INTERVIEWS

Returning guest, Dr. Jeffrey Cohen, Nephrologist with the Cleveland Clinic, a renowned leader in Multiple Sclerosis research and President of ACTRIMS, the world’s largest conference focused on MS research, discusses highlights from the 8th Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS (the European counterpart) Conference (MSVirtual2020).  He talks about advancements in therapeutics, outcomes of clinical trials, and the impact of COVID on clinical research and patient care.

Dr. Jeffrey Cohen, a Neurologist with the Cleveland Clinic, a renowned leader in Multiple Sclerosis research and the President of ACTRIMS, the world’s largest conference focused on MS research, discusses highlights from the 8th Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS (the European counterpart) Conference (MSVirtual2020).  He talks about cutting edge research into the cause of MS, personalized medicine, new developments in diagnosing MS, and the role of biomarkers in the diagnostic process.

Dr. Len Friedland, Vice President and Director, Scientific Affairs and Public Health, Vaccines, at GSK discusses how the ordering rate of adult vaccines among healthcare practices has dropped an average of 62 percent since the declaration of COVID-19.  He also discusses the findings of a Harris Poll conducted online on behalf of GSK of 3,000 US adults ages 50-79 and 300 US primary care physicians.  He is joined by Alice who experienced shingles.

Grammy Award-Winning Artist and breast cancer survivor, Sheryl Crow, and leading OB/GYN, Dr. DaCarla Albright remind women that despite the current COVID-19 pandemic, annual breast cancer screenings are still vitally important. They also want to let women know that by visiting www.backtoscreening.com they can sign up for reminders to schedule their mammograms, and they’ll be automatically entered to win tickets to attend a private, virtual performance by Sheryl Crow.

Returning guest, Dr. David Spetzler, President and Chief Scientific Officer at Caris Life Sciences® discusses the partnership with Elevation Oncology to identify patients for participation in Elevation Oncology’s CRESTONE trial, a Phase 2 trial of seribantumab in adult patients with recurrent, locally advanced, or metastatic solid tumors that harbor the NRG1 gene fusion.   He talks about the significance of this partnership and discusses how Caris’ AI-based platform can allow companies to maximize their clinical trials and identify treatments for patients using precision medicine.

Clinton Moore, President of the Cystinosis Research Network and father to Chandler, a teenager diagnosed with the rare disease of cystinosis when he was 10 months old, talks of the family’s experience, the impact to their daily lives and what it’s like to parent a child with a rare disease. He discusses the new documentary “Walk In My Shoes” and the inspiration for the project.

Dr. Shereene Idriss, a board-certified dermatologist, and Galderma consultant discusses the new campaign “Face Up To Rosacea” that she launched in partnership with Galderma and celebrity stylist, E! TV personality, and rosacea sufferer, Brad Goreski.  The campaign is meant to encourage people frustrated with this chronic skin condition to take action by connecting with a dermatologist and starting a treatment plan.  She talks about the burden rosacea can have on people emotionally and physically and what she hears frequently from her rosacea patients.  FaceUpToRosacea.us launched in August 2020.

Dr. RJ Tesi, CEO of INmune Bio, Inc., a clinical stage immuno-oncology company targeting neuroinflammation to fight brain disease, discusses positive data presented at The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® 2020 from its XPro1595 Phase 1b Clinical Trial in Alzheimer’s disease patients. These data showed the anti-inflammatory effects of XPro1595 on neuroinflammation in the arcuate fasciculus (AF) are impressive and consistent with preclinical data.

Paul Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Lemonaid Health, a direct to consumer telehealth company discusses the critical role telehealth is playing during COVID-19 and how the sudden surge in remote appointments has created another infrastructure challenge for providers and health systems that are causing patients to spend hours in virtual waiting rooms due to unprecedented demand.  Direct to consumer telehealth gives patients an alternative option for immediate treatment of non-acute conditions.  To date, the company has treated more than a million patients online via its own medical team, for a variety of medical conditions ranging fromerectile dysfunction to sinus infections to depression and anxiety. 

Returning guest, Dr. Andrew (Andy) Krivoshik, MD, Ph.D., SVP, and Oncology Therapeutic Head for Astellas Oncology shares his perspective on this year’s C3 Prize (Changing Cancer Care).  He elaborates on his own journey and reflects on why programs like this are needed more than ever in these unprecedented times.  The C3 Prize is a global challenge to advance ideas beyond medicine that can make a big impact in the cancer community.  The program will award $200,000 in grants and resources to help winners further advance their ideas.  The award is open to anyone with a great idea including concepts that can ease the increased burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care and health disparities affecting cancer patients and caregivers.    Applications are open from now until September 28, 2020.