Ira Pastor, ideaXme longevity and aging ambassador and founder of Bioquark interviews Commander Luis Alvarez, whose extensive background in the military informs his work as co-founder of Harvard spin-out Elevian and founder of MIT spin-out Theradaptive.
Ira Pastor comments:
On several recent shows we have spent time on different topics pertaining to human health, disease, degeneration and aging. We have focused on a variety of therapeutic and preventative interventions being developed in the private sector of the economy, both here in the U.S. and abroad.
We’ve also had representatives from various independent agencies of the United States Federal Government join us to discuss many of the exciting public sector discoveries and developments occurring, some a bit further abroad, that possess massive trickle down benefits to the U.S. general public.
For example, in the last few months ideaXme has had several guests that have worked in different roles within NASA (U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration) talking about topics related to “up there” and how they can improve things for us “down here.” Topics have included the bio-dynamics of sub-orbital flight training, astrobiology per human experience on the ISS, and even isolation chamber training for physical/psychological dynamics pertaining to future missions back to the Moon and to Mars.
Repair, Regeneration, and Rejuvenation
Today’s guest is going to take us further down a related path as it pertains to the topics of human repair, regeneration, and rejuvenation, and has a truly unique and convergent set of experiences from both private and public sectors.
Dr. Alvarez served 20 years on active duty with the U.S. Army and is a decorated combat veteran as well as a recipient of the Combat Action Badge and Bronze Star Medal. Dr. Alvarez has a BS in Chemistry from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, an MS in Chemical Engineering from MIT and a PhD in Bio-Engineering from MIT, and has had a truly fascinating career path to date including: Military Deputy to the Director of Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center involved in R&D pertaining to capability-enhancing of Warfighters; Manager in Department of Defense’s Bio-Scavenger program focused on development of pharmaceutical countermeasures against chemical and biological agent threats; Deputy Director, U.S. Army’s Tissue Injury & Regenerative Medicine Project Management Office; his current role in the private sector as Director of Organ Manufacturing at United Therapeutics, working on Lung Bio-Engineering. He is Co-Founder of Harvard spin-out Elevian, developing therapeutics that regulate GDF-11 and other circulating factors, to try and restore the body’s natural regenerative capacity in age-associated diseases. He is also the founder of MIT spin-out Theradaptive, developing GDF-11 and GDF-11 variants for endogenous skeletal regeneration and repair.
Today we will hear from Dr. Alvarez:
About his background, how he became interested in science and how he became interested in chemical and bio-engineering.
His path towards military service, and his current transition into the private sector, into one of the hottest areas of biotech: that of “whole organ” bio-engineering.
An overview of the scope/range of bio-medical related research that the U.S. military conducts and/or externally invests in, and how he leveraged this in his career.
His involvement in the Organ Manufacturing Group at United Therapeutics – a “moonshot” project developing a novel bio-printing platform to manufacture transplantable human lungs. His involvement as Co-Founder of Elevian and Theradaptive.
Credits: Ira Pastor interview video, text and audio interview
If you liked this interview, be sure to check out Ira Pastor’s interview with Tassilo Weber!
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