Empowered Patient Podcast

Ray Jordan is the principal at Putnam Insights, a strategic communications and policy consulting firm, and a partner at Echo Research. The core elements of reputation building are consistent across large and small companies. Many companies mistakenly think that a good reputation comes naturally, but building and maintaining a strong reputation requires a clear mission statement and an authentic voice to reinforce the company's message. Ray elaborates, "In particular, when I've worked on reputation matters, including a lot of reputation on companies, smaller companies are more instinctual rather than based on data. The core elements of reputation are still there. What you need to do is build it, what you can do to lose it, and how it adds value to what you're doing. All of those elements are consistent in some respects. Very different situations, but they have much of the same core elements. That's true from the clinical side, the regulatory side, and the patient care side. From the opinion leader side across

Dr. Shankar Musunuri, Chairman of the Board, CEO, and Co-Founder of Ocugen, is developing gene therapies for rare blindness diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease, which have significant unmet medical needs. The modifier gene therapy approach aims to reset homeostasis and create a healthy environment for photoreceptors to stabilize vision loss. Ocugen is also working on a gene therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration, which has the potential to address the late-stage geographic atrophy form of the disease. Shankar explains, "Vision is the most important part for all of us. Many years ago, when we founded Ocugen, it was based on targeting the ophthalmology disease area. We looked into many blindness diseases related to the back of the eye/retina. We have diseases such as AMD- and many people get into that – age-related macular degeneration. Then, there are diseases that are inherited in nature, like retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease. A lot of these diseases impact many famil

Allen Cooper, President, CEO, and Co-Founder of ReadyList, highlights the challenges environmental services (EVS) leaders face in hospitals: controlling healthcare-associated infections, managing facility maintenance, and meeting patient expectations. Ensuring efficient room turnover for patient rooms and operating rooms is critical to maintaining workflow and avoiding delays. Real-time tracking, task management, and data-driven insights help EVS managers and staff eliminate outdated, inefficient methods and improve patient outcomes and safety in hospital operations. Allen explains, "When you look at it from a patient's perspective, I think meeting and exceeding patients’ expectations of getting great quality care is probably at the forefront of everyone's mind. There's a lot of competition out there between hospitals and health systems. I think, looking from a patient's point of view, making sure that the patients are delighted is number one. A close number 2, if not number 1, is making sure that the hospita

Sheila Phicil, Founder and CEO of Phicil-itate Change, works with innovators in healthcare to apply new technologies to solutions that incorporate the patients' voice. One goal is to reduce resistance to change, which often stems from the desire to avoid adding more complexity, by listening to patients, physicians, and community organizations. Data analytics and awareness of social determinants of health can provide insights to develop effective and sustainable solutions. Still, the data must be collected and analyzed in a way that preserves the context and individual experience. Shelia explains, "Well, the simplest way I can put it is helping the helpers and in this case, it's helping people who want to bring forward good innovation in healthcare. To do it well by focusing the work around the patient's lived experience through understanding their stories and their health data. So what I'm aiming to do is to, one, put out great frameworks and strategies around how to do this well and efficiently and effective

Lisa Ricciardi, CEO, and Dr. Tony Caggiano, Chief Medical Officer at Cognition Therapeutics, are developing effective treatments for neurological disorders, particularly Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). While DLB is related to Parkinson's, sharing symptoms include hallucinations, sleep disorders, and cognitive dysfunction, there are no good diagnostics to identify DLB and effective treatments. Cognition Therapeutics' lead drug candidate, an oral treatment, has shown promise in protecting neurons from the toxic effects of the pathological proteins involved in Alzheimer's and DLB. Lisa explains, "This company started in 2007, so we've had a long number of years to burnish our mission. One of the things we say is we're the beginning of the end of neurologic disorders and the start of hope for an improved future for patients. So Alzheimer's disease, in particular, has been long studied with little success, and in the last few years, we've seen some successes with monoclonal antibodies. Th

Arielle Smith, the President of Life Science at Event Cadence, discusses the changes in the event technology landscape and the expectations of pharmaceutical companies and attendees for a hybrid approach, including participation in person and virtually. There is an increased demand for insight capturing and analytics to measure the return on investment in conferences and the time attendees spend there. The platform includes scheduling, appointment management, and lead generation with tools to encourage networking and interaction to enhance the event experience.   Arielle explains, "Medical conferences are held all over the world, as you know, and there's not always going to be a time where you can physically put boots on the ground and travel for them. So we're seeing a lot more of a hot tier point, a hybrid model approach to it where, let's say, the majority of the team will be in a meeting room face to face with some of their HCPs, but then even that HCP might decide to dial in their counterpart. Or if a p

Dr. Thomas Chen, Founder, CEO, and CSO of NeOnc Technologies, is working on the challenge of delivering drugs across the blood-brain barrier by using an intranasal delivery approach to target brain cancers. This delivery platform leverages the cranial nerve to transport the drugs directly to the brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier. Genomic analysis of the long-surviving patients in the phase one trial revealed a common genetic mutation, informing the trial design for the next phase. Thomas explains, "So our platform is what we call intranasal delivery. And with the intranasal delivery, we're not trying to cross the blood-brain barrier. We're trying to cross over it. And how we're doing that is doing the delivery of the drug via what we call the C nerves. Now the cranial nerves are, we have 12 cranial nerves in our brain. These cranial nerves have various functions, but the cranial nerves involved with the nasal brain delivery are the first and the fifth cranial nerves. The first cranial nerve is what we

Ali Morin, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at symplr, emphasizes the need to focus on the challenges nurses face and AI's potential to reduce administrative burdens and nurse burnout. Significant staffing shortages, scheduling challenges, and increased patient acuity demand better data analytics and technology implementation to allow nurses to spend more time with patients and improve patient care. For successful integration of technology solutions into the nurses' workflow, pilot tests, training of new and experienced nurses, and listening to their concerns and ideas are essential. Ali explains, "We focus on the nursing informatics side -- that middle communicator between technology and the nurses at the bedside. So, I consider myself a translator. I listen to the clinicians and the nurses who are using our software, and we have a number of solutions that are applicable for direct care nurses as well as nurse managers and nurse leaders. I take in the pain points that they're experiencing today and bring th

Maggie Cline, Executive Director at EyeCare4Kids Utah, highlights the importance of providing eye exams and eyeglasses to underserved children, their parents, and those in shelters, refugee camps, and Native American reservations. Early testing and glasses with the correct prescription can significantly impact academic performance, confidence, and social skills. Making wearing glasses cool and offering a wide selection of frames is key to encouraging everyone to wear them proudly. The EyeCare4Kids partners with various organizations to operate brick-and-mortar and mobile clinics in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Africa with expansion plans. Maggie explains, "I think glasses are cool these days, but the kids have to wear their glasses. So something that we do, and I love that we do this, we don't just give them a selection of five or six glasses. They get hundreds to choose from because we know that if they feel good about what they're wearing, they will wear them. And so I just got a message from a nurse t

Olivier Visa, President and CEO of Evergen specializes in developing and manufacturing biomaterials for use in regenerative medicine. These customized biomaterial solutions use xenografts, allografts, and emerging technologies inside and outside the body with applications in wound healing, cardiac, dental, breast, neuro, and spine repair. This approach provides surgeons with a broader range of biomaterials to better tailor treatments for individual patients. Olivier explains, "There is a multitude that we can support. There is form and function, and I can give you a couple of examples of biomaterials in regenerative medicine. One is bovine pericardium, which is bovine collagen that we use for the development and manufacturing of cardiac heart valves. Another one would be acellular dermal matrix from human tissue that we use for reconstruction in plastic and, of course, with surgeries such as breast reconstruction after mastectomy." "Think about the body as a whole, and I'll give you a couple of examples wher

Dr. Rekha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at Found, is focused on weight care, not just weight management, to provide personalized medical care. GLP-1 medications have changed the landscape of obesity treatment, providing doctors with more effective tools for patients, but they don't work for everyone. With this telehealth approach, patients engage with the platform to determine a tailored treatment plan based on each patient's unique biology, lifestyle, and history. There is also an increased stigma around obesity due to the availability of GLP-1s, reinforcing the need for new medications and approaches based on real-world outcomes.   Rekha explains, "I would say the way GLP-1s have changed this entire field of medicine is that doctors now feel like they have a tool that works that they can offer their patients. Although GLP-1s don't work perfectly in everybody, and there may be people who don't respond well to them for decades or longer than decades, doctors felt like all they could tell patients was to eat l

Tim Tobin, CEO and Founder of Planatome, has a background in the semiconductor industry where precision polishing techniques were developed. Planatome has used that technology to create molecularly smooth scalpel blades that remove all the jagged edges on traditional surgical scalpels. These new nano polished blades significantly reduce scarring and inflammation from incisions and improve healing outcomes for patients, especially those with darker skin tones who are more prone to hypertrophic scarring. The challenge is disrupting an industry that has not changed in over 100 years and that has been driven by reducing the costs, not improving the blade. Tim explains, "So we picked the surgical scalpel because it's still the foundation, the primary incision tool, whether it's a minimally invasive procedure or a procedure with a lot of cutting. So we started with that. We've since applied our technology to many other surgical instruments. We started with the scalpel, which was patented in 1915. There's been no c

Kiran Nistala, Chief Medical Officer and head of development at Zura Bio, describes how their novel molecules target multiple pathways to provide more effective treatments for patients with autoimmune diseases. This is particularly necessary for those with complex, heterogeneous manifestations not well addressed by current therapies. Zura Bio's novel molecules target rare diseases such as systemic sclerosis and hidradenitis suppurativa and show potential for use in combination with existing approaches.   Kiran, "Developing bispecifics is a known, but it's quite a technical skill, and I think there are lots of reasons—first, bioengineering to get the right molecule. Secondly, you must also know how to design studies to show that both sides are doing what you expect of that molecule. So both pathways are being affected. And I guess you must also choose the right disease where you think those pathways are super important. So, we've been incredibly thoughtful in our approach- we haven't just jumped in, and some o

Dr. Rafael Amado, President, Head of Global Research and Development at Zai Lab, highlights the renewed interest in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with advancements in linker technology and payload delivery, leading to improved therapeutic windows and reduced side effects. The Zai Lab lead ADC ZL-1310 has shown promising results in small cell lung cancer and the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier to treat brain metastases, a common complication in small cell lung cancer. Combining ADCs with immunotherapy can potentially enhance the immune response.   Rafael elaborates, "ADCs have undergone a bit of a renaissance. In the past, traditional ADCs had many drawbacks. They had what's called a narrow therapeutic window. So the dose that was effective was very close to the dose that was toxic. This was due to many factors. The construction of the antibodies and the chemotherapy, which we call payload, wasn't liberated in the right compartment. Either the tumor microenvironment or the antibody was not well int

Dr. Halinder Mangat, Director of Research at the Brain Trauma Foundation, has developed evidence-based guidelines for treating severe traumatic brain injuries, which have been shown to improve outcomes significantly. The Foundation is conducting research in collaboration with the US Defense Department and Veterans Administration, including a clinical trial on the use of lumbar drainage to reduce intracranial pressure from a brain injury. While the brain was once thought incapable of healing, research shows early intervention from injuries can result in the regeneration of cells and formation of new neural circuits.  Halinder explains, "The initial focus of the Brain Trauma Foundation's mission was treatment. The Brain Trauma Foundation in 1997 became the first surgical organization and first professional body to produce evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of severe head injury. That means looking at the comprehensive literature body, finding out what robust research is, and compiling it all. Some stu

Jeffrey Meckler, CEO of Indaptus Therapeutics, is focused on using their decoy platform to activate the immune system to fight cancer and infections. This approach activates the innate and adaptive pathways in a controlled manner using a short-term pulsed dosing regimen and helps avoid the toxicity issues seen in other immunotherapies. The therapy is cleared from the system quickly, allowing the immune system to be modulated and potentially used with other cancer treatments. Jeffrey explains, "It's a very uncommon approach because we have, over the last several decades, really had a paradigm for treating cancer in immunotherapy, and that paradigm is turning one or a couple switches in the immune system to help fight the cancer. Again, as I mentioned before, the concept of doing too much, activating too much comes from this idea that you'll hit toxicities and, like I said, cytokine storm or whatever. What we do is go about it in a way that people are coming to. The big talk right now are these VEGF PD-1 bispe

Dr. Charles Bridges, the CSO at CorVista Health, has developed a cardiovascular diagnostic platform that uses a simple device to collect various heart signals. The platform then sends that data to the cloud for fast machine learning-based analytics, which can detect conditions like pulmonary hypertension and coronary artery diseases. This test can be given at the point of care and is significant, as these conditions are frequently under-diagnosed due to a lack of accessible testing.  Charles explains, "It's really an amazing breakthrough. Yes, it's a very simple device from the point of view that it's about the size of an iPad. It requires that you connect seven electrodes to the patient. An electrode is identical to what they put on your chest when you get an electrocardiogram, an EKG, and a PPG sensor on the finger. Those of us who made it through COVID-19 probably learned a little about PPG sensors because those we use to measure your arterial oxygen saturation and the most severe cases of COVID-19 were a

Sean Ainsworth, the CEO of Immusoft, is developing novel cell therapies by programming B cells to produce therapeutic proteins, including antibodies, enzymes, signaling proteins, and other protein types. This autologous cell therapy has shown promising results in early clinical trials for enzyme replacement therapies for rare lysosomal storage disorders. Some advantages of this approach are the ability to re-dose patients as necessary and to cross the blood-brain barrier. Initial findings are opening the door to other indications such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and obesity.   Sean explains, "We're developing B cells as modalities for therapeutic protein delivery. B cells have an exceptional ability to produce and release therapeutic proteins into the bloodstream. So naturally, they're producing and releasing antibodies, which are a type of protein. And so we're harnessing that biofactory capability of these B cells, programming them to manufacture our therapeutic protein. The idea is that once we've d

Joy Duemke, Director of Marketing North America at Terumo, BCT, and Barry Liden, President and Managing Advisor of Patient Voice Advisors, highlight the importance of medical device companies engaging with patient associations to incorporate patient feedback into the design and development of their products. Patients can provide unique insights to engineers and researchers that may lead to better outcomes and patient experiences. The discussion focuses on the collaboration related to improving blood therapy delivery for sickle cell patients.  Barry explains, "So if medical device companies want to ensure that their technologies are going to get to the people that need them and that those folks want to be able to take potentially some risks of having the device implanted or used on them, they need to listen to the patient and understand what kind of outcomes are important to them and what they're willing to tolerate." Joy elaborates, "With medical devices, it's very personal to the patient. It's not a bag th

Dr. Simrit Parmar, Founder of Cellenkos, is developing T regulatory cell therapies from cord blood to treat aplastic anemia, myelofibrosis, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Their three-prong strategy focuses on resolving inflammation and alleviating the burden of transfusions. Treg cells from cord blood are naturally tolerant and do not risk rejection, meaning they can be administered to patients without the need for matching. The cells can be consistently manufactured in a scalable way and distributed globally. Simrit explains, "Tregs, the T regulatory cells, are actually regulators of our immune system. So if you think about it every day as a human being, we face many challenges. We face many insults and injuries to our body, both externally and internally, but our body has a way to maintain that balance. The T regulatory cells are the cells that are the mastermind of making sure that any response by our body, for example, to get rid of an antigen or to get rid of an irritant does not overstay the welcome