Episode Description
What if a single strand of hair could reveal your body's chemical exposure history, all the way back to the womb? Dr. Manish Arora, environmental epidemiologist, CEO of LinusBio, and professor at Mount Sinai, joins Nurse Rosa to explain why your environment shapes your health more than your genes ever could. Dr. Arora's team developed the TRACED test, an at-home, hair-based exposure test that measures 15 essential and toxic elements (including lead, arsenic, cadmium, and aluminum) with time-stamped resolution across roughly 30 days. Unlike blood or urine tests that capture a single moment, TRACED gives you a molecular movie of your exposure over time; no clinic visit, no needles, no blood draw. His research also earned FDA Breakthrough Designation for an autism biomarker detectable as early as one month old. 🎧 Now available on the Health Podcast Library 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations at the intersection of nursing, innovation, and health Timestamps 0:00 — Intro & Dr. Arora's background 0:51 — The story behind his name (named himself at age 3!) 2:43 — What is Linus Bio and why he founded it 5:10 — Personal journey: triplet daughters & a misdiagnosis of autism 8:38 — Why genomic medicine alone isn't enough 9:07 — Introducing the exposome: the complement to the genome 10:43 — How the TRACED hair-based test works 11:43 — Why hair vs. blood or urine testing 13:41 — TRACED: what it measures (lead, arsenic, aluminum, and more) 16:13 — Weekend vs. weekday exposure patterns 15:39 — How AI models interpret your results 17:05 — Making it accessible: no prescription needed, available on Amazon 17:38 — Why they bypassed the healthcare system intentionally 20:24 — The rhythm of cholesterol (and a Springsteen analogy) 23:43 — Clinical blind spots TRACED addresses 25:21 — PFAS, microplastics, phthalates — what's coming in the next version 30:00 — Wildfire community deployment (Eaton & Palisades fires) 35:33 — How academics can turn research into real-world products 36:42 — What it took to build a business from science 43:44 — How clinicians should interpret TRACED results 45:11 — TRACED for telehealth, longevity & remote communities 35:07 — The research-to-practice translation gap (13–17 years!) 46:27 — The billion-dollar question: newborn autism screening + universal exposome profiling 37:33 — ClearStrand ASD: screening for autism at 1 month old 43:55 — How to order TRACED (traced.life) & connect with Dr. Arora Connect & Resources TRACED test: https://traced.life/ Linus Bio: https://www.linusbio.com/ Dr. Manish Arora on LinkedIn Nurse Rosa on LinkedIn & your favorite social media platform @NurseRosaSpeaks Nurse Rosa's INsights is a nurse-led healthcare leadership and innovation podcast hosted by Rosa Hart. We explore nursing leadership, healthcare policy, primary care challenges, AI in healthcare, clinical practice transformation, and bold solutions from clinicians, founders, and thought leaders. Subscribe for weekly episodes featuring evidence-based insights, expert interviews, and actionable strategies designed for nurses, healthcare professionals, system leaders, and advocates. Topics include: • Primary care system reform • AI in nursing & health tech • Clinical innovation & patient outcomes • Workforce sustainability & nursing leadership • Healthcare communication & advocacy Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts & all major platforms.
