Dr.  Elizabeth O'Day is the CEO and Founder of Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company that uses a pioneering metabolomics platform and  proprietary machine learning algorithms to fundamentally improve how disease is diagnosed and treated. Olaris identifies “biomarkers of  response” (BoR) to stratify patients into optimal treatment groups, increasing survival rates, decreasing adverse events, and reducing unnecessary healthcare costs.

Outside of Olaris, Dr. O’Day plays an incredibly active role in  partnering with government leaders and global organizations in advancing  the field of precision medicine around the world. After founding  Olaris, Dr. O’Day was invited to attend the first United State of Women  Summit convened by the White House in 2016, and was recognized as a  “nominated Change Maker.” She was also invited to participate in Vice  President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot Summit to discuss collaborative  ways “to end cancer as we know it.” In 2016, Dr. O’Day began serving as  the co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on  Biotechnology. In this role, she has focused on leading the council in  identifying policy opportunities capable of accelerating new biotech,  and also guiding the dialogue about the implications of biotech  advancements globally.

Dr. O’Day serves on the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) Board  of Directors.  In this role, Dr. O’Day collaborates with stakeholders  across academia, industry, and government to increase access to  personalized medicine.

Dr. Elizabeth O'Day is the CEO and Founder of Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company that uses a pioneering metabolomics platform and proprietary machine learning algorithms to fundamentally improve how disease is diagnosed and treated. Olaris identifies “biomarkers of response” (BoR) to stratify patients into optimal treatment groups, increasing survival rates, decreasing adverse events, and reducing unnecessary healthcare costs.

Outside of Olaris, Dr. O’Day plays an incredibly active role in partnering with government leaders and global organizations in advancing the field of precision medicine around the world. After founding Olaris, Dr. O’Day was invited to attend the first United State of Women Summit convened by the White House in 2016, and was recognized as a “nominated Change Maker.” She was also invited to participate in Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot Summit to discuss collaborative ways “to end cancer as we know it.” In 2016, Dr. O’Day began serving as the co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biotechnology. In this role, she has focused on leading the council in identifying policy opportunities capable of accelerating new biotech, and also guiding the dialogue about the implications of biotech advancements globally.

Dr. O’Day serves on the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) Board of Directors.  In this role, Dr. O’Day collaborates with stakeholders across academia, industry, and government to increase access to personalized medicine.

In this edition of C-Sessions, your host, Randall Broad interviews C. Anthony "Tony" Blau, M.D. and Founder/CEO of All4Cure.  

Here are a few areas in which All4Cure aims to make a difference:  Sharing, Learning, Curing = Learning from each patient's experience for the benefit of all other patients.  Access to an external network of expertise and a large database of the treatments and outcomes of hundreds and eventually tens of thousands of patients.  Democratizing access to expert level care irrespective of geographic barriers.   Initial focus on Multiple Myeloma, and eventually all cancer.  

Tony founded All4Cure after 27-years as a Professor of Medicine/Hematology and physician scientist at the University of Washington (UW). His research has spanned hematopoiesis, gene therapy,  stem cell biology, genomics and cancer.  He consistently focusing on bringing the very latest research advances to patients with heretofore incurable diseases. 

At UW, he founded the Center for Cancer Innovation,  which brings together a distributed network of investigators to help  patients with advanced cancer. Tony co-founded the UW Institute for Stem  Cell and Regenerative Medicine and chaired the Molecular and Cellular Hematology Study Section for the National Institutes of Health. He has  authored more than 85 scientific publications. Diagnosed himself with myeloma in April 2015, Tony infuses All4Cure with an incredible sense of  urgency to improve the prospects for cancer patients now and in the future.

Cancer patients and their caregivers experience many breakdowns in our healthcare system: they are overwhelmed as they confront their mortality and struggle to access and navigate complex, constantly changing treatment options across an uncoordinated healthcare system. CancerHacker Learning Lab accelerates patient-led solutions to these cancer care problems by organizing conversations with carefully selected advisors on their most urgent issues.

Brad Power, a process innovation consultant and lymphoma survivor, along with Erika Hanson Brown, a community organizer and colorectal cancer  survivor, share how they created and co-founded CancerHacker Learning Lab with Hive Networks, a provider of health learning network services.

Brad Power is a process innovation consultant, focused on  reengineering cancer treatment, particularly by empowering cancer  patients, caregivers, and startups. He is co-founder and head hacker at  CancerHacker Learning Lab, an accelerator for patient-led solutions to  cancer care problems; founder of Reengineering Cancer Treatment; and  founding member and chairman of MyCancerDB.

Erika Hanson Brown is the “Founding Mayor” of COLONTOWN, an online community dedicated to improving the lives of people with colorectal cancer. Brown is also CEO and founder of One Cancer Place, the non-profit organization that oversees COLONTOWN.

We are grateful to have Christine Goff, stage I breast cancer patient along with Minas Chrysopoulo MD, breast cancer reconstruction surgeon share their respective worlds when it comes to treatment for Breast Cancer and subsequent surgery(s).

Christine has had a challenging time undergoing multiple surgeries since her diagnosis a little over a year ago.  

Minas Chrysopoulo ("Dr C") is a board certified plastic surgeon, breast reconstruction surgeon / micro surgeon, and President of PRMA Plastic Surgery in San Antonio, TX.   He specializes in state-of-the-art breast reconstruction with a particular focus on perforator flap breast reconstruction, techniques to maximize aesthetic outcomes, and restoring sensation after mastectomy.  Under Dr C's leadership, PRMA has become one of the busiest breast reconstruction practices in the world, routinely welcoming patients from across the globe.

Dr C has dedicated his professional life to advocating for breast cancer patients, and strongly believes that shared decision-making between the physician and patient is crucial in achieving the best treatment outcomes.  To this end, he founded Toliman Health, a digital health company committed to helping physicians, healthcare organizations, and industry improve patient experience and outcomes via empowering shared decision-making technology.  Toliman’s flagship product, the Breast Advocate® App, is the world's first shared decision-making app for breast cancer surgery and breast reconstruction.  Breast Advocate® provides anyone with a breast cancer diagnosis, or at risk of developing breast cancer, a much-needed voice in their breast cancer surgery decision-making.

J. Michael Wrigglesworth has spent most of the last 20 years working to increase access to oncology medication for cancer patients around the world. As the Senior Director of Programs Strategy and Data Solutions for The Max Foundation, Michael has helped design, build, and manage the operational teams and programs for the organization over the past 18 years. Max programs promote health equity by creating access channels to targeted medicines for people in low / middle - income countries where no other means of access exist. 

Michael is also deeply passionate about how technology can accelerate global health equity. With an expertise in information technology, he designed and engineered PATS, the custom Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution Max uses to connect physicians with supply chains to track case detail and deliver medicine to thousands of patients - FOR FREE! 

Michael is a graduate of Santa Clara University and lives on the island of Maui, Hawaii.

Randall Broad welcomes Trevor Maxwell, founder of Man Up to Cancer.

Man Up to Cancer inspires men to connect and avoid isolation during our cancer journeys.

Founded in 2020 by stage IV colon cancer patient Trevor Maxwell, Man Up to Cancer is a digital content company and online community. They offer a podcast, website, social media channels, and an insanely engaged Facebook group called, 'The Howling Place'.

When faced with cancer, women tend to, “reach out,” and men tend to,  “check out.” This tendency toward isolation leads men down the path  toward mental health problems, strained relationships, and poor medical outcomes. Man up to Cancer presents a new path.

We are changing what it means to “Man Up” in the face of cancer. It’s not just about being tough. It means having the courage to accept help,  knowing we are smarter, and stronger as a pack than we are as lone wolves. Please check them out @ https://www.manuptocancer.com/

C-Session podcast is pleased to have Rebecca Owens, CEO of Swellter.  At the ripe old age of 10, Rebecca knew she would change cancer.  She has since spent the last 20 years researching, learning, selling, creating, and building novel solutions that would bridge gaps in communication and understandings about cancer testing, treatments and overall care. At the core, her work has always been ethics, quality, transparency, and respect for the patient as they deal with a life altering disease.

Today, we have great scientific and technological advancements at our fingertips. Over the past two decades, she and her colleagues have focused on the various ways they can leverage technology to improve the transfer of and enable new learning's from patient data for optimal care. Furthermore, they have rigorously studied and participated in many of clinical workflow initiatives from both the patient’s and physician’s unique purview. With the knowledge gained, they bring together a ‘Patient Immersion Application’ that enables a patient to dynamically understand and learn about the illness they are dealing with.  In real-time. With a deep understanding of patient privacy, consent and authorization to data; Swellter’s platform can ensure that no unauthorized patient data is being shared outside of their provisions all while seamlessly gaining knowledge and insights throughout their care.

Swellter is a patient immersion platform that consents, educates, collects, and shares data in real-time with patients and their care team. The Swellter mission is to close the gaps in patient care by transforming patient data into usable data that will seamlessly inform patients and stakeholders on important care decisions.

This C-Session's guests are Pat Garcia-Gonzalez, CEO of The Max Foundation (Max).  In addition, Jerry Radich, MD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  Both share the amazing story of Max, and how it's reaching and treating cancer patients on a global scale.  

Max is a nonprofit global health organization that provides cancer patients in low and middle-income countries with access to lifesaving treatment and care. Today, Max provide services to over 30,000 patients in more than 70 countries, including access to over 8 million daily doses of medicine yearly. Max’s patient services include efforts to expand access to molecular diagnostics, educational workshops, and one-on-one care. 

The Max Foundation supports physicians in diagnosing and monitoring patients in areas where patients have no access or cannot afford diagnostic testing. Max’s leading access to treatment model harnesses the power of effective partnerships with local hospitals, cancer centers, NGOs and Ministries of Health, as well as global drug manufacturers, diagnostic companies, and international distributors to ensure that every patient receives the right treatment at the right time.

In this edition of C-Sessions, your host, Randall Broad interviews Andy Peet, Telehealth Program  Manager along with Dr. Jennie Crews, M.D., Medical Director, with SCCA. Telehealth has accelerated heavily since the COVID 19 Pandemic.  SCCA has expanded Telehealth services significantly in the past year.   Please join in and learn about the latest breakthrough and benefits of communication via phone and Zoom with treatment providers.  

Dr. Crews is Medical Director for the SCCA Network, Administrative / Medical Director for Community Sites and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington.  Her clinical focus is Survivorship.  She received her B.S. in Biology with highest honors from UNC- Chapel  Hill and completed her MD and oncology fellowship at Duke University.  

Andy Peet is excited to be working at the intersection of technology and healthcare as the Telehealth Program Manager at SCCA.  Prior to joining the Telehealth team, he was Manager of Medical Staff Services and Access in the Medical Director's Office of SCCA.  A seasoned healthcare operations, project, and people manager,  Mr. Peet has served in various operational and technical roles at  SightLife, the largest global health NGO focused on eliminating corneal  blindness.  He also served as Project Manager in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.