am today is always asking questions. And I think when you do a Ph.D., you're kind of trained to ask questions, but I was doing it before I even did a Ph.D. because the more questions that you ask, the more doors that are open.So if I'm talking to an investor about something, and I know this person isn't going to invest in us. We're not in there like round size or whatever, but they're going to know at least five other people that would be good fits for me. And that's how you build your network. And that's how you grow because you're going to have five more conversations that have so many more legs.And I've always been open to that across every aspect of my life. And it's never hurt me. It's only kind of paying it forward in a way by always having a network to tap into. [Tash Doherty] Well, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Great advice all around. And, uh, speaking of these kinds of questions, what do you wish that I had asked you, or what should I have asked you in this interview?[Dr. Amy Divaraniya] You asked really good questions. But I think the one thing would be, what is a big gap that I'm seeing in this space? Right now. Yeah. I think we asked what areas we could; it was exciting, but we didn't really see what the big oversight was. I think there are a lot of players in the fem tech or women's health side, but people enrolled, like going off to the same investors, we're all like trying to show growth and things like that.But I would hope that, especially when you're a female founder, that's like the companies that are really in the space, like all the female-founded ones, you know how you would want to get marketed to. And what information you would need to make, like, to be convinced to make this purchase. I would hope that companies just stay true to that and not do false advertising or bend the truth. Like, let's be honest and clear with our potential customers about what we're actually putting out there because I think we're just creating more noise and hurting our community so much by playing the marketing game. This should not be a marketing game. It should be providing value to a community that is desperately in need of it.[Tash Doherty]  Yeah, totally. I mean, that's if they can get their ads published at all, you know, with the Facebook and Instagram ads, you know, like the banana penis can go on the subway in New York. But, uh, and then, I think her name is Alex, but anyway, yeah, the Dame had this huge thing about that as well.Amazing and fascinating. Such a bummer because then you can't, even even if you raise a million dollars, it's like, well, if you can't advertise like you don't get any of that growth,[Dr. Amy Divaraniya] But we're still held to the same metrics that men are, right? [Tash Doherty]  So anyway, Dr. Amy, this has been an incredible conversation. I am so grateful that you could come and chat with us today, and yeah, best of luck with Oova and all of the great things in store for 2024.[Dr. Amy Divaraniya] Thank you so much. It's wonderful to speak with you. [Outro] [Tash Doherty] Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of Miseducated. If you'd like a special discount on Oova, I'm super excited to be able to share this promo code with you. You can go to Oova dot life slash miseducated, which is It's O O V A dot L I F E slash M I S S E D U C A T E D. And the discount code is, all caps, MissOova10, which is M I S S O O V A 1 0. Lots of love, everyone. Stay safe out there, and I hope that you'll join us for another episode of Miseducated again soon.Bye! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit misseducated.substack.com/subscribe

Joel Dudley is a Partner @ Innovation Endeavors and an experienced leader, medical professional, researcher, and entrepreneur. Joel previously served as the Chief Scientific Officer at Tempus, a company focused on bringing the power of data and artificial intelligence to healthcare. Before joining Tempus, Joel was an Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and founding Director of the Institute for Next Generation Healthcare at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He also served as Executive Vice President for Precision Health for the Mount Sinai Health System. Prior to joining Innovation Endeavors, Joel co-founded Onegevity Health (acquired by Thorne), a company developing health intelligence platforms for preventative health, and NuMedii, a company developing machine learning and A.I. approaches for drug discovery. Joel has published 200+ peer-reviewed research papers that have been referenced and featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, MIT Technology Review, CNBC, and other popular media outlets. Joel earned a BS in Microbiology from Arizona State University and an MS and Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics from Stanford University School of Medicine.Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license)

EPISODE 16 Ben George, MD William F. Stapp Endowed Chair; Associate Professor of Medicine; Director, Phase 1 Clinical Trials Program; Associate Director for Cancer Genomics and Precision Medicine; Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine Center Education and Training Doctor of Medicine - University of Kerala (1998) Internship, Internal Medicine - Medical College of Ohio - Toledo, OH (2004-2005) Residency, Internal Medicine - Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center - La Crosse, WI (2005-2007) Fellowship, Hematology/Oncology - Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals - Milwaukee, WI (2007-2010) Fellowship, GI Medical Oncology - University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center - Houston, TX (2010) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/seena-magowitz-foundation/message

Born and raised in Taiwan, Kuan-lin Huang is an Assistant Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City. Kuan leads the Computational Omics Lab that is dedicated to solving pressing challenges in human diseases. He is the author of the best-selling book Solve It Yourself: Fix the World's Problem with Science.” He is also the Co-Founder and Chief Unboxer of OpenBoxScience.Org.

Born and raised in Taiwan, Kuan-lin Huang is an Assistant Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City. Kuan leads the Computational Omics Lab that is dedicated to solving pressing challenges in human diseases. He is the author of the best-selling book Solve It Yourself: Fix the World's Problem with Science.” He is also the Co-Founder and Chief Unboxer of OpenBoxScience.Org.

“This is about developing a balance between quantitative and qualitative perspective, it isn't just about the data - the data is important, of course it is - but it's also the lived patient experience. Both are key.”    In this week's episode of The G Word, Chris Wigley is joined by Dave McCormick, who has been a member of the Genomics England Participant Panel since 2017 and became a participant in the 100,000 Genomes Project due to his rare sight condition. Dave is also an Advisor on the MSc in Genomic Sciences at The University of Manchester, and a Patient Representative in North West GLH Clinical Advisory Group.    In this episode, Dave and Chris discuss why is it so important for people studying to become bioinformaticians or clinical scientists to embed the patient voice, getting healthcare professionals and scientists to talk to people in lay language and DIGVIP (Digital Inclusion on Genomics with Visually-Impaired People), a webinar series launched to try to bring research and patients closer together.   

Dr Philip Smith, Digital and Education Editor of Gut and Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Royal Liverpool Hospital interviews Professor Inga Peter, who is a Professor in the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, on "Infants born to mothers with IBD present with altered gut microbiome that transfers abnormalities of the adaptive immune system to germ-free mice" published in paper copy in Gut in January 2020. Link to the paper: https://gut.bmj.com/content/69/1/42

In this ice-breaker style interview, upcoming 3DHEALS2020 speaker Dr. Gustavo Mendonça shared with us (Dr. Cajee) on where digital dentistry and dental 3D printing are in restorative dentistry and in the future of dental education. The two also briefly discussed the potentially important role bioprinting and biofabrication can play in restorative dentistry. See full written, video, podcast version of this interview here. Dr. Gustavo Mendonça received his DDS in 1999 from the University of Uberlândia – School of Dentistry, Brazil. He also completed his postgraduate training in Prosthodontics and a Masters Degree in Oral Rehabilitation from the same school in 2003. In 2008 he finished his Ph.D. in Genomic Sciences and Biotechnology at the Catholic University of Brasília, Brazil. Dr. Mendonça was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Prosthodontics at Catholic University of Brasília – School of Dentistry with an extra-mural private practice from 2003-2007. From 2008 to 2010 he completed post-doctoral research training at UNC-Department of Prosthodontics in the Bone and Mineralization Laboratory. Dr. Mendonça currently teaches in the Comprehensive Care VIC Clinics and the fixed and removable prosthodontics preclinical courses. Dr. Mendonça's current research interests include the effect of nano- and micro-topography on osteoblast behavior, mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into osteoblasts and the molecular basis of dental implants osseointegration. Clinical research interests include replacing missing teeth with dental implants, evaluating the longevity of implant treatment and CAD/CAM restorations. Dr. Gustavo Mendonça will be speaking at the upcoming 3DHEALS2020, June 5th-6h, 2020, along with other 40+ world-class speakers.Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=STF9STPYVE2GG&source=url)

LymeMIND is designed to enable a systems medicine approach to identify novel biomarkers and new therapeutic opportunities. Through our network of collaborators, we are able to interrogate the complex biology of samples collected from Lyme-affected individuals using molecular profiling technologies and applying advanced statistical and machine learning approaches to move rapidly from “Big Data” to knowledge and improved understanding of the disease.   About My Guest: Patricia Savi Glowe is the Director of Operations for the Institute for Next Generation Healthcare (INGH) in the Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai, and the Director of Strategy & Operations for the Precision Health Enterprise (PHE) in the Mount Sinai Health System. She leads the organization and development of research programs and directs operational efforts supporting the entirety of INGH, PHE, and associated centers. She joined Mount Sinai's Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences in January 2013 and began her current work with Dr. Dudley in Fall 2014.     Key Takeaways: Join LYME Mind for a FREE Facebook Live event on October 19th Bringing together patients and researchers within the Lyme community. Interactive booth helps patients tell their stories. Treating pregnant women who are battling Lyme disease. Exploring the genetic possibilities and immune exposures that could play a part in Post-treatment Lyme disease. How Lyme is being handled from a public healthcare standpoint in comparison to AIDS and tuberculosis. Several artists will be on display as they give VOICE to the healing energy that comes through art and music. The Cohen Foundation. What will Lyme disease look like in the year 2040? Genome and immunology will be changing with precision medicine.   Connect With My Guest: To learn more about the Institute for Next Generation Healthcare please visit nextgenhealthcare.org Jessica Donaldson @ lymesouthernbelle@gmail.com Savi Glowe — patricia.glowe@mssm.edu     Resources Mentioned: Cohen Foundation  Conference homepage: http://www.lymemind.org/ Free registration: http://www.lymemind.org/register-now Schedule: http://www.lymemind.org/2019-agenda Social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram   Links: Alkaline Anti-oxidant Water- http://www.lymewater.com/  Instructional videos on ionized alkaline water! Electrolyzed reduced water Envita Medical –Envita Medical Lyme Voice Facebook The Lyme Voice Podcast- Lymevoice.com Lyme Documentary-Disappearing From Society, Life with chronic Lyme in 14 minutes…Documentary Little Bite, BIG TROUBLE, available on Amazon –Children’s book about Lyme disease Liv Lyme Summit https://livlymefoundation.org/  Download conf info HERE Organic coffee!  https://www.ovaldogs.com 

On this week's The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Tayler Murphy and Victor Gipson IITayler Murphy is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in the Genetics and Genomic Sciences program in Dr. Amy Ralston's lab.  This summer, Tayler mentors Victor Gipson II. Victor is a junior cellular biology major at the University of Georgia. He is at MSU this summer through the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP). The goal of their project is to understand how stem cells are created, by using pre-implantation mouse embryos as a model. They particularly are looking at a type of stem cell called extraembryonic endoderm cells (XEN cells) which are naturally occurring cells in the embryo that eventually become the yolk sac.Tayler is a part of the genetics student organization. She was the second author on a paper in 2018.If you're interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at scifiles@impact89fm.org. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter @SciFiles89FM and Facebook!

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | Stitcher | Apple Episode 6 – Professor Matthew Cobb This week we share a pint with a scientist who really smells. Sorry, he researches smells. Specifically, he’s interested to know how maggots smell; who says science can’t be glamorous! Our guest for episode 6 is the University of Manchester’s Professor Matthew Cobb, Professor of Zoology, award-winning science communicator extraordinaire and expert on the French Resistance during World War II… A bit of a modern-day polymath! We made a return visit to Manchester’s very accommodating Salutation Inn, where we spent a fascinating couple of hours learning about (amongst other things): the nature of consciousness; how we can apply our understanding of genetics to give us clues about the sense of smell in Neanderthals; and why it’s better to work with flies than people… Matthew literally arrived armed with a bottled smell, such is his commitment to hands-on (noses-on?) science communication. Enjoy! Welcome back to the Pint of Science podcast. Each week, we meet scientists in pubs around the UK to find out about their lives, their universe, and everything. From *how* fruit flies love to *why* humans love, via jumping into volcanoes, winning Olympic medals, where we came from and more! Like what we do? Let us know using the hashtag #pintcast19. And be sure to subscribe to us and rate us on your favourite podcasting platform! The Pint of Science podcast is a part of the Pint of Science Festival, the world's largest science communication festival. Thousands of guests and speakers descend on pubs in hundreds of cities worldwide to introduce science in a fun, engaging, and usually pint-fuelled way. This podcast is made possible with the help of our sponsors Brilliant.org. Do check them out, and visit www.brilliant.org/pintofscience/ where the first 200 people who sign up will get 20% off a Premium plan! About Matthew Cobb, this week's guest: Professor Matthew Cobb is Professor of Zoology in the Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences at the University of Manchester. After obtaining a PhD in Psychology and Genetics from the University of Sheffield, and a stint as a postdoc at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, Matthew moved to France in 1984 – where he stayed for 18 years. The various positions he held in France shaped his research interests in chemical communication and the sense of smell (as well as his historical interests in the French Resistance during World War II). Matthew returned to the UK in 2002 to take up a post as a lecturer at the University of Manchester, where in 2007 he received the University’s award for Teaching Excellence. Alongside his research, Matthew has published two popular science books; The Egg & Sperm Race (2006), and Life’s Greatest Secret (2015). He has also written two historical books on the French Resistance, and regularly writes for The Guardian. Matthew is great on twitter, follow @matthewcobb for regular fascinating nuggets of science. Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | Stitcher | Apple

Imagine an all-encompassing platform that allows you to keep track of all your blood, stool, saliva, and urine testing results, along with self-quantified data from wearables, and even pulls in all health testing you've done in the past as part of a single dashboard. And imagine that platform could then use highly advanced artificial intelligence to tell you exactly how to eat, how to supplement, how to exercise and much more. All from the comfort of your home, without needing to drive to an expensive lab for multiple blood draws or fill out confusing paperwork. That's exactly what the brand new company has the money, technology and data to do, and so I decided it was high time I sat down with their two chief scientists to learn exactly how this process works. I've already sent in my own stool using their Gut/bio shotgun stool sequencing test that we discuss in this episode. My guests are Dr. Joel Dudley and Dr. Chris Mason.  These guys are highly qualified and wicked smart. Dr. Dudley is currently Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Endowed Chair of Biomedical Data Science, and founding Director of the Institute for Next Generation Healthcare at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Prior to Mount Sinai, he held positions as Co-founder and Director of Informatics at NuMedii, Inc. and Consulting Professor of Systems Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. His work, published in >120 peer-review publications, is focused at the nexus digital health, artificial intelligence (AI), scientific wellness, and healthcare delivery. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, MIT Technology Review, CNBC, and other popular media outlets. He was named in 2014 as one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company magazine. He is co-author of the book Exploring Personal Genomics from Oxford University Press. Dr. Dudley received a BS in Microbiology from Arizona State University and an MS and PhD in Biomedical Informatics from Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Christopher Mason is currently an Associate Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, with appointments at the Tri-Institutional Program in Computational Biology and Medicine between Cornell, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center, and the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute. He is also Director of the WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction, which bridges prediction methods in finance with genomics. His work spanning >140 peer-reviewed publications has been featured on the cover of Science, Nature, and Cell journals as well as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, and other major media outlets. Dr. Mason was featured as a speaker at TEDMED and he was recognized in 2014 as one of the “Brilliant Ten” by Popular Science magazine. He completed his dual B.S. in Genetics and Biochemistry (2001) from University of Wisconsin-Madison, his Ph.D. in Genetics (2006) from Yale University, and then completed post-doctoral training in clinical genetics (2009) at Yale Medical School while jointly a post-doctoral Fellow of Genomics, Ethics, and Law at Yale Law School (2009). During the show, you'll discover: -What is, and what it does...9:45 "Health intelligence" company History of the company Frustration with how long it takes research to reach the consumer 17 years to reach just the clinic; many years after that to reach the consumer How is it different from other biome testing companies Shotgun sequencing vs. 16S Translate the results along with actionable steps to take Recreational health information vs. health management companies Vertically integrated with Thorne, who develops the actual solutions Starting over in some ways in the realm of microbiome testing -What is metatranscriptome analysis?...18:00 "Meta" = Across all species DNA + RNA analysis Challenges with RNA analysis - some clinicians consider it useless Only top few % of species generate RNA in the sample Comparable in price to shotgun sequencing -The actual testing process at Onegevity...20:45 Very small stool sample required, as compared to other tests 6 gigabytes of data after sequencing DNA Each fragment compared to all known species on earth Interactive report on the web; suggestions on what food and supplements to order Network modeling: How are changes in the microbiome propagating to the blood More comprehensive than guessing based on correlations What is measured in the blood? TBD based on the individual's health -How Joel and Chris overcome challenges and skepticism in their testing processes...28:20 How can you measure the whole gut with a stool sample? (Spatial microbiome testing) Not necessary, even harmful, to sample from other areas of the gut -The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the testing process at Onegevity...36:40 Predicts diseases/conditions based on the shotgun sequencing Recommend foods and supplements to consume Each company has its own variables, testing protocols, etc.; results in differing test results Database continues to grow with each test; data becomes more reliable Data is not for sale to outside parties; will partner under the right conditions -How do you go from stool, to shotgun sequencing, to "don't eat green beans?"...40:35 Internal trial; shocking results Can determine the efficacy of the test at certain benchmarks; 15 day, 30 day, etc. Very positive feedback from those who were tested Does Thorne produce a special probiotic that seeds the gut? -How comprehensive are the dietary recommendations after a Onegevity test?...48:52 Not simply a particular diet, i.e. Mediterranean, Ketogenic, etc. Can make specific food, meal recommendations Possibly partner with food delivery services to provide customized options Very close to being perfectly genetically tailored in both microbiome and saliva tests -How customer data is protected if Joel and Chris choose to partner with a pharmaceutical company...55:20 Customers are opted out by default; can choose to opt in. Potential to benefit monetarily by opting in -What the Onegevity platform looks like from a user standpoint...1:01:55 -And much more! Resources from this episode: - Use discount code BEN20 to receive $20 off your own test. -Book: Exploring Personal Genomics by Joel Dudley Episode Sponsors: - My own company where I develop coffees, energy bars and supplements. I'm also proud to endorse the Thorne line of supplements, including the multi-vitamin, which I take every day. - Wake up each day feeling rested. Relax your body after a long day. Help stiff joints feel young again. Use discount code “greenfield” and get 20% off your entire order! - Your Favorite Organic Foods and Products. Up to 50% Off. Delivered to Your Door. Use my link and get an extra 25% off your first order. - Gently push your body into Ketosis in a healthy manner so your body turns into a fat-burning machine (and stays in fat-burning mode). Get 15% off your order when you use my link. Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Joel, Chris or me? Leave your comments at http://bengreenfieldfitness.com/onegevity and one of us will reply!

Dr. Erin Young discusses the role genetics play in pain susceptibilities. She is an Assistant Professor of both the School of Nursing and Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Her career has been focused on studying genetic contributions to pain susceptibility, for which she has published numerous papers sharing her findings. She received her BA at Wesleyan College, and her MA and PhD at Kent State University. She also completed two postdoctoral fellowships, at Texas A&M University and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research.This Episode We DiscussThe Role Genetics Plays in our Experience of PainWhy People have Differences in Pain ResponsesGenes and Pathways Involved in PainEnvironment Factors Affecting Pain SusceptibilitySomatic vs. Visceral Pain BehaviorsPain Mechanisms Behind Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)Animals Models Used and Translating Findings to Human PainOpportunities for Integrating Genetic Analysis into Precision Healthcare InitiativesTo learn more about Dr. Erin Young, check out her profile on UCONN’s InCHIP and School of Nursing website. Dive more into her research explore painresearch.uconn.edu and read one of her publications on the topics we discussed, “Genetic Basis of Pain Variability: Recent Advances”. To stay updated with Dr. Young, check out her LinkedIn and Twitter profiles.Stay tuned for the next new episode of DNA Today on October 5th, 2018. New episodes are released on the first and third Fridays of the month. Can’t wait? There are 90 other episodes to explore in the meantime.See what else I am up to on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and iTunes. Questions/inquiries can be sent to Kira at info@DNApodcast.com.

Dr Neal Shore (Carolina Urologic Research Center, South Carolina, USA) chairs a discussion with Prof Karim Fizazi (Department of Cancer Medicine, Institut Gustave Roussey, France), Prof Kurt Miller (Benjamin Franklin Medical Centre, Berlin, Germany) and Prof Nicholas James (Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK). Reflecting on the latest prostate cancer data presented at ASCO 2017, the panel covers: -The current challenges today in prostate cancer -Highlights from research presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting including STAMPEDE and LATITUDE -What does the latest research mean for the immediate management of prostate cancer? -Questions from the audience

Dr Neal Shore (Carolina Urologic Research Center, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA) and Professor Nicholas James (Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK) look at the latest prostate cancer data presented at ASCO 2017. Dr Shore asks Prof James to signpost what future clinical trial development changes will occur - Prof James indicates that future new arms to STAMPEDE will focus on adding metformin, transdermal oestrogen patches, PARP inhibition and increased utility of circulating cell-free DNA. The experts also touch on the importance of addressing health economic aspects of additive therapies - the reduction of skeletal events being one important key factor to off-set additive costs.

When researchers explore the human genome, they usually look for genetic causes of disease, but a global study being led by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Sage Bionetworks is looking for genes that might keep people healthy. Their study, the largest genome study to date, seeks to find people with genetic mutations that should have caused rare childhood diseases, but didn’t. Dubbed the Resilience Project, they are looking for clues in these genomes for why these people never became stricken. We spoke to Jason Bobe, associate professor and director of the Sharing Lab at the Icahn Institute and Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, about the study, what’s been learned so far, and how this may lead to new treatments for rare and deadly diseases.

Guest: Eric Schadt, Professor & Chair Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Director Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology Bio and Contact Info Listen (5:01) Getting buy-in from a few lead doctors

Guest: Misha Angrist, Author, Assoc. Professor, Duke Institute for Genomic Sciences Bio and Contact Info Listen (7:03) Presidential bioethics commissions do not have a good record

Guest: Misha Angrist, Author, Assoc. Professor, Duke Institute for Genomic Sciences Bio and Contact Info Listen (7:25) New MA in Bioethics and Science Policy

Regenerative Medicine Today welcomes Dr. David Whitcomb who is Professor of Medicine, Cell Biology and Physiology, and Human Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh. Additionally, he is the Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, as well as the founder and Director of the Center for Genomic Sciences. Dr. Whitcomb discusses [...]