Biohacking, QS, and Life Extension: The Future of Health Technology

Agenda:

6:00-6:45 PM - Networking & Refreshments
6:45-7:00 PM - Announcements & Introduction
7:00-8:30 PM - Presentation
8:30-9:00 PM - Networking w/ Speakers

Panelists

Jim Kean (http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkean1), Founder and CEO of WellnessFX

Eri Gentry (http://www.linkedin.com/in/erigentry), Founding President and Executive Director of Biocurious

Tanya Jones (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tanya-jones/6/1a/18b), COO of SENS Research Foundation

Dinelle Lucchesi (http://www.linkedin.com/in/dinellelucchesi), Cofounder and Community Manager of Health Extension

Karen Herzog (http://www.linkedin.com/in/karenherzog) (moderator), Director of Marketing and Social Media Strategy at Valley Design Group, Cofounder of Sophia's Garden

Event Description

The past couple years has seen exponential growth in the tech sector, with ubiquitous platforms such as the iPhone enabling mass adoption of technologies previously considered science fiction. But save possibly the better fitness apps and some diagnostic software, the hacker culture has not yet addressed our most fundamental goals in health: to live longer and more vibrant lives.

There are some who go beyond the familiarity of digital devices, applying the principals of software engineering to the human body. These “biohackers” do not wait for generational studies to bring answers to existential questions, but dive in to their own curiosity, seeking to either augment their performance in work, athletics, and life, or to address health issues for which medicine has not yet yielded a prescription. Likewise, "Quantified Selfers" meticulously track their physical metrics, searching for the best way to eat, sleep, and live.

The “hacks” and QS experiments may not be double-blind or placebo controlled, but it would be decidedly incorrect to claim that there is no value in these anecdotes. We realize more and more how medicine must become personalized because we differ in genetics, environment, and lifestyle; if we are going to arrive at personalized answers to our most pressing medical questions, we have to start hacking.

Personal health could not possibly be the only factor in health and longevity. As science brings us closer and closer to the edge of possibilities we can imagine, those most deeply involved in developing these technologies have every reason to dream. Life expectancy in 1900 was around 50; now it is closer to 80. Will health technology advances bring that number even higher? Will quality of life improve with the lengthening of our lifespans?

Speaker Bios

Jim Kean, Founder and CEO of WellnessFX

Jim Kean is the Founder and CEO of WellnessFx™ a venture backed San Francisco based company that is making it easy and affordable for consumers to manage key areas of their healthcare lives by providing “smart” Cloud based Health Accounts that allow consumers to take control of their healthcare lives. WellnessFX provides inexpensive, profile driven access to targeted health content, diagnostic and telehealth services, and HIPAA secure storage. In 2011 and 2012, WellnessFX was highlighted as a top innovative company at the Health 2.0 Fall Conference in San Francisco. As well, in January of 2013, the company was named 2012 Innovative Company of the Year by the Nutritional Business Journal.

In 1995, Jim founded Sapient Health Network (SHN) which became the Consumer Division of WebMD. As President of SHN, Jim pioneered the concept of online consumer health communities, building some of the largest and most loyal groups on the Web today. The company’s service was named one of the “Seven Best Websites of 1998” by Business Week. In 1999, SHN merged with WebMD and later Healtheon to form the current version of WebMD. SHN represented the consumer side of the merged companies. Today over 23 million consumers per month visit WebMD for health advice. After WebMD,

Jim served as Entrepreneur in Residence with Alloy Ventures of Palo Alto. He graduated in 1984 from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR. In 1991 he received his MBA from Tuck School at Dartmouth. A lifelong outdoorsman, he hiked the 2,700 mile Pacific Crest Trail in 1999.

Eri Gentry, Founding President and Executive Director of Biocurious

Eri Gentry helps technology and people find each other. She is a proponent of maker culture, citizen science, and "hacking" medicine. Her work has been covered by the New York Times, Forbes, Wired, The Atlantic, in the books Biopunk, Regenesis, and more. In 2011, Eri was named a "Hometown Hero" by Popular Mechanics and a "Practical Visionary" by the Institute for the Future.

Eri co-hosts and is special projects director of The Quantified Self. In 2010, she cofounded BioCurious, the first hackerspace for biology. She sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of NSF-funded SynBERC, and blogs about citizen science for MAKE Magazine.

Eri was previously VP of Open Innovation at Scanadu, a Silicon Valley startup bringing medical tools for the people to the people and CEO, cofounder of Livly, a cancer research company on a mission to end killer diseases.

Tanya Jones, COO of SENS Research Foundation

Tanya has been involved with non-profit research and laboratory management for over twenty years. With a long-standing interest in extending a healthy lifespan, she has worked in both nanotechnology and cryonics, most recently serving as the CEO of Alcor Life Extension Foundation. She is experienced in all facets of business management for a small, non-profit research company, including financial planning and execution, strategic planning, and human resource management.

Dinelle Lucchesi, Cofounder and Community Manager of Health Extension

Dinelle Lucchesi is the Co-Founder of Health Extension Salon, a monthly event in SF and Mountain View that brings together 100 people for dinner, presentations and conversations about progress regarding cellular therapy, genetics and regenerative medicine. Recent and upcoming speakers include best selling author and technologist Sonia Arrison (http://soniaarrison.com/)and Microbiologist Cynthia Kenyon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Kenyon), the "mother" of anti-aging medicine.

Karen Herzog (moderator), Director of Marketing and Social Media Strategy at Valley Design Group, Cofounder of Sophia's Garden

Karen is a healthcare hacker, innovator, marketeer, e-patient and speaker. Inspired by an extraordinary experience caring for her daughter, Sophia, who had a rare genetic condition, she is dedicated to improving quality of life by catalyzing innovations in education, technology and health.

Karen currently acts as director of social and product marketing, Valley Design Group (http://www.vdg.net/); co-founder, Sophia’s Garden Foundation (http://www.sophiasgarden.org/); strategist and social media director KidGlyphs (http://www.kidglyphs.com/) and WhiteOut (http://www.drgreene.com/whiteout/), both award-winning DrGreene.com initiatives; co-organizer and mentor, Quantified Self Silicon Valley (http://quantifiedself.com/); and Consumer eHealth Advisory Group Member for Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC)