EJ Manuel, a former first-round NFL Draft pick, joined ACC Network in 2019 and is a studio analyst on The Huddle, ACCN’s signature football show that airs Saturday mornings throughout the fall. He also makes regular appearances across ESPN’s studio shows including SportsCenter and College Football Live during the college football season. Along with his ESPN duties, Manuel co-hosts Off Campus on SiriusXM with Jimbo Fisher and Jacob Hester. One of the most productive quarterbacks in Florida State history, Manuel led the Seminoles to a 25-6 record as a starter during the 2009-12 seasons, and the fourth-most wins in program history. The Virginia Beach, Virginia, native also helped Florida State to notable victories including the 2013 Discover Orange Bowl, 2012 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game and 2009 Gator Bowl – the final game of legendary coach Bobby Bowden’s career. He is the second quarterback in FBS history to win four straight bowl games, and also went 15-3 in his career against ACC opponents. Manuel is FSU’s all-time leader in completion percentage (66.9), which is tied for third in ACC history, and ranks among the top five Seminole quarterbacks all-time for passing yards (7,736, 4th), total offense (8,563, 3rd), completions (600, 3rd) and attempts (897, 5th), despite only two seasons as the full-time starter. He earned second team All-ACC honors for the 2012 season and was named the 2013 Senior Bowl MVP. Following his career at FSU, Manuel was a first-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2013.

Christian Ponder is a former American football quarterback who played six seasons in the NFL, most notably with the Minnesota Vikings, who drafted him 12th overall in the first round of the 2011 draft. He played college football at Florida State, where he was a three-year starter and won the 2010 Bobby Bowden Award. After his NFL career, which also included stints with the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers, he has been involved in business ventures and works on a platform for athletes transitioning to the business world. The Post by Christian Ponder is an invite-only leadership network for athletes who have transitioned into business careers. It provides a community, professional coaching, exclusive content, and physical clubhouses for members to connect, learn, and grow their professional lives after sports.

The Neuralink N1 chip is a brain-computer interface (BCI) device with 1,024 electrodes across 64 ultra-thin, flexible threads that are surgically implanted into the brain by a robotic system. The coin-sized implant records neural activity, processes the signals, and transmits them wirelessly via Bluetooth to a connected app, which allows users to control external devices like a computer cursor with their thoughts. It is designed to be fully implantable, hermetically sealed, and wirelessly charged.

Dr. McCarthy is a board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist practicing at the South Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Jupiter, Florida. Dr McCarthy completed her undergraduate work at Dartmouth before attending medical school at the University of Michigan where she graduated with distinction in research. Dr. McCarthy completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a clinical and research fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Michigan Medical Center. She is one of only a handful of physicians selected by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology to complete her training as a combined, 6 year residency/fellowship. After completing her training in 2010, Dr McCarthy moved to Florida because, after growing up in New England and training in Michigan, she was tired of not being able to feel her fingers. She loves living in South Florida with her husband and 2 grown children. Dr McCarthy focuses on providing her patients with patient-centered care with a personal touch. She is an active member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (SREI), and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). She is an ad-hoc reviewer for ASRM and the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, Akheem Mesidor has taken a unique path to his future in the NFL. After a stint at the Royal Imperial Collegiate of Canada, Mesidor made waves at Clearwater Academy International in Florida, racking up 92 tackles and 10 sacks in his senior year. His dominance caught the eye of college recruiters, earning him a 4-star rating from ESPN. Mesidor’s college career began at West Virginia, where he quickly established himself as a defensive standout. In just two seasons with the Mountaineers, he amassed 70 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, and 9.5 sacks. His freshman campaign was particularly impressive, earning him spots on multiple Freshman All-America teams and All-Big 12 Second Team honors. Transferring to Miami (FL) for his junior season, Mesidor continued to wreak havoc in the backfield. Despite an injury-shortened 2023 campaign, his 2022 performance showcased his potential, notching 38 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and a team-leading seven sacks. His standout game against Virginia Tech, where he recorded 3.5 sacks, earned him national recognition as the Walter Camp National FBS Defensive Player of the Week.

Mr. Phillips served as Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Treasury from January 2017 to January 2019. Under Secretary Mnuchin, he focused on financial institution and capital markets policy, fiscal operations, government asset and liability management and general economic policy. He led the development for policy under the Core Principles established by Executive Order 13772. He supported Secretary Mnuchin in the development of policy for comprehensive housing finance reform and in oversight of Treasury’s investment in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Between 2008 and 2017, Mr. Phillips was a Managing Director of BlackRock where he founded and led the Financial Markets Advisory Group, a global risk consulting group that leveraged the strengths of BlackRock’s Aladdin risk platform. Mr. Phillips is a pioneer in the securitized products industry. He led numerous innovations in residential mortgage, asset-backed and commercial real estate securitization markets. From 1994 to 2006 he was a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley and led its global Securitized Product Group. Mr. Phillips serves on the Board of Directors of Ripple, a leading financial technology company that has developed a real-time gross settlement system powered by blockchain ledger that is revolutionizing the speed and efficiency of cross-border payments.

J. Mack Slaughter Jr. is an American emergency physician, philanthropist, youtuber, tiktoker and retired actor and singer. Slaughter began acting in local theatre as a child. At the age of 15, he successfully auditioned for a boy band called Sons of Harmony started by a radio station in Dallas. They toured with Destiny’s Child and opened for Bon Jovi and Jessica Simpson. Three years later, in 2001, the band broke up, after which Slaughter moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. In 2003, he won the role of Keith in the WB sitcom Like Family. The following year, Slaughter had a role in the comedy film, Fat Albert, starring Kenan Thompson and Kyla Pratt. In 2008, he founded the non-profit Music Meets Medicine, where musicians volunteer with children and youth at local hospitals, performing and teaching music. In 2018, Music Meets Medicine teamed up with non-profit, Kidd’s Kids, to raise $150,000 to create a therapeutic arts space at Dallas Children’s Medical Center.

Slaughter eventually left acting to attend UT Southwestern Medical School, graduating in 2013 and is currently an emergency room physician, at several hospitals in the Fort Worth area.

Dr. Dipen J. Parekh is a globally renowned urologic oncologist, healthcare innovator, and leader in academic medicine. He was appointed Executive Vice President for Health Affairs at the University of Miami and Chief Executive Officer of its health system (UHealth) on June 1, 2025. He remains Founding Director of the Desai Sethi Urology Institute and is an accomplished researcher and professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine who holds the Victor A. Politano Endowed Chair in Urology and is widely celebrated for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of robotic-assisted urologic oncology. Having served as Chief Operating Officer of UHealth from 2020-2025, Chief Clinical Officer from 2017-2020, Chairman of the Department of Urology since 2012, Executive Dean of Clinical Affairs at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Director of Robotic Surgery for UHealth, Dr. Parekh brings a wealth of academic, clinical, administrative, and institutional experience to the role.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Parekh has performed more than 6,000 robotic urologic cancer surgeries, making him one of the most experienced practitioners worldwide. He led the groundbreaking RAZOR trial, published in The Lancet in 2018, which established the efficacy of robotic-assisted radical cystectomy as comparable to open surgery for bladder cancer. He is an NCI funded surgeon scientist with over 200 peer reviewed publications in urologic oncology. His dedication to innovation has also included establishing advanced robotic surgery programs in academic centers across the globe.