Finding Genius Podcast

“It’s the best time in our lives to have breast cancer,” says Dr. Rabia Bhatti, which is good news for many, since the average woman’s risk of developing breast cancer in the U.S. is about 13 percent. In this episode, you’ll discover: Whether the use of multiple treatment modalities for breast cancer could altogether eliminate the need for surgery How hormone-positive cancers differ from triple-negative cancers in terms of the time between primary tumor resection and return of the cancer What it means to have “dense” breasts, how this impacts cancer detection, and what new technology is being utilized for better detection What foods should be avoided and which should be consumed in order to lower the risk of developing breast cancer Dr. Bhatti is a breast surgeon at West Suburban Medical Center and Medical Director of the River Forest Breast Care Center. Her evolution as a general surgeon brought her to the breast cancer specialization, where she saw an opportunity to not only be a surgeon who focuses on isolated diseased organs, but a healer of the whole patient. She discusses the many advancements in breast cancer treatment over the past 20 years, such as the replacement of radical mastectomies with minimally-invasive procedures, earlier detection and diagnosis, surgeries which leave the skin and nipple untouched and only remove the diseased breast tissue, as well as breast reconstruction. She also talks about the role of clinics which serve patients who are at high risk of developing breast cancer, depending on their family history, risk score, and lifestyle risk factors (exercise, diet, age at which a woman has children, how long a woman breastfeeds, etc.). Dr. Bhatti’s current work centers around the role of lifestyle in the development, progression, and treatment of breast cancer—particularly exercise. “I believe this is a significant part of the treatment of breast cancer, and it has not really been emphasized traditionally up until now,” she says. She also emphasizes the power of immunotherapy and genomics in the future of breast cancer treatment. Tune in for the details of all this and more.   Learn more: https://www.westsuburbanmc.com/our-services/women-s-health/breast-care-center/

About 40 million people in the U.S. suffer from migraines. Yet, migraine mechanisms are only just now understood. That's good news for better medicines, and Charlie Conway of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals discusses how his corner of pharma has developed a targeted therapy with great promise. Listen and learn How migraine headaches and related symptoms result from an over-activated trigeminal nerve in the brain that releases CGRP; Why CGRP causes debilitating symptoms including pulsing headaches, light and sound hypersensitivity, and nausea; and How they've developed CGRP-targeted therapies that either block the receptors or absorb the excess. Charlie Conway is the Chief Scientific Officer at Biohaven Pharmaceuticals. His background includes a postdoc on neuroscience and pain sensing. He brings listeners up to speed on the latest research on brain cells and migraines, including how the physiology leads to overactive nerve cells and debilitating pain. It starts with a trigger of the trigeminal nerve, which sits on either side of the brain stem. The exaggerated trigeminal nerve activity then changes the response properties deeper in the brain, releasing a chemical called calcitonin gene-related peptide, or CGRP. In addition, because nerve cells are able to stretch, they're in key positions to absorb CGRP; in fact, a single cell in the brainstem can send up fibers that connect to the outer brain tissue. When the CGRP is released, the proteins hit a few different areas of the brain, including this outer brain tissue called the dura. This leads to over-excited nerves and what's called neurogenic inflammation. He describes the additional biological events that lead to the pain migraine suffers experience. But Biohaven's anti-CGRP targeted therapies prevent this cascade. In fact, they've shown that the treatments are effective for both acute migraines, as well as prevention. That prevention is what makes their therapy unique and especially promising. Listen in for more about what they've developed, how it compares to other therapies, if there are possible risks, and how this can make a substantial difference. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

What's a stinging tree? Hikers in Australia are familiar with this needle-covered plant that can cause hours of pain. Researcher Sam Robinson has been studying how this tree's sting causes pain, and found a connection to chemotherapy-associated pain that may help researchers find a solution. His work includes the study of numerous toxic plants and animals and the chemistry behind our painful biological reaction. He discusses Some fascinating examples of organisms and their toxins, The two main categories of toxins and how they work on a broad scale, and The benefits of deconstructing how these toxins work on detailed level for potential chronic pain management and pharmacology. Dr. Sam Robinson is a research fellow at the Institute for Molecular Biological Science at the University of Queensland in Australia. It took a walk on the beach and a jellyfish sighting to get his curiosity in gear for researching how toxins cause pain. He's focused on exploring painful toxins in a systematic way, down to the proteins and genetics involved. He adds that venom, for example, is not the same across different animals. Rather, there's a "whole cocktail of different toxins" with different uses, from capturing prey to self-defense, and they can affect different parts of the organism they bite. While their similar functions come down to convergent evolution, there are a host of different ingredients. He gives several specific examples and explains why he's especially focused on toxins that affect our cellular voltage-gated sodium channels. That's where the stinging tree comes in. He's found that the tree injects a toxin that keeps those channels open, causing hours of pain. Furthermore, after the pain is gone, it can be revived by exposure to cold in a phenomena called cold allodynia, a condition chemotherapy patients also experience. This is the kind of connection that makes his research potentially applicable to numerous pain-related diseases and treatment. Listen in for more examples of pain deconstructed. 

How can companies make educated decisions on how and where to operate their business? Information data can steer them in the right direction. Listen up to learn: How accurate data can be ensured after collection What data is collected from users Which businesses can benefit from data collection CEO of Premise, Maury Blackman, shares his expertise in collecting data and using it to guide business decisions worldwide. Collecting data from users and contributors around the world can be the first step in helping businesses operate more intelligently. By ensuring this data is accurate, directives can be established to guide smart decision-making. Organizing data collectors allows data sets to be comprehensive and diverse. Since different people perceive the world around them in different ways, the most accurate sets of data can be gleaned from their experience. To learn more, visit https://www.premise.com.

Does sodium chloride play a role in how and why our bodies contract viruses? Research may show that its presence can be a significant indicator. Listen up to learn: How vaccines are developed in real-time The difference between infection fatality rates and case fatality rates What happens to mRNA after it is used in the vaccine Ronald B. Brown, Ph.D., joins the conversation to discuss his research into the Covid-19 virus and how it interacts with our bodies. It can bring more harm than good by overreacting to early Covid-19 reports before understanding and defining statistics. By making hasty decisions on the advice of the World Health Organization, there may be lasting repercussions. The human body has a "virome," similar to the gut microbiome, which plays a role in maintaining overall health in the body. By making viruses internally, our bodies produce certain products at different times in the year, affecting our health in different ways. Search for Dr. Ronald B. Brown on Google Scholar for more information. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

Over 50 percent of people who are put on mechanical ventilation don’t survive. But for many, there is another option. Dr. Gutierrez explains. Press play to learn: How the use of high-flow nasal cannulas significantly reduces the concern of aerosolizing the COVID-19 virus and infecting healthcare workers Why it can be so dangerous, if not fatal, to place people on mechanical ventilators How high-flow nasal cannulas can be used as a replacement for mechanical ventilation in treating a number of diseases Dr. Eddy Gutierrez is a critical care specialist at Baptist Medical Center in Florida who joins the show to share his firsthand experience in treating COVID-19 patients, and the benefits of replacing mechanical ventilation with high-flow nasal cannulas. When COVID-19 first hit, Dr. Gutierrez and his colleagues were shocked by the high level of mortality and difficulty caring for those with the virus—especially since they always prioritized staying on the cutting edge of medicine and medical technology. Initially, the conventional treatment for COVID-19 was to deliver oxygen to patients by putting them on mechanical ventilators. Dr. Gutierrez says it quickly became clear that there weren’t going to be enough ventilators, which led to the use of a life-saving technology called a high-flow nasal cannula. And it really is life-saving, considering that the mortality rate of those who need to be intubated and put on a mechanical ventilator is so high, and the complications so numerous. The high-flow nasal cannula is placed over the face of the patent and delivers a much higher flow of oxygen to the patient than conventional cannulas, but at the same time allows the patient to continue eating, communicating with loved ones on the phone or video chat, and even walking around in their hospital rooms. Someone who is on a ventilator, in contrast, is unable to move, eat, or even breathe on their own, and may experience deadly consequences.  Find Dr. Gutierrez on Twitter and Instagram @eddyjoemd and check out his podcast, Saving Lives. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

How can cancer cells be understood through a lens other than strictly biological? Mechanical factors may serve a function in the genes never before understood. Press play to learn: How normal cells respond to stressors on the body If organs as a whole change in response to the presence of cancer How an encapsulated tumor affects surgery Xi Huang, assistant professor in the department of molecular genetics at the University of Toronto, discusses his research on the mechanical aspects of cancer cells. Cancer tissue in an organ can alter the rigidity of the tissue around it. A more rigid environment can be conducive to forming new growths of cancer if the pathways in the area allow for it. Different stiffnesses in tissue can give clues into the stem cells of that specific cancer. If tumors of the same kind vary in stiffness, they may behave differently or have different impacts on the surrounding area. To learn more, visit http://www.moleculargenetics.utoronto.ca/faculty/2015/7/2/xi-huang. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

“Cancer…should be defined as a different system, almost like a different animal…cancer as a new system or new cellular species…is very provocative and some people find it hard to accept,” says Professor Henry Heng. Tune in to learn more and discover: Why some cancers return after primary tumor resection At what point cancer becomes its own “life form” Why genetic heterogeneity might be considered one of cancer’s most powerful strategies for growth and survival Professor Heng is part of the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics at Wayne State University School of Medicine. He joins the show to provide his knowledge and insight on a handful of challenging, compelling questions about cancer. These include whether cancer should be considered as a separate life form, how cancer cells differ genetically from host cells, how cancers and viruses behave in fundamentally different ways, how viruses can cause cancer, why the distinction between cancer stem cells and regular cancer cells is a significant one, and so many more. Visit https://www.genetics.wayne.edu/faculty/henry-heng to learn more. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

How can you begin foraging for your own food? Many resources are available to help you take the first step. Listen in to learn: Is foraging for all needs viable globally? If plants are able to communicate Where new research into plant medicines is leading Herbalist and anthropologist, Dr. Nicole Apelian drops in shares her vast experience of living by foraging from the land all over the world. Cultures globally have been using the land surrounding them as their grocery stores and pharmacies throughout history. Necessities and holistic remedies can be found in abundance in many biomes and landscapes. By collecting information from herbalists, insights into health and the environment can be gained worldwide. Plant medicines may be able to give hope to people with ailments never previously thought to be treatable. Visit nicoleapelian.com for more information. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C

Can you smell disease? Believe it or not, you can, and pretty reliably at that. The problem is, you aren’t good at describing and quantifying what you smell, and definitely not at “diagnosing.” Aromyx is a company that’s doing something incredibly unique to circumvent this problem, while utilizing scent detection for all it’s worth. Press play to learn: How “smelling” something is actually an act of detecting distinct chemical metabolite signatures from tissues in the body By what percentage dogs have been shown to more accurately and sensitively detect prostate cancer than the status quo, FDA-approved test How the olfactory system could eventually hold the key to therapeutics for a range of diseases  Olfaction (the sense of smell) has been used for hundreds of years to detect disease—even the ancient Greeks practiced it. Josh Silverman is the CEO of Aromyx, a company that’s taking full advantage of this powerful sense. So, how are they doing it? By developing validated clinical assays for diagnosing disease states, using the same scent and taste receptors that are in your nose and tongue. By cloning those receptors and putting them in a format that be used in the lab to measure responses from individual receptors, Aromyx is effectively hijacking the same information that goes from your nose to your brain when you smell or taste something, and putting it in an objective, readable, and quantifiable format. They’re taking a powerful “subjective” experience, and making it a powerful objective measurement of chemical metabolites which indicate the presence of certain diseases. And, the level of detection is orders of magnitude beyond any electronic sensors or other technology currently in existence. So far, Aromyx has used this technology to detect prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and malaria, and they know that the potential for much wider diagnostic capabilities is well within reach. Silverman dives into all the details of this and more. Tune in, and check out https://www.aromyx.com/ to learn more.   Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C