Further Together the ORAU Podcast

Sunil Pulletikurti, Ph. D., is NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow conducting research on the chemical origins of life. Essentially, he's investigating how small molecules become parts of larger molecules -- for example, how an amino acid becomes part of a protein and other cellular transformation. In this conversation with host Michael Holtz, Pulletikurti takes a deep dive into his research, the tim...

As part of our continuing series of conversations with leaders in the cancer space, hosts Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood sit down with Rachel Matlock, manager of the comprehensive cancer control program at the Tennessee Department of Health. She also manages the Tennessee Cancer Coalition, which brings together stakeholders from across the state to reduce the cancer burden in the state. Her f...

September is National Preparedness Month, the annual campaign to remind everyone that preparing for emergencies and disasters can keep them, their families aMnd their communities safe. In this episode of Further Together: The ORAU Podcast, hosts Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood talk to two researchers about how small family farmers manage extreme weather events and how that, in turn, effects th...

Charles R. Rogers, Ph. D., is the founder and CEO of the Colorectal Cancer Equity Foundation, an organization dedicated to eliminating colorectal cancer disparities among black men and other marginalized groups. In this conversation, host Michael Holtz and special guest host Brenda Blunt, ORAU senior director of health policy, talk to Rogers about the critical need to eliminate disparities, the im...

For the second year, the ORAU Research and University Partnerships Office has funded an internship program that places students in meaningful roles across the organization for the summer. In this episode of Further Together: The ORAU Podcast, hosts Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood talk to five of the six interns in this year's program about their experiences at ORAU, what they will take away fr...

Bryan Goettel is the director of advocacy and alliance relations for Exact Sciences, a Madison, Wisconsin, based biotechnology company. Exact Sciences is perhaps best known for its signature product, Cologuard, an at-home colorectal cancer early detection test for adults of average risk age 45 and older. Further Together host Michael Holtz has a history with the company, including sharing his canc...

In our continuing series of conversations with leaders in the oncology and cancer space, Further Together host Michael Holtz sits down with Jody Hoyos, CEO of the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The Prevent Cancer Foundation is the largest non-profit organization in the country solely dedicated to the prevention and early detection of cancer. As part of the conversation, Hoyos says companies like ORAU...

As Men's Health Month (June) comes to a close, Further Together host Michael Holtz sits down with his friend and fellow health advocate Mike Leventhal, executive director of the Tennessee Men's Health Network, for a conversation about men and their health. Men are great about many things, like taking care of their families and their careers, but are not always great about taking care of themselves...

David Burtt, Ph. D., is in his second year as a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, studying martian geology using data from the Mars rover at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Burtt wound his way through several scientific disciplines before focusing on extraterrestrial geology. He discusses the pivotal moment where he had the courage to talk to an advisor about research he was working on. It wasn't...

Understanding how plants use water resources and how they're responding to changes in climate and the resulting feedbacks on the climate system is important, and challenging. Zoe Pierrat, Ph. D., a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says that while there are great models for some aspects of climate and climate change, plants adapt to the changes in their environment making...

Ken Tarcza has served as a leader in several capacities, from the military to the U.S. Department of Defense to the U.S. Department of Energy. One thing he knows to be true is this: leadership is not about the leader. Leadership is about people: meeting them where they are and creation conditions where they can be successful. In this episode of the Further Together podcast, hosts Michael Holtz and...

Like just about any kid, Abhishek Desai grew up in India with dreams of becoming an astronaut. While that dream didn't come true, Desai is a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow studying space from Earth. His project at NASA focuses multimessenger and multiwavelength astronomy to explain processes happening inside an Active Galactic Nuclei. In this conversation with Further Together's Michael Holtz, D...

Shipra Sinha, Ph. D., is a a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow living in India and conducting research with the Goddard Space Flight Center. Shipra's research focuses on auroras, which occur at both the North and South Poles. Studying auroras is fascinating, as most people in the West know about the Aurora Borealis. Shipra says the biggest challenge with studying South Pole auroras is Antarctica. G...

James Rogers, Ph. D., is an astrobiologist in the NASA Postdoctoral Program. He studies exoplanets (extra-solar bodies like planets, asteroids, etc.). Rogers says scientists have detected thousands of exoplanets orbiting stars throughout the galaxy. Studying exoplanets and planet formation can help us piece together how our solar system fits into the galaxy and the universe. In this conversation,...

Kelly Luis, Ph. D., is a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Water and Ecosystems Group. A native of Hawaii, Luis studies what the color of water can tell us about the health of aquatic ecosystems. During her conversation with host Michael Holtz, Luis talks about the trajectory of her career, how she is contributing to science at NASA, obstacles she's overcome to get...

As Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month 2024 comes to a close, Further Together host Michael Holtz, a 12-year survivor of stage IIIB colorectal cancer, talks to Eric Mayer and Jessica Etheridge, CEO and director of marketing and branding, respectively, for Knoxville-based New Day Diagnostics. This March, New Day launched ColoHealth, a screening blood test for people at average risk of developing colo...

While the idea of recognizing women in STEM has been a more recent phenomenon, ORAU has long included women in its scientific enterprise. In this episode, Amber Davis and Matthew Underwood introduce host Michael Holtz to three women among the many who have made history at ORAU. Meet Evelyn Watson, Ann Sipe and Helen Vodopick, three women who made significant contributions to work at the Oak Ridge...

Dr. Nicola "Nicky" Fox, is the associate administrator for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, which essentially means she is the head of science for NASA. Her directorate is responsible for more than 150 missions that are currently in space or in development. Further Together hosts Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood talk to Fox about the importance of her role, the trajectory of her career, ho...

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Colorectal cancer is the #1 cancer killer of men under age 50 and #2 of women under age 50. In this episode of Further Together, Michael Holtz welcomes his best friend, Ryan Vieth, as guest co-host. Ryan is in active treatment for stage IV colorectal cancer; Michael is a 12-year survivor of stage III colorectal cancer. They met when they were named 2023...

More than 18 million people in the United States are cancer survivors, and survivors are living longer than ever before. At the same time, the health impacts and side effects of cancer treatment can show up many years after treatment has ended. The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship advocates for quality cancer care for all people touched by cancer. In this episode of the Further Together...

In this episode of Further Together: The ORAU Podcast, Ken Tobin, chief research and university partnerships officer, and Cathy Fore, senior director of university partnerships, look ahead to the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Council of Sponsoring Institutions. In conversation with Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood, Tobin and Fore talk about the meeting's theme -- Redefining the Next Generation STE...

Amanda Lopez is a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow in the Water and Systems Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her research background is in coastal geoscience world and she is currently studying the impact of wildfires on the land-sea interface. In this episode of Further Together, Lopez tells host Michael Holtz that she has wanted to be a scientist for as far back as she can remember. Her c...

Taylor Hutchison, a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow working on the James Webb Space Telescope, says her research focus is on distant galaxies --some of the first galaxies ever found in the early universe -- which give us a view toward understanding the history of the universe. In this episode of Further Together, host Michael Holtz asks Hutchison about her research emphasis, how she got to be a NASA NPP...

Trevor Maxwell was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in March 2018. During his treatment journey he was dismayed to learn that support services specifically geared to men are sorely lacking, so he set out to change that. In 2019, he launched Man Up to Cancer, an organization that encourages men facing all forms of cancer to avoid isolation and connect with each other. Men find connection i...

Sanah Baig is the Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she leads the management of the more than $4 billion USDA Science enterprise responsible for ensuring U.S. agriculture’s success through the advancement of science, technology, and innovation. Deputy Under Secretary Baig was a keynote speaker at ORAU's 2023 Annual Meeting of...