{"podcast":{"title":"Innovate and Elevate","slug":"innovate-and-elevate-6703724","podcast_index_feed_id":6703724,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/innovate-and-elevate/","website_url":"https://www.innovateandelevatepodcast.com/","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/d938c490-9603-45d4-976a-1d4a22816fd1/Innovate-and-Elevate-Podcast-Cover-Season-3.jpg","author":"Sharon Kedar, MBA, CFA","episode_count":26,"summary":"Join Sharon Kedar, Co-Founder of Northpond Ventures, as she has candid, in-depth conversations with top doctors, scientists, and trailblazing innovators. Innovate and Elevate is the podcast where the pioneering ideas and leading-edge discoveries that redefine human health are explored. Behind every revolutionary method and device is a human, or humans, daring to make the impossible possible. Sharon, an investor at the forefront of science-driven venture capital, talks with these change agents about how they are rewriting the rules in their fields - from human health and longevity to breakthrough diagnostics and therapeutics. Featured by Harvard’s Wyss Institute, this podcast delivers the sophisticated, knowledgeable, and essential insights you need to understand how innovation impacts our lives. Because Humanity Deserves Better. Sharon Kedar is Co-Founder, Partner of Northpond Ventures. She is also a human health advocate and has been invited to and spoken at notable institutions and events nationwide, including The New York Stock Exchange, The White House, ARPA-H, and Harvard University. “This new podcast is just what I needed- a platform to learn about health and innovation. I j…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T18:20:02.647175+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/innovate-and-elevate-6703724"},"episode":{"title":"Healthier America: ARPA-H and the Return on Investment for the American People with Dr. Renee Wegrzyn","slug":"healthier-america-arpa-h-and-the-return-on-investment-for-the-american-people-with-dr-renee-wegrzyn","published_at":"2024-08-20T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/innovate-and-elevate-6703724/healthier-america-arpa-h-and-the-return-on-investment-for-the-american-people-with-dr-renee-wegrzyn","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/innovate-and-elevate-6703724","url":"https://innovateandelevatepodcast.com/renee-wegrzyn","audio_url":"https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/b4c4373f-7e81-4fc5-ba68-b8ba1d0aebea/Innovate-Elevate-EP9.mp3","summary":"In this episode of Innovate and Elevate , Sharon Kedar is joined by Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, the inaugural director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a government agency designed to drive high-impact health innovations. Appointed by President Biden in 2022, Dr. Wegrzyn shares her deep experience in both synthetic biology and biosecurity, drawing from her work at DARPA, IARPA, and Ginkgo Bioworks. The conversation dives into the unique role of government in fostering breakthrough technologies, emphasizing ARPA-H’s mission to transform health outcomes. Dr. Wegrzyn explains how ARPA-H takes on ambitious, high-risk projects with the potential to revolutionize healthcare, much like DARPA’s past successes in defense technologies, such as the early development of mRNA technology. Dr. Wegrzyn highlights ARPA-H’s approach to maximizing the return on investment for American taxpayers by focusing on scalable, impactful solutions that can transition to the private sector. She walks listeners through transformative projects, including NITRO, GLIDE, ADAPT, and POSEIDON.  ARPA-H has a unique Program Management structure, which provides hands-on mentorship and support to ARPA-H grantees. Dr. Wegrzyn identifies how the partnership helps innovators address cost, accessibility, and user experience in health innovations. Sharon and Dr. Wegrzyn also discuss the ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women's Health and how the funding opportunity addresses critical unmet challenges in the women’s health sector.  Episode Outline (01:50) How the US Government Drives Innovation  (04:01) The Return on Investment to Americans  (09:27) ARPA-H Programs and Funding  (12:42) How To Work with ARPA-H  (15:28) The Audacity to Imagine Success  (18:59) Improving Rese…","meta_description":"In this episode of Innovate and Elevate , Sharon Kedar is joined by Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, the inaugural director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1764,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/innovate-and-elevate-6703724/episodes/healthier-america-arpa-h-and-the-return-on-investment-for-the-american-people-with-dr-renee-wegrzyn/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/innovate-and-elevate-6703724/healthier-america-arpa-h-and-the-return-on-investment-for-the-american-people-with-dr-renee-wegrzyn.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}