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"...on topics related to advocacy, education, and research, U2FP has worked diligently for years to establish itself as an authority for the International Spinal Cord Injury Community...Their podcast brings in an array of guests with impressive backgrounds and is highly educational." - SpinalCord.com
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Episodes
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Soundcloud
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Surfing for Stem Cells
This is the first in a two-part series covering the role of stem cells in spinal cord injury with Dr. Alina Garbuzov. Along with the experience she brings as a person living with an SCI, Alina is a researcher, working in the Mark Tuszynski Lab at the Center for Neural Repair at the University of California, San Diego. Today's conversation is part one, where we introduce Alina and learn about her... -
By the Numbers
Today we’re talking with Dr. Jen Dulin from Texas A&M University about a project that U2FP pitched to Jen a couple years ago: could we do an analysis on the last 15 years of spinal cord injury research funding trends, themes, and categories, so we can understand - in detail - what's happened... -
Taking Charge After Discharge
We are talking with Arash Bayatmakou and Dale Hull, the organizational heads of NorCal SCI and Neuroworx. The main focus of our discussion is the lack of access to outpatient rehabilitation after SCI and the creative collaboration these organizations have crafted to address it. We also chat about their upcoming symposium, which aims to... -
Brain-Computer Interfaces for SCI
Today we are talking about Brain Computer Interfaces (or BCI) with Luke Bashford and Daniel Kramer. Daniel is a neurosurgeon and faculty member at the University of Colorado, Anschutz. Luke is a researcher in neuroscience and neurotechnology. We discuss the application of BCI in spinal cord injury, what is happening currently and what’s on the horizon. We also discuss the clinical study they have been... -
Just Breathe
Today’s guest is Dr. Gordon Mitchell, a professor of neuroscience at The University of Florida. He’s also the founder and director of the University’s Center for Breathing Research and Therapeutics. In this episode, we discuss the role of intermittent hypoxia and its effect on neuroplasticity and recovery of respiratory and motor function... -
Sexual Stimulation
Today's guest is Dr. Elizabeth Bottorff, a postdoctoral researcher in the biomedical engineering department at the University of Minnesota who is studying sexuality after spinal cord injury. Elizabeth is conducting an add-on study to the ongoing EStand trial where there have been many reports of sexual function recovery. Her goal is to... -
Start Here
This is a brief primer on how this podcast got started and the kind of conversations you can expect here. You’ll learn about our hosts - Matthew Rodreick and Jason Stoffer – their relationship to SCI, why they do this work, what they hope this podcast can achieve and how this work is an extension of the... -
ONWARD to Recovery
Today's episode is a conversation with Dave Marver, the CEO of the company, ONWARD Medical. No doubt you've heard of ONWARD. We discuss the recent news about their transcutaneous stimulation device - ARC-EX - and their effort to gain regulatory approval from the FDA, along with the results from their... -
Still Chasin the Cheddar
This week we are talking with Jake Beckstrom and Mike Mohr about our roller coaster Wisconsin advocacy efforts this past spring. As a reminder, we were able to pass our $3M SCI Research bill through the Wisconsin Assembly, but were unable to then pass it in the Senate. But they are undeterred. And they stopped by to talk about... -
Spinal Media
Our guest today is Leann Rees. Leanne is a physical therapist with a PhD from Melbourne, Australia. She’s been in the business of rehab and reintegration for 30 years, 20 of which were spent in spinal cord injury. Leanne’s doctoral thesis examined many aspects and consequences of the media portrayal of spinal cord injury and that is what... -
Bladder Chatter
Today we’re talking with Dennis Bourbeau. Dennis is a highly regarded clinical and academic researcher in the area of bowel/bladder/and sexual function. His research focuses on using electrical stimulation to restore pelvic autonomic functions, including bladder and bowel functions, lost to spinal cord injury or other neurological disorders... -
Father of Stim
Reggie Edgerton is a giant in the field of neuromodulation. Some have called him the father of spinal stimulation, and his influence can be found in the work of most researchers in that field today. Notable names such as Susan Harkema and Gregoire Courtine were actually students in Reggie’s lab before going on to achieve their... -
Milestones
Today we are celebrating our 100th episode of U2FP’s CureCast podcast! No guest would be more appropriate for that celebration than Kate Willette. Kate and Mathew started the podcast 6 years ago and she co-hosted the first 34 episodes. Kate also wrote the book “Don’t Call it a Miracle” which is required reading for anyone with a spinal cord injury. Kate was dragged into the world of advocacy when... -
Your Voice Here, part 1
Interviews recorded during U2FP’s Annual Symposium with Physical Therapist, PhD and Researcher, Leanne Rees who studies the media portrayal of SCI; Neuroscience student Jason Biundo who's climbing accident focused his interest in translational research; and motivational speaker and Onward marketing consultant, Scott Chesney, who shares wisdom from 38 years of lived experience with an SCI... -
The Shoulders of Giants
You might be wondering why we are interviewing the founder of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Fran Visco. As many of you know, we in the SCI community always hear the money refrain: that what we really need is “more money, more money, more money.” Well, cancer receives a lot more money than spinal cord injury, obviously. But what’s fascinating... -
Designing the Cure Garden
Today we are talking with Jordan Squair and Mark Anderson about their September 2023 paper published in the journal Science: “Recovery of walking after paralysis by regenerating characterized neurons to their natural target region”. The work is akin to the first gardeners figuring out how to make plants grow. What elements are necessary? What combination of.... -
Deep Breathing
Today we’re talking with Dr. Kajana Satkunendrarajah. Kajana is an associate professor and researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She is also an ally of our legislative efforts in Wisconsin to pass an SCI Research Grant bill there. We discuss her lab's recent discovery of cervical level neurons connected to respiratory function. This leads us into.... -
Rim to Rim
Today's conversation features my co-host Jason Stoffer, our new development director, Quinn Brett, and their adventure buddy and filmmaker Robbie Prechtl. Last year, Jason and Quinn completed a rim to rim trip of the Grand Canyon on handcycles(!). They were accompanied by Rob and a team of.... -
Your Voice Here
Today's podcast is a brief collection of micro-interviews that we conducted during our 2023 Science & Advocacy Symposium here in Minneapolis. During this two day event our podcast producer Julie and my co-host Jason set up a podcast booth and interviewed whoever wanted to come and talk about the symposium, talk about themselves, and talk about their position relative to... -
Down to Earth
Dimitry Sayenko is an MD, PhD and an associate professor in Neuromodulation and Nuerosurgery at Houston Methodist Hospital, in Houston, Texas. We start with an exploration of Dimitry’s fascinating beginnings, studying muscle atrophy and bone density in the context of aerospace in both Russia and the U.S. then move to his current work studying transcutaneous electrical stimulation and.... -
NervGen's Clinical Trial
Today’s conversation is a highly anticipated one. For years we’ve been hearing about the groundbreaking work of Jerry Silver to render the injury scar permeable to axon growth. That work led to development of the pharmacologic NVG-291 and the associated company NervGen Pharma. The research has finally advanced to a human SCI clinical trial, led by Monica Perez, who's today's guest.... -
You Are What You Eat
Today we’re talking with Ceren Yarar-Fisher, PhD, PT. Dr. Yarar-Fisher is Vice Chair of Research of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Dept. of Neuroscience at The Ohio State University. She’s also the director of clinical research at the Belford Center for Spinal Cord Injury. In this episode, we talk about her research interest in SCI functional recovery through rehabilitation and nutrition, along with her role at the... -
Barriers & Breakthroughs
Our guest today is Meghan Moynahan, who is the Executive Director of the Institute for Functional Restoration, or IFR, a not-for-profit organization based at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. We discuss Megan's background as a researcher and her unique perspective based on 17 years with the Food and Drug Administration along with the so-called valleys of death that... -
Phoenix Rising
Our conversation today is with David McMillan, an assistant professor at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Department of Neurological Surgery, and Director of Education and Outreach for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Jason and Julie recorded this interview with David onsite at this year's Science and Advocacy Symposium in Minneapolis, where we... -
What's Cooking
Today’s episode is a bit different. We’re turning the mic towards our own work here at U2FP to let you in on what’s cooking. Jason and Matthew begin by discussing some unique developments with our Team U2FP racers involving extreme heat, adaptive trikes, and a trek along the rim of the Grand Canyon(!). We also discuss U2FP’s upcoming symposium, including how we... -
ANEUVO: Challenge Accepted
Today we are talking with Yi-Kai Lo and Katie Velez of the SCI research and tech company, ANEUVO. ANEUVO has been busy working with investors, the FDA, and multiple research sites to clinically deploy the ExaStim, a novel transcutaneous stimulation device. The goal of their current ASPIRE study is to improve... -
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
The topic of today’s conversation is the vagus nerve. In Latin, "vagus" means wandering or straying, which this conversation does a fair bit of due to the interesting subject matter. Our guide on this path is Dr. Patrick Ganzer of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Dr. Ganzer gives us a great overview of the vagus nerve including its... -
Community Research Priorities
Today's guest is Dr. Kim Anderson-Erisman, a friend and a very influential researcher who we have a really great conversation with. We begin with the story of her spinal cord injury along with her early studies and research, and that leads into one of the things she’s best known for: her work on patient preference as a result of... -
Blink of an Eye
Our guest today, Louise Phipps Senft, is the mother to a son with an SCI, and founder of Blink of an Eye, a nonprofit organization that is committed to addressing that initial moment when everything changes after a spinal cord injury. A big theme of this conversation is trauma and how it kind of goes under or undiagnosed with... -
The Bog
What you are about to hear is one of the richest conversations we’ve ever had on the show. Our guests today are Gabriel Rodreick (Matthew’s son) and Julie Censullo (CureCast producer) who are here to discuss an audio-art project they created together called “Life Begins in the Stillness” - which recently aired on the BBC and... -
Acute Injury Inquiry
What has changed in acute SCI care over the last 5 years? What progress are we making? Are newly injured folks getting the same message co-host Jason Stoffer got from his clinicians 5 years ago? We asked today’s guests - Shekar Kurpad & Candy Tefertiller - to give us some high level answers to those questions... -
Reprogramming SCI?
What if we could take all the neural trash that forms in the spinal cord after an injury, the stuff that hinders connectivity, and turn it into treasure? This is the idea behind cellular reprogramming. Today's podcast guest, Arshak Alexanian, is a biochemist and the Chief Scientific Officer at the Wisconsin biotech firm, Cell Reprogramming & Therapuetics, LLC. We met Dr. Alexanian not too long ago while... -
A Firm Foundation
Today's guest on the podcast is Kim Eisner, the executive director of the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation. This year happens to be the Neilsen Foundation’s 20th anniversary. For those who are unfamiliar with the Foundation, its namesake Craig H. Neilsen, was an entrepreneur who sustained a spinal cord injury in 1985 and... -
Trials and Tribulations
Our guests for this episode, Mandy Mackenzie and Laura Grabowski, have each participated in a number of clinical trials. Have you ever wondered what it feels like to participate in an SCI clinical research trial? How do you find out about these trials? Does anyone make a recovery? What are some reasons... -
'Trial by Stimulation' Rebroadcast
Today’s episode is a rebroadcast of our conversation with Grégoire Courtine from two years ago. Dr. Courtine has been pivotal in the successful application of epidural stimulation in humans with SCI, in both his research and device commercialization. In this episode, we talk about... -
'Dancing Molecules' Rebroadcast
Today's conversation is a rebroadcast of our interview with Samuel Stupp back in 2022. We thought it was a good time to revisit this conversation, given Dr. Stupp’s most recent publication. During the course of this conversation, we dig into Dr. Stupp’s unique approach as an... -
Junk Drawer - Spinal Stim
Today’s episode revisits important elements and loose ends of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) that didn’t fit neatly into the arc of our first three conversations on this topic. We’re calling this installment the ‘Junk Drawer’ - not because we consider these loose ends to be junk, but because... -
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Spinal Stimulation 101 (part 3)
This is the third and final (for now) installment of our 101 tour of spinal stimulation. We're joined again by Sam Maddox, U2FP's Scientific Advisory Board Director and veteran science journalist. Today, we discuss the commercialization of spinal stim, detailing the path that these therapies will need to traverse to... -
Spinal Stimulation 101 (part 2)
We’re continuing our conversation around spinal cord stimulation in part 2 of this multi-episode series with Sam Maddox. Today we’re going to focus on what’s happening currently with some spinal stimulation researchers, what clinical outcomes they are targeting, how they are connected and... -
Spinal Stimulation 101 (part 1)
Jason and Matthew talk with U2FP Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Director and Science Writer, Sam Maddox in the first part of our series on Spinal Stimulation. We’ve been thinking about the need for a discussion on what spinal stimulation is, why it's been studied so extensively, and... -
Psilocybin & SCI: Thinking Outside the Box
Jason and Matthew interview Jim Harris, a wilderness photographer who was injured in 2014. Jim was recently featured in Outside Magazine regarding his experience with psilocybin and its connection to some restored mobility. This conversation is a follow-up to our ... -
Taking a Trip with SCI?
Matthew and Jason talk with Jessica Nielson to explore the potential psychedelics may hold for the SCI community. Jessica is an SCI and Bioinformatics researcher at the University of Minnesota. She is also the Executive Director of Psychedelic Society of Minnesota. They discuss psychedelic research and where it could cross paths with spinal cord injury. They also discuss ... -
The Mind-Body Connection
Matthew and Jason talk with Ann Van de Winckel, a researcher and physical therapist at the University of Minnesota, Medical School, who is doing fascinating work to help restore body awareness below the level of injury - yes, you read that right - using cognitive multisensory rehabilitation (CMR). Dr. Van de Winckel’s work is showing reductions in neuropathic pain, sensation and motor recovery with people who... -
Test Your Limits
This episode features Thomas Cloyd, who is competing in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon for Team U2FP next Sunday, October 9th. Thomas’ reasons for joining Team U2FP go well beyond just this race. His involvement with U2FP goes back almost a decade when he helped Matthew Rodreick and others in the SCI community pass the SCI/TBI Research Grant bill here in Minnesota in 2015... -
Disdain for the Status Quo
Jason and Mathew talk with Andrew Park, a clinician-researcher at Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Jason met Andrew while in Denver for one of U2FP’s Cure Advocacy Network stakeholder meetings last February. During that meeting, Andrew’s passion for his work became evident. In this podcast we talk about what’s behind that passion, including...
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Racing for Cures
Jason and Matthew talk with Lucia Webb, U2FP’s Operations Director. We focus on a seemingly minor aspect of our work - our racing and fundraising initiative, Team U2FP - and breakdown why it’s critical for so much of what we do, especially the legislative bills we’ve passed through our Cure Advocacy Network. We talk about the impact of Team U2FP for everyone - not just marathon racers...
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A Team Effort
Jason and Matthew interview Camillo Castillo at Frazer Rehabilitation Hospital in Louisville, KY along with his Clinical SCI Navigation team: Emily Coons, Brendan Doksa and Heather Connor. We are raising a simple question about the introduction of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) to the clinic: are we ready to receive it? What will that look like? Who follows the person with stimulation? Who sets the parameters for....
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The Doctor Will See You Now
Jason and Matthew interview Uzma Samadani, a neurosurgeon working in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Samadani participated in the EStand trial along with David Darrow, Ann Parr and Taye Nettoff. We decided to interview Dr. Samadani based on her experience of implanting epidural stimulators in people with SCI - as part of her clinical practice - instead of the current approach....
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The Care-Cure Divide?
Jason Stoffer talks with Quinn Brett about their experiences with SCI, meeting at Craig hospital, and their realization that the word “cure” is not embraced by everyone in the SCI community. This conversation is an expansion on their presentation at our Science and Advocacy Symposium in 2021. We are dedicating this podcast to Franklin Elieh, who died suddenly this past month ...
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Badgering Wisconsin for a Cure
Jason and Matthew talk with Samantha Troyer, an SCI peer mentor in Wisconsin who joined up with U2FP’s Cure Advocacy Network (CAN) to become a legislative advocate there. Sam is joined by our CAN Manager, Jake Beckstrom. We talk about the current effort to pass an SCI research funding Bill in Wisconsin, its ...
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'Dancing Molecules'
Jason and Matthew speak with Samuel Stupp, a Professor of Materials Science, Chemistry, Medicine, and Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. You may remember reading about Dr. Stupp late last year. News about his ‘dancing molecules’ used in a preclinical model of acute spinal cord injury circulated widely. We discuss ...
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Lab Rats (part 2)
Jason and Matthew talk with Michael Lane (Researcher at Drexel College of Medicine) and Jake Chalfin (SCI advocate and chair of the PA Spinal Cord Advisory Research Council) as we continue with part 2 of our series on the experience of SCI community consultants in research labs. This discussion continues our exploration around... -
Lab Rats (part 1)
Jason and Matthew interview Dr. Murray Blackmore (Marquette University) and Nancy Nicholas (person with lived experience of SCI) about Nancy’s addition to the Blackmore Lab as a consultant. We talk about the relationship that developed, the impact it's had on the Blackmore Lab, and the impact relationships like this could have on the wider research landscape.
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Reverse Brain Drain
We talk with Andrew Grande and Walter Low, two brain specialists at the University of Minnesota. Why are we talking to brain specialists about TBI? Because we wanted to explore the overlaps in brain research and SCI research. Specifically, we were curious to learn about where there might be opportunities for collaboration between ...
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'The Science of Orgasm'
Jason and Matthew interview Dr. Barry Komisaruk, Neurophysiologist from the Psychology Department at Rutgers University. Barry has been researching sexuality for over 50 years and is maybe best known for the seminal work: The Science of Orgasm. We talk about the history of his research and discoveries, the historical challenges around sexual function and ...
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Episode 55Stop, Collaborate & Listen
Jason and Matthew talk with Megan Detloff (SCI researcher at Drexel College of Medicine) and Bethany Kondiles (SCI researcher at ICORD). They talk about the evolution of the International Online SCI Research Seminar (IOSCIRS) in response to the pandemic and as a forum for SCI researchers to stay abreast of one another's work. But they have also ...
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Pillow Talk
Jason and Matthew have a conversation in response to the last two conversations on sex after SCI. They talk about where the dialogue seemed to be going and after some reflection, where it ought to go. Listen in and don’t forget to check out the information about this year’s Annual Science and Advocacy Symposium in Salt Lake City.
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SexCast (part 2)
Jason and Matthew continue the conversation from episode 52 with SCI community members Quinn Brett, Kelsey Peterson and Thomas Cloyd. They discuss each guest’s experience with sex after injury, where they got their information and what they’ve learned and continue to learn. Once again, this is ...
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SexCast (part 1)
Jason and Matthew continue the conversation from episode 52 with SCI community members Quinn Brett, Kelsey Peterson and Thomas Cloyd. They discuss each guest’s experience with sex after injury, where they got their information and what they’ve learned and continue to learn. Once again, this is a frank ...
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Wisconsin Champion
Jimmy Anderson is a state representative in the Wisconsin general Assembly who also lives with an SCI. Jason and Matthew talk with Jimmy about his education, injury and how they led him into politics. They also discuss the effort Jimmy is championing to create a $3 million Wisconsin SCI research program. This push for smart SCI research funding is modeled after U2FP’s ...
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Headline Patrol
We talk with U2FP's Scientific Advisory Board Director, Sam Maddox, about U2FP’s new Headline Patrol and how to read the news about SCI research. Headlines and media coverage of research can often be misleading. Sam talks about his years following and covering SCI research. He provides a number of suggestions for what to look for, what terms are ...
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Big Government
Jason and Matthew speak with Dr. Melissa Miller and Jacqueline Roche from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program’s SCIRP (Spinal Cord Injury Research Program). SCIRP is a $40 million per year funding program for SCI that is of specific interest because they include people with SCI in the scientific review process. We talk about the program, its funding strategies and most importantly...
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Invivo's Scaffold
Jason and Matthew talk with Dr. Richard Toselli, the President, CEO and CMO at Invivo Therapeutics. Invivo has developed and is trialing its Neuro Spinal Scaffold for the treatment of Spinal Cord Injury in the acute setting. We talk with Dr. Toselli about its development, current testing and ...
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Climbing Into Advocacy
Jason and Matthew interview professional climber and passionate spinal cord injury advocate Quinn Brett. We talk with Quinn about her career as a climber, the 100 foot fall from the face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park that dropped her into our SCI community, and how she’s ...
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Original Cure Warrior
Jason and Matthew have a conversation with Bob Yant, 39 years into a spinal cord injury and longtime advocate for spinal cord injury research. Bob founded Cure Medical, a catheter company based in California that donates 10% of its net income to medical research. He is the founder and president of Axonis Therapeutics, a company committed to ... -
A Roadmap to Cures
Jason and Matthew interview Ethan Perlstein, formerly the Chief Science Officer at the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and Founder of Perlara. We talk about Ethan’s work to develop a ‘roadmap to cures for paralysis’, along with his experience, reception and impressions for where the cure movement can and should go next... -
Episode 41A Stimulating Search
Jason and Matthew interview Susan Harkema, from the University of Louisville. We discuss her long standing research using the strategy of neuromodulation, neuroplasticity and locomotor training to discover and understand the potential for functional recovery after Spinal Cord Injury.....
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Striking A Nerve
Jason and Matthew interview Dr. Murray Blackmore from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dr. Blackmore’s research is immersed in identifying candidate genes toward nerve regeneration for Spinal Cord Injury. We discuss how spinal cord injury invited itself into Murray’s family from a devastating car accident in his early teens where his mother suffered a C5 injury. And how this led to .....
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The NervGen Story
Jason and Matthew interview Harold Punnett (co-founder and member of the Board of Directors) and Paul Brennan (President and CEO) from NervGen Pharma. They discuss how Dr. Punnett’s daughter-in-law’s spinal cord injury, which led to the connection with Dr. Jerry Silver (hear more about the science from episode 19 with Dr. Jerry Silver) and eventually the founding of...
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The Covid Shutdown
Jason and Matthew interview Sasha Rabchevsky and Michael Lane. In this interview we talk about how the COVID-19 shutdown has affected the research effort and how researchers and institutions are adapting. We then explore some ideas about what we might see or anticipate on the other end of the shutdown....
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Documenting the Journey
Matthew talks with Kelsey Peterson, the woman behind the documentary film SUBMERGED - formerly titled “The Cure Map”. Matthew and Kelsey talk about her pathway to advocacy and the genesis of the Cure Map project, the recent announcement of being the recipient of the highly competitive ITVS Open Call award, the effects of the COVID-19 troubles and...
