The Genetics Podcast

This week, we welcome Dr. Mike Gaziano, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC). Mike is also one of two Principal Investigators of the Million Veteran Program - a national research project in the US looking at how genes, lifestyle, military experiences, and exposures affect health and wellness in veterans. This is a huge undertaking, as Mike describes this project as “the largest health system-based mega-biobank in the world". Join Patrick and Dr. Mike for a discussion on the Million Veteran Program’s research, its integration of extensive data from veterans, and its role in shaping the future of personalized medicine for the veteran community.

This week, we’re joined by Scott Weiss, the Professor of Medicine at Harvard University, Associate Director of the Channing Division of Network Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and former Scientific Director at Partners HealthCare Personalized Medicine at Mass General Brigham. Patrick and Scott discuss the challenges of integrating large-scale, longitudinal multi-omic profiling into healthcare settings, demonstrating the value of preventative initiatives to health insurance providers, and why, at 78, Scott isn’t planning on retiring from genetics anytime soon.

This week Patrick is joined by Austin Argentieri, Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School, Affiliate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. Austin’s work focuses on the proteomics of aging and how proteomic signatures are highly predictive for estimating biological age. From the potential of therapeutic applications, to why no “fountain of youth” genes have yet been identified, he and Patrick discuss the heritability of aging and how proteomics can help identify risk of age-related disease.

In this episode, we’re joined by Daniel O’Connor, Director of Regulatory Policy and Early Access at The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Daniel previously spent almost 18 years at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and over his career has specialized in improving and incentivizing pathways to rare disease treatment development. Join Patrick and Daniel as they discuss orphan drug designation, the importance of international collaboration, and how unlocking new regulatory approaches to preventative medicine can help change the future of rare and ultra-rare conditions.

Join us as we welcome back Dr. Veera Rajagopal, a discovery scientist at Regeneron with an interest in human genetics and drug target discovery in neuroscience and psychiatry. If you’re a regular listener of The Genetics Podcast, you are likely familiar with Dr. Veera’s annual round-up episodes. This year, we are excited to announce quarterly episodes with Dr. Veera, where he and Patrick walk you through the latest developments in genetics, drug discovery, and precision medicine throughout the year. This quarter’s episode will dive into the discovery of a recurrent de novo mutation in a noncoding region linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, the role of RAB32 in Parkinson's disease (PD), insights into monogenic conditions like systemic lupus erythematosus, and new perspectives on Alzheimer's genetics. Tune in now, and don’t forget to check out Veera’s substack, GWAS Stories, and his Twitter, @doctorveera.

Guest Jakob Steinfeldt from Pheiron discusses using machine learning for early disease detection, challenges in drug development like identifying at-risk patients, the need for specific data in clinical trials, and building a collaborative approach with patients. He reflects on starting Pheiron, focusing on precision medicine, and future goals.

Dr. Andrea Gropman discusses the impact of genetics on modern medical practice, from diagnosis to treatment. Topics include insurance coverage for genetic testing, advancements in neuroimaging technologies, newborn screening programs, and improvements in treatment options for genetic-based diseases. Exciting advancements in the field and insights on groundbreaking technological innovations are also highlighted.

This week, we welcome Lori Orlando, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Precision Medicine Program in the Center for Applied Genomics and Precision Medicine at Duke University. Lori discusses her work as a health services researcher, the MeTree family health history platform, and how she and her team are working to develop a sustainable model for bringing genomic medicine into primary care.

This week, we’re joined by Ben Goldacre, a renowned doctor, academic, author, and journalist. His books include “Bad Science” and “Bad Pharma,” among others, and he is currently a Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at University of Oxford. There, he runs the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science which aims to pioneer the better use of data, evidence and digital tools in healthcare and policy. Patrick and Ben discuss Join Patrick and Ben for an open conversation about Ben’s choice to step back from the public eye and the power of the OpenSAFELY platform to improve security, transparency and analysis of Electronic Health Records.

This week, we welcome Michelle Werner, CEO of Alltrna and CEO/Partner at Flagship Pioneering. Michelle and her team are working at the cutting-edge of tRNA therapies, which they hope will present a scalable treatment method for people in the rare and ultra-rare disease communities. Join Patrick and Michelle for an exciting conversation about this breakthrough technology, from the transferable potential of this new modality across stop codon diseases, to Michelle’s personal passion for delivering workable solutions to the rare disease community.