INTERVIEWS

Radiologist, Dr. Doug Beall, MD, from the Oklahoma Spine Hospital, discusses ways to educate patients about PMO, the connection to fractures, and current treatment options.

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a cardiologist, discusses the controversy between women and statins, best practices on how women with a full plate of responsibilities can still prioritize their health, and how she maintains open relationships with her patients in this new virtual landscape.

Dr. Linda Marbán, President, CEO and Director of Capricor Therapeutics discusses new data reporting 100 percent survival in critical COVID-19 patients that were treated with her team’s off-the-shelf, cardiac cell therapy CAP-1002. These patients were part of six compassionate care cases treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and following a review of the data, the FDA approved the company’s expanded access protocol to treat additional COVID-19 patients with this novel new therapeutic.

Kate Drake, Head of Product Marketing with Corindus, a Siemens Healthineers Company, discusses the CorPath® GRX  robotic system that was developed to make complex heart and brain procedures safer for patients and physicians by limiting radiation exposure and making physician movements more precise, but it can also be operated remotely.  Currently, physicians will control the robot while seated across the room, but a cardiologist in India successfully performed five heart procedures in 2018 while controlling the robot over a hardwired internet connection from 20 miles away.  Robotic-assisted procedures are turning out to be very beneficial during the pandemic.

With more patients turning to home exercise there has been a rise in foot injuries.  Dr. Kyle Kinmon, a leading podiatrist in South Florida discusses how patients can seek specialized treatment if they are uncomfortable going to the doctor’s office, what people experiencing foot/ankle issues should do and when to know if they have to be seen by a specialist, and what to do to prevent foot complications.

Dr. Mark Erlander, CEO of Cardiff Oncology discusses their lead drug candidate Onvansertib and the three active clinical trials in colorectal cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and prostate cancer.  Onvansertib specifically targets and inhibits a downstream enzyme, PLK1, effectively stopping cancer cell division.

Dr. Becky Nagy, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Guardant Health talks about the “Clear Your View” campaign that Guardant Health and three advocacy groups, including Go2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, LUNGevity Foundation, and ALK Positive, have come together to underscore the importance of comprehensive genomic testing.  The campaign encourages oncologists to “stop, test, and wait” for the complete genomic profile for new patients with advanced metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) before starting first-line treatment. 

Returning guest Dr. Paul Limburg, a gastroenterology consultant at the Mayo Clinic, and CMO for screening at Exact Sciences discusses new data from the Colorectal Cancer and Adenoma Incidence and Mortality model (CRC-AIM) shared as several e-presentations published by Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2020 that shows the value of Cologuard® (mt-sDNA) as an effective colorectal cancer screening test over fecal immunochemical testing (FIT).  The research also highlights the need for improved access to colonoscopy following a positive Cologuard® test or FIT.

Heart surgeon turned medical device entrepreneur, Dr. Lishan Aklog, CEO of PAVmed, Inc., discusses EsoGuard, a non-invasive esophageal DNA test and EsoCheck, a non-invasive cell collection device for the detection of Barrett’s Esophagus, a little-known precursor to esophageal cancer.

Dr. Becky Nagy, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Guardant Health discusses the phase l/ll study led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and published in “Nature Cancer” that showed Guardant360® liquid biopsy test identifies predictors of response to PIK3CA inhibitors in women with HR+ Metastatic Breast Cancer.