Empowered Patient Podcast

Beena Wood, Senior VP of Safety and Medical at ArisGlobal, highlights how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing patient-centricity in drug development, pointing out the factors drawing more interest in this challenge. The LifeSphere drug development platform aims to drive patient-centric guidance by providing access to real-world data and enabling patient collaboration. Beena emphasizes the importance of engaging a diverse universe of patients and leveraging AI, data analytics, and machine learning to reveal hidden insights from the data to improve drug testing and safety. Beena explains, "Before specifically diving into how AI helps, I want to step back a bit on what the forces that drive patient-centricity are. I don't think these forces are new. They had existed, but I think they have been accelerating that patient-centricity conversation, especially with patients increasingly taking charge of their health and becoming more empowered. I think that drives the life sciences companies to focus on that an

Frank Forte, CEO of AnatomyIT, provides cybersecurity, IT, and value-based healthcare services to organizations that need help making an intelligent transformation to healthcare IT. Despite the prevalence of new technology, many providers and payers still rely on paper and fax machines, and data security risks and privacy issues still need to be addressed. Frank points out the need for change management and training to integrate generative AI and automate manual tasks to improve efficiency, clinician acceptance, and patient outcomes.   Frank explains, "But look, traditionally, when people thought of IT, they thought of a help desk. That was what came to mind. Networks, routers, cables, hardware, all those things that lived in the basement or the closet. And that's how I thought of IT. I would say that most IT initiatives were not received well, specifically from people who needed it the most, like clinicians, caregivers, and nurses, where it required a change in workflow, adopting new technology, or even rem

Dr. Barnaby Balmforth, Co-Founder and CEO of Biofidelity, has a mission to make genomic analysis simpler, faster, and more reliable for treatment decisions. Biofidelity addresses genome sequencing challenges by using a targeted approach and unique technology that allows for local testing using PCR rather than DNA sequencers. Thanks to COVID, an existing global infrastructure of PCR equipment provides an opportunity to target specific biomarkers and deliver actionable information to physicians and patients.   Barnaby explains, "The challenge as we see it is that in this modern oncology era, there is now a wide need for multi-gene genomic profiling of patients. The only solution that has been available to enable that is DNA sequencing. The media has quite widely covered how the genomics market is growing, and the cost of sequencing is shrinking. But sadly, in the clinical space, oncologists and patients are still failing to fully experience the benefits of this technology." "It is not a simple process to perfor

Devra Densmore, principal consultant at Elevate Advocacy, explains the FDA has released guidance to drive Diversity Action Plans to ensure that clinical trials are representative of affected patients. Emphasizing the need for a thoughtful and strategic approach to diversity, Devra highlights inclusivity includes accessibility and listening to patient advocates to meet the needs of marginalized communities.   Devra explains, "This is a very exciting time where, by releasing these guidance documents, the FDA is setting a standard for the expectation that industry and study sponsors have a very intentional approach to ensuring that their studies are representative. That the therapies or devices that are created are beneficial for all people affected by the conditions that those medications and devices are supposed to solve for." "So, for me, these Diversity Action Plans are a really exciting opportunity for industry to think about what it wants to do in this space. How can it contribute to making sure that heal

Arthur Bretschneider, CEO and Co-Founder of Seniorly, a discovery platform and marketplace providing essential information to make informed decisions about senior housing options. The website brings transparency to the search process, including information about price, amenities, and care options, which have traditionally been challenging to determine. A network of senior living advisors, an AI-powered virtual advisor, and a recommendation engine all support finding the right senior housing community. Arthur explains, "One of the things about senior living that is so complicated is frankly understanding pricing. And so, why is it complicated? There are a few factors. One is that often, people don't understand the nuances in senior housing, the sort of segmentation of different properties. So you might hear assisted living, you might hear independent living, memory care, and Alzheimer's care. There are all sorts of nuances of the different types of care that these communities can support." "But the other piec

Pablo Pantaleoni, Chief Digital Officer of LifeStance Health, aims to improve access to affordable mental health services by providing digital tools to support patients throughout their treatment journey. LifeStance also focuses on supporting clinicians by streamlining administrative tasks, facilitating booking, and providing ongoing care virtually and in person. Pablo sees AI as a co-pilot tool to streamline some processes for patients and providers while emphasizing the key role of clinicians. Pablo explains, "On top of this, we want to ensure you can meet people where they are. This means certain people, especially after COVID, prefer to visit a clinician online, and others prefer to see somebody in person. And you'll be surprised. There's a significant number of people that like to jump from one channel to the other. Our unique hybrid model allows us to meet people where they are so people can choose if they want to see somebody in person or virtually."   "I'm glad you're asking about the clinician exper

Jay Ackerman is the CEO of Reveleer, a  data and analytics company that works with payers and providers to support them in quality improvement and risk adjustment in a value-based care environment. Using AI, natural language processing, and integration of diverse databases, Reveleer is reducing administrative burdens and supporting providers to make more informed decisions for patient care.   Jay explains, "In the AI world, a lot is being done to drive productivity and efficiency for payers and providers to anticipate how someone's health is shifting and changing. But for us, in the world of AI, what we're focused on and how we're trying to use AI, when we talk about quality improvement and risk adjustments, we ingest massive clinical data on each of these members, on each of these patients, we could capture thousands of pages." "We use AI to quickly digest, organize, and mine that data to understand what has happened over time for that member and what we think could be happening as they go forward. What we'

Dr. Colin Banas, Chief Medical Officer at DrFirst, defines the term clinical-grade AI as he distinguishes it from other forms of AI that may not be trained on robust clinical data. He emphasizes the need for accurate and complete data in healthcare records and the challenges of semantic interoperability and biases when working with AI models. Potential applications for clinical-grade AI include identifying insights about population healthcare, spotting clinical research trends, and addressing burnout by automating administrative tasks, allowing clinicians to focus on patient care.   Colin elaborates, "DrFirst, as many folks know, got its start as an e-prescribing company over 23 years ago. From there, it blossomed into a robust set of solutions around what I call the sweet spot for the company, which is intelligent medication management. This is all the way from writing the prescription to making sure the patient takes the prescription. The care team understands prescription lists and the way that the prescri

Vivian DeWoskin, Chief Commercial Officer at NeuraLight, focuses on developing solutions for diagnosing, monitoring and treating neurodegenerative diseases using oculometric data. Using computer vision and deep learning techniques, data from measuring eye position and movement can provide biomarkers for early detection and insights into neurological health. This non-invasive technology is being tested in the PALOMA study, a longitudinal study of Parkinson's patients designed to develop one biomarker as a monitoring and assessment tool.  Vivian explains, "The reason that this works or theoretically works is that there's a very well-characterized ocular motor system. We know a lot about the ocular motor system and the relationship between eye movement and different parts of the brain. When we talk about oculometrics, we're not just measuring one thing. We're talking about measuring multiple aspects of eye movement and function. Those different aspects are related to a variety of different neural pathways. So,

 Ivana Naeymi-Rad, Chief Operating Officer at Intelligent Medical Objects, works with providers, payers, and life science companies to help them make sense of data. IMO specializes in data quality, cleaning paper-based data, and data interoperability in structured and unstructured formats. Sentiment analysis provides insights into the emotions of providers and patients, while AI and large language models support data entry and improve provider workflow. IMO also focuses on addressing the complexities of data in the context of drug discovery, genomics, and precision medicine.  Ivana explains, "We started with this foundational clinical interface terminology that has been a big part of the building blocks as we've expanded into this data quality platform. The terminology allows us to better understand clinical data in ways you wouldn't be able to understand by looking at it. We've worked with providers, we've worked with health systems to take their data to ingest it, and then we have a team of clinicians and

Vasu Chandrasekaran, VP of real-world data and analytics at Ontada, provides an electronic health record platform, iKnowMed, used by community oncology providers to practice evidence-based and patient-centered medicine better.  They also work closely with the US Oncology Network to improve access to new therapies and clinical trials. Using real-world data to generate real-world evidence allows Ontada, in partnership with biopharma companies, to drive drug discovery and development, conduct more diverse trials, and better understand the effectiveness of treatments. Vasu explains, "Community oncology is where most of the cancer care happens. We enable those physicians in the community to practice evidence-based and patient-centered medicine through our EHR platform. Our clinical decision support system and other workflows built into the EHR platform enable physicians to practice oncology and deliver precise care to patients in the community. That's the first thing I would say. That's one of the offerings." "A

Arun Menawat, CEO of Profound Medical, discusses the challenges of treating prostate cancer and how traditional treatments like prostate removal or radiation often result in side effects and complications. While historically, a PSA blood test has been used for diagnosis, an MRI provides a more precise and efficient diagnostic tool. In addition, Profound is using real-time MRI-guided thermal ultrasound to precisely target and kill cancer cells while maintaining vital functions. Arun explains, "MRI is the best way to really diagnose prostate cancer. And because you can see inside, you can see the cellular structure and that is what's important when physicians review. Our primary message is if you're using the MRI to diagnose, why would you not use that MRI also to treat the patient? Because you can see the urethra where urine is flowing. You can see the ejaculatory duct, where it merges with the urethra. You can get a very good idea of where the nerve bundles are." "Our technology is a combination of using real

Dr. Michael Mbagwu, senior Medical Director at Verana Health, a real-world data company helping to accelerate clinical research using EHR data and other data to unlock insights about clinical practice patterns.  The company is also addressing systematic bias in clinical trials by using real-world data and analyzing demographic information and geographic representation to get an accurate view of the obstacles patients face in getting the most advanced treatments. Michael elaborates, "We have very secure and advanced technologies where we deliberately use clinical and other data scientists to walk through the data, ensure it's really what we want, and give insights. Big data is not big data is not big data, and the ability to unlock insights very much depends on who's the one looking through it. So, at Verana, we do it all together. We have a very multidisciplinary team that is working on all of these data sets, and we have just a great thing going on regarding the insights we're able to provide."   "First and

Dr. Todd Sachs, Chief Medical Officer at AccessHope, highlights why socioeconomic disparities in cancer mortality have widened. The key is access to screening tests, often limited by the cost and location of the testing facility.  Geography also impacts access to sub-specialists with the most current information available. Todd emphasizes the importance of removing these geographic barriers and increasing collaboration between sub-specialists and community oncologists with access to National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Centers to ensure patients benefit from the latest innovations and evidence-based treatments. Todd explains, "With the amount of information coming out, it's challenging for patients because there's more information for them to have to sort through and sift through and understand to decide what's best for them. That same amount of information is challenging for a community oncologist because I don't know how they keep up with all of the advancements and best practices. They're ta

Dr. Jim Woody, CEO and Director of 180 Life Sciences, discusses the company's vision for safer pain and inflammation management. Their earlier work on anti-TNF therapy revolutionized the treatment of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. Now 180 Life Sciences focuses on additional indications of inflammation, fibrosis, and cognitive dementia for using anti-TNFs. Jim highlights their research on the anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of cannabinoids and the potential of synthetic cannabinoid analogs for pain management and appetite suppression. Jim elaborates, "Many years ago, I was Chief Scientific Officer at a company called Centocore, and they were one of the first companies developing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. One of them that we developed was called anti-TNF. It was Infliximab, which was the FDA name that it received. In your body, circulating around, there are hundreds of small proteins. Those that modify the immune system are called cytokines, and most of them are good actors. One of

John Erwin, CEO of Carenet Health, discusses their recent survey of patients and providers covered by commercial insurance companies or the government programs Medicare and Medicaid.  While there is growing interest in using conversational texting and other digital tools, patients still want to talk with a human. The report reveals that Medicare/Medicaid members are more satisfied with their health plans than those covered by commercial plans, suggesting these plans can learn from government programs to improve the patient experience.   John explains, "Predominantly, we focus on two areas. One is around virtual care, so 24 hours a day, we have clinical and non-clinical teams that help support members and patients with anything and everything, from a prescription refill to "Help me talk to my doctor." So, virtual care 24 hours a day is one core business." "Then the other one is reaching out to members and patients around activities that would make sense for them to do on their healthcare. For example, do you

Dr. Lishan Aklog, CEO of Lucid Diagnostics, discusses the current diagnostic landscape for esophageal cancer and the need for early detection. The current diagnostic tool, an upper endoscopy, is an invasive procedure requiring anesthesia.  The EsoGuard, a noninvasive simple cell collection procedure, uses molecular diagnostics to detect pre-cancerous cells within minutes. This test is particularly beneficial for screening those with risk factors such as chronic heartburn, being male, a smoker, or obese.   Lishan explains, "To prevent it, you have to pick it up at the pre-cancer stage because, unlike many other cancers where detecting earlier stage cancer, stage one cancer is a victory with a real potential for a cure, such as in breast cancer and colon and others, that's not the case here. You have about a 50% likelihood of dying even if you pick up esophageal cancer at the earliest stages. So, our mission and the opportunity here is to prevent about 16,000 cancer deaths a year by detecting the pre-cancerous

David Young, President of R&D at Processa Pharmaceuticals, talks about the FDA's Project Optimus draft guidance on optimal dosage regimens for specific patients. Processa is modifying existing cancer-killing molecules to improve efficacy and decrease side effects by taking into account genetic factors and the benefit-risk profile of each patient. This precision medicine approach will inform clinical trial recruitment, dosing regimens and the number of patients who can be effectively helped.   David explains, "There are a couple of things that make us unique. One is that we're taking the active cancer-killing molecules on the market. It's a given drug that's approved by the FDA, and we know it kills cancer. We've taken that molecule and either changed it slightly or administered it with another drug in some way to decrease or change the drug’s metabolism and then to distribute more drug to the cancer cell."   "So, we started to learn how they look at the benefit-risk profile, and we started to develop our

Dr. Juan Vera, CEO of Marker Therapeutics, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, is developing next-generation immunotherapy with a multi-tumor-specific T-cell platform to overcome limitations of current T-cell therapies with narrow target recognition. This approach, which recognizes multiple antigens within the tumor, helps prevent tumor resistance and adaptation. Marker is participating in the APOLLO trial testing this broad spectrum of target recognition in lymphoma patients who have relapsed after CAR-T CD19 therapy while also exploring acute myeloid leukemia and pancreatic cancer.   Juan explains, "Without a doubt, the earlier products that have been approved, such as mainly chimeric T-cell receptors, have validated the clinical power of T-cells in their ability to recognize and kill cancer cells. I think that no one will argue that, and this has been something that has been well evaluated, particularly in hematologic malignancies and particularly in lymphoma." "However, there are limitations with

Andreas Grill, President and CEO of DepYmed, discusses protein tyrosine phosphatase-targeted drugs, a new class of drugs. With a focus on the specific enzyme PTP1B, DepYmed discovered orally bioavailable molecules that inhibit PTP1B, targeting the signal transaction pathway. They are initially testing to treat Rett syndrome, a rare disease with no current therapy while exploring the use of PTP1B inhibitors to treat inflammatory diseases, cancer, diabetes, and neurological diseases.   Andreas elaborates, "In DepYmed, we're focused on a specific enzyme. It's PTP1B. It's part of a family of enzymes called protein tyrosine phosphatases, and, in particular, we're looking at PTP1B. It's a metabolic regulatory enzyme that regulates signal transduction between cells and how cells communicate with each other. It's been worked on in the '90s and early 2000s. A couple of companies were working on the target, and they failed in the target, mainly because they couldn't create an orally bioavailable compound that would inh