I worked with Steve for 14 years, starting in the early 90s. It was a really fun time to study the body's immune system against cancer. Most of the cancer treatment world did not believe that the immune system was important in treating cancer. We saw some things that really made us believe that this could work. And it was very exciting for us to see those first responses in patients to novel T cell based therapies.
Immunotherapy has the potential to cure cancer. Today we are joined by a leading figure in cancer studies and research and one who has helped shape the immunotherapy landscape, Dr. Patrick Hwu. The internationally recognized Dr. Hwu previously applied his trade at the National Cancer Institute and is now the President and CEO of one of America’s leading cancer hospitals, the Moffitt Cancer Center. We tap into Dr. Hwu’s wealth of knowledge and experience as he explains what immunotherapy is, its benefits, and how it differs from other cancer treatments. We explore the recent advancements in immunotherapy and what the future of this treatment looks like, why the time to market for new technologies and therapies needs to improve and how the FDA fits in, how to get the right treatments to the right patients at the right time, and how Dr. Hwu and his team are impressing the industry with the way they use math, data aggregation, and large language models (LLMs) to problem-solve. We end with some heartfelt stories of triumph from Dr. Hwu’s career, the hand he’s played in building Florida’s formidable biotech ecosystem, and his words of inspiration for future scientists and a message of hope for families who are currently fighting through treatment.
Key Points From This Episode:
- Joining us today is the President and CEO of Moffitt Cancer Center, Dr. Patrick Hwu.
- Background on Dr. Hwu’s professional career.
- What immunotherapy is, its benefits, and how it differs from traditional cancer treatments.
- How Dr. Hwu helped shaped the immunotherapy landscape: his ‘aha’ moments.
- Exciting advancements going on in his lab and immunotherapy in general.
- Dr. Hwu explains he’s having a lot of fun working with CRISPR for gene editing.
- Why FDA regulations need to be adjusted to accommodate new technologies and treatments.
- How to lower the costs of cell and other important therapies, and why this needs to happen.
- Why resources like ClinicalTrails.gov need to be more abundant.
- Examining why some patients respond better to gene therapy than others.
- How to improve the process of getting the right drug to the right patient at the right time.
- The impressive way that Dr. Hwu and his team utilize math, data aggregation, and LLMs.
- Assessing the challenge of persistence in immunotherapy.
- Inspirational stories of triumph from Dr. Hwu’s career.
- Revisiting more ways to shorten the time to market for new technologies and therapies.
- Playing piano for two bands, and other ways that Dr. Hwu lets off steam.
- How he’s contributed to building an impressive biotech ecosystem in Florida.
- Advice for potential immunotherapy scientists, and words of hope for families in therapy.
