Episode 2 continues the in-depth look at the Presidential Innovation Fellows program through a conversation with two current fellows. The episode features Scott Gorman, a technology entrepreneur and strategist, and Arunan Skandarajah, a global health technologist. Both serve as Presidential Innovations Fellows, or PIFs, at the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health, or ARPA-H.
This episode brings together technology, health, and futurism in one cohesive package. Throughout the interview, listeners gain a deeper understanding of the program, the PIF community, and why they should apply to become a PIF.
Want to know more?
For a deeper dive into technology at GSA and across the government, look at these resources to learn more.
"GSA Does That!?" is the U.S. General Services Administration's first agency-wide podcast, offering listeners an inside look into how GSA and its partners benefit the American people. Hosted by Rob Trubia, the podcast features interviews with GSA leaders, experts, partners, and customers, covering topics such as federal real estate, acquisitions, and technology. The title reflects many's surprise at the scope of GSA's impact. At the same time, the artwork pays homage to President Harry S. Truman, who established GSA in 1949 to improve government efficiency and save taxpayer money. Whether you're a policy wonk or just curious about government operations, you can join the listener community.
For more information about the show visit, gsa.gov/podcast.
Episode 2 continues the in-depth look at the Presidential Innovation Fellows program through a conversation with two current fellows. The episode features Scott Gorman, a technology entrepreneur and strategist, and Arunan Skandarajah, a global health technologist. Both serve as Presidential Innovations Fellows, or PIFs, at the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health, or ARPA-H.
This episode brings together technology, health, and futurism in one cohesive package. Throughout the interview, listeners gain a deeper understanding of the program, the PIF community, and why they should apply to become a PIF.
Want to know more?
For a deeper dive into technology at GSA and across the government, look at these resources to learn more.
"GSA Does That!?" is the U.S. General Services Administration's first agency-wide podcast, offering listeners an inside look into how GSA and its partners benefit the American people. Hosted by Rob Trubia, the podcast features interviews with GSA leaders, experts, partners, and customers, covering topics such as federal real estate, acquisitions, and technology. The title reflects many's surprise at the scope of GSA's impact. At the same time, the artwork pays homage to President Harry S. Truman, who established GSA in 1949 to improve government efficiency and save taxpayer money. Whether you're a policy wonk or just curious about government operations, you can join the listener community.
For more information about the show visit, gsa.gov/podcast.
Hey, welcome to GSA Does That!? The stories behind the federal agency delivering effective and efficient government to you, the American public. I'm your host, Rob Trubia. And this is episode two. If you remember in episode one, we talked about the Presidential Innovation Fellows or the PIF program. So today we're going to continue that discussion and we're going to talk to two actual fellows, two men that are doing incredibly interesting work, work that is significant, impactful and work that really matters to the American people.
If you're into technology, health care or looking into the future, this episode has something for you. Hey, don't forget we're on every major platform out there, so be sure to subscribe. And for more information about the show, visit us at gsa.gov/podcast. That's GSA.gov/podcast. All right. Welcome back to GSA Does That!?
And in this episode, we're taking a second look into the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, a program that brings together the brightest minds from industry, teamed up with senior government leaders to develop solutions to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing government. Something I really want to make sure that you hear and you hear loud and clear A time to apply is now for this program.
The deadline is June 23rd and it's coming right up. But you still have time to apply If you're looking for more information on the program, how it works and what you might be getting yourself into, you're in the right place because today we're going to be talking to two individuals that are currently in the program, Scott Gorman, a technology entrepreneur and strategist and Arunan Skandarajah.
A global health technologist both working for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. You're about to hear from two very impressive gentlemen that are doing big things that make a big difference. Hello, gentlemen. Good day to both of you. Great to be here. Good afternoon. It's great to have you here on the podcast. Thank you for joining us today.
I know you're both very busy people and we really appreciate your time. A question I particularly enjoy asking is about people's backgrounds and where they're from. Just kind of sets the stage and very helpful to me. So, Scott, tell me a little bit about yourself with mind kicking things off for us. Where are you from? Share a little bit about yourself and the journey that led you to PIF.
Sure. So I grew up in Vermont and, you know, moved around quite a bit since college, but I've made the Bay Area my home since I went to grad school at Berkeley. I currently live in Oakland. And yeah, my journey to PIF. For me it was really a call to service. So I'm part of a 2020 cohort along with a Arunan and I'm also a captain in the Army Reserves.
And in early 2020 I had just returned from a deployment to Afghanistan. So we're still very much in a service frame of mind. And then around March 2020, of course, you know, COVID declared a pandemic, stay at home orders were being announced. So I knew then I really wanted to serve again in some capacity. So I started looking for different programs, something with a national impact.
And I came across PIF. It seemed like a really excellent fit, a way to contribute at a pivotal moment, but also a way to utilize my background in tech. As a founder and CTO. So Arunan, how about you? Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Sure. So I was actually born in Sri Lanka, a small island off the coast of India, and migrated here when my dad came for school.
So her following the opportunity of being here in the US, I grew up in Indiana, spent a bit of school time in the South, Nashville, as well as graduate school on the West Coast and working on the West Coast. But now I'm here based in D.C. and that that really was the trigger for me. Looking at the Presidential Innovation Fellowship, we have our personal and family reasons.
We're planning to shift to the East Coast and around that same time of the pandemic, really trying to understand what the best way to contribute to that public service enterprise could be. I was coming from working in the international sphere, in global health, and had seen the challenges with COVID globally, but was also seeing that the challenge that we were facing here at home and the fellowship seemed like such a great way to both give back, but also really understand the breadth of government.
Because sometimes most folks listening, it's hard to understand how all these agencies and components interact. And that fellowship seemed like a great way to get to see more of government have cohort fellow service members embedded in other agencies. And that was really a draw to have my first experience in government be through the fellowship. What I hear from both of you is just this real desire, kind of this inner desire to serve your country.
And Scott, you're serving in the military. Thank you for your service. And in that regard, for sure, but certainly it's no less service what you're doing in health care and technology. Arunan for sure, just this deep desire, is that what Arunan, just to follow up, is that really just that desire to serve? Is that what drove you to even apply to the program?
But I think it's the desire to serve and really the kind of levers you have in government. So I think all of us want to have an impact. You know, we want to see what we can change in the world. And the government is one of those places that touches everyone, particularly touches those that don't have access to sometimes the more expensive services that are provided by the private sector.
So I think it was a little bit of both. It was trying to figure out how to serve, but also understanding that government was a unique place to do that, where the regulations come from, where the policy and the conversations nationally are set and having a chance to be part of those conversations and deliver with the skills that we were bringing from outside of government seemed like a great way to kind of bring those dual goals of impact and service together that I think that word you just used, impact?
I mean, I think that sounds like what you would think is where can I make the biggest impact? I mean, clearly you're an incredibly bright individual. You've got a incredible skill set. And it's it's just neat to think that you're thinking, how can I have this be a biggest impact for my country, for my community, or just my fellow mankind?
And so we're glad you found this program. And Scott, what about you? What led you to apply in the first place? Yeah, I think for me, it was also, you know, just wanting to serve, but in a different capacity. So I'm a captain in Army reserves, as I mentioned, as an intelligence officer. I now work with Army Futures Command.
So identifying dual use technologies, how to modernize the Army, and that's been a really fulfilling experience. But I also in my civilian career, you know, work on a lot of different issues and have a background in health tech and like Arunan and mentioned, you know, I wanted to explore the opportunities in government and try different levers and see, you know, if we're able to move forward on certain issues within government context, that may be challenging sometimes to do so in an industry context.
So I've learned, you know, about the PIF program over the last several weeks, and it has been described to me as a real network. I think to the two of you are certainly examples of that, almost like a fraternity of these bright minds that are tackling these big government problems. Scott, maybe you can speak a little bit to the sense of community among the PIFs maybe a little bit about how you collaborate maybe with Arunan and others, and just how do you inspire one another?
Is it is it a pretty tight group? Yeah, You know, of course, is a little bit challenging with being in the class of 2020. You know, we're all remote to begin with. And since, you know, most people migrated back to D.C. But I think despite that, we really, you know, developed a really strong network and I think strong bonds, which is important because, you know, I think a lot of folks will tell you there's, you know, information silos sometimes in government.
And I think the great thing about PIF is you have this incredible network of bright individuals serving in senior positions. Most times spanning dozens of agencies. So you really get this insight into how these other agencies may be approaching a problem or a topic. And you can find ways to to work across and collaborate. So for example, before I moved over to ARPA-H, I was with the Department of Energy, their AI and Tech office, and there I was able to work with PIFs at EPA, around the AI and climate tech.
Then I was at the VA's National AI Institute and again was able to work with a team of PIFs from several agencies on issues related to AI and data policy. So yeah, I would say it's a really strong network of individuals and, you know, it can really lead to some unique opportunities you have. And just to build on that, I think at a similar experience, I think Scott really explored the role of AI across all of these different components of government.
I kind of had a lens of health care and took that one from both the regulatory perspective with the Food and Drug Administration, but also how we pay for care and make sure that those without access get get those necessary services paid for through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a collaboration project that was hosted by another PIF.
And one thing that I think really shows how powerful these networks are is that very early on ARPA-H launched during our tenure. So in that time we've seen the organization grow up. We started very small and there were a long list of needs that we didn't staff up to solve. And as I presented those needs as part of one of our weekly All Hands sessions, Scott and a few other folks really stepped up to say, Hey, you know, I might have my day job, but I'd be happy to put in a few hours, try to tackle some issues, and in Scott's case, really start building out what became our our full brand or full
identity I don’t know Scott if you want to see a lot more about that. Yeah. I mean, again, I think just keeping your eyes open for opportunities that come from the network is been really important. So even before ARPA-H some PIFs brought an opportunity to work on the UC Digital Corps, which is a new program that bring early stage technologists in the government.
It was getting stood up and they needed assistance. So myself and a few other PIFs, you know, jumped on to that project. And my work there was really around setting the initial data strategy, helping them think through branding. And so that kind of directly led to the work at ARPA-H as that was getting stood up Arunan brought that opportunity.
And I really saw the parallels with what was being done at US Digital Corps. So I just kind of transferred that focus over to ARPA-H. So yeah, I think there's it's the network, it's seizing opportunity is. But then also, you know, I got to thank the PIF leadership team have been very supportive as you know you know assisting with these different opportunities and being open to moving agencies, you know, when the right opportunity arises.
Scott can just a little bit about ARPA, is it a new agency be just their listeners? What is ARPA? Yeah, so ARPA-H is the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. So people might be familiar with DARPA. This is essentially an ARPA for health and its mission is really to, you know, fund research and development to drive transformative health and biomedical breakthroughs with the goal of accelerating better health outcomes for everyone.
So we're going to dive into a little bit about what you gentlemen have really been focused on. But before we do, I'm going to go off script here a little bit. What is this what has PIF done for you as far as your career? And I don't mean necessarily like, oh, yeah, it's looks great on my resume. Of course it looks great on your resume.
Your Presidential innovation fellow. But when I talk about as scientists, as as, you know, people that just have a drive to excel and to make change and huge impact, how has PIF launched that for you? I mean, you're both young men. You've got a long career ahead of you. How is PIF served you to get where you want to go so you can help others?
PIF has been both and something that has pushed me, it's challenged me and showed me what what's really possible. I think my imagination has really been expanded as I think about some of the national policy conversations that we've had a chance to be part of or our how our efforts have resulted from some of those policy conversations that might have come out of advocacy.
And so I think one piece is showing me what truly is possible when you can bring the whole of government together with the private sector. I think the other thing the program has really given me is mentorship. I've had a chance to work with a few folks that I found truly inspirational, some of them longtime government servants and some of them individuals have come in into various political or senior leadership roles, including the folks who've developed the data strategy at the Food and Drug Administration, as well as the civil servants who really help put together the initial road map for the ARPA-H initiative, the agency that we're part of now.
Yes. So a lot of my background has been leading startups in the private sector. And, you know, I think somewhat unexpectedly, I ended up working on, you know, standing up agencies in a very startup mode within government, which has been incredibly interesting to just see, you know, how things work in government sometimes, how they don't work by really deeply understanding the mechanisms in, you know, what it takes to drive things forward, you know, the different pathways and levers to pull.
And in order to accomplish a certain mission that you may not have to think about in the private sector, you know, sometimes for the better. But yeah, I think it's really giving me insights that I can take back to the private sector. I'd certainly, you know, given me access to a network that also has a lot of parallels with my work in the military as well with Army futures commands.
And again, like Arunan mentioned, I think a huge benefit as has been, you know, mentorship and access to senior leaders like in such a short period of time. I, you know, met an incredible people across so many different agencies that I just don't know how I would have been able to do that in another position, in another role in such a short period of time.
It's just been incredible access and support. So it's I think it's safe to say that you both find this as a pivotal piece of your career and getting you ready for what's next. Absolutely. So, gentlemen, let's dive into things a little bit here. What are the different projects you've both been working on and for what agency? I think I think it sounds like ARPA H is where you both landed and but I'm not sure that your projects have been inside that agency.
So it's my understanding it's in the realm of health care. Technology is testing new ideas, developing new efficiencies. Maybe help us understand your work and ideally what you hope to achieve through that work. Arunan, maybe you could start us off. Sure. Speaking for in my experience within ARPA-H And what's really special about that agency in building what you're saying, Rob, is that we can really test ideas, not just do the discovery answer questions, but turn those ideas into capabilities that you can put into people's hands that could accelerate how people are able to live their lives in a functional and healthy way.
And you know, what allows us to do that is this real focus on keeping the end in mind. And that means that we can think about how different users from all across the country will go interact with the innovations that come out of ARPA-H. We can think about how these solutions can be evaluated for how safe and effective they are by other government counterparts like the Food and Drug Administration.
And we can also really listen to the patients in a way that the we can use the platform of of being a national agency to gather input from patient advocates, from patient groups, and from health care providers that all have a perspective on how health care can get better, too. My work has touched all of those pieces. I've had a chance to collaborate with the team that's been building up our transition function, which is specifically how we transition technology into products.
I've had a chance to start building our initial relationship with the Food and Drug Administration, which benefited from the earlier part of my tenure that I spent at that agency. So that when we have these kind of crazy ideas, new capabilities like regrowing joints or completely avoiding joint replacements, how what's the regulatory path for that? Right. Like how do you know that that's working?
Well, how do you know that that's safe? And those are really integral conversations to have early on so that, you know, the great scientists that we find out in the private sector in academia don't go way down the line and then say, well, how do I know this and safe, how do I know this is actually effective? So I've had a chance to kind of build some of that infrastructure and then really set the team free, because we also don't want to get bottlenecked.
I think a lot of what PIFs do are set up as sustainable and scalable infrastructure at their agencies for that people, infrastructure or technical infrastructure so that the agency can work more efficiently toward its goal to serve the American public. And then the final probably but I'll kind of comment on here is my role in coordinating some of our cancer related work.
I think cancer is one of those domains where everyone really identifies with the lose that they've had among family or friends. They've seen both the tremendous explosion of clinical trials, but also sometimes the complexity of accessing those and understanding what's right for their family member. So ARPA-H has been very involved in the Cancer Moonshot which is a presidential initiative to kind of re imagine the experience people have around cancer and dramatically reduce the burden that it causes on our population.
And while ARPA-H is still early, we hope to be a critical partner there, both working with the national policy bodies but also listening to patient advocates and academics so we can understand where we can contribute most. You know, you talk about cancer that certainly touches just everyone. It touches everyone. Well, that is all very encouraging. And I want to come back to you in a minute, but I want to jump over to Scott.
Scott, what have you been working on? What's your piece of this? I know ARPA-H you've been with it from the forefront. I think it's just as it got started. So what what have you been working on? Scott Yeah, So I think I first build off what Arunan was saying, you know, having worked in health tech before joining PIF, what really attracted me to ARPA-H was, you know, this, this new model essentially, I've been very passionate in the past about working on ambitious moonshot ideas and complex problems.
But, you know, sometimes those things are just too early for the commercial sector. But that's really a space where ARPA-H is designed to operate. And in tackling the big health challenges, imagining the future of health and working on concepts that really blur the boundary between science and science fiction. So my initial focus has been about building some of the fundamentals and creating essentially a minimum viable agency, as we sometimes say.
So for me, that means like my initial role was co-leading development of the engagement and comms office. So that was hiring staff training overall management. A major aspect of that work is it was also creating the digital strategy, building the agency's brand. And we now, as you mentioned, have an incredible team of creative and technical talent who's building out a range of digital experiences to help communicate ARPA-H, what it is, what it does to its many different stakeholders, including to the American public.
Of course, I also serve as a technical advisor and subject subject matter expert for data and tech strategy. And now, as the agency matures and kind of enters a next phase of growth, I'm also serving as a senior advisor for developing prize challenges to help move revolutionary ideas forward across health. So, you know, kind of getting back to what I did before PIF, which is, you know, focused more on on the tech solutions.
So it's been a really exciting journey, worn a lot of different hats. So yeah, again, it's it's been something that, you know, is very unique in such a short period of time to work across so many different Workstreams. So I think both heard you both use the term or phrase moonshot, these moonshot ideas. Is it do I have that correct?
What is that? What this program allows you to do is sort of explore some ideas and some kind of a far not far fetched, but maybe just, you know, something that you might not be able to explore in industry or the private sector. But this PIF program allows you to explore some really big ideas. Do I have that right?
Yeah. So I can give an example. We just launched our first program called Nitro, which stands for Novel Innovations for Tissue Regeneration and Osteoarthritis. And this is something, you know, we've all touched and supported to help get it, get it going. Actually, the proposers day for this is coming up. So for each program, though, we essentially, you know, trying to think of a very ambitious concept to help communicate this to the public.
So, for example, for Nitro, it's what if we can make our joints heal themselves? So, you know, thinking very far ahead, but trying to bring that future through strategic investments much closer, something that maybe 20, 30 years out, can we get that within the next five or ten years? So for this program, you know, it's using regenerative medicine, biomedical engineering, biomaterials to create therapeutics that can fully regenerate damaged joints or, for example, the joints deteriorated beyond the point of repair.
This program also has a research area for developing replacement joints made from a patient's own cells. So, you know, really going after these very ambitious moonshots essentially to try and bring this health future much closer or much faster. I hope you're really successful at that because in five or ten years I'm probably going to need new knees. So this is really could be exciting.
I think there's a lot of people out there thinking about that. That's absolutely, absolutely fascinating. Arunan when you were accepted into this program, as a PIF did you already like, Are you accepted or are most people accepted in the program knowing what they're going to be working on? Or are you coming into an agency and and then you're sitting down and discovering with others, okay, here's here's what I'm going to be doing.
I think that can be a really iterative process. And I think that's for the best because effectively and we are looking for projects now also for any agency sponsors out there, we gather those projects, you know, in parallel with recruiting incoming class. That list of projects helps the team understand what skill sets we're looking for. And then when those candidates ultimately come in front of the agency, they can do a little bit of that final matchmaking and hopefully do a little bit of tailoring.
And that really was my experience. I think the agency I was coming to initially, the Food and Drug Administration knew that they had to tackle that topic of data strategy and how an agency that is decades old could update its practices to share data make sure that you benefit from that full power of people's, you know, consent into clinical trials.
And that was a pretty broad scope, right? And we hired our first chief data officer just a few months before I started. So when I had a chance to sit down with him, it was it was really a two way conversation to say, we know what this agency looks like today, but we need to understand all that more detail, how the data siloed, what the barriers are.
And then based on that environment called problem discovery, then we can flesh out a little bit in a little bit more detail is it that we need to stand up a test bed? Is it that we need to get a comment in a way of talking about data and talk about advanced analytics like AI and it end up being able to do everything but building that strategy of how we were going to tackle it was it was really done collaboratively probably in the first few weeks of that of that program year.
So let me just ask you both, you know, when based on your experience with PIF, what you've done, it's it's deep and there's a lot going on there and an exciting time, a difficult time, but an exciting time since you've come into 2020. But as you look back and you think about your experiences, what you think based on your own experience, would persuade someone listening to apply to this program.
Scott Maybe you could start us off. Sure. So I think if you ever, you know, just generally been curious about federal service or even just a way to make an impact in a pretty short period of time, then, you know, I think you should consider the PIF program and just a few bullet points about it. You know, you enter as a it's called the GS-15, which is essentially the top end of the of the rating scale.
So you have access to senior level decision makers. You're most likely be pushing forward on really important, you know, national scale projects and you'll get a ton of experience that you can take back to the private sector if it's you know, you're planning to do this for a year or two or you can use it as a springboard for a career in government, if that's where things take you.
And I would also just add leave yourself open to changing your mind too. I thought for sure I would do one year, take those experiences back. But you know, here I am three years later and thinking about staying longer. So, you know, you never quite know where the opportunities will take. You Absolutely. Arunan, how about you? So I'll say, you know, you've got till June 23rd, so move quickly.
I think this is the best way to come into government. And if you're coming in from a technical skill set and user design or leadership or entrepreneurship skill set, I know coming in as kind of a biomedical scientist, my background in digital health has been really valuable here to you. There really isn't, in my opinion, a similar way to get the same breath, come in with this type of cohort and really get the support from a leadership team that both cares about you as an individual and cares about the mission of the agency to really figure out where you can best fit in government.
And, you know, to Scott's point, we hope that you'll come for at least a year and really contribute meaningfully to an agency understanding their mission, understanding equally importantly, what's happening down at the level of the staff. But we also hope that in that time you'll pick up experiences, find your own passions, and and use that to kind of continue back into other aspects of government or back into the private sector.
And it's really hard to overstate how important that support can be when you're transitioning to something as different. It's the federal government and the types of training we get at the beginning, the ongoing support, the availability of things like executive coaching for all benefits that oftentimes are pretty hard to get even in the private sector at at many skill levels and many career tiers.
So really do look at this as both an opportunity to signal where you are in your career, but also build up that skill set that will take you to the next level. Yeah, it sounds like a way to really shoot really right to the top to get the opportunity to talk to leadership, be a part of something really big.
It's the epitome of opportunity, really, if you've got that special skill set, you know, thank you what you're doing for government, it's really making us a better country, a better democracy. And I think it's safe to say that you're making a profound impact with your work. So I thank you both. I really do appreciate it. So what I hope you're taking out of this episode is this pretty unique opportunity that exists out there to jump at a government at a very high level, working on technology that innovates the way we work, the way we live, and how we care for one another.
So if you're ready to make a difference, you've got until June 23rd to apply. Go to PIF.gov. Hey, coming up on the next episode of GSA Does That!? that's episode three. We delve into contracting opportunities for small businesses. We'll be talking about $70 Billion. That's billion with a B in FY22 spending and how the Stars program has supported over $15 billion in agency orders for small disadvantaged businesses over the last ten years.
So be sure to tune in and find out how GSA Does That. And remember to subscribe to our podcast, visit gsa.gov/podcast for more information or to suggest a topic or guest, send us an email at gsadoesthat@gsa.gov. Hey, I'm your host Rob Trubia for executive producer is Max Stempora. GSA Does That!? is a production of the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Strategic Communication.