Future Tech: Almost Here, Round-the-corner Future Technology Podcast

Santiago “Santi” Villamil, elite physical therapist, strength/conditioning coach and core specialist, talks about the fitness industry, and his philosophy of “Keep it simple, sweet and powerful.” As a sought-after Physical Therapist and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with a long, successful career in orthopedic and sports rehabilitation, sports performance, and the fitness industry in general, Villamil works every day to find new ways to challenge people and help them live their best lives. Villamil is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he received a Masters in Physical Therapy and a Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a minor in Nutrition. Villamil’s highest goal and mission is to empower people to take control of their health and “inspire the athlete in everyone.” As he states, Villamil works with many people with various needs, from rehabilitation to pain relief, to getting people back to doing what they love. Villamil talks about the kinds of people he works with, fr

As Dr. Ali Tavakkoli performed more and more gastric bypass surgeries, he made a remarkable discovery: for patients who had diabetes, the gastric bypass surgery almost invariably reversed the symptoms within a day or two, completely eliminating their dependence on medication for blood glucose regulation. Simply put, it seemed as though they’d figured out how to cure type 2 diabetes. Intrigued and excited by this observation, Dr. Tavakkoli made it his mission to figure out why this was happening. What was responsible for the mechanism underlying this effect, and how exactly did this mechanism work? Could the effects of gastric bypass surgery be replicated and enjoyed in a non-invasive way, such as by simply taking a pill? According to Dr. Tavakkoli, the answer is yes, and that pill is referred to as LuCI. In this podcast, you will discover: Where the name “LuCI” comes from and how exactly it works Why and how gastric bypass surgery seems to cure type 2 diabetes What percentage of people who qualify for

“Just because small is beautiful doesn’t mean big has to be ugly,” says Gary Pisano, as he explains the main theme of his latest book, Creative Construction: The DNA of Sustained Innovation. At its core, this book overturns the idea that innovation can only really be achieved by small entrepreneurial companies. Pisano argues that instead of seeing the size of an enterprise as an impediment to innovation, large enterprises simply need to use their size to their advantage when forging and implementing innovative changes. The key, says Pisano, is in having a clear and concise definition of what innovation means to a specific company, and formulating specific plans for achieving different types of innovation. On today’s episode, you will discover: Three specific reasons why enterprises struggle to launch successful innovation initiatives What it is that determines who and what is considered valuable within large companies—and how to wield this knowledge to your advantage How to think systematically and st

Dr. Michelle Saltarrelli of Autumn Oak Speech, Voice & Hearing, provides an overview of her services and the advances in speech language pathology, as well as the role of an audiologist. Dr. Saltarrelli completed her audiology residency at The Methodist Hospital within the Texas Medical Center and also at Houston Ear Research Foundation (HERF). She earned a Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree from Louisiana Tech University and a Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Southeastern Louisiana University with undergraduate work at Southeastern Louisiana University as well. Dr. Saltarrelli talks about her background as a licensed speech language pathologist, practicing nearly 20 years to date, and as a licensed audiologist, practicing for about 11 years. She works with many patients and also teaches. Dr. Saltarrelli discusses her interest in speech pathology and recounts how she got into it, and it was her desire to help people, as well as her interest in speech and audiology that moti

Assistant research professor at the Catholic University of America and New York Times bestselling author Jay W. Richards joins the podcast to discuss the intersection between intermittent fasting, wellness, and spirituality. He shares his experience with intermittent fasting and how it has improved various aspects of his life. In this podcast, you will learn: How intermittent fasting can improve your physical, mental, and spiritual wellness The physiology behind your body’s utilization of different fuel sources in the fed and fasted state How to create your own intermittent fasting schedule, and what foods you should eat during your fast-breaking Jay W. Richards adds to his bestselling books collection, which includes The Privileged Plan, The Hobbit Party, and Money, Greed and God, with his upcoming release, Eat, Fast, Feast. You can pre-order the book now on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Inheritance is a fundamental feature of life, allowing organisms to pass traits onto their offspring. It’s well known that DNA is the carrier for this hereditary information, but for a long time it was believed to be the only carrier. Over the past several decades, new and evolving research on epigenetics—the method by which the environment has the ability to change genetic expression—has emerged, and most recently, this research has focused on epigenetic inheritance in humans. Dr. Qi Chen, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of California, Riverside is studying sperm RNA and how its function may be related to environmental exposure and epigenetics in mice. Dr. Chen shares a number of fascinating insights from his lab and recent experiments, while pulling from decades’ worth of knowledge on the topics at issue. On today’s episode, you will learn: What happens when the RNA of a mouse exposed to a high-fat diet is extracted and implanted into a healthy zygote How the discovery of

Matty Lansdown, noted health authority, scientist and nutrition consultant, discusses his passion for helping people improve their health through good nutrition. Lansdown is passionate about food and nutrition. After getting his start on Facebook Live where Lansdown delivered powerful rants about food, medicine, and nutrition, his popularity grew and he soon moved into seminars, conferences, and retreats, bringing his message to thousands at a time. Lansdown’s podcast, “How To NOT Get Sick And Die” continues to be a popular one, and he regularly provides insightful information there. Lansdown discusses his background and how he got into podcasting. As he explains, it was his desire to connect with audiences that brought him to podcasting, and his passion for health and nutrition helped him focus his energies into health podcasting. He’s into the concept of helping people enhance their biology, in order to live longer and be healthier. As a professional who works out of a cancer research hospital, he develop

Chris Ellis, CEO and co-founder of AudioCardio, talks about his company’s mission to improve and then maintain hearing with a new hearing test app designed for hearing loss treatment. AudioCardio’s patented product, a mobile app, is a clinically proven Threshold Sound Conditioning technology that generates unique, personalized audio therapy designed to stimulate and strengthen cells. How does it work? AudioCardio can analyze an individual’s hearing and deliver valuable hearing therapy for their ears. The goal: to protect, maintain, and strengthen hearing ability. Ellis discusses the different types of hearing loss, with special consideration given to sensory and neural hearing loss problems, which are the specific types of hearing loss that his company targets. These types of hearing loss problems can be due to age, medications, loud noise environments, disease, etc. Ellis discusses the ways that their technology can improve hearing. In the most basic terms, our hearing works by processing sound waves that

Millions of Americans experience symptoms of acid reflux or “heartburn” on a daily basis—that burning sensation in the chest that can be accompanied by a number of other unpleasant and sometimes seemingly unrelated symptoms. It’s a problem many people might brush off by popping a Tums, but there’s a darker side to acid reflux, which is that it can be a precursor to esophageal adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer that develops in the context of Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which the epithelial cells in the esophagus are displaced by tissue that more resembles intestinal tissue. As a researcher with a background in cancer biology, Kelly Whelan, PhD, from Temple University is interested in further understanding the biology of the esophagus, how certain pathways help it to remain normal under homeostatic conditions, and what goes awry in states of disease, such as cancer and eosinophilic esophagitis, an allergic reaction to food. She’s also interested in investigating the male and racial bias found in all esop

How do seals, orcas, otters, and other animals manage to survive in such cold waters? Simply put, they do so by virtue of one of the following: blubber (which is essentially just a thick layer of insulating fat), thick coats of fur which trap tiny gas bubbles that in turn insulate the body, and higher rates of internal heat generation. Drawing inspiration from these approaches, Professor Jacopo Buongiorno from the department of engineering at MIT has helped develop a wetsuit that allows people—such as Navy Seals—to remain in very cold waters for longer periods of time than conventional wetsuits made from neoprene clothing. On today’s episode, Professor Buongiorno explains how traditional wetsuits work and why the one they’ve created outperforms them, the science and technology behind thermal conductivity, the feedback they’ve already received on this new product, and what's on the horizon. Tune in for all the details

With the ever-increasing prevalence of mobile devices these days, they’re finding their way into the hands of kids, where they seem to be staying for a growing number of hours each day. There’s no doubt that these connected lives we’re living provide us with some benefits, such as the ability to have maps, educational info, and health-related content at our fingertips, but this level of access can also be a significant source of distraction that negatively impacts the way we interact with others and the environment around us. And of course, the accessibility provided by cell phones also means potential exposure to content we don’t want to see, and particularly don’t want our kids seeing. The team at OurPact has developed a solution to deal with the drawbacks of connected mobile devices: a digital parental control app that gives people the ability to limit app use, filter what is seen on the web, monitor the location of the device, and take automated screenshots to search for keywords that fall into certain ca

It used to be a thing of science fiction…growing human organs in test tubes and observing their behavior as we manipulate their environment. For David Pamies, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, this is daily life, although it may not always be ordinary. On today’s episode, he discusses how he’s using a brain organoid—an organ grown from human-induced pluripotent stem cells—to learn more about the toxins we come into contact with on a daily basis. He explains why and how this model is superior to far more commonly-used mouse models, and how it’s also fueling research on drug treatment for an aggressive type of brain cancer known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Such research includes testing the effectiveness of temozolomide, a commonly used chemotherapy drug. Dr. Pamies dives into the science behind it all and provides a compelling glimpse into the exciting and growing world of organoid-based research. Press play for all the details. Here are different publications related to

Kevin Hrusovsky, President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Quanterix (quanterix.com), discusses the innovative work his company is engaged in, and the future of biotech. Hrusovsky is a seasoned biotech entrepreneur and engineer who has been passionately pursuing the transformation of medicine from reactive care to preventative medicine over his extensive 30-year career. For Hrusovsky, healthy living and peer-reviewed science that addresses health and disease issues on a molecular structure level in the body is what motivates his work. Hrusovsky launched the Global Health Summit Series to specifically promote innovation in disease eradication processes and practices, in his ongoing mission to promote global health. Hrusovsky talks about his company and their mission, a company he states is “at the crossroads of technology and healthcare.” He discusses their technology, and how they have developed a means to look into the blood and see proteins in a way that was never before possible, to differentiate

Dr. Tony Guerra, Instructor and Pre-Pharmacy Advisor, Ankeny Campus, Des Moines Area Community College, delivers an interesting overview of his work in pharmacy education and the writing and production of audio books. Dr. Guerra is passionate about educating young minds and he teaches multiple courses in chemistry, pharmacy and pharmacology. And Dr. Guerra earned an AS degree from DMACC himself, back in 2010. Dr. Guerra talks about his background and his interest in creating audio books for educational purposes. To date, he has close to 20 audio books out, on various topics within his areas of expertise. His books cover a range of issues, from pharmacology to pharmacotherapy, to pharmacy careers and pharmacy schools/education. Dr. Guerra writes and co-writes his books and he continues to reach many people through books and educational outreach. The Pre-Pharmacy Advisor talks extensively about the business of creating, producing, and delivering audio books for the public. He discusses his views on audio boo

Peter Christey, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder of GALT (General Automation Lab Technologies), on the web at (galt-inc.com), discusses his work in microbial cultivation. Christey has over 20-years experience commercializing research instruments for a number of complex applications. Prior to his launch of GALT, Christey helmed the DNA Sequencing Business Unit and DNA forensic product line for Life Technologies. Christey discusses his background and how his focus in microbial cultivation in a laboratory setting drove him to develop microbes for use in multiple areas. He explains proteomics applications, microbial diversity, and his company’s platform—detailing how they work to get a pure isolate (a culture of living microorganisms) into culture in the lab in order to study biochemistry and physiology. They strive, primarily, to deliver pure, living isolates to researchers and product developers. Utilizing the GALT technology, entire populations of microbes can be screened efficiently and quickly for low-abundance spe

Michael Schwarz, director of the popular PBS / NOVA documentary, “Look Who’s Driving,” provides some interesting information on artificial intelligence (AI) and the current state of autonomous vehicles. How do self-driving cars (autonomous vehicles) work and is society ready to trust them? In this interesting podcast, director Michael Schwarz discusses the expanding technology that is pushing its way into the transportation industry. Schwarz talks about his interests, and the lead up to making his current documentary, “Look Who’s Driving.” He recounts how he learned about some of the early companies that were seeking to develop autonomous vehicles, and how General Motors was very interested in grabbing the new technology quickly. After many years of waiting and anticipating what they might be like, autonomous vehicles are finally sharing the roads with us at least in testing mode, but experts caution that there are massive challenges to overcome still, and some caution that the tech is just not there yet to

Dr. Gerardo Ceballos, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Ecology of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), discusses his work in conservation efforts worldwide, and the quest for solutions to environmental problems. Dr. Ceballos holds a degree in Biology from the Metropolitan Autonomous University Campus Izatalapa, Mexico. He received his master's degree in Ecology from the University of Wales, working under the close supervision of the well known ecologist, John. L. Harper. And Dr. Ceballos earned a PhD in Ecology from the University of Arizona, working with Dr. James H. Brown. Additionally, Dr. Ceballos has been on sabbatical at the prestigious, Stanford University working in close collaboration with Professor Paul R. Ehrlich, one of the preeminent ecologists of our time. Dr. Ceballos's extensive, important research program addresses the conservation of species and ecosystems, and the connection between conservation and development. Dr. Ceballos discusses his current projects dealing with

Denis Noble, CBE, PhD, FRS, the famed British biologist, delivers an interesting overview of his life’s work studying the intricate details of biology and what new developments can mean for the treatment of disease. As a celebrated British biologist, Noble held the Burdon Sanderson Chair of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford for two decades and was later bestowed the honor of Professor Emeritus and appointed Co-Director of Computational Physiology. Noble’s work has been groundbreaking and he is one of the earliest pioneers of systems biology who developed the very first useful mathematical model of the heart, back in 1960. Noble talks in detail about extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are lipid bilayer-delimited particles—naturally released from a cell but, unlike a cell, they cannot replicate. He discusses the interior of cells, and explains how extracellular vesicles occur, touching on DNA and RNA, and the processes utilized by cells. As he explains, we “used to think that the cells we

Most attorneys aspire to one day author a book…to put all of the knowledge and expertise they’ve compiled over the years into a concise, informative, and easy-to-read guide for prospective clients and the public at large. Attorneys want this because they know the benefits are numerous, but nevertheless, they simply don’t have the time to actually sit down and put pen to paper. On today’s episode, Richard Jacobs of Speakeasy Marketing, Inc. is joined by Tracy Merda to discuss how you can author a book by putting in a couple hours’ worth of your time and simply speaking it. The Speak-a-Book method has helped hundreds of attorneys harness the authority that comes with being an author, and the returns are proving to be lucrative. In addition to differentiating you from the others, having your own book to reference will significantly influence the way others perceive your authority and expertise, demonstrate to clients your worth (and one more reason why they should retain your services), allow you to command high

In addition to being an author, serial entrepreneur, time management expert, and co-host of the Get-It-Done Guy podcast, Stever Robbins played a critical role in the development and implementation of the internet. Robbins joins the podcast today to share his insight and knowledge on several issues centering on the internet—how it came about, what it’s become, and where it’s going. He discusses the good and the bad and the strengths and weaknesses of the internet but expounds on the way it’s affecting society as well as people on an individual level. “The internet acts as a tremendous amplifier…if something makes it onto the top 10 list…once it’s on the top 10 list…you have audiences in the sizes of millions or billions…the problem is, just because something’s on that list doesn’t mean it’s worth focusing on…” says Robbins. He continues to explain how this can lead to irresponsible social behavior, an emphasis on emotional reactivity, a decrease in our ability to focus, an increase in the prevalence of censors