Latest news with #Humbles
NDTV
23-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
These AI Tools Will Help Sort Your Post-Vacation Inbox
While planning a nine-day trip to Japan with her family earlier this spring, Lindsey Scrase was anxious to avoid the stress of work piling up in her absence. For most of her career, getting away has inevitably meant back-to-back catch-up meetings and an overflowing inbox upon return. "I want to really unplug this time," she said before the 11-hour flight. So for the first time, the chief operating officer at Checkr Inc., a San Francisco-based background-screening company, decided to outsource the slog of reentry to artificial intelligence. Not too long ago, most white-collar workers could head out on vacation without fearing the email hangover that awaited them-originally, because messages weren't accessible on everyone's phones yet and, even after, because 9-to-5 boundaries were better established. But today's always-on workplace cultures-accelerated by the rise of remote work-have blurred those lines. Now a growing number of companies have rolled out tools designed to quickly catch up busy managers and staff who (gasp!) mute alerts on holiday. Microsoft Corp.'s Copilot, one of the most prominent offerings, costs users $30 a month, while Google's Gemini and Atlassian Corp.'s Rovo are bundled with enterprise subscriptions; the latter now counts 1.5 million monthly AI users, up 50% from the previous quarter. "One of the barriers to taking vacation is you don't want to miss things or be a bottleneck," says Melanie Rosenwasser, chief people officer at Dropbox Inc., which has expanded beyond its core file-storage business into AI offerings, including ones that help with post-vacation reentry. "These tools remove some of that guilt." (Never much of a vacationer before adopting the tools herself, she recently took a five-day trip to Tampa, Florida, for Yankees spring training.) Sandra Humbles, chief learning officer at pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, says AI has helped her draw firmer boundaries around work for about a year now. "I've got 30% of my time back," she says, crediting Copilot with automating tasks like email triage and project planning. The shift has made it easier for Humbles, who lives in Dallas, to log off fully during weekends and time off. "You get back up to speed in 10 minutes." Humbles credits her "digital specialist"-a younger, tech-savvy colleague whom others might call an executive assistant-for helping her adopt the tools early. Some executives have pressure-tested AI tools over even longer breaks. When Erin DeCesare, chief technology officer at office catering company ezCater Inc. in Boston, took a six-week sabbatical from Thanksgiving to New Year's, she started her catch-up process by giving AI startup Glean Technologies Inc.'s tool a simple prompt: "Give me a synopsis of all my key team Slack channels and meeting transcripts-what's still outstanding, what are people worried about?" She followed up with several additional prompts to the bot, which had access to her messaging platforms and documents. Soon, DeCesare had a one-page readout of key decisions made while she was out, as well as a sentiment analysis of her colleagues' communications that allowed her to quickly figure out what was most urgent. "I knew what to prioritize from Day 1," she says. "That gave me a ton of peace of mind." The market for AI productivity tools was valued at almost $9 billion last year and is projected to surpass $36 billion globally by 2030, according to Grand View Research Inc. It's just one of the millions of ways, big and small, that AI is changing the way we do our jobs. Still, despite the buzz, overall adoption of such products remains limited: Just 16% of American workers say they use AI on the job, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Not everyone wants AI reading all their correspondence, for one. For workers handling sensitive or confidential information-such as HR professionals, legal teams or client-facing executives-the idea of such a tool combing through private messages raises red flags about data exposure and compliance risk. Also a challenge: AI tools still struggle with tone, sarcasm and context, making it risky to have them summarize threads or suggest responses. And even the most advanced programs have blind spots, especially in fast-moving workplaces where not every conversation is recorded (which, some would argue, isn't necessarily a bad thing). For AI to work smoothly, key meetings need to be transcribed, and decisions must be captured in places the tools can actually read, not at watercoolers or in hallways where they may be hashed out. DeCesare says she realized the AI missed things shared only in direct conversations, such as employee successes, so she created a dedicated teamwide kudos channel on Slack where workers could post achievements, allowing the AI to gather not only what's going sideways but also what's going well. The process saved time, she says. "What was amazing about this is that none of my team had to put status updates together for me," DeCesare says. "That would've been a huge lift for the team in the past." For Scrase, Checkr's COO, trialing the tools during her Japan trip paid off. AI summarized her Slack threads and calls, helping her jump back into work quickly. It also proved to be a savvy assistant even outside the office-where it planned parts of the trip itself, she says, down to which side of the train to sit on for the best views of Mount Fuji. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ENA Respiratory Appoints International Pharma Experts as Strategic Advisors to Support Development of INNA-051 Antiviral Host Defence Enhancer
MELBOURNE, Australia, May 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ENA Respiratory, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing antiviral host defence enhancers to minimize the impact of viral respiratory infections, announces today that it has appointed Kenny Simmen PhD and Alison Humbles PhD as Strategic Advisors. Dr Simmen and Dr Humbles bring decades of experience gained in big pharma, specifically within the infectious and respiratory diseases therapy area, with skills across R&D, business development and commercial strategy. They join ENA Respiratory as it prepares to move its lead candidate, INNA-051, into a Phase II trial in the US 2025/2026 fall/winter season. Based in the Ireland, Dr Humbles has over 20 years' experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry supporting projects from early target identification and validation to drug candidates within the clinic. These projects have been across multiple therapeutic areas, including respiratory, autoimmunity, inflammatory and infectious disease, and included many drug modalities. Currently an independent Research & Development consultant, she was previously Disease Area Lead for Respiratory at Roche where she led a respiratory research group. Prior to this, Dr Humbles held senior scientific roles at MedImmune LLC, (now part of Astra Zeneca) after spending significant time in academic research at the Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Her work to date has led to over 70 authored/co-authored peer-reviewed publications in respiratory, inflammatory and immunology research. She gained her PhD in Pharmacology from the University of London. Based in the UK, Dr Simmen has 30 years of global pharmaceuticals experience across drug discovery and early clinical development, and innovation collaboration and dealmaking. He currently serves as an independent advisor and Board member for several biotech companies worldwide. This follows a distinguished career at Johnson & Johnson, where he led global external innovation efforts and collaborations in therapeutics and vaccine development for infectious diseases through J&J Innovation. He previously led global early-stage R&D strategy against many pathogens in a team that progressed multiple candidates into clinical development, including the approved HCV antiviral (Simeprevir), co-developed with Medivir AB. In his external innovation role, he led the establishment of collaborations and license agreements with companies and academics worldwide and worked closely with the BLUE KNIGHT™ joint initiative between J&J Innovation and US BARDA. He began his career in pharma at Roche having completed postdoctoral work at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. He obtained his PhD in molecular biology and gene transcriptional regulation from the EMBL in Heidelberg. Christophe Demaison, PhD CEO of ENA Respiratory, said, 'Kenny and Alison have exceptional track records in R&D within big pharma and specifically in the infectious and respiratory diseases field. Their knowledge and experience will benefit ENA Respiratory as we continue to drive the clinical development of INNA-051 which we believe could offer a highly significant new approach to reducing the enormous burden of respiratory viral diseases.' Other International advisors to ENA Respiratory include Arnold S. Monto MD, Bruce Miller PhD, Jacob Harker and Tim Hammond PhD. See About ENA RespiratoryENA Respiratory is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company tackling respiratory viral infections through the development of host defence enhancers which locally prime and boost the body's natural first line of defence against invading pathogens. Being virus-agnostic, ENA's approach offers a solution to protect against common and emerging respiratory viruses for which vaccines or direct-acting antivirals have limitations or do not exist. The company's lead product, INNA-051, is being developed as a convenient, once-a-week nasal dry powder product to reduce the impact of viral respiratory infections and prevent severe complications in at-risk populations, including the elderly, those with an underlying medical condition (including chronic lung conditions, diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease) and individuals with occupational risk (e.g. first responders, military or essential services personnel). INNA-051 is a potent agonist of toll-like receptor 2/6 (TLR2/6) which plays a key role in recognising pathogens and potentiating innate immune responses. With a safety profile supporting seasonal prophylaxis use, it has demonstrated accelerated virus clearance and stimulation of antiviral host defences, including IFN Type I & III responses, in a Phase IIa proof-of-principle study using a human influenza-challenge model. Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, the company has raised US$33 million (AU$46 million) in financing from Brandon Capital, The Minderoo Foundation, Flu Lab and Uniseed. It is partnered with the US COPD Foundation to support patient-centered clinical development of INNA-051 in COPD and has been awarded a US$13.1 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense. It is an alumni member of BLUE KNIGHT™, a joint initiative between Johnson & Johnson Innovation and BARDA designed to accelerate novel potential solutions for future pandemics. For more information, please visit Follow us on LinkedIn. For further information please contact:Media – AustraliaKirrily Davis, E: kdavis@ M: +61 (0)401 220228 Media – InternationalCharles ConsultantsSue Charles, E: M: +44 (0)7968 726585Chris Gardner, E: Chris@ M: +44 (0)7956 031077Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Tennessean's Andy Humbles talks Pickett Chapel, baseball, a decades-long love of news
In his newest piece for The Tennessean, Wilson County Reporter Andy Humbles took a deep, long look at Pickett Chapel, a Lebanon church with plenty of history and ties to the Civil Rights Movement in Middle Tennessee. Mary Harris, chair of the Wilson County Black History Committee, and her husband, Harry, are working to restore the chapel, which Humbles learned during his reporting has the fingerprints of the enslaved who built the church permanently etched into the building's outer bricks. It's just one of the many stories Humbles has had the privilege to tell during his nearly 40-year career with the newspaper. Originally from Wheaton, Illinois, Humbles came to Middle Tennessee in 1983 to play baseball at Trevecca Nazarene University. He says he stumbled into his role as a journalist while aspiring to make it as a pitcher in professional baseball. He has served in his current role as the Wilson County reporter for almost 13 years now. We talked to Humbles more about his job and journalism. Humbles: Honestly, I didn't pursue a career in journalism ... When I realized I wasn't going to be a pro player, I thought coaching or writing about sports would be my plan. I got a job taking high school scores and stats at The Tennessean in 1985 while still in college needing an extra year to graduate after my baseball eligibility ran out. I kept showing up and grew to love it, and after 39 years, I'm still here. Humbles: There was an opening in news, and I asked an editor about it, and I was quickly encouraged to think about it. I was initially told I could try it with an understanding I could go back to sports. I tried it, and despite feeling nearly completely lost, I enjoyed doing something new and felt it opened up a new world for me. That said, it was challenging. I didn't understand the lingo nor much of the basic terminology of so many news topics. But I always remember former Managing Editor Dave Green telling me it's okay not to understand all these topics – we're entering these foreign worlds with their experts, and we need to make them understandable. Humbles: Obviously the 2020 tornado that included the deaths of Jim and Donna Eaton side-by-side on their mattress, thrown from their home, and a couple I knew from church. Stories that involved the journey of Lawrence McKinney, who spent 31 years in prison before being cleared of crimes based on DNA evidence, leading to a $1M award. And, of course, the stories I know could or should have been better or better-directed. Like games you lose as an athlete, sometimes those stick out more than the wins. Humbles: I would probably have to revert back to my sports days and say Michael Jordan. (It's) the dominance he had as a player, and all the things he experienced from living a life with that much celebrity, baseball, gambling (and) his father's death. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Andy Humbles turned baseball into 39-plus years at The Tennessean
