Connecting Hearts: The Science and Stories of Congenital Heart Innovation

A month of movement—across states, across continents, and across ideas—shapes this episode of Heart to Heart with Anna, where personal connection meets the frontiers of heart medicine. We begin with gratitude, travel, and family updates, then explore two breakthroughs shaping the future of congenital heart care: a major open-access study using whole-genome sequencing to forecast outcomes after CHD surgery, and nanotechnology that turns everyday implants into infection-resistant, tissue-regenerating tools.

CHD News Article Referenced:
“Genome sequencing is critical for forecasting outcomes following congenital cardiac surgery,” published in Nature Communications (open-access).
🔗 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-61625-0

Our guest, Tom Webster, has spent more than two decades showing that the tiniest details can change everything. By adding nanoscale textures to already-approved implant materials, his teams have helped more than 30,000 patients—without a single reported implant failure. Tom explains how these nanostructured surfaces reduce infection without antibiotics, encourage heart and vascular tissue to heal, and speed up regulatory approval by keeping the chemistry the same while transforming the surface.

Together, we explore cardiac patches that act like “Band-Aids for the heart,” vascular stents that resist clotting, and lessons learned from nature’s own antibacterial designs. We also talk about emerging strategies that combine nanomaterials with stem cells—guiding differentiation without drugs and anchoring cells exactly where the body needs repair. And we look ahead to implantable nanosensors that may one day send real-time data straight to your phone, giving families and clinicians a continuous picture of heart health far beyond today’s occasional lab tests.

If you’re curious how genetics, materials science, and continuous monitoring could personalize heart care for people living with CHD, this is the episode for you. Press play, share it with someone who needs hope grounded in evidence, and subscribe for more conversations like this. If this episode moved you, please leave a review and let us know which ideas you’d like us to explore next.

Have a question for Tom?
He welcomes inquiries from listeners who are curious about nanotechnology, innovation, and heart health. Please send your question to Anna@HeartToHeartWithAnna.com, and I will be happy to pass it along to him.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Heart Innovations
• 0:24 Welcome and Personal Reflections
• 1:31 November Adventures and Connections
• 4:35 CHD News: Groundbreaking Genome Sequencing Study
• 6:28 Interview with Nanotechnology Pioneer Tom Webster
• 9:02 Exploring Nanotechnology in Medicine
• 18:28 Combining Stem Cells and Nanotechnology
• 28:30 Preventing Infections with Nanotechnology
• 37:06 Future of Heart Health: Sensors and Innovations
• 41:27 Conclusion and Final Reflections

Transcript

Tom Webster (H2HwAnna)

Tom Webster: [00:00:00] You could think of them as band-aids for the heart, which have nano textures, which are improving regeneration of healthy heart tissue, where there once was dead tissue. So everywhere we're turning in the body with this idea, take an implant that's already being used, put a nano texture on it. We're seeing incredible success.

Anna Jaworski: Hello, friends. Welcome to another episode of Heart to Heart with Anna. November has been a month of movement across states, across continents, and across ideas. As I traveled, I wrote, reconnected with old friends and supported loved ones through cardiac care. I found myself thinking a lot about connection, the invisible threads that bind our lives, our families, and even our hearts.

This episode explores [00:01:00] connection in two ways through the personal stories that shaped my month, and through advances in medical science that are helping us understand how deeply connected our genetics are to congenital heart health. Today, CHD News touches on a groundbreaking open access study about genome sequencing and CHD surgery outcomes.

Our interview with nanotechnology pioneer Tom Webster brings us face-to-face with another frontier of heart-focused innovation. But first, let me share with you what this month has looked like for me.

Anna's Story

Anna Jaworski: It's the last day of November as I record the first part of this podcast episode, and it's been a remarkable month. I started the month in Ithaca, New York with my dear friends Khamphoy and Tian Ming Sayavong where Frank and I cheered on Tian Ming as his football team, Ithaca College, won against Rochester Institute of [00:02:00] Technology. Friends, it was my first time ever we tailgated a football game and it was quite an experience. Frank and I returned to our beloved Texas only to leave the very next weekend for Geneva, Switzerland.

It was a remarkable trip. We did a small chocolate crawl and a bigger yarn crawl before we headed to experience the CERN Super Collider. We were probably the oldest people there, but we had just as much fun as the school children who were visiting and learning about the important science being conducted at CERN.

From there, we headed to Dijon France and spent a day in that lovely city. Of course we bought some mustard and we were amazed at the wide variety of mustards available. I bought more yarn in Dijon and of course it was purple for the new book I have coming out next year. But it was variegated yarn and it even had some Dijon-mustard-colored thread amongst the purple, blue, and pink yarn. I absolutely love it. And [00:03:00] the darling shop where I discovered it. I experienced a dream-come-true when we took the train from Dijon to Paris. After studying French in high school, and then again with Pimsleur, Duolingo, and Paul Noble, I was excited to see the Eiffel Tower and to see if I could use what I'd learned. We didn't have much time in Paris, but the time we spent there felt magical. Did you know the Eiffel Tower is painted golden brown? It's really quite lovely. The rest of our trip was spent with our dear friends, Helen and David Simpson.

Some of you may recognize David's name. He was one of the contributors to "The Heart of a Father". I've known the family for over 20 years, and we visited them in Europe before, but this time we had a writing retreat together at their French farmhouse in the country. I got over 24,000 words written on my new book about lost connections and estrangement.

When we came back to Texas, [00:04:00] we only had a little time before Thanksgiving and we had so much to be thankful for. While in France, my father and his wife contacted me to let me know Dad was having a cardiac procedure. I offered to sit with Dad's wife, Theresa, and they took me up on my offer. We shared stories and practiced patience while Dad recovered.

I'm extremely thankful for the connection and the fact that they're home, again, now safe and sound. What were you thankful for this year?

For our CHD news today, I want to share a remarkable open-access article published in Nature Communications titled Genome Sequencing is Critical for Forecasting Outcomes Following Congenital Cardiac Surgery. I'll place the link in today's show notes, but I'd love to highlight some of the key findings because they may have important implications for the CHD community.

[00:05:00] This study looked at more than 2,200 people born with congenital heart defects who underwent cardiac surgery. What made this study unique is that researchers didn't just look at medical histories or surgical outcomes. They looked at patients' genomes, their full genetic blueprint using advanced sequencing combined with artificial intelligence.

What they found was powerful. Certain genetic variations, especially those affecting how genes are turned on and off, or genes related to tiny cellular structures called cilia, were linked to a higher risk of complications after surgery. On the other hand, patients who didn't have those variants tended to have smoother recoveries.

In everyday language, this means genome sequencing may one day help doctors more accurately predict which patients need extra support after [00:06:00] surgery, and which patients may have an easier path. It's early research, but it points toward a future where CHD care can become even more personalized, informed, and precise.

This study reminds me of just how rapidly medical science is evolving --from understanding our genes to understanding how tiny particles and engineered materials can help the heart heal. And that brings me to today's guest, someone who is working at a different but equally exciting frontier of heart innovation.

Tom Webster is a pioneering engineer whose breakthroughs in nanotechnology have already helped tens of thousands of patients. If the genetic research we just discussed looks at the blueprint of the body, Tom's work focuses on the building blocks, the tiny textures and materials that can change how heart tissue heals.

Let's dive in.

HUG Disclaimer: [00:07:00] This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The opinions expressed in the podcast are not those of heart unite the globe, but of the hosts and guests, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to congenital heart disease or bereavement.

 The Interview with Tom Webster

Anna Jaworski: Welcome to Heart to Heart with Anna. I am Anna Jaworski and a heart mom to hope my 31-year-old amazing daughter. Today we have Tom Webster on our program. Tom Webster is a pioneering entrepreneur and engineering professor whose career spans more than 25 years at the forefront of medical innovation, specializing in nanotechnology, the science of the small, he has founded over a dozen companies and helped develop more than two dozen FDA-approved medical devices. His breakthroughs include artificial hearts, cardiac patches, stents, [00:08:00] and advanced sensors designed to improve cardiovascular health. Remarkably, devices based on his research have been implanted in more than 30,000 patients worldwide with no reported implant failures.

That is so remarkable. By harnessing nanotechnology to promote tissue regeneration, reduce infection, and limit inflammation. Tom transforms cutting edge science into life-saving solutions. Whether in the lab, the classroom, or the boardroom. He continues to inspire the next generation of innovators while improving the lives of people with heart and vascular conditions.

Welcome to Heart to Heart with Anna, Tom Webster. 

Tom Webster: Thank you, Anna, for that wonderful introduction. 

Anna Jaworski: Well, you're such a fascinating person and I feel so blessed I had a chance to meet you in person at Dr. Banch's conference in Austin earlier this year. 

Tom Webster: Great. Yes, I [00:09:00] remember. 

Anna Jaworski: Yeah, it was amazing. So let's talk about what sparked your fascination with nanotechnology and medical innovation.

Tom Webster: Yeah, so I guess unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for a scientist and business person like myself, almost everywhere you turn in medicine, we need solutions. We need solutions now. So I think as an engineer, somebody who likes to study systems, optimize materials, improve medicine, there's not far to look in our medical system for ways that I could contribute.

And I noticed back in the 1990s when I was a PhD student, one simple fact: our bodies are composed of nanomaterials, these really, really small materials, proteins, crystals in bone, like calcium phosphate. Yet we weren't implanting these materials. And these [00:10:00] nano materials we have seen in the past 20, 25 years can really improve medicine.

Anna Jaworski: It's amazing. Something that small can make a big difference. 

Tom Webster: Yes. In fact, for the listeners, just to appreciate this size scale, if you try to grab one piece of your hair, in fact, that's a challenge in itself, isn't it? Grab one piece of hair, the diameter is 80,000 nanometers, so we're talking about materials, we're talking about surface features that are so small, we can't even see them with our unaided eye. We need these really powerful microscopes to see this size range, but yet the body is responding incredibly well to this size range. 

Anna Jaworski: And it makes sense, right? Because we are built of cells, we are built of these nanoparticles, actually. So it makes sense that if we could introduce. [00:11:00] Medications or devices that are that tiny, it could make a big difference. 

Tom Webster: That's right. In fact, cells make nanomaterials, right? And as I mentioned, we are walking nanomaterials, so if we could go back in time , I remember speaking at conferences. People didn't think these materials would amount to anything.

They wouldn't help health. They were being used in other fields as well. Making stronger buildings, making elevators to the moon. That's one thing NASA wants to do out of nano materials. So there's so many different applications, but I remember back in the 1990s there was a lot of skepticism and we should be skeptical of any new technology or new material, but now some 20, 25 years later, I think we're really seeing the fruits of our labor. We're beginning to see how nanomaterials can help all across medicine. 

Anna Jaworski: Well, Hope, my daughter who was born with a heart defect [00:12:00] was into robotics when she was a child, and we did first Lego League.

One year the topic was nanotechnology, so I got a taste of nanotechnology and it's fascinating. It really is unbelievable. It's interesting that you said what you did about the elevator to the moon, because we were studying about that, gosh, 15 years ago, maybe longer, which is just fascinating to me. So how do you harness these nano materials?

Tom Webster: Right, and there's many different ways, although the field of nanomedicine is the science of the small, it is a big field. 

Anna Jaworski: Okay. 

Tom Webster: So there are nanoparticles that, as you mentioned, they help with drug delivery. They help target certain cells like cancer cells or bacteria. They deliver drugs much more effectively than larger particles. But an area that we've made a lot of inroads, especially in terms of [00:13:00] helping human health, is through nano textured surfaces. So one thing, again, keeping this rationale that our bodies are made of nanomaterials. Cells like nanomaterials. We have figured out a way to take implants that are currently being used.

Maybe it's a hip implant or a pacemaker or a catheter, and we have figured out a way to put a nano texture on that surface. And what we're finding out is because of these unique features, their unique surface energy, they're able to repel bacteria, keep infection from occurring without using an antibiotic, (which is so important for us to use non-antibiotic solutions in our healthcare system).

But at the same time, they can regenerate tissue, so they could regenerate bone, they can regenerate heart tissue, they can regenerate an artery all by using this [00:14:00] tiny size scale features, these nano features that you can put on an implant surface. 

Anna Jaworski: That's amazing. 

Tom Webster: And I could add too, we're based here in the United States. In order to really help human health, we have to get regulatory approval, right? Nobody wants to be implanting non-FDA-approved implants into the body. And one of the things that we have learned with the FDA is we can provide solutions quickly-- by not proposing new chemistries, so we're not developing new implant chemistries for regenerating heart tissue or regenerating bone.

We're actually taking the same chemistries that are currently approved, but putting nano features, nano roughness, nano textures on that existing chemistry. And when you do that, the FDA in my experience, is much more likely to quickly approve these materials [00:15:00] so they can be used in the body now. And I think that's been a key to our success, is we haven't had to wait the 10 years, the 15 years to get FDA approval that many other companies have, but we can modify what's already approved with a nano texture and get approval within a year.

And that's why we've been in over 30,000 patients with no failures because of that design criteria, because of the way we've approached this problem to really improve human health. 

Anna Jaworski: That's just fascinating to me. So was there a single discovery or device that made you think this could truly change heart care forever?

Tom Webster: Yes, I think so. We actually started in orthopedics and w hen I was six years old, I got hit by a car and I was playing a game, and all the listeners if tell your kids, 

Anna Jaworski: Oh no.... 

Tom Webster: ... it was a hide-and-seek game. 

Anna Jaworski: Sure. 

Tom Webster: I was hiding [00:16:00] behind a parked car. I thought the game was over. I stood up to cross the street and bam, I was hit. I broke my femur, the largest bone in your body. But it healed successfully because I was so young. Six years old, your bones can heal. They're incredibly resilient, incredible at healing themselves.

Of course, if that happened today, I would need an implant because my bones would not heal as regularly. But I remember ever since being six, intrigued by the body and how the body can heal on its own. Sometimes you have to give the right clues, the right stimuli, but it can heal a lot on its own if you just, do that.

So our first product on the market, which was about 2017, was a spinal implant. Again, we took an implant off the shelf, spinal screws. We put nano textures, really, really small surface features [00:17:00] on that implant, and we have seen since then, no infection, no failures in over 20,000 patients and only success.

Then we moved into the cardiovascular system. And we started seeing the same things. We created vascular stents with nano textures. Those nano textures do not induce inflammation. They keep blood flowing. They're not creating what's called thrombus or the platelet plug, which oftentimes can reclog a blood vessel that's opened up from a vascular stent.

We're not seeing any of those problems. We've also moved into cardiac patches. Which is incredibly promising because if you have a heart attack, as I think most people know, part of your heart dies. And without any intervention, that tissue stays dead and the rest of your heart has to work harder to make up for that.

So you're more susceptible for another [00:18:00] heart attack. So we're developing patches. You could think of them as band-aids for the heart, which have nano textures, which are improving regeneration of healthy heart tissue, where there once was dead tissue. So everywhere we're turning in the body with this idea.

Take an implant that's already being used, put a nano texture on it. We're seeing incredible success. 

Anna Jaworski: Wow, you just blew my mind. That's amazing. So I'm curious about stem cell research. That seems to be another area that's huge right now, and I would imagine that's also at the nano level, or could be at the nano level.

Is there a way to introduce both? Stem cell research and this nanotechnology to help the regeneration. 

Tom Webster: Yes, absolutely. And we've been involved in two efforts where we combine stem cells with nano materials. The one is very important. So again, back in the 1990s, I think the cover of [00:19:00] Science Magazine was how stem cells were going to revolutionize medicine.

We're going to regrow every tissue from stem cells. Well, 20, 30 years later, that hasn't really turned out to be true. Yes, we can regrow skin, we can regrow some tissues purely with stem cells, but some other tissues were having some trouble doing this. So what we're using are nano textures to actually promote stem cell differentiation into the desired cell without drugs.

So one thing we've learned in all those years is when you inject stem cells in the body, sometimes you need anti-inflammatories. You have to reduce the patient's immune system reaction. To those stem cells. Sometimes you need other drugs that will help those stem cells differentiate into a cardiomyocyte, which is the cell of the heart that beats.

So sometimes you need some drugs that help. Of course we [00:20:00] know the drugs that we use have many effects, not just the intended effect, but many times there are side effects. What we're doing with nano textures is inducing differentiation of stem cells into cardiomyocytes, into these other cells we want without drugs, so we don't have to rely on some of these pharmaceutical agents that are creating harmful side effects, but we can really do this with just a texture, just a roughness alone. That's one approach we're using. Another approach, we've learned over these 30 years with stem cells, is when you inject stem cells into the body, they tend to go where the healthy tissue is, so they don't stay where the damaged tissue is. And that makes sense because your healthy cells are producing proteins, they're producing cytokines, growth factors, which are recruiting those stem cells away from the damage and to the healthy tissue. So [00:21:00] that's a problem... 

Anna Jaworski: Right. 

Tom Webster: Because we use stem cells to stay where the damage is. So again, we're using nanomaterials to help anchor, to help keep those stem cells where the damage is.

In fact, speaking of the brain, blowing your mind away, we recently completed a study where we used nano materials with stem cells to reverse stroke damage, so it's not approved by the FDA. But we use stem cells from the patient we used, , nanomaterials and we injected them to where we could see through brain scans where the brain damage was, and these nanomaterials kept the stem cells where the damage was, promoted them to differentiate into neurons or brain cells, and that helped return function. So there's a lot of really good research out there combining both of these stem cells and nanomaterials to help [00:22:00] medicine. 

Anna Jaworski: Okay. I have to ask, I have a friend who has multiple sclerosis. 

Tom Webster: Hmm. 

Anna Jaworski: And that, as you know, is a problem that happens in the brain. Is it possible that we could use this nanotechnology and the stem cell research that you're talking about to actually help produce a better covering for the neural system so that we could reduce some of the signs of muscular sclerosis? 

Tom Webster: I think so. We don't have direct studies in MS or Parkinson's disease or even Alzheimer's disease. But all of those involve certain regions of the brain that are not functioning normally. And what we can do is, theoretically, use those stem cells, use a nano material to keep the stem cell where that damage is, and then regenerate healthy brain activity that could reverse MS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's [00:23:00] disease, a lot of different neurological diseases .

We do have experience with meningitis or brain infections, where again, you could use a nanomaterial and a stem cell. This recently came out, stem cells produce proteins that kill bacteria. So if you inject stem cells, again with a nanomaterial to anchor it, to keep it where it needs to be into brain infection, then you can kill the bacteria causing that infection and at the same time have those stem cells differentiate into neurons to regenerate healthy brain activity. So I think , there's a lot of possibility in the brain, in the heart, in orthopedics, all around the body to use nanomaterials combined with stem cells.

2nd Segment

Heart to Heart with Anna is a presentation of Hearts Unite the Globe and is part of the HUG Podcast Network [00:24:00] Hearts Unite The Globe is a nonprofit organization devoted to providing resources to the congenital heart defect community, to uplift, empower, and enrich the lives of our community members. If you would like access to free resources.

Pertaining to the CHD community, please visit our website at www congenital heart defects.com for information about CHD, the hospitals that treat children with CHD summer camps for CHD survivors and much, much more.

Embark on a heartwarming odyssey with baby heart's pressure. Gateway to uplifting stories for the CHD community. Introducing the heart of a heart warrior book series. Inspiring those born with heart defect and their loved ones. Discover the heart of a mother, the heart of a father, and my brother needs an operation.

Books celebrating strength, love, and familial support. Visit baby hearts press.com and be part of our loving community uplifting [00:25:00] hearts. One story at a time.

Rejoiner: You are listening to Heart to Heart with Anna. If you have a question or comment that you would like addressed on our show, please send an email to Anna Jaworski at Anna at Heart to heart with anna.com. That's Anna at heart to heart with anna.com. Now back to heart. To heart with Anna.

3rd Segment

Anna Jaworski: How would you explain nanotechnology to a curious 10-year-old? 

Tom Webster: First, I would start off and say it's science of the small, and it basically means if you change the size of a particle, of a material, make it smaller. You can get really unique properties and there's a lot of physics involved. There's a lot of advanced concepts involved, but really it boils down to make something smaller and it can be better.

And this is in contrast to a lot of [00:26:00] times we're always thinking make things bigger, right? Bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger whatever. But nanotechnology is showing you, you can make things smaller and get better properties. 

Anna Jaworski: One of the things that we learned about when we were studying for FIRST LEGO League was nanocarbon molecules? 

Tom Webster: Yes.

Anna Jaworski: Does that make sense? Okay. 

Tom Webster: Carbon nanotubes. 

Anna Jaworski: Thank you. Carbon nanotubes. And that's what they were going to use to make that elevator to the moon. 

Tom Webster: It is amazing because these carbon nanotubes are stronger than steel, but lighter than a feather. 

Anna Jaworski: Amazing. 

Tom Webster: So the challenge is how do you put them all together to make this elevator or you make a car or whatever it is you wanna make.

But in theory, the individual carbon nanotube is stronger than steel and lighter than a feather. That's amazing. That's the promise of nano material. [00:27:00] 

Anna Jaworski: Wow. Okay. You were talking about different surfaces that would have different qualities. When you're looking at something at the molecular level, I remember studying this in chemistry, you would see that certain chemicals had certain shapes. Is that what you're talking about? 

Tom Webster: Yes. Yep. And even more on top of that, we love thinking about surfaces. I would bet most people don't think about surfaces on a daily basis. 

Anna Jaworski: Okay. 

Tom Webster: But they're everywhere. Right? We have surfaces everywhere you turn around. So the other way we think about surfaces is a surface is a broken bond.

So maybe you have a polyurethane coating, it's a surface on a deck for your house. That polyurethane has a broken bond at the surface compared to the bulk. A nano texture or a nanomaterial has a lot more of those broken bonds per [00:28:00] volume of material. So that means they have much higher energy to interact with cells, to interact with tissues, to interact in the body. So from a fundamental science level, these materials are so special because they have more broken bonds, they have more energy to interact with cells, to repel bacteria, to promote heart tissue growth, things like that. 

Anna Jaworski: That's just amazing to me. I know one of the problems that we worry about in the heart community is bacterial endocarditis. 

Tom Webster: Hmm. 

Anna Jaworski: And it sounds like to me, if we're using some of these nanoparticles or nano textures, it might actually prevent somebody from having that happen to them. Or if they end up with bacterial endocarditis, maybe you would be able to introduce nanotechnology to cure it.

[00:29:00] Is that possible? 

Tom Webster: Absolutely. To kill those bacteria?. Yeah, absolutely. In fact, in the 30,000 implants that currently are in humans where we haven't seen any signs of infection or any signs of failure, the typical failure rate of all these devices are about five to 10%. And a big part of that is from infection.

MRSA, E. Coli, a lot of these bacteria that happen to get on the implant during surgery, and it has nothing to do with the surgical suite not being clean or the doctor not washing their hands. You bring in the bacteria into the surgical suite. It's on our skin, right? We cannot get rid of it.

Bacteria is part of us. So when we're inserting a material into the body, the bacteria crawls into that incision and occupies that implant surface. So that's why infection rates are pretty high, five to 10% for a number of these [00:30:00] medical devices. And the fact that we've been able to eliminate them is pretty significant, especially too, if you have a medical device that gets infected, you have to remove it. And then try again. The surgeon has to remove that implant, clean out the wound, and then insert a brand new one. And unfortunately, if you get an implant infected once there's a high likelihood it'll happen a second time, a third time, et cetera, et cetera.

The other thing I'll mention about infection is the problem we have right now with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, right? I mentioned MRSA. MRSA's methicillin resistant Staphylococcus orus. So it's a bacteria that the medical community created because we prescribed methicillin to kill that bacteria, and now we have a new mutated bacteria that it's difficult to kill.

So the idea of using nanomaterials to reduce infection without antibiotics is not [00:31:00] contributing to antibiotic-resistant infection. And that's so important. We need solutions to minimize, to eliminate infection that do not rely on antibiotics. And I think, nanotechnology may be that solution.

Anna Jaworski: Yes, it sounds like it absolutely could be that solution. That's just amazing to me because I remember reading not too long ago that there were people who said, maybe we shouldn't be all washing with these soaps that are so strong... 

Tom Webster: mm-hmm 

Anna Jaworski: ...because the germs are becoming resistant to being killed. It's almost like we're making mega germs. 

Tom Webster: Mm-hmm. That's right, and MRSA's not the only antibiotic-resistant bacteria. There are other chemical-resistant bacteria. There are other, types of bacteria that are really wreaking havoc in our healthcare system. In fact, not to scare people, but the Centers for Disease Control [00:32:00] has predicted that by 2050 bacterial infections will be a worse problem than COVID. We have to get a handle on this. We have to get a handle on how bacteria is really extending themselves all throughout our body, especially with medical devices and using non-antibiotic solutions to keep these implants from getting infected, to keep bacteria from causing infections in general in our body.

Anna Jaworski: But to be able to control that through a texture is just fascinating. 

Tom Webster: Yeah. And keep in mind, nature has a lot of these, right? So... 

Anna Jaworski: Right. 

Tom Webster: Nobody likes to think of insects, but if you...

Anna Jaworski: but bees, we learn a lot from bees, right? 

Tom Webster: Right. Bees, locusts or cicadas . We've looked at their wings under a microscope and wouldn't you know it, they have nano textures on their wings and you [00:33:00] cannot grow bacteria on the wings of certain insects.

Obviously, these features are important for reducing bacteria colonization, and in many times we're just borrowing what nature has figured out through centuries. 

Anna Jaworski: Wow. You've launched over a dozen companies. What's the most valuable lesson you've learned, Tom, about turning science into a successful business?

Tom Webster: Yeah, it's hard. 

Anna Jaworski: Yeah. Yeah. I imagine it is. 

Tom Webster: I think the United States is one of the best countries to be in to do this. I live in a part of the United States where entrepreneurship is in our blood, and even still it is very hard. As a part-time professor, part-time entrepreneur, it's even harder.

When you're dedicating half your time to teaching, which I love to do, that's less time to start companies. I think the biggest lesson I have learned [00:34:00] is we as researchers, as scientists, we can't do research in a vacuum. We have to tell people what we're doing. There's a saying in academia.

'Publish or perish'-- that you have to publish papers or else you'll get fired. 

Anna Jaworski: Yeah. 

Tom Webster: Nobody is going to read my paper. And start a company, develop an implant, and get it into humans. You have to be your own advocate, and you have to be out there in the business community talking to CEOs, going to conferences, getting funding from our federal government for small business grants.

You have to do all of these things because it's not just going to happen. It's not just going to land on your lap that somebody is interested in commercializing your technology. So I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned is be proactive. If you believe in your idea, go out there, tell the world and don't give up.

Anna Jaworski: That's excellent [00:35:00] advice. What guidance would you give young innovators who want to improve healthcare through technology? 

Tom Webster: First, I would say, "Identify a problem." There are, unfortunately, a lot of solutions out there for problems that don't exist.

Anna Jaworski: Oh, wow. Really? 

Tom Webster: Especially in healthcare, develop the problem and the solution for that problem. But really-- persistence. I can't tell you how many grants I have written. How many investors I've spoken to, even how many companies I've started that have all failed. It happens, right?

And don't feel like a failure if you don't get a grant. If an investor doesn't like what you're doing. Keep at it. And I know it sounds hard and it is hard, and you have to just pick yourself back up when you get, a failing funding score from the National Science Foundation or from an investor who quite blankly comes out and says, your idea will never make it.

If you believe in it, [00:36:00] go for it and just be persistent because if it truly is a good idea, somebody will invest. Somebody will fund your company. 

Anna Jaworski: It sounds like your idea of going out there, being at conferences, networking, meeting people... you don't know if maybe your solution would be perfect for a different company than what you initially thought it would be.

Tom Webster: Absolutely. 

Anna Jaworski: Until you're talking to people, that's what's innovation, don't you think, Tom? 

Tom Webster: Absolutely. As I mentioned, I started in orthopedics. I did not think of the heart. The brain. Mm-hmm. These other tissues, but other people pulled me into those directions, and it turned out it's working there too.

So, yes, and not only. Do these, the community you build around, you help you mature your idea, help you develop that idea better, but they're also support. And these people are going through the same thing you are. They know how hard it is to start a company, to raise funds, to develop a good idea.

And it's a great [00:37:00] community. It's a great entrepreneurial community to support each other. 

Anna Jaworski: Absolutely. I love it. What emerging technologies or ideas excite you most about the future of heart health? 

Tom Webster: I think it's sensors. Implantable sensors over the next 10 years I believe is going to totally revolutionize healthcare. We're exploring sensors that are on an implant, but they don't have to be on an implant. They could be just under your skin. They could interface. With your body, but these sensors can determine protein changes in your body to indicate heart health. So looking at things like folic acid, looking at things like insulin for diabetes, all of these other indicators, we need real time sensors.

Sensors that you could use your cell phone to gather information from that can plot on a regular 24-hour day. What's happening to these levels of proteins to help predict heart health. [00:38:00] 

Anna Jaworski: Wow. Okay. When you say sensors, I've got my robotic mom cap on and I'm thinking, well, I know about touch sensors and light sensors. There are protein sensors? 

Tom Webster: Yes, in the body too. They're not approved by the FDA, but people are developing them, and we're getting close where you could actually quantify certain proteins in your body that are important to determine. Is your heart functioning normally? Are your kidneys functioning normally?

Anna Jaworski: So all these different vital organs, are they doing okay? And we have sensors now that we think can monitor that, communicate to your cell phone, give you the information. You're your best advocate for health, and give your doctor your primary care physician or your surgeon that same information so that they could look up at any point to see how well you're doing.

That's just amazing. I know that there happen to be [00:39:00] more... I don't know if they're sensors, maybe they are... for people with diabetes now than there used to be is 

Tom Webster: mm-hmm. 

Anna Jaworski: Is that the kind of technology you're talking about? 

Tom Webster: Yes. But that's only based on insulin, right? And blood sugar. But now there's better sensors for more proteins, more ions in your body, more analytes in your body.

So the diabetes community got us started. But now we're going even further into determining a recipe of different proteins and how that relates to your health. 

Anna Jaworski: And it sounds to me like this brings us right back to what we talked about at the beginning. We're looking at things at a nano level. 

Tom Webster: Yes. And these sensors are made of nanomaterials, right?

They're high surface area. Their sensitivity to gather these proteins, to make these measurements. Nanomaterials, are critical in future implantable sensors. 

Anna Jaworski: And they can actually communicate with our cell phone? 

Tom Webster: Yes. Actually pacemakers do that today, right? 

Anna Jaworski: [00:40:00] Right.

Tom Webster: So pacemakers use radio frequencies to communicate to a cell phone or a watch or something else so that is similar technology being used in these sensors that are measuring other things to communicate to your cell phone. 

It sounds like in the future. We'll all be walking around with watches that can let us know so much more about our body than a doctor would've been able to 50 years ago without ordering a absolutely gazillion tests.

Absolutely. It's a walking hospital, right? These sensors are basically a hospital inside us, so it makes it easier to get information, makes it easier to treat problems because it removes this whole what I would call old-fashioned hospital system from our healthcare system.

I am completely fascinated by everything you're talking about. I can't wait to see what else you're going to produce and what's problems you're [00:41:00] going to solve. Tom, thank you so much for coming on the program today. 

Thank you again. I appreciate your interest In science and technology and medicine and let's solve this. Let's solve some of the biggest healthcare problems. 

I agree. Let's do it. You've got me motivated. I don't know what I'm doing, but I can at least give you a platform to talk about it because I'm just fascinated with this. It is amazing. 

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Reflection and Conclusion

Anna Jaworski: As I listen back to my conversation with Tom and reflect on this month's CHD news, I'm struck by a theme that carried through my travels, my writing retreat, my time with family, and even today's science connection

Whether it's the connections we form across continents, the emotional connections that sustain us, or the microscopic connections within our own DNA and heart tissue-- all of them shape who we are and how we heal. I hope today's stories, today's [00:42:00] news and today's interview give you a sense of the incredible work happening on every level of heart health, from the personal to the genetic, and all the way down to the nano.

Thank you for being here with me. Thank you for caring about science, about stories, and about each other, and as always, remember my friends, you are not alone.

Conclusion: Thank you again for joining us this week. We hope you have become inspired and empowered to become an advocate for the congenital heart community. Heart to heart with Anna, with your host, Anna Jaworski can be heard at any time wherever you get your podcasts. A new [00:43:00] episode is released every Tuesday from noon Eastern time.