Are Humans the Latest Endangered Species?

My newsfeeds last week were unusually rich with glimpses of the future. I thought I’d share some cool items with you here:

> IBM Developing a Brain-like Chip – 5.4 billion transistors!

> How about a virtual shrink? Meet Ellie…

> Siri’s inventors go for much greater intelligence.

> Humans Need Not Apply – here come the robots (after your job, maybe??)

> The robot “swarm” that learns together (I think Michael Crichton wrote a book about this…)

> And, finally, RoboThespian. We’re doomed…

So…are we the latest endangered species? ;>)

 

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Shouldn’t Your Training Projects be Successful?

How many of your training managers actually have some kind of background in operations – or, have been trained in how to manage vendors and projects?

If your department is like that of most life science companies, the answer probably lies between few and none. Why? Well, trainers are typically assigned out of Sales, not Operations.

But managing projects requires a new skill set, and without it, expensive failures regularly occur during a training rotation (and beyond).

Being shoved into the deep end of the pool is one way to learn to swim. But a one-day workshop is all that’s needed to impart the core principles and basic practices leading to successful project management.

In one minute, here’s an explanation of the key value of this workshop:

Impactiviti and LTEN sponsor these workshops for life sciences member companies. All the details are right here. Sign your trainers up now while there is still room!

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6 Promising Drug Tech Trends Happening Now

I imagine we’ve all been closely following the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Although we’re a long way from the finish line, how encouraging is it that a very experimental biotech drug may be saving the lives of a couple of infected healthcare workers.

Moving toward the integrated  display of a glucose monitoring system, and insulin pump system for diabetes (Dexcom and Insulet).

Will animal testing eventually go the way of the dodo bird in drug development? Maybe – now that scientists are developing “human body on a chip” technology. Fascinating stuff.

Big investment money going after CARTs (leading-edge cancer treatment based on re-engineering the patient’s own white blood cells).

Alliance between BMS and Allied Minds to speed R&D developments in university research insititutions (data-, expertise-, and resource-sharing).

Novartis on the threshold of a new chronic heart failure treatment.

BONUS: will there soon be a blood test to detect ANY type of cancer?

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