Over 90% of American sickle cell disease (SCD) patients are Black or African American, contributing to a history of underfunding and stigma. Patients in debilitating pain are misconstrued as drug seekers. What medicines they receive have side effects and fail to address the root cause.

In this season’s finale, I interview John Paderi, Chief Scientific Officer at IHP Therapeutics. Inspired by Biodesign’s patient-centric approach, he is developing a novel, self-administered drug for SCD pain crisis.

Join us to discover the SCD patient journey, shortcomings of existing therapies, and his learnings as CSO—risks, opportunities, strategy and all.

We also explore how he integrates Biodesign with his academic training, surprising parallels between SCD and migraines, and his most rewarding moment at IHP so far!

References:

Overview on Sickle Cell Pain Management (Osunkwo et al.)

Health Care Disparities in Sickle Cell Disease (Lee et al.)

Impact of Opioid Epidemic on Sickle Cell Patients (Sinha et al.)