Kia ora,
For a while now I’ve been talking about recording a Memia podcast series, conversations with people around Aotearoa doing amazing work in technology and innovation. Here’s the first episode, I hope you enjoy!
Last week I recorded this fascinating conversation with Aotearoa biotech entrepreneur Rachel Kelly, who is working to reimagine the future of personal health and bioaugmented intelligence. We had a wide ranging discussion spanning topics around extending healthspan, the latest wearables and bio-augmentation technologies, the importance of sleep and ultimately “accelerating the ability for organic and inorganic intelligence to work symbiotically to their fullest potential”. Fascinating stuff.
Rachel’s bio:
Rachel is a scientist, strategist, high-tech product developer and commercialisation professional who has spent the last 20 years in the science and technology sector. After spending 9 years in California working within biotechnology and high-tech manufacturing, she returned to New Zealand in 2014 and has been heavily involved in the Aotearoa technology ecosystem ever since.
Rachel has worked with award-winning and innovative tech startups including CoHired and Nyriad. She led Gallagher's Enterprise Security division as Chief Product Officer, and is currently co-owner of Taylored Health & Performance, a holistic, science-backed health hub and co-CEO of Taylored Technologies, a new biotech startup leveraging advanced technologies to unlock the health and potential of global leaders and athletes.
When she’s not building startups, Rachel has been was a co-founder of the Waikato technology cluster, former Deputy Chair of NZTech, former elected member on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Forum NZ Executive Council and is currently a Ministerial Advisor on the Digital Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and Board Member at Callaghan Innovation.
Episode links:
Items mentioned during the podcast:
Rachel LinkedIn Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkellynz/
Theranos Podcast: “The Dropout” by ABC https://abcaudio.com/podcasts/the-dropout/
Nexus Trilogy by Ramez Naam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nexus_Trilogy
Lex Fridman podcast: https://lexfridman.com/podcast/
Project Otto website: https://projectotto.io
Project Otto contact: hello@projectotto.io
Podcast outline:
Rachel bio: 0:40
Taylored Health 6:00
Project Otto 8:55
Healthspan 12:05
Epigenetics - what is the Horvath Clock? 15:02
Brain computer interfaces - Bryan Johnson / Kernel 15:55
Sleep patterns / REM, deep sleep, circadian rhythms 17:40
Sleep monitoring headband devices 21:30
Project Otto data model: building algorithms and “MVT” (minimum viable truth”) 24:30
Life extension: “For every 2 weeks you’re alive, you gain years of your life” 26:00
Whole health: four pillars - “how you think, live, eat, move…in that order”. 28:00
Technologies: CRISPR, machine learning, Alphafold 2, mRNA 29:00
Water, organic chemistry and quantum physics 32:00
The Virome 33:05
Taylored Tech 500 year vision: “Accelerating the ability for organic and inorganic intelligence to work symbiotically to their fullest potential” 37:05
Cyborgs, BCIs and quantum computing advances: building the “AI Placenta” 38:55
Accessibility and ethics - who gets this tech first? 45:05
Looking at 900,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (“SNIPs”) 49:00
Video recording:
You can listen to MP3 audio above or watch the recording on Youtube:
Memia Podcast #1: Rachel Kelly on bioaugmentation, epigenetics, wearables, extending healthspan and building a personal digital twin