The Commons

Hosted by Wexford Science & Technology

BusinessInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Conversations featuring researchers, innovators, artists, entrepreneurs, community builders, and thought leaders who are improving the human condition in their own backyard and across the globe.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 12, 2026Episode 833 min

How Arizona Built a Bioscience Economy at State Scale: A Conversation with Mary O'Reilly

When people talk about Arizona's emergence as a bioscience leader, the conversation often focuses on Phoenix. But the state's success story is much larger than any single city.In this episode of The Commons, host Thomas Osha welcomes Mary O'Reilly of the Flinn Foundation for a discussion about the Arizona Bioscience Roadmap and the unique role it has played in advancing innovation and economic development across the entire state.For more than two decades, the Roadmap has provided a shared framework for strengthening Arizona's bioscience sector through strategic investments, collaborative partnerships, talent development, research growth, and commercialization. Unlike many economic development initiatives that focus on a single metropolitan area, Arizona's approach has sought to connect assets and opportunities across the state, aligning universities, healthcare systems, research institutions, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and policymakers around a common vision.In this conversation, O'Reilly explores how the Roadmap was developed, why it has endured through changing economic and political environments, and how it continues to serve as a catalyst for statewide collaboration. She discusses the measurable impact the strategy has had on research capacity, workforce development, startup formation, healthcare innovation, and Arizona's growing reputation as a center for bioscience and technology-driven growth.The discussion also examines a broader question facing regions throughout the world: how can communities sustain a long-term innovation strategy that extends beyond individual projects, leaders, or election cycles?As The Commons prepares to broadcast from the Arizona Pavilion at the BIO International Convention in San Diego, this episode offers an important perspective on the value of statewide thinking and the power of patient, coordinated leadership.

June 12, 2026Episode 732 min

Innovating by Design: Matt Ellsworth on Arizona's Bioscience Roadmap

What does it take to build a world-class bioscience ecosystem?While many regions aspire to become centers of innovation, few have sustained a coordinated strategy long enough to produce transformative results. Arizona is one of the exceptions.In this episode of The Commons, host Thomas Osha is joined by Matt Ellsworth, Chief Operating Officer of the Flinn Foundation, for a conversation about the Arizona Bioscience Roadmap—one of the nation's most enduring and influential regional innovation strategies.Developed more than two decades ago, the Roadmap was created to help Arizona diversify its economy and strengthen its position in the life sciences. Since then, it has served as a guiding framework for collaboration among universities, healthcare systems, research institutions, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, philanthropies, and government partners across the state.The results have been significant. Arizona has emerged as a growing center for bioscience research, commercialization, healthcare innovation, and talent development, with the Phoenix Bioscience Core becoming one of the most visible manifestations of that progress.In this discussion, Ellsworth reflects on the origins of the Roadmap, the leadership and partnerships that have sustained it through multiple economic cycles, and the lessons learned from more than 20 years of ecosystem building. He also explores how the Roadmap continues to evolve in response to new opportunities in precision medicine, biotechnology, workforce development, and innovation-driven economic growth.

April 30, 2026Episode 632 min

How Breakthroughs Get Built: A Conversation with Steve Potts

In this episode of The Commons, host Thomas Osha sits down with Steve Potts, CEO of Breakthru Medicine, to explore what it actually takes to turn scientific insight into life-changing therapies. With multiple FDA-approved drugs in his track record and a newly closed $60 million Series A, one of the largest early-stage financings in Phoenix’s bioscience ecosystem, Potts brings a rare perspective on building in a field defined by uncertainty, long timelines, and high stakes.The conversation moves beyond the headlines to unpack the mechanics of innovation. Potts shares how experience, judgment, and data come together to identify which ideas have real potential, and which don’t. He explains Breakthru Medicine’s patient-first, tumor-agnostic approach, and the emerging science behind molecular glues, small molecules, and next-generation antibody-drug conjugates.Osha and Potts also step back to examine the broader system: why so many therapies fail, how startups and large pharma play complementary roles, and why new geographies like Phoenix are becoming credible centers of biotech innovation.At its core, this episode is about decision-making under uncertainty—how leaders place bets when the outcomes matter deeply and the answers aren’t clear. For anyone interested in the future of medicine, innovation, or building at the edge of what’s possible, this conversation offers a clear-eyed look at how breakthroughs actually get built.

January 11, 2026Episode 549 min

A Platform For Discovery and Impact: A Conversation with John Swartley

What does it take to move ideas out of the laboratory and into the world, at meaningful scale, with purpose, and without losing the soul of academic discovery?In this episode of The Commons, host Thomas Osha sits down with John Swarthy, Chief Innovation Officer of the University of Pennsylvania, to explore how Penn has spent the last two decades intentionally reshaping its approach to innovation, commercialization, and partnership.Penn is widely recognized for breakthrough discoveries—from CAR-T cell therapy to the mRNA platform that enabled COVID-19 vaccines—but those successes did not happen overnight. As John explains, they are the result of sustained leadership, cultural change, and a deliberate shift away from a purely transactional model of “tech transfer” toward a deeply integrated, relationship-driven innovation enterprise.The conversation explores why basic research remains essential even in an era of tightening federal funding and growing industry pressure for near-term results, and why translational research alone is never enough to deliver truly game-changing breakthroughs. John and Tom discuss how universities must balance curiosity-driven discovery with commercialization pathways, and why partnerships with industry, startups, and regional institutions are now central to that mission.Listeners will also hear how Penn has leveraged reinvestment of licensing revenues under the Bayh-Dole framework to strengthen the entire research enterprise, support interdisciplinary institutes, and help catalyze an innovation district in West Philadelphia where academia, healthcare, startups, and global industry converge.From mRNA platforms and interdisciplinary engineering-medicine collaborations to the role of talent, capital, and place, this episode offers a candid look at how one leading research university is navigating the future of innovation and what that future may demand from institutions everywhere.If you’re interested in the evolving role of universities, the economics of innovation, or how ecosystems turn discovery into impact, this conversation offers rare insight from someone who has helped build the system from the inside.

December 2, 2025Episode 431 min

Creating Impact from Innovation - The Evolving Role of the University City Science Center: A Conversation with CEO, Tiffany Wilson

In this episode, University City Science Center CEO, Tiffany Wilson joins host Thomas Osha, to explore the changing role of intermediary organizations; the importance of translational science in a moment of accelerating discovery; the challenges of building a truly inclusive innovation ecosystem; and what the next decade holds for regions trying to compete on a global stage. It’s a discussion about leadership, but even more, it’s a discussion about intentionality: how we design the spaces, the programs, and the partnerships that make discovery matter.

November 9, 2025Episode 330 min

Prototyping Place: How Experimentation Shapes University City: A Conversation with Nate Hommel

In this episode of The Commons, host Thomas Osha talks with Nate Hommel, Director of Planning and Design at University City District (UCD) in Philadelphia — a place where experimentation, partnership, and humility redefine what public space can do.Unlike most business improvement districts, UCD operates as a voluntary collaboration among universities, hospitals, developers, and neighbors within just two and a half square miles of West Philadelphia. It’s a compact but complex ecosystem — home to research towers and historic rowhomes, students and long-time residents, innovation and inequity — and it’s exactly that mix that fuels Nate’s approach to design.Nate and his team see the city as a prototype, not a finished product. Through projects like The Porch at 30th Street Station and The Lawn at UCity Square, they test ideas with temporary materials — moveable furniture, container bleachers, and pop-up decks — to learn what truly works for the community before making anything permanent.Thomas and Nate explore how iteration, listening, and trust can transform a construction site into a commons, a district into a community, and a set of buildings into a place of belonging. It’s a conversation about designing with, not for, and how the most vibrant cities grow not from grand plans, but from the everyday act of trying, learning, and doing better together.

October 28, 2025Episode 225 min

Rewriting the Script for Medicine: A Conversation with Dr. Charles Cairns

In this episode of The Commons, host Tom Osha sits down with Dr. Charles Cairns, the Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Dean of the Drexel University College of Medicine, to explore how medicine is being reimagined — from how students are trained to how discoveries move from the lab to the bedside.Dr. Cairns, a national leader in emergency medicine and medical research, shares how Drexel is pioneering new models of collaboration through partnerships with hospitals and regional campuses across Pennsylvania, Delaware, and California. These initiatives are creating new opportunities for education, research, and care delivery — and positioning Drexel at the forefront of a rapidly evolving medical landscape.Together, Tom and Dr. Cairns discuss the changing nature of medical education, the role of partnerships in driving innovation, and what it will take to prepare physicians not only to treat patients, but to lead in an era defined by technology, data, and discovery.Whether you’re in healthcare, higher education, or simply curious about how medicine is adapting to the future, this episode offers a thoughtful look at how collaboration and innovation are shaping the next generation of care.

October 17, 2025Episode 137 min

From Dreaming to Doing: Making Work Worth Coming Back For. A Conversation with Matt Homann, President and CEO of Filament

Season 5 kicks off as host Tom Osha sits down with Matt Homann, President and CEO of Filament, to explore what really brings people back to the workplace—and how to make those interactions matter. Together they unpack the elements that drive meaningful collaboration, why most meetings fail, and how Filament’s “Dream, Debate, Decide, Do” framework helps teams turn conversation into action.https://www.meetfilament.com/Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Lifehttps://www.theringer.com/podcasts/the-rewatchables

August 5, 20254 min

Season 5 Trailer

We are midway through 2025, and today’s innovation landscape can be called anything but stable.Universities are grappling with a combination of macro challenges— slashed research budgets, shrinking state support, punitive immigration policies and the arrival of the long-anticipated demographic cliff that’s forcing campuses across the country to rethink who they serve… and how.Meanwhile, venture capital — once the fuel behind every big idea — has been sitting on the sidelines since 2021. Unless you’re building something in AI, the money isn’t flowing. Meanwhile, Big Pharma is staring down a patent cliff – over 70 drugs, each bringing in over $1 billion in revenue are coming off patent protection by 2030.And, 4 years later, many return-to-office initiatives have failed — weakening the very cultural glue companies need to attract, retain, and inspire top talent, not to mention the impact that fewer workers have had on the vibrancy of city centers of all sizes.In short, we are living through a period of transformation and turbulencenot seen in over 50 years.And that’s exactly why The Commons is back for Season 5.I'm your host, Thomas Osha, and this season, we’re diving headfirst into this uncertainty. We’ll talk with those who are building through the chaos. The researchers, founders, corporate executives, university leaders, artists and policy makers.We’re bringing you into candid conversations with guests who lead by example and with purpose.You’ll hear from Nobel-winning scientists and early-career researchers working on next-gen therapies and sustainable tech.You’ll meet corporate innovation leaders who are betting big on partnerships with academia — and doing it differently.Artists and designers will share how they’re reframing our understanding of place, memory, and culture in innovation spaces.And we’ll sit down with policymakers, philanthropists, and university presidents who are fighting to ensure the innovation economy remains open, inclusive, and generative.And through it all, we’ll ask the hard questions:What does it take to sustain innovation in an age of scarcity?How do we fund what matters — and turn ideas into impact?And what new models can carry us forward — across academia, industry, and the civic commons?Because now more than ever, we need bold thinking, shared insight, and collective action.This season, we're not just highlighting what's broken — we're lifting up what works. And we’re inviting everyone — from lab bench to boardroom to our studio — and in many cases, bringing the studio to them. The Commons will hit the road – visiting Knowledge Communities in Charlotte, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Phoenix, and Sacramento.So join me for Season 5 of The Commons.Let’s make the case — together — for why innovation still matters, and why the places that power it deserve our attention and investment.

July 18, 2024Episode 2229 min

Unlocking the Future of Medicine: A Conversation with Nobel Laureate Dr. Drew Weissman and Dr. Jim Hoxie of The Penn Institute for RNA Innovation

Host, Thomas Osha, visits The Penn Institute for RNA Innovation and sits down with directors Dr. Drew Weissman and Dr. Jim Hoxie.Dr. Weissman's was recently awarded the Nobel Prize for groundbreaking work that has fundamentally transformed our understanding of genetic science and has played a pivotal role in the development of mRNA vaccines, which have been instrumental in combating the global COVID-19 pandemic.We discuss the science behind RNA innovations, explore what's next for this exciting field of medicine, and highlight the importance of serendipitous collisions in science.https://rnainnovation.med.upenn.edu/