INTERVIEWS

Steve Wigginton, CEO of Icario discusses the company’s platform Icario Connect.  He talks about how health IT can help a long overdue overhaul of health plans and how health plans are embracing data insight and behavioral analytics to drive real health changes.

As one of the most prevalent diseases in the world, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious chronic illness that contributes to high blood pressure / hypertension, heart failure, stroke, coronary artery disease, and countless other life-threatening illnesses. Kirk Huntsman, CEO and co-founder of Vivos Therapeutics discusses the dangers of OSA and how the Vivos System treatment protocol works to address sleep apnea’s underlying cause with a unique treatment plan. 

While the numbers are constantly rising, more than 1 in 10 Americans – or more than 34 million people – live with diabetes already today.  For many of them, nerve damage caused by diabetes – a condition called diabetic neuropathy – is a common complication that can cause painful shooting and stabbing sensations along with burning, tingling and numbness that affect the lower extremities.  To understand more about the challenges patients face due to this condition, a new national survey reveals its findings on what it truly means to live with diabetic nerve pain.  Here to discuss neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy – or diabetic nerve pain – and the survey findings is Dr. Rodica Pop-Busui, MD, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine, Metabolism, Endocrinology and Diabetes and Vice Chair Clinical Research, Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Lindsay Colbert, Executive Director of the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy.

Dr. Clare Grace, Chief Patient Officer at Parexel, a leading Clinical Research Organization (CRO) discusses a report titled “Discussions on Diversity” that includes key takeaways regarding candid discussions on the topic of racial and ethnic diversity in clinical trials.

Rheumatologist, Dr. Hillary Norton, who is living with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) a form of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), discusses axSpA, signs and symptoms, her own experience with a form of axSpA and tools available to help patients get diagnosed faster.  She is joined by Jill, a patient living with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) who shares her experience, how it has impacted her daily life and offers advice for others living with unexplained back pain. 

Richard Marsden, CEO of Synairgen plc discusses full results from its SGO16 Phase II trial of its inhaled interferon beta formulation (SNG001) for the treatment of severe viral lung infections in COVID-19 patients.  The combined analysis of the home and hospital cohorts shows that breathless patients are more than 3 times as likely to recover on SNG001 than placebo. Unique to SNG001 is that it is inhaled therefore targeting response at the site of infection. 

Dr. Charlotte Owens, MD, Therapeutic Area Lead for Women’s Health in U.S. Medical Affairs at AbbVie discusses new data presented at the 2021 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting on Real-World findings on elagolix in endometriosis and uterine fibroids.  Data highlights include positive treatment effects in endometriosis-associated pain, and higher physician satisfaction than other currently available treatments.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare research and training at all levels have been greatly impacted.  Paddy Mullen, CEO of BRANY (Biomedical Research Alliance of New York) and Bharat Krishna, MSc, MBA, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, CITI Program (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative) discuss the results of a new survey of more than 7,000 respondents, including physicians, nurses, students, and researchers, that offer insights on where questions and concerns remain and what the future may hold as students and health care professionals attempt to return to normalcy at school and work. Visit CITI Program’s Youtube Channel.

Returning guest, Dr. Thomas Jones, Professor of Pediatrics and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Seattle Children’s Hospital and an investigator on the Medtronic Harmony™ Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV) pivotal trial discusses the one-year outcomes from the Pivotal Trial and 30-day outcomes from the Continued Access Study at a late-breaking session during SCAI (Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions) Scientific Sessions. The Harmony TPV is the first minimally invasive therapy created to treat patients with a specific type of congenital heart defect of the right ventricle.

Dr. Angelika Erwin, a board‐certified clinical geneticist and internist at Cleveland Clinic, as well as a porphyria expert and member of the Porphyrias Consortium discusses acute hepatic porphyria (AHP), when a doctor should suspect AHP in a patient and how to test for it.