Talk Polymath Ep.13 | Water Health: A Community-driven Approach to Data Science

Hear the semifinalists from the ARPA-H Dash talk about their bold ideas for health transformation and what drives them. In this episode, they explore the impact their ideas could have on health — from accelerated healing and customized cell treatments at scale to better mental health treatments and a single drug for cancer.

This episode features: 

Willie Reaves, Cellino  

Mary Allen, Cure Brain Disease

Jeffry Paten, BrilliantStrings Therapeutics

Anuradha Lingappa, Prosetta Biosciences

To see the whole bracket of ideas, go to polyplexus.com/healthdash

Tags: 

#polyplexus #TalkPolymath #ARPAH #HealthDash #FutureofHealth #CancerTreatment #MentalHealth #CellTherapies #AcceleratedHealing #HealthinAmerica #TransformingHealth #Healthcare #HealthBreakthroughs 

In this episode, we talk with Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)’s Inaugural Director, Dr. Renee Wegrzyn. ARPA-H, a new federal agency, accelerates accessible and equitable high-impact health solutions that cannot be readily accomplished through traditional research or commercial activity. To do this, ARPA-H aims to create new capabilities and solve important health problems for all Americans through ambitious, well-defined, and measurable programs.

During our discussion, Dr. Wegrzyn discusses the ARPA-H Dash to Accelerate Health Outcomes (ARPA-H Dash), a collaborative online competition to identify revolutionary ideas to transform health. The nationwide competition uses a bracket format and online discussion, debate, and voting to narrow submissions to quarterfinalists, semifinalists, finalists, and a champion idea during March and April 2023. 

To learn more about the ARPA-H Dash, visit:  https://arpa-h.gov/news/dash/
 
 To register for the Dash and view full rules, visit: https://polyplexus.com/healthdash 

In this episode, we talk with Colin Strong, Head of Behavioral Science at Ipsos. During our discussion, Colin differentiates behavioral science from traditional psychology and how the former can help us understand how to navigate the “liquid changing” sociopolitical and environmental situations currently happening on a global scale. Specifically, he offers his perspective on how the Pandemic affected the human condition, the behavioral changes that manifested, and how they may impact the critical challenges we face.

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Colin Strong

Head of Behavioral Science at Ipsos

Colin Strong is Head of Behavioral Science at Ipsos, where he applies this discipline to client challenges in the private and public sectors, with recent activities in sustainability, disrupted brand choice, organizational change, and financial well-being. Colin and his team have developed a significant reputation in behavior change, developing a system that delivers sustained change in various contexts.

Colin’s academic background is in psychology, with a Masters's Degree in Applied Psychology from Cranfield Institute.  He has worked in the market research industry for most of his career, using a psychology lens to develop advice, guidance, and new approaches using market research tools.

He is an Honorary Professor of Consumer and Behavioural Psychology at Nottingham University Business School, where he is actively engaged in a range of programs, including a significant body of work on autonomous systems.

Finally, he is a writer with a book under his belt (Humanizing Big Data) and writing projects both on applied behavioral science and another on the tricky business of ‘being human’.

Links: 

Ipsos Website: https://www.ipsos.com/en-us 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-strong-3a12006/?originalSubdomain=uk 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/colinstrong 

Personal Website: https://colinstrong.co.uk/ 

Authors Mentioned:
 
 

Lorraine Daston 

Cory Doctorow

Jernnifer Jacquet

David Noble

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Hosted by Polyplexus, Talk Polymath is a monthly podcast series featuring evidence-based conversations with current and emerging thought leaders in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. From public health to changing models and trends in technology, this podcast engages in topics of current interest across disciplines. For more information, visit www.polyplexus.com

In this episode we speak with Dr. Stacy Woods, Senior Data Scientist at the Science Office of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). As the in-house expert in statistics and data visualization, her work primarily focuses on different aspects of water health. Stacy discusses the key role community members play in water health projects, recounting her work on the highly publicized case of lead pipes poisoning residents in Flint, MI. There, she and her team established a public database, including historical and community-based data, that led to an overhaul of the city’s water system. She now leverages this replicable process and a set of data tools to address similar threats to water health across the country.

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Dr. Stacy Woods

Senior Data Scientist, Science Office NRDC

Dr. Stacy Woods specializes in applying data science—from defining the problem domain to data collection, management, analysis, interpretation, and communication—in environmental litigation. She has served as an expert witness and science advisor on numerous state and federal cases with NRDC’s litigation team, including the landmark Flint water case (Concerned Pastors for Social Action v. Khouri). 

Dr. Woods also directs the Data Hub Initiative for NRDC’s Science Office. Her scientific research employs spatial statistics and GIS to investigate diverse environmental health issues, from predicting lead pipe locations in Flint to quantifying pesticide runoff hazards to manatees in Florida. 

Before joining NRDC, Dr. Woods worked for the United States Environmental Protection Agency, she was a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy fellow at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 

She holds a Ph.D. in environmental health engineering and a master's of public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she was a Brown scholar in community health. She is based in NRDC’s New York office.

Links: 

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/stacy-woods

Additional Links: 

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/stacy-woods/flint-map-shows-progress-reveals-where-lead-likely-remains

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Hosted by Polyplexus, Talk Polymath is a monthly podcast series featuring evidence-based conversations with current and emerging thought leaders in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. From public health to changing models and trends in technology, this podcast engages in topics of current interest across disciplines. For more information, visit www.polyplexus.com

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Anastasia Yanchilina, a Research Scientist and “Rock Enchantress” at Impossible Sensing. Anastasia’s work is rooted in applying what we know about the past to what we can learn about the future. Combining her studies in paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, and climate policy with her expertise in geochemistry and geology, she analyzes data coming back from the 2020 Mars Perseverance Mission. Learn about her findings, including whether or not we’ll ever grow crops on the Red Planet.

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Dr. Anastasia Yanchilina, Research Scientist at Impossible Sensing

Anastasia Yanchilina completed her Ph.D. at Columbia University and her postdoctoral training at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Dr. Yanchilina’s expertise lies in Marine Geology and Geochemistry. At Impossible Sensing, she analyzes and diagnoses data generated from various data-driven IMS projects such as #InVADER, #VIPER, and the #Mars2020 Perseverance Mission.

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https://twitter.com/borealis87?lang=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasia-yanchilina-a2596424/

https://www.instagram.com/nyanchil/

 Hosted by Polyplexus, Talk Polymath is a monthly podcast series, featuring evidence-based conversations with current and emerging thought leaders in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. From public health to changing models and trends in technology, this podcast engages in topics of current interest across disciplines. For more information visit www.polyplexus.com

In this episode, we talk with Eric Klingenberg, Materials Science Lead, at the Mars Advanced Research Institute, the research arm of Mars, Inc. Eric discusses how the development of new packaging for Mars products involves thinking beyond recyclability. He and his colleagues at Mars explore a variety of materials and technologies that present opportunities for making use of waste materials while also reducing the amount that ends up in landfills. Learn more about how Eric assembles interdisciplinary experts to help him learn more about composting and plastics deconstruction — including soil chemists, physicists, and engineers — and why he believes informed research and investment will help global companies like Mars drive the circular economy.

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Eric H. Klingenberg, Ph.D.

Materials Science Lead, Mars Advanced Research Institute

Eric is part of the Mars Advanced Research Institute (MARI), where he leads the Materials Science Platform. His work includes developing new materials and processes to reduce the environmental impact of plastic packaging, supporting Mars’ commitment to transition to 100% reusable, recyclable, and compostable packaging and decrease its virgin plastic use by 2025. He also serves on several university advisory boards, and is a technical advisor for the Center for Hierarchical Materials Design, a consortium of national labs and universities working to develop and expand data and computation tools to accelerate advanced materials design.

Eric has a B.S in chemistry with a minor in biology from Geneva College, and a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University. During his 20+ year career as an industrial researcher and R&D leader, he has worked in multiple fields of study, including new material development, manufacturing scale-up, and process optimization.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-klingenberg-9884bba/ 

https://www.mars.com/ 

Additional Links: 

https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2020/08/f77/beto-amo-mars-plastics-wksp-rpt-final.pdf 

https://www.packagingdigest.com/flexible-packaging/brainstorming-flexible-packaging-sustainability-80-experts-1500-ideas 

Hosted by Polyplexus, Talk Polymath is a monthly podcast series, featuring evidence-based conversations with current and emerging thought leaders in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. From public health to changing models and trends in technology, this podcast engages in topics of current interest across disciplines. For more information visit www.polyplexus.com

Ep. 10 | Solving Climate Change on Earth: Sensing Technologies, Ocean Exploration, and Scientific Collaboration

In this episode we talk with Pablo Sobron, Founder/Sensing Wizard at Impossible Sensing, and Research Scientist at the SETI Institute. Pablo discusses new sensing technologies that will map the ocean floor, and other harsh environments where these technologies can be applied to inform innovative climate change solutions. Listen to how his team of thinkers, engineers, and scientists create, apply, and interpret research and development to help address climate change on Earth. 

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Dr. Pablo Sobron

Founder/Sensing Wizard at Impossible Sensing and Research Scientist at the SETI Institute 

Dr. Pablo Sobron leads a team of scientists and engineers at Impossible Sensing in building sensors to explore and study the deep sea and deep space. Their innovations in optics and deep analytics are used to search for life on other planets and resources on the Moon, survey biodiversity and clean-tech minerals in the seafloor, measure and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector, introduce climate-smart land management practices, and monitor indicators of climate change at global scale.  As a Research Scientist at the SETI Institute, Sobron is helping NASA develop a roadmap for the next decades of Astrobiology and Planetary Science. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/psobron/

https://www.impossiblesensing.com/

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Hosted by Polyplexus, Talk Polymath is a monthly podcast series, featuring evidence-based conversations with current and emerging thought leaders in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. From public health to changing models and trends in technology, this podcast engages in topics of current interest across disciplines. For more information visit www.polyplexus.com

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Farshid Guilak, who was recently elected into the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to regenerative medicine and mechanobiology. Dr. Guilak is both the Mildred B. Simon Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Throughout his career, Dr. Guilak has pursued interdisciplinary collaborations that create just enough chaos, and maybe a little art in the process.

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Dr. Farshid Guilak, Mildred B. Simon Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis

Dr. Farshid Guilak pursues a multidisciplinary approach in his laboratory to investigate the role of biomechanics and mechanobiology in the etiology and pathogenesis of various musculoskeletal diseases – particularly osteoarthritis – as a basis for developing and translating new tissue-engineering therapies. His current research studies focus on the use of novel genome engineering methods for reprogramming stem cells to create functional tissue replacements for regenerating musculoskeletal tissues. 

https://twitter.com/guilak_lab?lang=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/farshid-guilak-477817b8/

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Hosted by Polyplexus, Talk Polymath is a monthly podcast series, featuring evidence-based conversations with current and emerging thought leaders in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. From public health to changing models and trends in technology, this podcast engages in topics of current interest across disciplines.

For more information visit www.polyplexus.com.

In this episode, we talk with Peter Bergman and Sara Nadel of Learning Collider (https://www.learningcollider.org/), a research lab on a mission to accelerate socio-behavioral research to identify technology interventions that fight inequality. The lab partners with large-scale technology companies and organizations to access the high-dimensional data they collect, then use these massive data sets to assess discrimination and biases that impact hiring, loan decisions, and educational opportunities. They can then build, test, and rapidly scale applications of machine learning and AI that promote algorithmic fairness, and socioeconomic equity.
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Peter Bergman, Founder & President, Learning Collider
Peter Bergman is an international expert in economics, behavioral economics, and machine learning. He is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Texas, Austin, Co-Editor for the Journal of Public Economics, and Co-Chair of the Education Technology Initiative at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT.
https://twitter.com/peterbergman_
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-bergman-675302219/

Sara Nadel, Chief Operating Officer, Learning Collider
Prior to joining Learning Collider, Sara generated over one million dollars in additional wages for frontline workers as a Co-founder of StellarEmploy, a predictive analytics platform for hiring an inclusive, diverse workforce. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Public Policy and was an Emerson Collective Dial Fellow for her work in labor market innovation.
https://twitter.com/nadelsara
https://www.linkedin.com/in/saranadel/
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Talk Polymath is Polyplexus.com's monthly podcast series which features evidence-based conversations and invites global science leaders to converse about topics in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. From public health to changing models and trends in technology, this podcast engages in current cultural interests across disciplines.
For more information visit www.polyplexus.com.

In this episode, we talk with Jamie Arbib, who with Tony Seba co-founded RethinkX, an independent think tank dedicated to analyzing and forecasting technology-driven disruption. RethinkX recently released a report on climate change mitigation. It questions conventional forecasting, which they believe underestimates complex system dynamics and the impact of technological disruption.

During the conversation, Arbib discusses how a convergence of technologies will catalyze the "fastest, deepest, most consequential technological disruption in history" and how it could lead to the mitigation of one of the world's most intractable problems: climate change.

Arbib maintains the impact of new technologies is currently studied in economic sector silos to our detriment. He believes we need to supplement what he calls an industrial era reductionist physics paradigm with a paradigm of biology with its emphasis on interconnectedness and interactions within complex systems.
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Jamie Arbib is the co-author of the book Rethinking Humanity and the founder of Tellus Mater, a grant-making foundation that supports work on issues related to sustainability, with a focus on the finance system. Arbib is Chairman of a family office based in London and specializes in clean tech venture capital. He has a History degree and a Master's degree in Sustainability Leadership from Trinity College, Cambridge.

Twitter | Linkedin
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Talk Polymath is Polyplexus.com's monthly podcast series which features evidence-based conversations and invites global science leaders to converse about topics in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. From public health to changing models and trends in technology, this podcast engages in current cultural interests across disciplines.

For more information visit www.polyplexus.com.