Austin Next

Nothing motivates a parent to action like a sick child, and for the Andrews family, words like no and impossible became mere roadblocks on their journey to help their kids. Our guests, Pam and Chris Andrews, founders of the Firefly Fund, turned their battle with their daughters' rare genetic disorder into a mission to revolutionize rare disease research and treatment here in Austin and beyond.

Episode Highlights
  • Firefly Fund's Origin
  • Establishing a Rare Disease Center at UT Dell Medical School 
  • Navigating the Diagnostic Odyssey
  • Interplay of Tech Innovation and New Business Models in Healthcare
  • Downstream Effects of Rare Disease Advancements
  • What's Next, Austin?
    • Pam Andrews: "Let's see how the intersection of technology and healthcare really can transform healthcare because I think that rare disease can light the way and inform the way that we do precision medicine for generations to come. So that's what we want through the Center for Rare Disease here in Austin is for it to evolve and unfold in a partnership with the rare disease community."
    • Chris Andrews: "My dream is that when people think of Austin, they'll think of the University of Texas, they'll think of barbecue, but they also will think of a place where people work to save lives."
Firefly Fund: Website, Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn


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Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

What is Austin Next?

Austin is building the new tech, cultural, and intellectual stack. The region is a living laboratory to answer a single question: How do you build a global innovation superpower?

Host Jason Scharf dissects innovation from the individual to the ecosystem. From the soundstage to the data center to the fab, we decode the mechanics of Austin's innovation ecosystem.

As Atoms, Bits, and Intelligence converge, we explore how Hard Tech scale, digital velocity, and creative density collide. This is an audit of the future. We map the physics of the flywheel so builders and investors can navigate the chaos.