Healthcare Unfiltered

To better understand the role and importance of Advanced Practice Providers in oncology care, Chadi hosts Sarah Wyman, MSN, ACNP-BC, and Katie Simon, MMSc, PA-C, both co-leads of the APPs on the inpatient malignant hematology services team at Emory University Winship Cancer Institute. They begin by explaining the similar training and skill sets of NPs and PAs, the history of these positions over the past 25 years, and the day-to-day responsibilities for inpatient APPs. Then, they share how discharge planning is handled, the level of autonomy granted to APPs in decision making and test ordering, how doctors relate to APPs in the clinic (and whether there is friction), and their role in initiating end-of-life discussions, among so much more.Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

In the world of whole-genome sequencing, do we really need cytogenetics anymore? To answer this question, Chadi brings on two cytogeneticists: Linda Baughn, PhD, and Yassmine Akkari, PhD. They begin by describing their unique career paths to becoming cytogeneticists, their day-to-day responsibilities, and what tests they perform and on what specimens. They then simplify the commonly used assays in their labs, how cytogenetic techniques are evolving (rather than dying), what whole genome sequencing looks like in the future, and topics that cytogeneticists disagree on, among other discussion points.Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Today is the day of the official launch of Chadi’s first book “Toxic Exposure: The True Story behind the Monsanto Trials and the Search for Justice.” Throughout the book, Chadi details his experience as an expert physician witness and the true story of the first three litigation trials against Monsanto and their herbicide "Roundup" which is linked to the development of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.The special guest on this unique day is the amazing icon and legend Dr. Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Dr. Taleb is beyond introduction; a best selling author of several books that contain concepts being taught in many schools. Dr. Taleb understands risk like no other and he is famous for predicting the Wall Street crash of 2008. Nassim found himself in the crosshairs with Monsanto, a story that he shares on the podcast.Dr. Taleb read “Toxic Exposure,” generously offered his opinion, and shared that he liked it and that he would recommend it to his colleagues and followers. They talk about many things, from GMOs to ghostwriting and some of the finer details of the way Monsanto cherry-picked research to fit its arguments as well as how Chadi handled himself throughout the trials.Order your copy of “Toxic Exposure” today.https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Exposure-behind-Monsanto-Justice/dp/1421445352Read some of Dr. Taleb’s articles. https://nntaleb.medium.comLearn more about Dr. Taleb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_TalebCheck out his books. https://www.fooledbyrandomness.com

In this special episode, Chadi hosts his previous mentor from his days as a fellow at Northwestern: Martin Tallman, MD, previous president of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and world renowned leukemia expert. Together, they discuss mentorship and what makes a good mentor, where Dr. Tallman’s interest in leukemia came from and why he decided to begin his career in Seattle, his road to becoming an ASH president and how his day-to-day responsibilities changed after his election, reasons for becoming more active on MedTwitter, and the progression of leukemia treatment in 30+ years, along with much more.Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Nathan Vardi, managing editor at MarketWatch, and author of the new book “For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest for a Blockbuster Drug,” is the guest of honor on today’s show. Nathan divulges on what happened behind closed doors for the creation of BTK inhibitors. Everything at the intersection of Wall Street, investigators, doctors, regulatory agencies, investors, and VC is detailed. He begins by explaining the inspiration to cover this story and how willing individuals were to speak on the record, describes in detail a few of the nuances of and feelings toward specific characters, provides examples of the role that luck plays in cancer drug development, and opines on the FDA’s challenge of approving the right drugs for market, among many other fascinating topics.Read more about “For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest for a Blockbuster Drug.”https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393540956Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Few drugs in oncology have transformed the way we take care of patients. Ibrutinib is one such drug, and it belongs to a class called "BTK inhibitors"In this episode, Chadi captures the story of developing the drug through the eyes of Dr. Jeff Sharman, a prolific investigator and researcher; he is the director of research at the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute as well as the medical director of hematology research for The US Oncology Network. Dr. Sharman begins by discussing the dynamics of opening clinical trials throughout the US Oncology Network, then shares his career choice to move into the community setting, how a research idea he came up with led him down a path of being discouraged by the academic research world, his experience treating the first ever patient in the world with ibrutinib, and the underpinnings of the biotech world.More on his story and the drug development dynamics are described in the fascinating book "For Blood and Money," authored by Nathan Vardi, who is next week’s guest.These two back-to-back episodes will make you think, pause, and reflect.Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Jennifer Fried, MBA, most recently the CEO of ExplORer Surgical, joins the show to share her story as a co-founder of a successful startup health technology company. She begins by telling her inspiration to start the company with her partner, when and how operating room workflow and efficiency was discovered as an area of unmet need, the steps she took to create the software platform solution and how it functions, struggles she faced when facing potential investors, how the pandemic propelled the platform from a “nice to have” to a “must have,” why the business was eventually sold, and what the lessons learned were from the whole experience.Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

What do we know about various diets and their association with cancer? Have you ever wondered what the evidence shows?To answer this important question, Chadi hosts two specialists from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Urvi Shah, MD, hematologist oncologist (myeloma expert and a cancer survivor herself), and Neil Lyengar, MD, medical oncologist (breast cancer expert). They discuss whether there’s a direct cause-and-effect relationship between lack of exercise and cancer diagnoses and alcohol/food consumption and cancer diagnoses, methodologies of studying these relationships in the breast and myeloma spaces, lifestyle and dietary interventions they are studying, how Keto and plant-based diets factor into the discussion, and a whole lot more.Read their publication in JAMA Oncology. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2794147Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Scott Eggener, MD, University of Chicago, and Jonathan Epstein, MD, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, join the show to debate whether Gleason Score 6 prostate cancer should be renamed to non-cancer. The trio hit on what should happen upon diagnosis and Gleason grade 6, which patients should be offered active surveillance, the benefits and risks of not calling this diagnosis “cancer,” how often and how frequently to biopsy, overscreening, and many other discussion points.Read Dr. Eggener’s editorial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.22.00123Read Dr Epstein’s response in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.22.00926Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Chadi is delighted and honored to host an icon and pioneer in precision medicine and the molecular understanding of cancer as we know it: Ray Kurzrock, MD, FACP, Center Associate Director and Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin as well as CMO of the WIN consortium. Nobody knows the history of precision medicine like Ray does. She was doubted when she started, but her resilience and perseverance led to unprecedented progress that she led along with her mentors, mentees, and colleagues.She details her early appointment to leading the phase I trials at MD Anderson Cancer Center and developing a protocol for matching targeted therapy trials to the right patients, the origins of the term “precision medicine,” resistance to precision medicine and genomics by different stakeholders, how accelerated approvals are better suited for precision medicine versus randomized controlled trials, and a host of other topics in this riveting and spirited dialogue.We owe much of our current understanding of cancer as a molecularly driven disease to Ray as she had an immeasurable impact on the field.Please visit chadinabhan.com and check out more features. Don't forget to subscribe, like, rate, and share with your friends and colleagues.