Science making the impossible, possible!! Albert Bourla – grand keynote at #TiEcon2022

I am eagerly looking forward to the opportunity to hear Dr. Albert Bourla give a grand keynote on Day 2 at #TiEcon2022 in May at Santa Clara, CA.

As Chairman and CEO, since 2019, Dr. Bourla has led Pfizer through one of its greatest challenges when the world was looking to scientists and pharmaceutical companies for answers to the sudden calamity represented by covid.  In a rare mode of cooperation and unprecedented speed, scientists began furiously working for a vaccine. However, their work was also proceeding against a backdrop of political drama that was unfolding in the USA. 

Very likely scientists and leaders of pharmaceutical companies had no interest in maneuvering the political minefield and yet it became unavoidable when Mr. Trump predicted a breakthrough vaccine  before Election Day. News of Pfizer’s success however, only arrived right AFTER the election was called for Joseph Biden. The story of Pfizer and its research partner, the German firm BioNTech, both of who declined the money from the federal effort, “Operation Warp Speed” and Moderna who accepted the money from the Government that was led by science denying President Mr. Trump, unfolded against the backdrop of politics, science, and incredible high stakes for humankind. The resulting accomplishments by these companies and others are as fascinating as they are impressive. Bourla was awarded the 2022 Genesis Prize for his leadership in the development of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid 19 vaccine.

During his 25+ years at Pfizer, Bourla has emphasized his commitment to help ensure equitable healthcare access to medicines and patients. However, Bourla also opposes government interference in pharmaceutical pricing, which he has argued would hamper spending on development of new drugs.  As per a recent RAND Corporation report, US prescription drug prices are higher than in most other countries. The Biden Administration released a plan to decrease prescription drug costs covered by the Medicare program, and later dropped the initiatives, after objections from some key Democrats. Bourla has observed that drug prices are in fact going down and more importantly, drug prices are only a small portion of the overall US healthcare spending.

It will be fascinating to hear Mr. Bourla speak on these and other health and healthcare related issues at TieCon2022. During covid challenges, when many prayed as never before for the lives of their loved ones, world also realized that besides the divine, our next best hope for better life rests in the hands of #science.

Register ASAP for the #TiEcon2022 conference at @TiEcon www.tiecon.org to access early bird incentives.

Armon Dadgar, CTO – HashiCorp: Enabling Innovation

Grand keynote: Armon Dadgar, CTO- HashiCorp – Enabling Innovation

Preparations are in full swing for #TiEcon2022 at Santa Clara, CA in May, 2022. Among an exciting lineup of speakers and panels at this largest entrepreneurship focused conference will be Armon Dadgar,  CTO & co-founder of HashiCorp giving a grand keynote on day 1.

HashiCorp is one of the fastest growing tech companies in the cloud and DevOps space. With its open source tools, Hashicorp supports the development and deployment of large scale service oriented software installations and enables companies to deliver applications faster. Each tool focuses on specific stages in the life cycle of a software application, with a goal towards automation.

With a range of products like Terraform, HashiCorp Vault, HashiCorp Nomad, and HashiCorp Consu, it has truly emerged as a company that enables innovation. Highly respected by the developer community, Hashicorp is a prominent open-source promoter and is also a leader in all remote working practice.

Armon Dadgar says, as CTO at Hashicorp, he combined his passion for security and distributed systems and their applications to solve real world problems, through the world of DevOps tooling. In early childhood, when children were still leaving cookies for Santa, Armon begged his parents to get him a coding book for Christmas. His parents also gave him a box set of .NET kit and he used it to build games like Tetris and Tic-Tac-Toe. 

The secret of Dadgar’s success seems to be in the way in which he puts himself in the shoes of the user community. Speaking of the transition from writing code to managing people, Dadgar says, “making the shift from IC-land to manager land was a tough one”, but it helped to internalize that “I can only be so effective with just two hands at a keyboard. But if I can train 10, 20 other people to think the way I do, or to apply the same design principles, then it’s like I have 20 hands at the keyboard”. 

Initially, Dadgar says he felt he knew the system better than anyone else, that he would think about edge cases, he could be the code reviewer, but at some point, he realized it wasn’t practical. Then a new realization set in that after all software is malleable, it can be fixed, it’s not set in stone. That seems to be a key leadership skill that is constantly called for when one leads and manages people. 

Register for TiEcon2022 at @TiEcon at www.tiecon.org .

Hardware enabling Artificial Intelligence Revolution – Panel at TiEcon

From virtual doctors to hassle free data maintenance to driverless cars and robotic surgeries, artificial intelligence (AI) has been transforming the way we live, work, learn, and conduct business.  But it is only now, as powerful GPUs have become available to train networks, that the technology has become more practical and it’s use more strategic. 

At Road to TiEcon event on July 22, an exciting panel of senior leaders across a range of industries, will discuss how hardware is enabling the AI revolution. Panelists include Chris Rowen, CEO at @BabbleLabs & founder of #Tensilica; Gaurav Singh, Corporate VP at @XilinxInc; Gordon Wilson, CEO at Rain Neuromorphics @Rain_AI; and Sumit Gupta, VP of AI strategy & CTO, Data & AI at @IBMData @IBMcloud @IBM cognitive systems. This will be an exciting panel.

The algorithmic superiority of certain complex functions comes only with high computation and memory and this requirement poses significant challenges to the hardware platforms required to execute these functions. The AI teams under proven leaders, are in constant quest for new devices, architecture and algorithms that would lead to improved efficiency. 

Sign up for this exciting panel and entire event at the link below. https://www.tiecon.org/?campaign=Referral&source=DaNa  

Changing Healthcare Landscape in the post-Covid world

In the post Covid world, one thing that is certain to change is health care and health technologies that impact the quality of care. There is already an enormous impact of digital technologies with remote monitoring, remote diagnosis, and telehealth platforms, and artificial intelligence powered apps and devices. Related to that is an explosion and access that providers have in the number of data points. 

In the immediate covid world, there is an urgency of some of these new technologies in contact tracing and monitoring the spread of the pandemic. There is also a necessity for protective gear that while protecting providers can make care more personalized and is easy to use. Providers are also trying to balance providing care for other health issues while dealing with continuing covid cases.

So what might be possible attributes that will make new technologies and devices stand out?

For any tools that impact healthcare, accuracy, reliability, and safety are of prime importance. Also delivery of care is rapidly transforming and all devices need to seamlessly integrate into rapidly changing clinical flow. All devices that work with healthcare data must also be extremely secure. 

At Road to #TiEcon2020 @TiEcon @tiesv on June 24th, domain experts will discuss new technologies and how it is all poised to make an impact in the changing arena of healthcare.  Domain experts speaking at this event include, Dr. John Whyte @WebMD, Aashima Gupta @GoogleCloud, Dr. Suraj Kapa @MayoClinic, Ramesh Raskar @MediaLab, Dr. Meera Kanhouwa @Deloitte.

If you need more information than post your question with your email. Register for the event with the link here:
https://www.tiecon.org/?campaign=Referral&source=DaNa

 

Data Security Challenges of Remote Work

TiEcon, Silicon Valley’s largest entrepreneurship conference, has gone virtual, this year. On June 24th, at 9 am, Chris Jones will speak on that exact topic of how virtual meetings and remote work is changing the paradigm and hidden opportunities and challenges inherent in this new paradigm.

 

Of all the challenges of remote work, security challenges are some of the most complex ones to navigate. In equal measure, some of the solutions may be very basic and simple and some may require sophisticated solutions but more than ever, companies need to fortify security for smooth functioning of remote work. Some of the top security challenges include cloud based threats, data exposure and theft, access compromise and anomalies, legacy appliance-based web defenses and legacy remote VPN access.

 

Right after the keynote by Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, Chris Jones will speak on strategies that companies can adopt to enhance security for their remote workforce. Chris Jones, as Director of Cyber Security for Dell Technologies, oversees eDiscovery, Digital Forensics, Cyber Investigations, and Insider Risk Operations. Chris Jones has not only been involved in addressing insider threat problems for corporations but has also worked with the US Intelligence community and law enforcement agencies. He founded the FBI’s Cyber Profiling Team and developed behavioral profiling and psychological analysis techniques, with use of technical data analytics.

 

Register for Road to TiEcon2020 at https://hub.tie.org/e/road-to-tiecon-6-24 .

 

 

Summit, IBM supercomputer is our recent hero in the fight against Covid-19

The looming threat of Covid-19 and the grim reality of the toll that novel coronavirus takes on humankind, makes it imperative that we find a way to prevent the spread faster and with less cost. Currently nine out of ten drug therapies fail mostly between phase 1 trials and regulatory approval. The estimated cost of developing a new treatment is around staggering US $2.6 billion.  While this article won’t address it, I want to mention that many bio/pharma companies are working with repurposed drugs to find a cure and at least 69 drugs have been identified as treatment possibilities. Drugs also have side effects and need to be tested for safety. Let us focus for a while on search for the vaccine.

Many companies including Moderna, CureVac and BioNTech are working on vaccines. With the help of  Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and other technologies the hunt for new pharmaceuticals and appropriate chemicals is expected to be quicker, cheaper and more effective. Novel coronavirus presents the most unprecedented challenge to date because of the speed with which it spreads. 

Who better than a supercomputer made by a company that has been on the cutting edge of innovation for over a century, to take on this speed challenge? IBM scientists instructed the world’s fastest computer to tackle this challenge at its Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Summit can run 200 quadrillion computations per second. The scientists ran thousands of simulations to analyse which drug compounds could stop the coronavirus from infecting the host cells. 

Summit, an IBM supercomputer equipped with the “brain of AI” identified 77 compounds (from over 8000 compounds) that could be efficacious in preventing coronavirus from spreading in the host.  This is promising news in humanity’s quest for an effective vaccine against the virus. These findings are published in the journal ChemRxiv and give us hope although road is still long to get there.

With increasing computer processing power and advanced algorithms, AI has been employed to analyze large data sets with greater efficiency and will likely lead to many exciting innovations.  While AI and ML show promise to change every industry sector for the better, artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning have become the most widely discussed topics in the healthcare sector and the excitement keeps growing.  

I will be looking forward to hearing about new innovations AI/ML at #TiEcon2020. Stay tuned for new dates for the conference at http://www.tiecon.org and on this blog.

Innovation underway in “Oil & Gas” – TiEcon 2015 track & keynote preview

Plate-forme pétrolière Oil platform from NASA JPL. The Arguello Inc. Harvest Oil Platform is located about 10 km off the coast of central California near Point Conception. http://www-aviso.cnes.fr:8090/HTML/information/publication/news/news8/haines_uk.html catégorie:énergie fossile (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Oil and gas industry may have been in the headlines for occasional security glitches or even plant explosions.  But what is often not mentioned, is a quite transformation happening inside the industry, to improve daily operations and safety.  The technology adoption rate may be slower in this industry, due to sensitivity around safeguarding of trade secrets, IP issues, and data security concerns.  But there is an increasing recognition of the need for enhanced operational excellence, in this industry, concerned with confining costs and refining margins.

The unconventional and controversial practice of horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing (converting organic matter within the rock to synthetic oil and gas), have been recent game changers.  Apparently what can be produced by a vertical well in 30 to 35 years, can be done in a horizontal well,  in a span of mere 6 months, environmental concerns notwithstanding.

There is now a thirst for innovative ideas within the industry, to minimize negative environmental impact, increase safety, contain costs, and enhance operational efficiency.   Many oil and gas service centers have opened innovation centers in Silicon Valley to enhance implementation of new ideas.  With the help of emerging technologies in visualization and complexity management, and with advances in cloud computing, big data analytics and Internet of Things, the industry is poised to transform itself for the better.

Neal Dikeman, Senior Venture Principal at Shell Technology Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Royal Dutch Shell, will give a keynote address at TiEcon, 2015.  Join in discussions and learn how startups and large players are partnering to disrupt the current practices in Oil and Gas industry.  Register at https://www.123signup.com/register?id=ygszb&ref=4182698 to get a $100 discount on the two-day conference at the non-member rate.  When prompted, enter the promo code VOL500 at checkout:

John Mattison, CMO, Kaiser Permanente, will speak at #TiEcon and at #HealthTechForum

While he has pursued a wide range of activities in health and wellness, Dr. John Mattison, Chief Medical Officer at Kaiser Permanente, in his own words, is an “accidental informatist”.  Very early in his own practice and prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Mattison implemented electronic record system at his family practice, in 1984.  Soon thereafter, he was drafted with a mandate to advance Health Information Technology, at Kaiser, and to advance health policy at both state and federal levels.

Mattison firmly believes that integrated care is extremely important, though he concedes that achieving it is not simple.  However, if you are a member of Kaiser then this oft-quoted example may not appear farfetched, where an optometrist was able to make a life saving intervention.  Apparently a woman went to an optometrist and optometrist noticed that she was due for her mammogram and helped schedule it for the same day, and her abnormality was caught in time.  Time and again I have had similar experiences (though not as dramatic), at Kaiser, where I would go in for a physical and they notice that I am due for a mamo or pap and seamlessly it is scheduled and completed, in one visit.

Mattison believes that available technology can enable health providers to make seamless, integrated care possible, whether it is through Electronic Medical Records, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, Mobile Health Apps, or social gaming.  Mattison also firmly believes that patient engagement is the key to superior health outcomes.  (As a health services consumer, I would say that it is so much easier to be an empowered and engaged patient, when care is integrated and seamless).  Mattison’s objective is to harvest the exponential growth of knowledge about health and use it to help individuals become more engaged in their own health, and then to go a step further and engage communities in promoting health outcomes.

CrossCity Connect, Clinical Commissioning Group Patient Engagement Event (Photo credit: podnosh)

Mattison is leading many innovative and exciting projects at Kaiser Permanente, with a potential to change the dialog on health.  He is also currently launching a project to transform how complex data sets including genomic, microbiomics, exposomics, socialomics, and phenomics can be transformed through visualization, into intuitive representations, that support shared decision making and enhanced patient engagement.  If any of this seems like a mouthful or too far-fetched then see below two great opportunities to hear him speak in May, 2014 at #TiEcon and at #HealthTechForum conference.

www.tiecon.org – If you are a professional  in #healthIT, #digital health,  #internetofthings, #cloud, #bigdata or related, I would say this is the conference, you don’t want to miss – It offers a fabulous opportunity to network with 3000+ professionals and listen to top notch speakers and panelists.  You can register for #TiEcon (May 16 & 17 at Santa ClaraConvention Center) at link http://tinyurl.com/kr2hkcw  as my guest & enter promo code tievalue to get $100 discount.

Healthtechnology Forum conference http://www.healthtechnologyforum.com, focused on exploring pathways to sustainable health, is on May 20 in SF. Please register for the conference as my friend, with the discount code “HTF14-FriendOfOrganizer” and send me your first & last name at wd_darshana at hotmail dot com, to get $150 off the price of the ticket.  Also check out & participate in code-a-thon on patient engagement, for May 8.  Over 20K+ in prizes.

JOBS: are posted at the link http://bit.ly/1o85CTM

 

 

 

Rakeysh Mehra, famed Bollywood Filmmaker will speak at TiEcon 2014

Rakeysh Mehra, highly acclaimed Bollywood Filmmaker & Screenwriter, will speak at TiEcon 2014.  Have you registered?  You can register as my guest through the link http://tinyurl.com/kr2hkcw and enter code “TiEvalue” to get $100 off.

The process of filmmaking begins with a great story and then the filmmaker or the producer needs to work with the screenwriter to develop the story or screenplay they have just purchased.  Rakeysh Mehra is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter, known for writing and directing such films as Rang De Basanti (he won Best Director Filmfare Award for it in 2006) and directing blockbuster “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, starring Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh, India’s legendary runner (here’s link to my review  http://bit.ly/1cUwG4o).  “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” acquired international fame and was nominated for 10 awards. Obtaining the right script and developing it into a good screenplay and then directing it into a successful film, is a highly challenging process, in the cut throat film world.  One needs to understand and develop the characters, ensure the dialogues are not lame, understand the story structure, identify the genre or the blend of genres and Mehra is brilliant, with each of the steps of filmmaking.

Delhi 6 Premiere (Photo credit: muckster)

Currently, India, the largest democracy in the world, is busy with the process of deciding its new leader.  Voting is in full swing, in India.  Mehra has been a critic of the vote bank politics and currently he is campaigning to introduce e-voting to facilitate voting by travelers.  Mehra is also deeply committed to children and the education system in India.  Regarding “Bhaag Milkha Baag”, Mehra said that to see the movie connect with children as young as six and eight, was the biggest part of his success with the movie that he is proud of.  He has criticized marks-driven, education system in India saying that it emphasizes test scores over actual learning and achievement.  Perhaps his next movie will address this issue?  The filmmaker was location hunting recently in Jodhpur, for his upcoming film.  Will there be announcements?  Mehra will give keynote address on the morning of day 2 of the conference.

See discount codes to register for TiEcon 2014, www.tiecon.org and for Health Technology Forum

www.tiecon.org – If you are a professional  in #healthIT, #digital health,  #internetofthings, #cloud, #bigdata or related, then this is the conference, you don’t want to miss – It offers a fabulous opportunity to network with 3000+ professionals and listen to top notch speakers and panelists.  Register for #TiEcon (May 16 & 17 at Santa ClaraConvention Center) as my guest, at link http://tinyurl.com/kr2hkcw  & enter promo code tievalue to get $100 discount.

Healthtechnology Forum conference http://www.healthtechnologyforum.com, focused on exploring pathways to sustainable health, is on May 20 in SF. Please register for the conference as my friend, with the discount code “HTF14-FriendOfOrganizer” and send me your first & last name at wd_darshana at hotmail dot com, to get $150 off the price of the ticket.  Also check out & participate in code-a-thon on patient engagement, for May 8.  Over 20K+ in prizes.

JOBS: are posted at the link http://bit.ly/1o85CTM

 

 

Fiona Ma (Assemblywoman & Campaigner against Hepatitis B) to speak at Health Technology Forum Conference

Hepatitis B Virus (Photo credit: AJC1)

Hepatitis B (HBV) virus is a very common virus worldwide.   Approximately, 1.2 million people in the United States are affected by this virus.  Almost 350 million people worldwide, are living with Hepatitis B.  Many people with Hepatitis B are likely to be infected at birth or in early childhood, and due to lack of immediate attention, have developed a lifelong chronic infection.   Hepatitis B is a contagious liver disease that is commonly spread through blood, semen, or other body fluids.  Most people do not experience symptoms until it is too late.  The virus causes 80% of all liver cancers, if left untreated.  Hepatitis B can be prevented with vaccination.  And with immediate attention and monitoring with nutrition, fluids, and medical supervision, acute Hep B can also be effectively treated.

Fiona Ma, incumbent democratic candidate for State Board of Equalization, a reputed politician and a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, California State Assembly, is a tireless campaigner and spokesperson for “San Francisco Hepatitis B Free” campaign.  San Francisco has the highest concentration of Hep B in the country.  Ma herself learned that she had Hep B, when she was 22.  She acquired it from her mother, who had acquired it from her mother.  About 1 in every 10 Asian Americans, is infected with the virus.  Ma’s mother had developed liver scars and having caught that early, had it removed.

English: California State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fiona Ma will be giving keynote address at Health Technology Innovation Forum annual conference on May, 20 at Parc 55, Wyndham Hotel, SF.  The conference is focused on exploring pathways to sustainable health through various means including “best practices for globally underserved”, through “gamification” and “patient engagement”, and through “building resilient communities for better outcomes”.  Traditionally, this conference is heavily attended by physicians from UCSF, as well as entrepreneurs focused on healthcare breakthroughs.  Please register for the conference at http://www.healthtechnologyforum.com , as my friend, with the discount code “HTF14-FriendOfOrganizer” and send me your first & last name at wd_darshana at hotmail dot com, to get $150 off the price of the ticket.

 

Please note other upcoming events below – dates & deadlines.

1) Register for #TiEcon at link https://www.123signup.com/register?id=dbnfb&ref=4182698  as my guest & enter promo code tievalue to get $100 discount. If you are an entrepreneur, I would say this is the conference, you don’t want to miss.  Check out great agenda, top notch speakers & panelists on #IoT, #bigdata, #cloud, and #Healthcare tracks at http://www.tiecon.org.

3) Feel free to send me an email for any of these events at wd_darshana at hotmail dot com and you can follow my updates on Twitter @DarshanaN.  Also, do check out (in JOBS category on this blog), my job opportunities that include many Quality Engineering jobs in CA and MA and hot Software Embedded Engineer job and more.