In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Gabriela “Gaby” Ochoa, an energetic and passionate marine conservation leader and founder of Ilili, about what it really takes to protect sharks—and the coastal communities whose lives are intertwined with them.

Gaby’s path began far from the ocean, growing up in Honduras with a love of animals and biology. What followed was an unexpected journey through turtle conservation, coral reef restoration, and eventually into one of the most complex conservation challenges in Central America: shark and ray protection in La Mosquitia, where marine ecosystems, indigenous communities, and local livelihoods are deeply connected.

The conversation explores why sharks matter ecologically, why their populations are in steep decline, and why conservation cannot succeed without understanding the people behind the fishery. Gaby shares how Ilili combines field science, fisheries monitoring, policy advocacy, public education, and trust-building with local communities to create a more durable model for conservation.

An engaging conversation about sharks, systems, and the kind of leadership required to protect both biodiversity and human dignity.

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Sam Blackman—pediatric neuro-oncologist, biotech founder, and storyteller—about the patients who shaped his life’s work and his search for a cure for children with brain cancer.

As a physician caring for children with brain tumors, Sam witnessed firsthand the limits of existing treatments—and the urgency felt by families facing devastating diagnoses. That experience became a driving force behind his decision to help build a different kind of biotech company: one focused not on adapting adult drugs for children, but on developing therapies specifically for them.

That vision led to the creation of Day One Biopharmaceuticals and ultimately to the development of tovorafenib, a targeted therapy approved in 2024 for children with low-grade glioma, the most common form of pediatric brain cancer.

This is a conversation about compassion as a catalyst for innovation—and how one doctor’s commitment to his patients helped turn unmet need into a new medicine.

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Tracy Dixon-Salazar—neuroscientist, geneticist, and one of the most powerful advocates working to transform how we understand severe childhood epilepsy.

Tracy’s journey began as a mother. When her daughter Savannah was two and a half, she began having unexplained seizures that eventually developed into Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS)—a rare and devastating form of childhood epilepsy marked by multiple seizure types, developmental challenges, and a high risk of premature death.

Determined to understand what was happening to her child, Tracy returned to school, eventually earning a PhD in neuroscience. Her scientific training helped uncover the genetic mechanisms underlying Savannah’s epilepsy and led to a precision-medicine insight that dramatically reduced her daughter’s seizures—giving Tracy a decade in which she could truly reconnect with her child.

Today, Tracy serves as Executive Director of the Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Foundation, where she is pushing the field to move beyond symptom control toward treating epilepsy at its biological roots.

This conversation explores the intersection of science and lived experience—and how one mother’s determination is reshaping the future of rare disease research.

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Arya Singh, a rare disease advocate, researcher, and policy leader whose life story intersects with one of the most remarkable transformations in modern genetic medicine.

Arya was diagnosed at 18 months with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)—a devastating neuromuscular disease that, until recently, was the leading genetic cause of death in infants. At the time, there were no treatments and little hope. What followed was a race against time: Arya’s parents helped launch the SMA Foundation, building the scientific collaborations that ultimately enabled the development of multiple life-changing therapies.

Arya herself became one of the earliest participants in the clinical trials that led to those breakthroughs—receiving the first antisense therapy for SMA and later transitioning to an oral treatment that transformed her strength, stamina, and independence.

In this conversation, Arya reflects on growing up inside a revolution in medicine, the courage required to participate in experimental trials as a child, and how scientific progress reshaped her future.

Now pursuing a PhD in population health sciences at Weill Cornell, Arya is working to ensure that the lessons of SMA—about science, advocacy, and policy—continue to drive progress for patients with rare diseases around the world.

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh sits down with Rafi Silver—actor, writer, and mindfulness teacher—for a wide-ranging conversation about performance, presence, and what it truly means to be “in the moment.”

Many will recognize Rafi from Amazon’s Fallout and roles in shows such as Law & Order: Organized Crime and FBI: Most Wanted. But beyond being an actor, he is the founder of Peak Mind Performance and a faculty member at Columbia University’s MFA Acting Program, where he integrates mindfulness, neuroscience, and performance psychology.

The conversation begins with a formative childhood moment on Broadway that ignited his love of acting—and unfolds into a deeper exploration of flow, self-consciousness, and the discipline of attention. Rafi explains mindfulness not as a retreat from life, but as a practice of bringing attention to the present moment without bias or judgment. He connects Buddhist philosophy to acting craft, elite athletics, and everyday life challenging the idea that performance is about control, and suggesting instead that it is about being fully present at the moment and allowing the self to disappear.

Additional information on Rafi's Mindfulness Performance Training at https://www.peakmindperformance.com/

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Frank Bennett, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, and a founding architect of antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics—one of the technologies that launched modern genetic medicine.

For more than three decades, Frank has worked to turn the idea of targeting RNA into real medicines. At the center of the discussion is the discovery and development of nusinersen (Spinraza), the first approved therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)—a devastating genetic disease that destroys motor neurons, leads to progressive paralysis, and in its most severe form often claims the lives of infants before age two. For decades, there were no disease-modifying treatments.

Frank explains how understanding RNA splicing unlocked a strategy to restore SMN protein production—and how early clinical data revealed something extraordinary: children gaining motor function once thought permanently lost.

The episode also explores other diseases that can be targeted by ASOs and why Frank believes we are just at the beginning of what RNA-targeted medicines can achieve.

In this episode of Let’s Talk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Garen Staglin, a leader who has brought together personal experience, philanthropy, and investment to fundamentally change how we approach mental health.

Garen’s journey into brain health advocacy began in 1990, after his son Brandon experienced a psychotic break and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. What followed was not withdrawal or silence, but action. Together with his wife Shari, Garen chose to confront stigma head-on—transforming their family’s experience into a sustained effort to accelerate research, improve early diagnosis, and build systems that help people live full, productive lives.

The conversation explores the creation and evolution of One Mind, which has raised more than $700 million to support collaborative neuroscience research, early-career scientists, and large-scale initiatives focused on schizophrenia, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury. Garen explains how early detection can dramatically alter outcomes in schizophrenia, why collaboration and data-sharing are essential for progress, and how philanthropy can catalyze NIH funding and industry engagement.

We also discuss the intersection of mental health and biotech—why investment has lagged despite enormous unmet need, how One Mind’s accelerator has helped launch dozens of companies, and why Garen believes brain health represents the largest untapped opportunity in medicine today.

In this episode of Let’sTalk About That, Anirvan Ghosh speaks with Jason Coloma, CEO of Maze Therapeutics, about what it really takes to build a biotech company at the intersection of human genetics, precision medicine, and long-term value creation.

Jason brings a rare end-to-end perspective—spanning big pharma, venture creation, and public company leadership. The conversation traces how Maze was conceived at Third Rock Ventures around a simple but powerful idea: move beyond statistical genetic associations and use human genetics to deeply understand disease biology, identify protective variants, and design medicines that mimic nature’s own experiments.

Using kidney disease as a central case study, Jason explains how Maze translates genetic risk and protective variants into concrete drug targets—and why this approach may finally unlock progress in complex, common diseases that have resisted traditional drug discovery. The discussion also explores the realities of company building: choosing focus over breadth, making hard portfolio decisions in capital-constrained markets, partnering and spinning out programs, and navigating board and investor dynamics.

Jason reflects candidly on leadership under uncertainty, the challenges of going public in a volatile biotech market, and why clarity of vision matters more than consensus in leading a new company.