2x Community Science -- Cancer Map and COVID-19 Testing in Schools

Jesse Boehm, the scientific director of the Broad Institute’s Cancer Dependency Map Initiative and an institute scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, interviewed by futurist Trond Arne Undheim. 

In this conversation, they talk about mobilizing the unique sci-tech environment for health in Massachusetts. They discuss the Broad Institute's ethos and the Boehm Lab’s cancer collaboration for rare diseases. They cover the Healthtech Map, Test & Trace efforts including a 3-month pilot program of weekly COVID testing for certain students and staff. and how it got off the ground. We look at Wellesley Education Foundation (WEF) COVID-19 Innovation Fund and what is has accomplished. Finally, we discuss the future of healthtech and the future of community scientists and ‘community resource maps’, towards Science 2.0.

The takeaway is that  community science is crucial at this juncture in history.  We can no longer take for granted that people listen to experts, nor should we. Rather, it needs to be a dialogue. Trust is and should be contingent on proving value and disclosing evidence and rationale. Also, the data is increasingly all of us, so we are the science. This is a very different future than many had imagined. Yet, it might be the only one available. 

After listening to this episode, check out Jesse Boehm's online profile, the Broad Institute’s Cancer Dependency Map Initiative and The Wellesley Education Foundation (WEF) COVID-19 Innovation Fund:

• Broad Institute’s Cancer Dependency Map Initiative https://www.broadinstitute.org/cancer/cancer-dependency-map
• Boehm Lab http://www.boehmlab.org/
• Jesse Boehm (@boehmjesse) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-boehm-0881145/
• The Wellesley Education Foundation (WEF) COVID-19 Innovation Fund https://www.wellesleyeducationfoundation.org/innovation-fund 

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Futurized.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you like this topic, you may enjoy other episodes of Futurized, such as episode 55 AI for Medicine, episode 19 on Digital Health in Future Pandemics, episode 26 How to Write a book on the Future of Healthcare, and episode 67 on The Future of Longevity Futurized—preparing YOU to deal with disruption.