Impulse – Meeting Healthcare Pioneers

We are at a turning point for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and neurotechnology. We have all witnessed phenomenal progress in this field recently via images shared by Neuralink, showing paralyzed patients who can communicate with a computer through their own thoughts. Other fascinating applications, such as those being worked on by Gregoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch, enable paraplegics to regain an unprecedented degree of walking mobility. These advancements are mind-blowing and illustrate the potential of these technologies to address conditions that have a major impact on quality of life. What if we were to enhance the physical properties of these implants while making them more accessible in terms of costs to health systems? Where could this paradigm shift take us, and what prospects could it open up for treating complex neurological disorders? This is what we explore in this episode with Carolina Aguilar, CEO of Inbrain Neuroelectronics, a company developing a cutting-edge neural platform based on graphene, promising to change the way we decode, modulate, and stimulate neuronal activity. We talk with Carolina about: How Inbrain Neuroelectronics' technology enhances the resolution of BCIs and their therapeutic potential The stakes around BCIs and their promise in treating serious neurological disorders The importance of focusing their development around therapeutic indications vs. aiming for human augmentation The commercialization of these solutions through a value-based care approach and key success factors Empowering women in science and business An outlook on the future of brain therapies that bridges the gap between reality and science fiction! Timeline: (00:03:22) - Explaining Inbrain Neuroelectronics’ neural platform (00:07:32) - The medical need for BCIs and the first indications targeted by Inbrain Neuroelectronics (00:18:46) - Risks around BCIs and ethical considerations for the field to head in the right direction (00:26:17) - Toward value-based commercial models for BCIs (00:29:40) - Transitioning from Medtronic to an early-stage Medtech startup (00:33:29) - Empowering women in science and business What we also talked about with Carolina: Neuralink Elon Musk Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation Medtronic ONWARD Medical Precision Neuroscience Paradromics Synchron Neurosoft Bioelectronics We cited with Carolina some of the past episodes from the series: #6 - Bringing back walking to paraplegics - Jocelyne Bloch - .NeuroRestore As mentioned by Carolina during the episode, you can access Inbrain Neuroelectronics’ publications here and learn more about their ongoing research and therapy development efforts. You can listen to the Neurotech Pub podcast hosted by Matt Angle here. Feel free to follow Inbrain Neuroelectronics activities on LinkedIn. If you want to contact Carolina, you can reach out to her over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email at [email protected]! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 There’s now a monthly newsletter around the podcast where you will be informed of the latest episodes and updated on the latest medical tech progress, subscribe here! Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

To discover the whole episode type "#27 - Reinventing neuroelectronic therapies - Carolina Aguilar - Inbrain Neuroelectronics" on your streaming platform.

Many of us struggle with allergies, usually something we’ve been dealing with our whole life, either continuously or episodically. Be it related to food, pollen, dust, pets, or many others, it’s quite a pain and it can take us away from many things we appreciate in life. And I deliberately include myself in this group. Somehow it was engraved in my brain as a condition one needs to cope with, without much opportunity for improvement. It turns out companies like Nectar Life Sciences are redefining the way we detect and treat allergies from the comfort of our homes. Based on the latest science in this field, and backed by his extensive experience in consumer healthcare, Kenneth Chahine and his team are transforming the experience of allergy care for patients, offering a convenient and personalized approach to it. In this revealing episode, we talk with Kenneth about: The inconvenience of past approaches to allergy detection and treatment How allergy immunotherapy works and can be delivered through a few drops delivered to the tongue How Nectar Life Sciences enables personalized allergy immunotherapy for patients The transformative power of preventing acute allergic shocks Lessons learned from a serial healthcare entrepreneur at the interface of genetics, biochemistry, and intellectual property A conversation with a tireless figure in healthcare entrepreneurship, shedding light on one of the largest chronic conditions globally and how it can be tackled in a modern way! Timeline: 02:28 - Kenneth’s background at the interface of genetics, biochemistry and intellectual property 04:14 - The global burden of allergies as a chronic condition 05:53 - Origins of allergies 07:49 - Immunotherapy or how to train your immune system to be desensitized to allergens 09:43 - Detecting which allergens you are sensitive to 11:17 - How Nectar Life Sciences approaches allergy treatment 22:11 - Kenneth’s mindset toward solving complex healthcare challenges in new ways 26:01 - Opportunities beyond allergy care 32:16 - Kenneth’s advice to fellow healthcare entrepreneurs What we also talked about with Kenneth: Avigen Ancestry Anaphylaxis Neurimmune University of Utah We cited with Kenneth some of the past episodes from the series: 15 - Propelling diagnostics through miniaturization - Nicolas Durand - Abionic As mentioned by Kenneth during the episode, you can access Nectar Life Sciences’ Learning Hub here and learn more about Prof. Edwin H. Kim’s research there. Feel free to follow Nectar Life Sciences activities on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok! If you want to contact Kenneth, you can reach out to him over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email at [email protected]! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 There’s now a monthly newsletter around the podcast where you will be informed of the latest episodes and updated on the latest medical tech progress, subscribe here! Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

To discover the whole episode type "#26 - Redefining allergy care - Kenneth Chahine - Nectar Life Sciences" on your streaming platform.

We don’t need to look far in the daily news to understand the stakes and the importance of having efficient solutions to control and stop bleeding. In the times we live in, where the world is crippled by a series of humanitarian catastrophes (some of natural origin, some of human origin), technological wonders from the medical field make me truly hopeful about the future, and about what we can achieve as humans. One of them is the hemostatic gel - a gel that can stop bleeding - that Joe Landolina and his team at Cresilon created. And its astonishing performance is easy to grasp: any bleed can be stopped within three seconds. Compared to traditional methods that require several minutes, it can mean the difference between life and death. There’s so much that impresses in Joe’s journey since the foundation of Cresilon: the fact that he developed the gel formulation himself, that he founded the company at 17 years old in his first year at University, or that Cresilon now represents the largest biotech manufacturing site in New York, and so much more! Beyond these successes, this episode is an ode to biomimicry and the science of biomaterials. Joe reveals everything about the functioning of this revolutionary medical product, its ability to stop bleeding almost instantly, and what it changes in medicine for the treatment of superficial injuries, but especially for the most severe traumatic cases. A surprising encounter with a prodigious entrepreneur, building his path on resilience and adaptability, with the long-term vision to transform bleeding control in humans! Timeline: 02:23 - Joe’s background and founding Cresilon in his first year in college 06:15 - Cresilon’s mission and the technology at its core 08:42 - How the hemostatic gel from Cresilon compares to traditional bleeding control methods 10:40 - The explanation behind Cresilon’s hemostatic gel unique performance 16:06 - How the gel is applied and removed 21:44 - Marketing first the product for veterinary application before moving to human use 25:27 - Being the only biotech company with manufacturing capabilities in New York 34:15 - Setting up the company to become a large medtech player in the long term What we also talked about with Joe: New York University Columbia University Scar tissue formation Fibrin Extracellular matrix Hurricane Sandy American Veterinary Medical Association Roche Pfizer Cutiss We cited with Joe some of the past episodes from the series: 18 - The dark genome as the next revolution in drug discovery - Samir Ounzain - HAYA Therapeutics Feel free to follow Cresilon’s activities on LinkedIn! You will find here the TED Talk that Joe held in 2015, and here the Medsider podcast episode between Joe and Scott Nelson that we mention in this episode of Impulse. If you want to contact Joe, you can reach out to him over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email at [email protected]! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 There’s now a bi-monthly newsletter around the podcast where you will be informed of the latest episodes and updated on the latest medical tech progress, subscribe here! Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

To discover the whole episode type "#25 - Stopping a bleed in three seconds - Joe Landolina - Cresilon" on your streaming platform.

How would the world look like if men had the most efficient and reversible means of birth control? The outstanding work that L.R. Fox and his team at NEXT Life Sciences are leading might bring a very tangible answer to this question. Based on the pioneering work from Prof. Sujoy K. Guha and The Parsemus Foundation, they are developing one of the most promising male birth control methods medicine has ever known, under the name of Plan A. As an American citizen who has grown under the Foster Care program, Fox (as he likes to be called) has witnessed firsthand the dramatic consequences that unplanned pregnancies can have on individuals and their relatives in the long term. According to him, we have gone quite far already in terms of available options for women and men when it comes to birth control methods. But Plan A could be a revolution in the space, as it is completely hormone-free, painless to deliver and revert, and has an efficacy duration that is way beyond current standards. And most importantly, it can redistribute the heavy responsibility of family planning from women to men. In this episode, we talk about the science behind Plan A, where the technology comes from, how far is it from being available worldwide, and what it would change for society as a whole! A fascinating conversation with a visionary founder, deeply led by the purpose of fostering a positive impact in the world, and with a strong social approach to entrepreneurship! Timeline: 02:35 - Fox’s background and how he landed in the field of male contraception 06:16 - Experiencing firsthand the consequences of unplanned pregnancies 09:34 - The mission of NEXT Life Sciences 11:50 - The need, the science, and the functioning of Plan A 16:02 - How the Plan A procedure works and gets reverted 25:02 - Guaranteeing a 10-year efficacy claim 26:56 - Launching the first human clinical trials 33:55 - Making it accessible to the broadest population 38:17 - The philosophy of Fox and NEXT Life Sciences What we also talked about with Fox: Sexually transmissible diseases (STDs) Condoms Vasectomy Reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG) Plan B Public benefit corporation We cited with Fox some of the past episodes from the series: #6 - Bringing back walking to paraplegics - Jocelyne Bloch - .NeuroRestore You can learn more about NEXT Life Sciences through their website, and feel free to follow their activities on LinkedIn! As mentioned by Fox during the episode, you can learn more about Plan A on the dedicated website as well as on Instagram, X, Facebook, and TikTok. If you want to contact Fox, you can reach out to him over LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email at [email protected]! If you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 There’s now a bi-monthly newsletter around the podcast where you will be informed of the latest episodes and updated on the latest medical tech progress, subscribe here! Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!

To discover the whole episode type "#24 - Reimagining male contraception - L.R. Fox - NEXT Life Sciences" on your streaming platform.