Sepsis remains one of medicine's most difficult diagnostic challenges, where every hour can impact patient outcomes. In this episode of Innovate & Elevate, Sharon Kedar sits down with Dr. Tim Sweeney, Co-Founder and CEO of Inflammatix, to explore how advances in artificial intelligence, host-response diagnostics, and precision medicine could transform the way clinicians detect infection and critical illness. Dr. Sweeney shares the personal experience that launched his two-decade mission to improve sepsis care, explains why traditional diagnostic approaches often fall short, and discusses how Inflammatix's TriVerity™ platform is helping physicians identify the right patients for the right treatment at the right time.

- You want to understand why sepsis remains one of healthcare's most challenging diagnoses.

- You're interested in how artificial intelligence is being applied to real-world clinical decision-making.

- You want to learn how innovation can improve outcomes for critically ill patients.

Connect with Dr. Tim Sweeney:

- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tim-sweeney-a6589594/

- X: https://x.com/timsweeney83

- Inflammatix: https://inflammatix.com

Connect with Sharon:

- Connect with Sharon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonkedar/

- Learn more about Innovate and Elevate: https:// innovateandelevatepodcast.com

- Join the newsletter to receive the latest episodes in your inbox: https://innovateandelevatepodcast.com/email

The content shared in this episode is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, financial, or investment advice. Please seek guidance from your own qualified professionals before making decisions.

(00:00) The Patient That Changed Everything

(01:57) Why Sepsis Is So Difficult to Solve

(03:10) What Sepsis Really Is

(05:59) Why Early Diagnosis Matters

(08:18) Introducing TriVerity

(12:17) A Life Saved by Earlier Detection

(17:10) The Science of Host Response

(19:07) How AI Interprets the Immune System

(25:22) The Future of Precision Critical Care

(31:28) Improving Care Beyond Saving Lives

About Our Guest: Tim Sweeney, MD, PhD, is co-founder and CEO of Inflammatix, a clinical-stage startup bringing precision medicine to hospital care. He led the company from its Stanford roots through product development, clinical validation, FDA clearance, and commercialization. His background spans clinical medicine (surgery), data science, and translational diagnostics, giving him a practical view of both clinical need and market adoption. Tim is named on more than a dozen patents, has published more than 100 manuscripts and abstracts, and has served as PI on multiple development contracts from DOD/DARPA, BARDA, and NIH. He lives with his wife and 3 boys in Northern California.

About Sharon: Sharon Kedar is a co-founder and partner at Northpond Ventures, a multi-billion-dollar science-driven venture capital firm. Sharon holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a CFA charter holder. She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband, Greg, their three kids, and their dog Bo.

This podcast is produced by Brave Moon Podcasts.

What if some forms of hearing loss do not appear on current hearing tests at all? In this episode of Innovate & Elevate, Sharon Kedar sits down with neuroscientist, engineer, musician, and Carnegie Mellon Dean Dr. Barbara Shinn-Cunningham to explore how the brain processes sound and why hearing is far more complex than simply detecting noise. Together, they discuss hidden hearing loss, the “cocktail party effect,” ADHD and sound filtering, cognitive fatigue, aging, sensory processing, and the emerging science behind sound, music, and the brain.

- You’re interested in ADHD, sensory processing, and cognitive load

- You want to understand how the brain filters sound

- You’re curious about the future of hearing diagnostics and neuroscience

Connect with Dr. Barbara Shinn-Cunningham:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-shinn-cunningham-9705208/

Connect with Sharon:

1. Connect with Sharon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonkedar/
2. Learn more about Innovate and Elevate: https:// innovateandelevatepodcast.com
3. Subscribe to Innovate and Elevate on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuWi1O9RBaPMYuCkKszPYVA
4. Join the newsletter to receive the latest episodes in your inbox: https://innovateandelevatepodcast.com/email

The content shared in this episode is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, financial, or investment advice. Please seek guidance from your own qualified professionals before making decisions.

(00:00) Introduction to hearing and brain processing

(03:12) Why identical twins can experience sound differently

(06:25) Loud concerts, noise exposure, and hidden hearing loss

(11:08) Why hearing tests may miss subtle hearing damage

(16:10) Hypersensitivity, sound amplification, and aging

(21:22) ADHD, focus, and filtering sound

(27:40) The “cocktail party effect” explained

(34:18) Why hearing loss can feel mentally exhausting

(42:55) ADHD as a potential superpower

(52:11) Sound baths, sleep, and the neuroscience of sound

About Our Guest: Dr. Barbara Shinn-Cunningham is a neuroscientist, engineer, musician, and Dean of the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research focuses on how the brain processes sound, attention, hearing, and sensory perception in complex environments.

About Sharon: Sharon Kedar is a co-founder and partner at Northpond Ventures, a multi-billion-dollar science-driven venture capital firm. Sharon holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a CFA charter holder. She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband, Greg, their three kids, and their dog Bo.

This podcast is produced by Brave Moon Podcasts: https://www.bravemoonpodcasts.com/

What happened in 1993 still affects medicine today. That was the year women were required to be included in NIH-funded clinical trials, a shift that helped begin correcting decades of male-centered medical research. In this powerful conversation, Sharon Kedar CFA sits down with Jessica Federer, former Chief Digital Officer at Bayer and Managing Director of The Women’s Health Fund, to explore why this moment matters not only for women’s health, but for human health, innovation, and the future of medicine.

They discuss how exclusion from research shaped diagnostics, drug dosing, autoimmune disease, heart health, cancer care, and why one of the world’s largest multi-trillion dollar industries still has enormous opportunity ahead.

This Episode Is For You If:

- You want to understand why women’s health impacts everyone

- You’re curious how clinical trials shape modern medicine

- You care about innovation, investing, longevity, and better healthcare outcomes

What You’ll Learn:

- Why women were historically excluded from many clinical trials

- How 1993 changed medical research standards

- Why better science creates better care for everyone

Key Takeaways

- Clinical research has historically relied heavily on male data, creating downstream gaps in care.

- Including women in research improves diagnostics, treatment, safety, and outcomes across medicine.

- Women’s health may be one of the greatest innovation opportunities of our time.

Connect with Sharon:

Connect with Sharon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonkedar/

Learn more about Innovate and Elevate: https:// innovateandelevatepodcast.com

Subscribe to Innovate and Elevate on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuWi1O9RBaPMYuCkKszPYVA

Join the newsletter to receive the latest episodes in your inbox: https://innovateandelevatepodcast.com/email

Connect with Jessica Federer:

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jjfeds

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicafederer

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jessica.federer?_r=1&_t=ZP-95ZSDLDRyyF

- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@jjfeds?si=bX8_ii-GccsfXHN8

Organizations, resources and citations referenced:

Bayer: https://www.bayer.com/en/

National Institutes of Health (NIH): https://www.nih.gov/

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: https://www.fda.gov/

Jennifer Doudna: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/jennifer-doudna

The content shared in this episode is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, financial, or investment advice. Please seek guidance from your own qualified professionals before making decisions.

Timestamps

(00:00) Welcome Jessica Federer

(00:50) Why Jessica cares deeply about women’s health

(02:10) Why 1993 was a turning point in clinical trials

(04:33) NIH rules requiring women in funded research

(08:28) Why women spend more years in poorer health

(12:08) Mammograms, heart disease, and missed opportunities

(15:36) Why cancer treatment may look barbaric in hindsight

(18:53) Why top talent is moving into women’s health

(21:13) Autoimmune disease and the need for better systems

(25:29) The next frontier: brain health and hormone science

About Our Guest: Jessica Federer is a trailblazer and market builder. She was the first female chief digital Officer in the global pharmaceutical industry. She now sits on public and private boards, convenes the Health of Women Investor Summit and is the managing director of the Women’s Health Fund. She also serves on the Yale IRB and the Yale Blavatnik Fund advisory.

About Sharon: Sharon Kedar is a co-founder and partner at Northpond Ventures, a multi-billion-dollar science-driven venture capital firm. Her extensive career includes leadership roles at Sands Capital and McKinsey & Company, and she is a published author on personal finance. As the host of the Innovate and Elevate podcast, she passionately advocates for menopause care and HRT (hormone replacement therapy), challenging the silence around human health XX (also known as women’s health). She aims to help women navigate midlife and achieve longevity by aging with power. Sharon holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a CFA charter holder. She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband, Greg, their three kids, and their dog Bo.

This podcast is produced by Brave Moon Podcasts: https://www.bravemoonpodcasts.com/

On this episode of Innovate & Elevate, Sharon speaks with Dr. Erin Duralde, Medical Director for Women’s Health and Menopause Care at One Medical, about a question that keeps coming up in midlife healthcare: now that we know more, where do people actually go for menopause care?

Recorded shortly after the FDA removed the long-standing black box warning on estrogen therapies, this conversation explores how menopause and perimenopause care can be integrated into primary care, what a modern menopause visit should look like, and how clinicians can better listen to symptoms, history, and lived experience to guide care.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

1. How Dr. Duralde’s early work as a patient advocate at the UCSF Breast Care Center shaped her approach to menopause care and clinical decision-making
2. Why menopause education was largely missing from medical training following misinterpretations of the Women’s Health Initiative, and how that legacy still affects care today
3. What patients can expect from a dedicated menopause or perimenopause visit at One Medical
4. How intake surveys and symptom tracking help clinicians better understand what matters most to each patient
5. The wide range of symptoms that can appear during perimenopause, beyond hot flashes and night sweats
6. How clinicians think through treatment options in perimenopause, including hormonal and non-hormonal approaches
7. The difference between menopausal hormone therapy and combined hormonal contraception, and why timing and symptoms matter
8. How testosterone is used in post-menopause, why dosing matters, and how safety is monitored
9. How primary care providers are being trained at scale to deliver evidence-based menopause care

As always, nothing in this episode is personal medical advice. Please talk with your own clinician about your individual history, risks, and options.

Connect with Sharon:

1. On LinkedIn
2. On Instagram
3. Learn more about the Innovate and Elevate podcast
4. Subscribe to Innovate and Elevate on YouTube
5. Join the newsletter to receive the latest episodes in your inbox

Connect with Dr. Erin Duralde MD MPH MSCP

1. On

On this episode of Innovate & Elevate, Sharon sits down with Dr. Corinne Menn, an OB-GYN, menopause specialist, and breast cancer survivor, to unpack one of the most misunderstood topics in women’s health: the relationship between breast cancer risk and hormone therapy. Recorded eight days after the FDA announced it will remove the long-standing black box language on hormone therapy, this conversation traces the legacy of the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative press conference, what the data actually showed, and how modern evidence can better guide women and their clinicians today.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• What really happened in July 2002, and why the WHI press conference (held eight days before doctors saw the full study) reshaped hormone therapy for a generation.
• The difference between estrogen alone and combined estrogen–progestin therapy, and why age, timing, and formulation matter.
• Why every major professional society (ASCO, ACOG, American Urological Association, The Menopause Society) agrees that local, low-dose vaginal hormones do not increase breast cancer risk, recurrence, or mortality.
• The role of tools like the Tyrer–Cuzick breast cancer risk model in understanding your baseline risk - and how Dr. Menn interprets those results in the context of HRT.
• Dr. Menn’s own story: being diagnosed with ER/PR-positive breast cancer at 28 during OB-GYN residency, going through abrupt menopause, and later discovering a BRCA2 mutation after updated genetic testing
• How she now counsels breast cancer survivors about menopause, quality of life, and when hormone therapy may or may not be appropriate
• Practical ways women can prepare for a time-limited doctor’s visit to have more informed, individualized conversations about breast cancer risk and hormone therapy

As always, nothing in this episode is personal medical advice. Please talk with your own clinician about your individual history, risks, and options.

Connect with Sharon:

• On LinkedIn
• On Instagram
• Learn more about the Innovate and Elevate podcast
• Subscribe to Innovate and Elevate on YouTube
• Join the newsletter to receive the latest episodes in your inbox

Connect with Dr. Corinne Menn:

• On LinkedIn
• On Instagram
• Learn more on her website

Breast Cancer Risk Models & Screening Tools:

Tyrer–Cuzick (IBIS) Breast Cancer Risk Model - https://ems-trials.org/riskevaluator/

Gail Model (Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool) - https://bcrisktool.cancer.gov

POSITIVE Trial – New England Journal of Medicine - https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2215851

Hormone Therapy, Menopause Guidelines & Professional Societies:

The...

Why do only 5% of women in America use hormone therapy today, when so many did just two decades ago? In this special live episode, host Sharon Kedar sits down with Dr. Kelly Casperson, urologist, author, and leading voice in women’s health, to unpack the truth about hormone replacement therapy (HRT) — and how one misleading press release in 2002 changed everything.

Dr. Casperson explains what really happened with the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, how the fear around hormones took root, and why it’s time to write the new narrative. Together, Sharon and Kelly discuss estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone — what they do, who they help, and how new FDA attention may finally mark a turning point.

From brain fog to bone density, motivation to longevity, this conversation breaks down myths and builds hope for the next generation of women — and the doctors who care for them.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• The 2002 Study That Changed Everything: How the Women’s Health Initiative was misinterpreted — and why a misleading press release reshaped women’s health for decades.
• The Truth About Hormones: Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are made naturally by the body — and modern therapies are safer, smarter, and more personalized than ever before.
• Longevity and Prevention: Hormones don’t just treat symptoms — they can protect your bones, brain, and heart, helping women live longer, healthier lives.
• The Next Generation of Change: From Gen X to Millennials, women are demanding better care, better education, and better science.

Connect with Sharon:

• On LinkedIn
• On Instagram
• Learn more about the Innovate and Elevate podcast
• Subscribe to Innovate and Elevate on YouTube
• Join the newsletter to receive the latest episodes in your inbox

Connect with Dr. Kelly Casperson:

• On LinkedIn
• On Instagram
• Learn more on her website
• Buy The Menopause Moment now

Additional Resources:

• The 2002 Women’s Health Initiative (JAMA)
• FDA Menopause Panel Discussion (YouTube)
• Dr. Casperson’s book: You Are Not Broken
• Dr. Kelly Casperson Speaking at the FDA’s Announcement for Removing “Black Box” Warnings

Skip to the Good Part:

(0:00) Introduction: Sharon welcomes Dr. Kelly Casperson — live from the FDA Menopause Panel

(3:00) The emotional power of restoring hormones — “I’m not angry...