Heavily armed Trump supporters in combat gear clash with BLM protesters marching for Breonna Taylor in Louisville on Kentucky Derby day - while fans start to arrive at Churchill Downs

• Pro-Trump activists and far-right militia members gathered at Cox Park in Louisville, Saturday morning  
• Men dressed in military gear and armed with semi-automatic weapons were out in force vowing to protect the city from any destruction brought by protesters 
• A number of social justice groups announced plans to rally over the police shooting of Breonna Taylor 
• Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was shot dead in her home by Louisville cops during a botched police raid in March

By KAREN RUIZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 12:08 EDT, 5 September 2020 | UPDATED: 14:14 EDT, 5 September 2020

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Heavily armed Trump supporters have faced off with Black Lives Matter protesters in Louisville after the two opposing groups took to the streets during the first ever Kentucky Derby without spectators.  

Hundreds of far-right activists dressed in combat gear and armed with semi-automatic weapons confronted members of anti-racism groups after they gathered downtown on Saturday to rally against the police shooting of Breonna Taylor.

A number of social justice organizations had announced plans to demonstrate near Churchill Downs on Derby Day, one of the city's biggest events of the year, in response to officials' handling of the case.

Taylor, 26, was shot dead by cops during a botched police raid in her apartment in March. The three officers involved in her death have not been charged. Her death has fueled tense demonstrations for 100 consecutive days in the city. 

Meanwhile, a group of about 200 pro-Trump and pro-police demonstrators called 'The Angry Vikings' assembled at Cox Park earlier this morning vowing to defend the city from protesters. 

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Clashes broke out in downtown Louisville after far-right groups confronted Black Lives Matter protesters holding a rally for Breonna Taylor 

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Black Lives Matter protesters and far-right activists were seen facing off in downtown Louisville, during the Kentucky Derby

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Members of a Trump-supporting militia rallied together earlier vowing to protect the city from protesters 

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A man dressed in combat gear and holding a rifle is seen in a confrontation with a Black Lives Matter activist 

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The 146th annual Kentucky Derby was postponed to September 5 this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. A spectator is seen blocking his eyes from the sun as the first race kicks off at Churchill Downs

The self-described 'patriots' and militia members were seen toting guns, American flags, and Trump 2020 signs as they prepared for a confrontation with rival groups. 

The group told local news stations they are fed up with the protests and destruction that have rocked the country over the past three months and were there to defend the city from any chaos that's to come. 

The far-right activists were seen clearing out the park just after 11am before marching downtown, where protests and counterprotests were expected to kick off during the race. 

Footage shared on social media showed the armed Trump supporters toting American flags as they marched down the street chanting, 'USA, USA, USA!' 

Black armed militia, NFAC and Until Freedom, both of which have held rallies for Taylor in the city in the past, were among the groups that had planned demonstrations on Derby Day.

Taylor's shooting remains under investigation however, protesters vowed to take to the streets during famous horse racing event if investigators hadn't come to a decision ahead of the weekend.  

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Social justice group Until Freedom planned to protest the annual derby over the city's response to the police shooting of Breonna Taylor. The 26-year-old EMT (right) was shot dead in her home during a botched police raid in March 

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A man holding a semi-automatic shotgun stands in front of Dylan Stevens, who calls himself 'The Angry Viking' at a gathering of far-right activists and self-described militia on the day of the Kentucky Derby horse race in Louisville

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Dozens of men dressed in military gear and armed with semi-automatic weapons were out in force at Cox Park on Saturday morning ahead of planned demonstrations demanding justice for Breonna Taylor 

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A man stands as security during the rally on Saturday. The group said it planned to protect the city from any destruction brought by protesters 

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Law enforcement are bracing for a day of protests and potential counterprotests planned to take place during the derby. A banner that reads 'No Justice, No Derby was hung on the Big Four Bridge by Waterfront Park before the race 

The prospect of unrest on Derby Day has its participants unsure what to expect. 

The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department said it would coordinate with the groups to allow protesters to express their freedom of assembly while also ensuring safety in the streets.

None of the cheering - or cursing after losing wagers - from 150,000 fans will be heard this year at Churchill Downs, where America's longest continuously held sports event will take place, four months later than usual.   

The race, which is usually held on the first Saturday in May, was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and organizers had planned to welcome a reduced crowd of less than 23,000 spectators, until escalating positivity rates for COVID-19 in Louisville dictated otherwise. 

The 17-horse field will break from a new starting gate on Saturday, one to be used only for the Derby. It fits 20 horses, the typical size of the field, which is slightly smaller this year. 

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Full Authority is walked by a trainer in the paddock before a race. Saturday's event marks the first time the derby will be held without spectators thanks to the coronavirus pandemic 

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Guest of Kentucky Derby entry Tiz the Law stand during the national anthem before the 146th running of the famous horse race on Saturday

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Two national Guard members mill about in the grandstands of Churchill Downs as a horse is lead to the paddock for the first race before the 146th Kentucky Derby

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A handful of people were allowed in the venue as the event kicked off. Horse owner Keith Delaney (right) donned a mask as he watched the first race

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Horse owners walk through the paddock before the 146th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs

Chuck Schumer Backs Bernie Sanders' Call For Regime Change Plan To Force Trump From Office

© AP Photo / Paul Sancya

US 05.09.2020 by James Tweedie FOX.RU https://sptnkne.ws/D8qS

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and other Democratic Party leaders claim that US President Donald Trump will appear to win on election night only to lose once millions of mail-in votes are counted. They say he is already laying the ground to claim ballot fraud and refuse to concede defeat.

US Democratic Party Senate leader Chuck Schumer has backed Bernie Sanders' call for a plan for the "nightmarish scenario" of President Donald Trump refusing to concede in November's election.

Vermont Senator Sanders is the latest Democrat to claim Trump will refuse to accept defeat if he loses the election scheduled for November 3, in an interview with website Politico.

"This is not just idle speculation," Sanders insisted, quoting the presidents comments at the Republican National Convention in August. "Trump was saying... ‘the only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election’."

"What we have got to do in the next two months is to alert the American people about what that nightmarish scenario might look like in order to prepare them for that possibility and talk about what we do if that happens," Sanders warned. "This is not just a ‘constitutional crisis.’ This is a threat to everything this country stands for."

Democratic Senate minority leader Schumer tweeted on Saturday that he was "standing side-by-side" with Sanders on his call for a regime change plan.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 5, 2020

In recent week, Democrats including former president Bill Clinton and failed candidates Al Gore and Hillary Clinton claim that Trump might win based on votes cast at polling stations, only to lose when millions of postal votes are counted over the following weeks.



© CC0
Mark Zuckerberg Warns There is Risk of Civil Unrest During and After US Presidential Election    

Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly claimed that allowing all voters to cast their ballots by post is a recipe for electoral fraud. Several states have proposed that measure to reduce the risk of transmitting the Covid-19 virus at polling stations.

Democrats have in turn accused Trump of blocking funds to the US Postal Service to stop mail-in ballots arriving in time. 

"The nightmare scenario there is that, at a time when some states like Pennsylvania are finding that they don’t have the resources right now to count votes, their mail-in ballots, in a rapid way, that it is possible that in some states Trump will be winning on election night, and yet when all of the votes are counted, he will be behind. He will lose," Sanders told Politico.

"But that during that interval, he will create chaos and confusion by claiming that there is massive fraud within the mail-in ballot process."

In a late August TV interview, Hillary Clinton insisted: "Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances."
"I think this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we don't give an inch, and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is," she added.

Days later, Gore told Reuters that if Biden emerged as the winner, the military, police and intelligence services would have to obey him and oust Trump.

"If a new president is elected… the police force, the Secret Service, the military, all of the executive branch officers, will respond to the command and the direction of the new president," he said.

General Mark Miley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dismissed that idea, saying: "I foresee no role for the US armed forces in this process.”

This week Bill Clinton joked that Trump "probably won't even come to Biden's inauguration. He'll be stacking sandbags in front of the White House."

CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS

The upper class has trouble reading other people's emotional states, study says
In contrast, those from lower social classes were far better at perceiving others' emotions

People walk by yachts moored at the Hercules Port in Monaco on September 25, 2019 during the 28th edition of the International Monaco Yacht Show. - The Monaco Yacht Show is considered the most prestigious pleasure boat show in the world with the exhibition of 500 major companies in luxury yachting and featuring over a hundred super and megayachts. (VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)

MATTHEW ROZSA
SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 

Anew study reveals that people from higher income backgrounds struggle with certain aspects of empathy when compared to individuals who have lower incomes, who are better at reading people's emotions.

The research paper, which was published in the "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin," asked individuals from different class backgrounds to infer others' emotional states by looking at images of their eyes and to attempt to assume the visual perspective of other people.

The findings suggest that our socioeconomic status may affect the way we see and interact with other people.

Researchers know that there are many things can make it difficult for one person to effectively empathize with another, including neurological conditions like autism and psychological illnesses like schizophrenia. In their study, researchers Pia Dietze of the University of California, Irvine and Eric D. Knowles of New York University attempted to better understand how social class specifically influences Theory of Mind.

"[Theory of Mind] encompasses a range of competencies that together enable people to solve problems in a world full of other minds," the authors explain. "Examples of ToM include our ability to infer people's emotions, understand others' visual perspectives, trace behavior to actors' underlying intentions and desires, and grasp the fact that others' beliefs might misportray reality. We focus on two facets of [Theory of Mind] in this work: emotion perception and visual perspective taking."


The authors concluded, both from their research and by analyzing previous research (some of which they felt was unreliable), that "higher social class is associated with attenuated [theory of mind] performance," with individuals from higher income backgrounds struggling more to ascertain the emotions and empathize with the visual points of view of other people. One possible explanation for this is that "lower-class individuals—owing to their greater levels of cultural interdependence—may appraise other human beings as more relevant to their goals and well-being than do higher-class individuals." This would also help people from lower classes to "spontaneously calculate other people's perspectives."

Dietze and Knowles also point out that their conclusion "stands in clear contrast to the common discourse concerning neurocognitive deficits among the lower classes." They also note that "decades of research documents that lower-class individuals are more likely to exhibit attentional deficits and display impaired working-memory performance. The evidence provided here suggests that these deficits may be domain-specific. Indeed, we show that lower-class performance outcomes are reversed in the social realm." The term "domain-specific" refers to the theory of learning which holds that there are multiple forms of intelligence rather than a single way to assess where one has cognitive strengths and/or weaknesses.

This is not the only new research which sheds light on how being wealthy can lead to harmful psychological behaviors and personal habits. In July a different study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that individuals from affluent backgrounds would often deny their class privilege by "increasing their claims of personal hardships and hard work, to cover [their] privilege in a veneer of meritocracy."

"Flying in the face of meritocratic prescriptions, evidence of privilege threatens recipients' self-regard by calling into question whether they deserve their successes," the authors wrote in their study. "Evidence of class privilege demonstrates that many life outcomes are determined by factors not attributable to individuals' efforts alone, but are caused in part by systemic inequities that privilege some over others."

Another study, this one published in June in the journal Nature Communications, argued that the consumption patterns of the affluent are so egregiously unsustainable from an ecological standpoint that only a concerted effort by the wealthy to consume less can prevent catastrophes like global warming, pollution and biodiversity loss.

"The affluent citizens of the world are responsible for most environmental impacts and are central to any future prospect of retreating to safer environmental conditions," the authors wrote, adding that "existing societies, economies and cultures incite consumption expansion and the structural imperative for growth in competitive market economies inhibits necessary societal change." They advocated "a global and rapid decoupling of detrimental impacts from economic activity," pointing out that "the world's top 10% of income earners are responsible for between 25 and 43% of environmental impact" while "the world's bottom 10% income earners exert only around 3–5% of environmental impact."

MATTHEW ROZSA

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer for Salon. He holds an MA in History from Rutgers University-Newark and is ABD in his PhD program in History at Lehigh University. His work has appeared in Mic, Quartz and MSNBC.MORE FROM MATTHEW

WHO official warns no widespread COVID-19 vaccine expected until mid-2021

Published September 4, 2020 Common Dreams

Vaccine Shot AFP/File / Johannes EISELE

The sobering comments from a spokesperson for the global health agency come on the heels of the CDC asking states to prepare for potential distribution of a Covid-19 vaccine by November 1.

A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Friday that widespread vaccination against Covid-19 is not expected until mid-2021, a statement that stood in stark contrast with President Donald Trump’s recent claim that a vaccine could be ready by the November general election.

Speaking at a United Nations briefing in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said that none of the candidate vaccines currently in advanced clinical trials has shown “a clear signal” of being at least 50% effective, the minimum level of acceptability according to many scientists.

“We are really not expecting to see widespread vaccination until the middle of next year,” said Harris, who explained that “phase three [clinical trials] must take longer because we need to see how truly protective the vaccine is and we also need to see how safe it is.”

“A lot of people have been vaccinated and what we don’t know is whether the vaccine works,” she added. “At this stage we do not have the clear signal of whether or not it has the level of worthwhile efficacy and safety.”

Harris’ remarks stood in contrast to an August 6 claim by Trump that a Covid-19 vaccine could be available by early November. Experts have repeatedly countered that an effective vaccine would take until at least the middle of next year to develop, produce and distribute. Dr. Walter Orenstein, associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta, said that vaccine development in less than a year would be a “miracle.”

On Thursday, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the administration’s own chief vaccine adviser, told NPR that it was “extremely unlikely” that a vaccine would be available as the “October surprise” Trump seeks to boost his reelection chances.

Medical experts and health officials have warned that the administration’s politically motivated push to rush a Covid-19 vaccine to production before the presidential election, and its stated willingness to fast-track unproven experimental vaccines, poses serious public health risks.

On August 27, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield sent a letter to state governors urging them to select and prepare locations for potential Covid-19 vaccine distribution on November 1. Officials in at least three states—California, New York, and Washington—have suggested they would refuse to distribute vaccines they deemed to be inadequately vetted or politically motivated

“If the U.S. FDA were to proceed with an abbreviated process and approve a vaccine through the Emergency Use Authorization I think that would raise concern,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, on Thursday.

More than 170 nations are currently in talks to join the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) Facility, a WHO-led global initiative to fast-track development, production, and equitable worldwide distribution of a coronavirus vaccine. Covax aims to deliver two billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2021.

Conspicuously absent from the list of participating countries is the United States, as the Trump administration claimed on Tuesday that it “will not be constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China.”

Trump—who has been widely criticized for his handling of the pandemic in a nation that has by far suffered the most Covid-19 cases and deaths in the world—has long been at odds with the WHO. The president has called the agency “a puppet of China” and has claimed without evidence that it caved to pressure from Beijing “to mislead the world” about the nascent pandemic.

In July, Trump followed through on an earlier threat to withdraw from the WHO by formally notifying the agency that the U.S. would leave it in July 2021. The American Medical Association strongly opposed the move, calling it a “major setback to science, public health, and the global coordination of efforts needed to defeat Covid-19” and warning that it “puts the health of our country at grave risk.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden responded to Trump’s WHO withdrawal announcement by saying the U.S. would rejoin the the organization on his first day in office.

Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health. On my first day as President, I will rejoin the @WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage. https://t.co/8uazVIgPZB
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 7, 2020

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced it will not pay $80 million in WHO dues owed for 2019 and 2020 and will instead redirect the money to help pay its United Nations bill. Georgetown Law professor Lawrence Gostin slammed the move as “unethical… and patently unlawful.”

DISINFECTION

“Superbugs are potentially the next big health challenge”
2020/9/5 ©Health Analytics Asia


Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, a pioneer of the biotechnology industry in India and the head of the country’s leading biotechnology enterprise, Biocon is an internationally acclaimed biotech magnate. In an exclusive interview with Deepika Khurana, Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon shares her views on India’s preparedness for COVID-19, the future of healthcare, the potential threat of the next pandemic, and global concern about medical misinformation.

By Deepika Khurana

A first-generation entrepreneur, Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has made India proud with her globally recognised biopharmaceutical enterprise that is committed to innovation and affordability in delivering world-class drugs to patients globally.

“I still have a hunger to do more,” quipped the sexagenarian.

Consistent with the belief that the healthcare industry has a humanitarian responsibility of providing essential life-enhancing and life-saving medicines, Mazumdar-Shaw has been actively involved in dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation.

“As a globally recognised biopharmaceuticals company engaged in innovative science to develop new drugs and manufacturing life-saving therapies, we have a significant role to play in the global pharma ecosystem. At the same time, we also have a role to play in the national response to the COVID-19 threat,” she said.

Under her stewardship, Biocon has witnessed many milestones since its inception in 1978 — from being an industrial enzymes company to a fully integrated, innovation-led global biopharmaceutical enterprise.

Today, Biocon is committed to reduce therapy costs of chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune diseases and become a household name.

“My vision is to take our affordable blockbuster drugs with the ‘Made in India’ label globally so that these can change the lives of billions of patients around the world,” said Mazumdar-Shaw.

In an exclusive interview with Health Analytics Asia, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson Biocon, and an outspoken activist shares her views on India’s preparedness for COVID-19, the future of healthcare, the threat of the next pandemic, and global concern about medical misinformation.

Excerpts from the interview:

1. Given the situation we are in, what is your vision for healthcare in 2021?

In 2021, there will be increased demand for therapies that are patient-focused, data-driven, and digitally enabled. Patient care will move to non-clinical settings driven by technology and connectivity, even as accelerated adoption of digital therapeutics empowers patients with point-of-care management.

Also, citizens will demand better and more resilient national health systems in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. So governments will have to respond by investing more on healthcare to plug the current deficits in infrastructure, workforce, and health tech.

2. Do you see a big role of AI in healthcare?

The deployment of Artificial Intelligence-based (AI) systems can make a huge difference in taking primary healthcare to underserved and remote areas. AI has imaging, identification and screening abilities, natural language processing, and speech recognition. Many of these abilities of AI can be leveraged to make functions such as routine laboratory tests for haemoglobin screening, urine testing, blood grouping for expectant mothers more efficient and accurate in primary healthcare centres.

AI innovators can develop quicker technology-enabled testing and screening modalities to replace traditional methods that require expensive equipment and specialist human technicians. Thus, AI-based PHCs can be equipped to provide screening, wellness, awareness, and diagnosis.

3. There’s been a lot of buzz about COVID vaccines advancing in phase 2 or phase 3 trials. Are we making good progress and do you think it’s safe to fasten the process as otherwise, it takes about 10 years to develop a vaccine. What are some of the concerns?

Everybody is waiting anxiously for a COVID-19 vaccine. However, developing a vaccine at warp speed is fraught with risk. Regulatory Science demands clinical data sets that validate safety, efficacy, and durability of response.

Vaccines are deployed in large healthy populations. There is a minimum time duration required to assess risks and efficacy. Short-circuiting such steps is dangerous especially if long term adverse events come to the fore. Today we are seeing some very encouraging efficacy data globally from several vaccine candidates, including the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. In India, Serum Institute has recently started a clinical trial in India for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Phase II clinical trials for two indigenously developed vaccine candidates, Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and ZyCOV-D by Zydus Cadila, are almost over.

I personally believe that we ought not to rush approval of vaccines without adequate safety data. If the vaccine indeed is permitted for Emergency Use, I believe young people and health workers ought to be provided access as they are most at risk to get infected and spread transmission.

The elderly, those with comorbidities, and children should not be exposed to the vaccine until safety risk is established.

4. Of late, there’s been a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases. Should this worry India? If no, then what should India be worried about (doctor: patient ratio, ventilator shortage, etc).

The COVID-19 crisis can easily be managed if we approach it with a scientific rationale and common sense. Most of the mortality is being caused because people are in denial, they are not testing on time so that they are presenting themselves for medical attention at a much later stage of the disease when the cytokine storm has broken out, which is causing severe COVID-19-related complications and mortality. I recommend to everyone with mild fluish symptoms to test and decide on hospitalization or home quarantine based on risk factors that include viral load: CT values <20, age, co-morbidities, and severity of symptoms. By testing and treating early we will be able to lower mortality.

India also needs to adopt standard protocols along the disease treatment continuum that can help decrease the mortality rate. Currently, there is a wide variation between the best supportive care delivered in Private and Government Hospitals. Moreover, doctors need to share best practices with their counterparts across the country to reduce mortality and bring down fatalities.

5. Emerging data of COVID-19 patients suggests that more than 90% of them are also receiving antibacterial treatment. Besides, the use of antibacterial soaps and disinfectants will also contribute to an increase in the incidence of drug-resistant infections in the months and years after the pandemic is over. Do you agree superbugs is the next pandemic in coming? And, how can we deal with the problem?

Yes, superbugs are potentially the next big health challenge that we may have to confront. The UN estimates that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could cause 10 million deaths per year by 2050, while the World Bank estimates that AMR could cost the global economy $1.2 trillion annually. We need surveillance, education, monitoring, and regulation of consumption and the use of antibiotics in humans, animals, as well as, plants.

We also need funding to support clinical research of innovative new antibiotics that are addressing the most resistant bacteria and life-threatening infections. In a welcome move, more than 20 leading biopharmaceutical companies have recently announced the launch of the AMR Action Fund, which is a partnership that aims to bring 2-4 new antibiotics to patients by 2030 to address the rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant infections.

6. There’s a global concern about the tide of misinformation which includes medical misinformation as well. So is the problem of “fake news” affecting Science and scientific research as well? If so, how serious is the problem, and what are the ways to combat it?

The problem of “fake news” is a huge problem and it is affecting science and scientific research as well. As members of the scientific community, I believe we have an ethical and social obligation to stop the spread of fake news. In general, the public trusts scientists, and trust and credibility can potentially influence the ability to persuade people to follow public health authorities’ recommendations during a viral outbreak like the current COVID-19 pandemic. This is not an easy task and there are many challenges that scientists face conveying their knowledge to the public. We can respond intelligently by obtaining reliable information from credible sources to educate the public.

7. How do you see the future of medicine?

Today, genomic sequencing is being combined with molecular diagnostics, imaging, and data analytics to analyse the cellular structure of malignant tumours and tailoring treatment regimens. In the future, genomics data and other clinical information will be integrated with day-to-day medical practice in order to assist the medical fraternity in deciding on a specific line of treatment for their patients. I foresee a world where everyone will have a lifelong genome map that will be tracked for mutations that are linked to their disease-causing potential. This will enable early diagnosis and early therapeutic intervention thereby arresting disease progression and enhancing the quality of life.

Targeted genome editing technology like CRISPR CAS9 is allowing scientists to edit genomes with unprecedented precision, efficiency, and flexibility for treating diseases. CRISPR, which provides a precise and cheap technology to “repair broken genes,” will make it possible to treat several thousand inherited disorders caused by gene mistakes, most of which, like Huntington’s disease and cystic fibrosis currently have no cure.

Advances in medicine will make life-threatening diseases like cancer more manageable through advances in the field of immuno-oncology, which is one of the most promising fields of science being explored by scientists to develop path-breaking solutions for unmet medical needs. The treatment paradigm for cancer will change, and chemotherapy and radiotherapy will be replaced by non-toxic bio-therapeutics that will stimulate an immune response against malignant tumours in cancer patients.

Advances in stem cell therapy and 3D bioprinting will allow human body parts to be replaced with laboratory-grown organs with costs coming down exponentially over the next 30 years.

8. You’ve accomplished so much on your own. At this stage of your life, do you feel a sense of completeness or hunger to do more?

I believe with all my heart that the healthcare industry has a special responsibility as we sell essential life-enhancing and life-saving medicines and provide life-giving care. To me personally, both diabetes and cancer represent one reality – the need to innovate and provide access to lifesaving medicines so that everyone, anywhere on the planet can benefit from them. My vision is that there should be equitable access worldwide to essential, life-saving medicines without distinction of race, religion, political belief, and economic or social condition. So, yes there is a hunger to do more.

9. How do you manage a positive work-life balance?

Achieving a 50:50 work-life balance is a utopian dream. The balance depends on one’s priorities. Today 10% of my time is all I get to myself. The rest of the time is dedicated to my role as a business leader, mentor, philanthropist, social activist, and a concerned global citizen.