Empowered Patient Podcast

Will Cantrell is the Director of Product Solutions at InteliChart, a SaaS-based service providing digital tools to providers and EHR partners. Their focus is on the workflows of staff and clinicians and the patient experience in a telehealth environment or in-person appointment. InteliChart integrates existing systems with innovative technology to facilitate scheduling, reduce clinician stress, encourage preventative care, and better manage chronic diseases. Will explains, "We focus more on workflows for staff to move in between patient visits, initiate sessions, put patients back in waiting rooms, move them between providers, and the patient experience is our primary focus. We can spend a lot of time building that in, not just to a telehealth workflow but into the entirety of the patient journey, and trying to bring that back to the patient portal, which is the hub of engagement for us. So, the patient gets more of a seamless experience through all their touch points." "You don't have to worry about travel

Dr. Björn Mellgård, VP and Global Program Lead of rare genetics and hematology at Takeda, is passionate about finding a cure for cTTP, congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.  This ultra-rare disease, caused by an enzyme deficiency, presents in early childhood and results in life-threatening blood clots. With their investigational drug TAK-755, a recombinant enzyme, the volume is very small, and the infusion takes four to five minutes and is a replacement therapy to allow patients to avoid daily symptoms and acute episodes. Björn explains, "What happens then is that we have our coagulation system, and many people have heard about bleeding disorders, mainly probably hemophilia, where you lack certain factors which are important to make the blood clot. TTP is on the other side of the spectrum, and the deficiency we're talking about, this ADAMTS13 enzyme, is also importantly involved in blood coagulation." "But the effect is when you don't have this enzyme present. The blood has a tendency to spontaneou

Steve Taddei, Co-Founder and Lab Director of HearAdvisor created to provide unbiased, scientifically-based analysis of over-the-counter hearing aids. With recent legislation allowing hearing aids to be sold directly to consumers and online, there is a need for a clear understanding of the features and benefits of available audio-enhancing technology. Using a life-like mannequin equipped with microphones, HearAdvisor can perform repeatable experiments to test the hearing aids across several categories and rank them for different purposes. Steve explains, "Selecting devices that we found to perform best was quite a process, and I would like to say that HearAdvisor is an independent lab. We are not owned by any hearing aid company. We're kind of three hearing technology nerds or just audiology nerds, people who love sound, acoustics, and hearing. We saw this problem, we came together, and we used as best as possible, the scientific approach to make recordings of all these devices. These recordings emulate, as b

Dr. Zereana Jess-Huff, Senior VP of North American Operations at United We Care, a digital behavioral health company, created Stella. This advanced generative AI solution recognizes 40 human emotions and speaks 29 languages. Accessed through mobile apps and WhatsApp, this resource is interactive and available 24/7 to address daily stress issues and clinical diagnoses.  A clinician-led self-paced, asynchronous video-based clinical program is available, as is coaching and resource material. Zereana elaborates, "Stella is designed to meet and treat you where you're at on a behavioral health spectrum because, as individuals, we move up and down the spectrum at any given point in our lives. Stella is targeted to be able to treat the wide spectrum, and the solution as a whole is a full stack solution, which again allows us to treat the user from subclinical up to hospitalization in terms of treatment." "So we are working on avatars right now. The intention is to create human-like faces that come in a number of na

Dr. Fahar Merchant, President, CEO, and Co-Founder of Medicenna Therapeutics, talks about the role cytokines play in managing the immune system, activating the system, or dampening the immune response depending on the circumstances.  When the system is out of balance, pathogens and cancers can attack, or autoimmune diseases can occur. MDNA11 is an engineered cytokine or superkine which can be used to effectively deliver drugs to treat a range of solid tumors. in addition, MDNA11 is being fused with a checkpoint inhibitor to both stimulate the immune system and reverse the exhaustion of cancer-fighting immune cells. Fahar elaborates, "Engineered cytokines, or superkines, essentially have been designed so that these molecules are much more effective, they're much safer to administer, and therefore have better outcomes than naturally occurring cytokines. So naturally occurring cytokines tend to be rather small. They clear the kidneys very, very quickly, so they're not in the bloodstream for long enough."  "The

Dr. Sachin Dev is a former physician and previous Gartner analyst, currently overseeing innovation and transformation in RGP's healthcare practice. Sachin points to the changes during the pandemic that were required for telehealth solutions to meet the needs of patients and providers. The technology necessary to build these systems into hybrid environments must take advantage of generative AI and automation with a focus on value-based care.  Sachin explains, "When we look at it from our technology standpoint, we have seen some significant development in the technology. When we look at all the different innovations, especially in the healthcare industry, both on the payer and provider side, in the last two or three years since the pandemic, we have come along very well from a technology standpoint." "But, one thing that is lacking is the adoption. That's where, again, there's a big delta when we look at what kind of technology we have available today as to how that technology is utilized to improve patient car

Dr. Paulo Garcia, CEO and Co-Founder of Kytopen, is developing systems to refine the types of payloads, including RNA, DNA, and CRISPR-Cas RMP, that can be delivered to primary T cells, primary Natural Killer cells, and CD34 stem cells. To maximize the number of successfully engineered cells, the Flowfect Discovery technology, using a non-viral approach, automates the process of cell engineering and gene delivery into cells while dramatically reducing the time to produce the cells. Paulo explains, "One of the key differentiating aspects of our technology is that we are using a continuous fluid flow format for the engineering of our cells. This fluid flow contributes to the delivery of these payloads to the different cells. And to put it into perspective, the flow rates that we use are quite large. They are in the tens of milliliters per minute. And if you translate that into a throughput of cells, you're talking about being able to process anywhere between 1 to 2 billion cells in 30 seconds. And these are lar

Tuvik Beker, CEO, and Ranit Aharonov, CTO of Pangea Biomed, have designed ENLIGHT, a computational platform driving precision oncology that matches cancer tumors with available therapies. Drawing on an understanding of synthetic mortality and synthetic rescue, this approach focuses on how the interaction between genes increases or decreases the tumor cell's fitness and the likely response to a drug. Determining which populations might benefit most from a drug opens the door to new treatments for common and rare diseases. Tuvik explains, "When we match therapies to patients, just according to the pure genetic characteristics of the tumor, sometimes we miss potential therapies, and sometimes we give patients therapies that do not work very effectively. To solve that, we developed ENLIGHT, which looks at the broader characteristics of the tumor, not just at the target gene, but multiple interactions, and that way, we can find potential therapies that are missed by the current guidelines and common biomarkers."

Gloria Caulfield is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Tavistock and Executive Director of the Lake Nona Institute, which is part of the Lake Nona Life Sciences Innovation and Wellness Community. Lake Nona is a planned city within Orlando, Florida, that is focused on the health and well-being of the citizens who live and work there.  One of the key economic drivers is the health and life sciences innovation cluster which includes the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, a VA Medical Center, and the Nemours Children's Hospital, a state-of-the-art pediatric healthcare system. Gloria explains, "There is no question that it's a collaborative community when you're building something this new and this unique. We have leaders of these institutions that have come from all different parts of the country to bring their careers here to focus on building this new ecosystem. It fosters a spirit of collaboration, which starts with Tavistock. Tavistock as the developer, we chair research councils a

James McCullough, CEO of Renalytix, is focused on preventive care for those most likely to get chronic kidney disease. Diagnostics and risk assessment of patients earlier in the disease cycle emphasize maintaining kidney health rather than managing complications from late-stage kidney disease and kidney failure. Using a machine-learning algorithm to look at blood-based biomarkers and EMR data, the KidneyIntelX system provides the clinician with a risk score and guidelines for treatment. James elaborates, "There are five stages of kidney disease. We're focused on the early stages, so stages 1 through 3, before the majority of damage is done to the kidney. When you have therapeutic intervention, lifestyle intervention, you get specialist involvement, you have a pretty good shot at slowing or stopping the progression of the disease into the later stages, stages 4 and 5, where your options start to become limited." "With KidneyIntelX now, for the first time, we can start to see risk assessment taking place at the

Yarone Goren, Co-Founder and COO of SteadyMD powers telehealth for providers by providing the clinician workforce licensed in the states where the patients are located.  Supported by behind-the-scenes clinical operations and patient interface, clinicians can give virtual care in addition to performing their traditional roles. With the growth in the demand for telemedicine, this solution provides a path for clinicians and digital health companies to meet the needs of patients for primary and disease-specific care and to manage chronic conditions on demand. Yarone explains, "What we do for a lot of our customers is provide the clinician workforce, the doctors, the nurses, the therapists, licensed, kind of a crazy Venn diagram of licensure across all the states where they need it. We do clinical operations, meaning we work closely with clinicians to schedule them to ensure that they appear for their scheduled shifts, train them on all the technology they need to use, and ensure that they meet all the clinical qu

Dr. Tariq Arshad is the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Qualigen Therapeutics, addressing multiple types of RAS-driven cancers. While researchers understand RAS's role in tumorgenesis and have identified which cancers are RAS-driven, RAS has been considered an undruggable target. With a pan-RAS approach inhibiting KRAS, HRAS and NRAS, the three isoforms of RAS, Qualigen is identifying drug candidates showing strong anti-tumor efficacy.    Tariq elaborates, "That was so difficult to do because when you look at the KRAS protein itself, it's a complicated, three-dimensional structure that constantly changes. The opening, or the aperture, where a small molecule can attach and inhibit the G12C moiety or specifically the cysteine amino acid, which is targeted by these inhibitors, it appears for a very, very short period of time. It's nothing short of a miracle of bioengineering, and specifically medicinal chemistry that we've been able to identify these inhibitors that can target that subcompone

Patty Hayward, General Manager, Healthcare and Life Sciences at Talkdesk, is addressing staff burnout due to the increased demand for patient support and rising patient expectations to get questions answered, appointments scheduled, and issues resolved.  Through AI, chatbots, and automation of basic tasks, staff can spend more time with patients to address complex problems. While some patients still like to talk to a live person on the phone, the use of technology allows for real-time responses to many concerns through a patient portal or contact center that has access to patient EMR including history and current medical condition. Patty explains, "People come into healthcare specifically because they want to help people. Healthcare is very personal, and so when you don't have the time and space and resources often to deliver that empathetic experience to really help people, that can lead to a real high level of burnout feeling, a lot of frustration, and you're not having that job satisfaction that you got i

James Graham is the CEO of Recce Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on the global antibiotic-resistant patient population. This new class of synthetic antibiotics takes a broad-spectrum approach to kill bacterial infections, which continue to mutate, rendering existing antibiotics ineffective.  The founding inventor of Recce is Dr. Graham Melrose, the grandfather of James, who has grown this idea into one of the top-performing biotech stocks in Australia. James explains, "As you may know, by my accent, I’m an Australian. I think Australia found the first penicillin, which worked well for everyone around the world for a number of years. But it’s time for a new penicillin, penicillin 2.0, or one entirely synthetic, not reliant on existing natural processes. And that’s what we’ve fundamentally started with, beginning with the end in mind that is Recce antibiotics. So I really say the challenge, the silent pandemic is right upon us. You only have to look at the AMR resistance rates. I think raising

Jennifer Jones-McMeans, Divisional Vice President of Global Clinical Affairs at Abbott, discusses Abbot's new diversity initiative to help address mistrust and societal barriers that underrepresented populations face in receiving healthcare and participating in clinical trials. Through partnerships, clinical research coordinators from diverse backgrounds working in smaller institutions are trained to work with these populations. Norton Health with the Institute for Health Equity is putting funding and infrastructure in place to build a research program model for historically Black colleges and universities to attract more diverse participation in trials and build more vital research institutions.      Jennifer explains, "I had a good conversation with a physician today from the New York area, and we talked about one barrier that is translation. We discussed that the clinical trial this individual is working on did not have the resources for translation services. And so, if you think about something as simple

Que Dallara, Executive Vice President and President of the Diabetes Operating Unit at Medtronic, is enthusiastic about the MiniMed 780G system, a recently FDA approved solution for people with type 1 diabetes. This system has a continuous glucose monitor, insulin pump, and mobile app that connects with CareLink, which allows the physician and family members to follow the patient as well.  This automated insulin delivery eliminates the need to count carbs and calibrates to each individual's eating habits for more accurate dosing.  Que explains, "It's the first of its kind that has automated adjustments and corrections to insulin delivery without needing the patient to do anything. The existing systems on the market have automated basal delivery, which helps to some degree, but we've introduced this concept of meal detection technology. It can figure out that you're having a meal. For example, if you're undercounting your carbs, it can notice that you're actually having a meal and then provide order corrections

Joe Todisco, CEO of CorMedix, is developing a product that has broad spectrum activity against bacteria and fungus to impact the safety of receiving hemodialysis through a central venous catheter. With the recent acceptance by the FDA of the submission for DefenCath, CorMedix is hopeful of obtaining FDA approval for this therapeutic to prevent bloodstream infections. Since the active ingredient is not an antibiotic, the drug does not further the problem of antibiotic resistance. Joe explains, "The lead indication for the product is for the reduction in risk associated with catheter-related bloodstream infections in hemodialysis patients undergoing hemodialysis with a central venous catheter, CVC. Catheter-related bloodstream infections, or CRBSIs, are one of the most severe adverse consequences associated with getting hemodialysis through a CVC. The incidence rate in the general population is about 25% to 33%, and they can be fatal up to 25% of the time. So it's a critical unmet medical need. There is no cur

Jeff Hackman, CEO of Comera Life Sciences, recognizes the need to find a more efficient, patient-friendly solution for receiving biologics rather than being administered by IV therapy. Using the SQore platform, a proprietary technology, Comera is reformulating IV biologics to Sub-Q utilizing small molecule chemistry and an understanding of excipients. Seven out of ten global medicines are biologics, and most are administered by IV, providing a tremendous opportunity to expand access to biologics using Sub-Q technology. Jeff elaborates, "Our mission is to transform these biologic therapies into a different form, a subcutaneous form. That form takes on the ability of these patients to administer these medicines for themselves, at home, at school, and at work. So really, what the summary of this mission is, through the freedom of self-injectable care, we hope that these patients can live a life without the burden of this therapy and the ability to be able to make their lives more livable." "Excipients have been

Allison Jacob, Senior Medical Director at Adaptive Biotechnologies, uses their technology to decode the genetic language of the immune system and develop clinical diagnostics and therapeutics for hematologic malignancies. With a focus on the adaptive immune system and the receptors of B and T cells, the platform is used to identify, monitor and precisely quantify tumor cells over time. In the past, MRD stood for minimal residual disease, but due to more accurate testing, the goal now is measurable residual disease, MRD, negativity. Allison explains, "The clonoSEQ technology essentially looks at rearrangements in the DNA of proteins that are expressed on B cells, and we're harnessing something that the immune system created for us. So, unlike other genes that we talk about in cancer, let's say like BRCA1, where you have a normal version of that and a mutated version of that, B-cell receptors are constantly having to shuffle and create new gDNA sequences, again, to be able to recognize these foreign invaders."

Alicia Staley is the VP of Patient Engagement at Medidata and working to bring more technology and software solutions to clinical research. With a focus on creating patient-centric clinical trials, Alicia emphasizes the value of digital tools to drive diversity of participation and retention. As a cancer survivor and patient advocate, Alicia has deep insights into how clinical trials are run and who participates.  Alicia explains, "I think the entire industry is still responding to what life looks like post-COVID. However, in particular, in clinical research, this gravitation toward more digital tools to support clinical research is still very much at the forefront. Topics like decentralized clinical trials and patient portals, patient registries, and ways to support the patient through the clinical journey using digital tools, sensors, and wearables are very much at the forefront of the conversations we're having today. Clearly there is an interest in going in that direction. And I think we learned during t