Empowered Patient Podcast

Henry O'Connell is the CEO and Co-Founder of Canary Speech, which analyzes voice biomarkers to detect various medical conditions, including neurological disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and cognitive decline. Their approach looks at the underlying mechanisms of speech controlled by the central nervous system rather than the words spoken. The technology has been validated to correlate with clinical diagnoses at a high accuracy level. It provides real-time, objective assessments to healthcare providers, which could help overcome biases and reveal early signs of the presence of a disease. Henry explains, "Canary Speech is now about eight years old. Jeff Adams, my business partner and friend, and I created Canary Speech to evaluate voice for a range of different human conditions and diseases. We actually established an approach that was unique in the market. Jeff has a history of innovation in voice and voice analysis. He was the lead that developed the first natural language processing commercial tools.

Greg Mayes, President and CEO of Reunion Neuroscience, is developing a psychedelic therapy for the treatment of postpartum depression. This serious acute, non-chronic mental health condition affects an estimated 20% of women after giving birth.  A phase two trial is underway to evaluate how RE-104, a rapid-acting psilocybin-like novel molecule, can help women with moderate to severe postpartum depression get faster relief compared to existing treatments. Greg explains, "The course of our psychedelic administration is significant because we believe it can be shorter in time period than other psilocybin-like treatments. In our case, we were able to establish it as 3.7 hours. Because it's a psychedelic and it is for an acute and non-chronic indication, we believe that women who take our product will see a rapid uptake and potentially day of administration benefit of the psychedelic therapy. Our phase two study is called the RECONNECT study because it's named for women reconnecting with themselves, their families

Dr. Adrian Quartel, Chief Medical Officer at Zevra Therapeutics, has received FDA approval for their drug MIPLYFFA in combination with miglustat, the first treatment in the US for Niemann-Pick type C, an ultra-orphan disease. This hard to diagnose, rare genetic lysosomal storage disorder affects the recycling of cholesterol and lipids in cells, leading to neurological and physical problems. The Amplify Assist program has been set up to help patients access and afford the treatment. Adrian elaborates, "Niemann-Pick C is a very rare or ultra-orphan disease. It's one of what is considered a lysosomal storage disorder. I'll try to explain a little bit about what that means. So lysosomes are little organelles or little systems within the cell that are basically the waste disposal system from the cell. They break down worn-out parts on the inside of the cells, or they break down harmful molecules and waste products. They're effectively recycling materials in the cell. So, any lysosomal storage disorder actually af

Dr. Shika Pappoe, CMO and COO of Carna Health is working to identify and treat chronic kidney disease earlier through screening tests. This is a breakthrough for a disease that often shows no symptoms until the damage is irreversible. Using technology and AI-powered risk prediction models to improve early detection and intervention for CKD can help slow or even halt the progression of the disease. In recent pilot programs in Bermuda and Cameroon, Carna Health found high rates of CKD and is working to connect those patients with the necessary care.   Shika explains, "Chronic kidney disease is a condition that has been growing over the years. We know that diabetes and hypertension are leading causes, and currently, CKD is the 10th leading cause of death globally. And by 2040, it's estimated that it will be the fifth cause of death. Carna is working on finding ways to identify kidney disease early so that we can slow progression and optimize the outcomes of patients around the world." "We are seeing globally inc

Karthik Ganesh, CEO at OnMed, is expanding access to healthcare through its CareStation, a self-contained medical pod that allows patients to receive comprehensive primary care services conveniently. The CareStation is designed to be easily deployed and operated in underserved communities, including rural areas, prisons, and foster care facilities. This scalable, hybrid approach provides a personalized examination using medical devices and cameras that allow a remote clinician to prescribe treatment and, if necessary, arrange for further actions.   Karthik explains, "The OnMed CareStation gives you the psychological comfort and the confidence of a comprehensive primary care visit. With the rapid scalability and the convenience of telemedicine, it essentially takes the best of both worlds between virtual care and traditional care while also neutralizing the inherent scalability weaknesses and experience weaknesses of both of those. This is why we look at OnMed really as a hybrid care company and the CareStati

George Eliades, the CEO of Mythic Therapeutics a company focused on the next generation of antibody-drug conjugates, ADCs, to treat cancer. Their approach aims to expand the population of patients who can benefit from ADCs by targeting proteins expressed at low levels on cancer cells. The company's lead candidate targets the MET protein in non-small cell lung cancer cells and is designed to deliver chemotherapy more selectively and effectively to cancer cells using the FateControl ™ technology. George explains, "We try to be different in two important ways for patients. If you think about ADCs, they've been around for a long time with the promise of bringing chemotherapy-like efficacy, but the safety of a targeted therapy because so much less chemo is being administered to the patient and that chemo is going directly, at least in theory, to the cancer cell. That was sort of the first promise. The second thing that's happened over the years is that the patients who benefit from ADCs tend to be a very small su

Karl Ulfers, CEO and Co-Founder of DUOS, helps older adults and their caregivers access government benefits and programs to improve the quality of life and enable aging in place. Working with Medicare Advantage and dual-eligible health plans, DUOS uses a combination of technology, generative AI, and personalized support to help patients navigate the system to apply for and receive state, Federal, and VA benefits and services. The focus is on addressing the social determinants of health and health equity, especially in rural and underserved communities.   Karl explains "It's really interesting when you study these individuals that we work with. We tend to get about 15% of a payer's population activated and using our service, which is pretty high. And the people that make up that population, it's quite interesting - 88% of them make less than $28,000 a year. They're, on average, about 74 years old. They tend to skew female versus male and value what we bring to them in terms of helping them tap into these bene

Dr. Ed Glynn, Chief Clinical Officer at RhythmX AI, is bridging the gap between real-world clinical data and the use of artificial intelligence. One of the key problems RhythmX is trying to solve is the cognitive burden on primary care clinicians to understand all relevant details about each patient. Using the RhythmX platform, an AI-enabled intelligent assistant sits alongside the doctor to summarize patient information, track progress, and provide recommendations to help provide more holistic, patient-centered care.   Ed explains, "Our vision is to really pioneer hyper-personalized care. We do this by enabling clinicians, specialists, and care teams to deliver the right care, at the right time for the right patient and the right channel. We do this through a very clear focus on marrying both real-world clinicians- clinicians who are out there on the front lines and see patients - with deep artificial intelligence experience. And we have a number of years in many different engineers in the background taking

Marina Bigsby, Chief Customer Experience Officer at AccessOne, focuses on providing financial products and services to help make healthcare more affordable for patients and improve the physicians' revenue cycle management. The aim is to provide more transparency and payment options upfront to avoid situations where patients forgo needed care. Using AccessOne's technology and mobile payment solution, providers collect payments faster and proactively identify and address operational inefficiencies and staffing challenges.   Marina explains, "We're a technology company. We partner with our providers and look at their various situations. Their situation might be that they have a pocket of their population with high debt problems, or maybe there is a staff shortage or some other operational efficiency challenge. We're designing a product that works for them. Our platform is highly configurable, and we built something that works for them and helps them collect more so they can allocate funds to wherever they need.

Aaron Patzer, Founder and CEO of Vital, focuses on the stress on patients and clinicians created in urgent care, emergency rooms, and hospitals. The Vital platform provides real-time updates and plain-language explanations for patients on their mobile devices. Managing expectations for wait times, connecting to electronic health records, and providing discharge instructions increases patient satisfaction, reduces the burden on doctors and nurses, and causes and addresses staff turnover.     Aaron explains, "Everything is done on your mobile phone. You step into a hospital, whether it's urgent care or an emergency visit, or if you're admitted to stay overnight, it's called an inpatient stay. You'll get a text message. So it'll say, welcome to Children's of Los Angeles. Do you want to see what your wait times are? To understand your test results, click here. All you have to do is click this special link, like an airline record locator or password reset link. It can only be used by you. It's secure and brings u

Haitham Ayad, CEO of SPIMA Therapeutics, has secured a global licensing agreement for its lead peptide-based immunotherapy candidate, which targets the Myddosome complex involved in inflammation.  This approach aims to target undruggable protein-protein interactions, leveraging the advantages of peptides over small molecules and antibodies.  In addition to inflammatory diseases like acute pancreatitis, SPIMA is also exploring the potential in certain cancers with mutations in the Myddosome complex.   Haitham explains, "In fact, what happened is that the four scientific co-founders worked together for long years to develop and to bring them to the clinical phase and to secure a global patent for that. So, at one point, the technology transfer office of the university, which is called SATT, decided that it was the appropriate moment to create a spin-off of the company so that the company could continue the work and take the lead candidate further to the clinical phase. And I joined at that point as a co-founde

This is a conversation with Nicole Andrews, a patient with LGSOC and STAAR Ovarian Cancer Foundation Board Chairperson, and Dan Paterson, President and CEO of Verastem Oncology. Low-grade serous ovarian cancer is a rare and slow-growing ovarian cancer that is often misdiagnosed. Verastem Oncology is developing a targeted treatment for LGSOC and working with the STAAR Foundation to inform researchers about the disease and ways to improve treatments. Nicole was finally diagnosed with LGSOC after 18 months of unexplained symptoms, and her role at the STAAR Foundation is to raise awareness and funds to support research. Nicole explains, "I have since learned that low-grade is difficult for pathologists who aren't used to seeing it and don't know the intricacies of diagnosing. My surgeon finally said I have to get this right because it changes treatment." "So, she asked permission to send this to a specialty cancer center. And we did. Once that happened, they came back pretty quickly and said this was low-grade se

Maria Perrin, President and Chief Strategy Officer at PPL, is focused on expanding access to self-directed and whole person care allowing people to stay in their homes and receive the services they need to maintain a good quality of life. Consumer-directed care programs funded by Medicaid allows disabled and the aged populations to choose their own caregivers they know and trust to provide personal services like meals, dressing, and transportation. PPL provides training, technology, quality assurance, and other support to help consumers and their caregivers participate in these programs. Maria explains, "So the programs differ from state to state. If someone needs care in their home, say they had an injury or they need help because of a disability or certain access, they can get help for people to, for example, come in, prepare meals, help them get dressed, and for bathing. Or if they're relatively healthy and can do that themselves, some programs support things like meal services, transportation, occupation

James Grover, President of Vyne Dental, addresses the friction and inefficiencies in the dental healthcare system to facilitate payments and improve patient outcomes. The dental care environment is fragmented and lacks coordination between patients, dentists, and payers. Vyne Dental works with dental practices to streamline the revenue cycle management process, improve patient communication, and ensure timely and accurate payments.   James explains, "We sit at the commerce crossroads between patients, practices, and payers, basically helping patients to pay, helping payers to pay, and helping practices to get paid for the services that they’re rendering." "Then in the payer space, they’re trying to avoid fraud. They also have certain places where there are plans that approve certain things but don’t allow for others, and they need to do their work. Unfortunately, there’s a tremendous amount of waste between all three constituents. That waste results in higher prices for patients and less business success for

Professor Piotr Trzonkowski, CEO of PolTREG, is focused on developing cell therapies for autoimmune diseases like type-1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis using polyclonal T-regulatory cell therapy. Treg cells are key in regulating the immune system and preventing autoimmune diseases. Clinical trials are showing promise for safe and effective treatments for preventing type-1 diabetes in pre-symptomatic patients and maintaining insulin production for years after treatment in those with this form of diabetes.   Piotr explains, "My initial research subject was vaccination in the elderly, and I was looking for the reasons they did not respond to the vaccine. It was initially on the flu vaccine. The same is valuable, for example, for the COVID-19 vaccine. What we found is that elderly people do not respond to the vaccines because of the high level of accumulation of T-regulatory cells. T-regulatory cells can suppress immune responses, which is bad for the elderly." "A very simple answer would be if you compare the

Cecil Pineda, Senior VP and Chief Information Security Officer at R1 RCM, is focused on integrating robust cybersecurity into the revenue cycle management process. When healthcare organizations are hit with ransomware attacks, they must respond rapidly and accurately communicate with internal and external partners.  Long-term strategies include controlling network access, backup/recovery testing and educating personnel in order to limit damage from attempts to invade the network.   Cecil explains, "I think most organizations, not just R1, many organizations have made that decision beforehand whether to pay or not. And that decision is not easy. That’s something that takes into account several factors, starting from patient safety to protecting customer data and being able to go back into operations. So there are a lot of things that they can do, the analysis before making that call. So, beforehand, a lot of organizations have their stance on payments." "Another key area besides speed is communications. This

This is a conversation with Dr. David Amaral, a distinguished professor at the MIND Institute and scientific director of Autism BrainNet, and Dorothy Frisch, an activist and supporter of the program. Autism BrainNet is funded by the Simons Foundation to collect and study postmortem brain samples from individuals with autism to understand the neurological basis of the disorder better. Currently, there are no biomarkers for autism, so studying the brains and accomplishments of those who had autism can lead to a better understanding of the abilities and challenges seen on the autism spectrum. David explains, "We went to the Simons Foundation and, with their support, have established a network in the United States. We have three collection sites: one at the UC Davis Mind Institute in Sacramento, one at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas, and one at the Mass General Hospital in Boston, where a postmortem brain donation can be sent. Those brains are then prepared in ways that will facilitate all kinds of research bot

Dr. Jose Luchsinger, Vice Chair for Clinical and Epidemiologic Research at Columbia University, is leading a phase 2 clinical trial of a prodrug Benfo that aims to raise the level of thiamine in the brain to improve memory and function in people with early Alzheimer's disease. This effort is based on research showing that Alzheimer's is associated with impaired thiamine processing in the brain, even if thiamine levels in the blood are normal. The phase 2 clinical trial for the drug is testing the ability to overcome the mishandling of thiamine in the brain by patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia with evidence of amyloid.   Jose explains, "So this approach is based on decades of study by Dr. Gary Gibson, who’s at the Burke Institute in New York and Cornell University in New York. What he has found, particularly in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease, is that these animals have memory problems that are related to the ability to process thiamine in the brain, which is a key vitamin that is

Dr. Michael Sherling, Co-Founder, Chief Medical Officer, and Strategy Officer at ModMed, aims to save time for physicians and patients by reducing administrative burden through technology. Their AI-based solutions focus on automating mundane tasks like fax routing and documentation and can passively transcribe doctor-patient conversations to generate structured notes. The interface is designed to be simple and unobtrusive, minimizing extra clicks or steps for the doctors to review and accept the AI's recommendations. Michael explains, "Our approach to AI is focused on curing the drudgery of healthcare. What I mean by that is using any kind of tool to reduce the burden of documentation for staff, providers, and people in the back office. That's really what we're focused on. We're not so focused on how to improve diagnoses or any of the clinical aspects of healthcare but more on the administrative burden." "We're still in the development phase of our AI strategy, but there are two products that we're pretty

Dr. Eric Siemers, Medical Officer at Acumen Pharma, is developing a monoclonal antibody called sabirnetug that targets a specific toxic form of amyloid beta, Aβ oligomers. These oligomers are now believed to be a key driver of neuronal damage in Alzheimer's disease. The drug is in phase 2 clinical trials to evaluate its ability to slow cognitive decline in early-stage Alzheimer's patients and demonstrate the accuracy of biomarkers in identifying pathology before symptoms appear.   Eric explains, "We've identified, and this is a monoclonal antibody, a monoclonal antibody with a unique mechanism of action in that it targets what are called Aβ oligomers. And without going into all the details, these Aβ oligomers are now really felt to be the toxic species, the ones that cause the neurons to die, and the two drugs that have recently gotten approval sort of indirectly get at those toxic species, maybe one more than the other. But in our case, we're directly targeting what we think is the most toxic species. And