Empowered!

In this EPEP podcast, Dr. Gabriela Hobbs, Clinical Director of the Leukemia Service at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, examines the clinical gray areas of MPN progression, including discordance between symptoms and molecular risk. She also discusses treatment timing and approaches to communicating evolving risk without creating unnecessary anxiety.

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Dr. Gabriela Hobbs, Clinical Director of the Leukemia Service at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, speaks to the complexities of caring for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), particularly when symptoms, laboratory findings, and perceived risk don’t tell the same story. She shares practical insights on navigating these disconnects, strengthening patient-provider communication, and supporting more informed, individualized MPN care.

Link to full transcript

Conversations about MPN progression can become increasingly complex as patients face treatment escalation, clinical trial consideration, and long-term planning. In this EPEP podcast, Dr. John Mascarenhas, Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, shares his approach to guiding patients through these critical transition points. 

He discusses tailoring conversations to the individual patient, presenting treatment and clinical trial options with transparency, and balancing honesty, hope, and uncertainty while supporting informed decision-making.

+Link to Full Transcript

In this episode of the Empowering Providers to Empower Patients (EPEP) podcast, host Dr. Nicole Rochester interviews Dr. Leanne Woods-Burnham about the hidden blind spots shaping cancer outcomes today. From misclassified cell lines to overlooked risk factors in primary care, this insightful conversation reveals where provider awareness falls short, and how those gaps translate into missed opportunities for early detection, equitable screening, and truly personalized care.

Key Topics in this Podcast

• Hidden blind spots in provider awareness that limit early detection and screening
• How genetic ancestry, tumor heterogeneity, and protein expression influence precision medicine
• Why PSA screening guidance fails to reach high-risk groups, and how to fix it
• The importance of individualized screening conversations in primary care
• Community-based initiatives like Blitz the Barriers that improve outcomes for highest-risk populations

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In Episode 3 of our DECODE podcast, Dr. Virginia Haoyu Sun of Harvard Medical School dives into one of the most critical conversations in modern cancer care: how to use artificial intelligence safely, responsibly, and ethically. She speaks to how bias enters AI systems, what trust in digital health tools really means, and how patients and care partners can thoughtfully engage with AI without replacing human judgment.

From protecting privacy to understanding algorithmic limitations, Dr. Sun equips patients and care partners with practical guidance to stay informed and empowered as AI becomes an increasingly influential part of their care journey.

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In this episode of the Empowering Providers to Empower Patients (EPEP) podcast, host Dr. Nicole Rochester speaks with Dr. Demetria Smith-Graziani from Emory University School of Medicine about advancing trust, communication, and equity in breast cancer care. Together, they explore what it means for healthcare systems to truly reflect community voices and lived experience, how to ensure new innovations reach all patients, and why listening is one of the most powerful tools for building trust.

Key Topics in this Podcast:

• Building and sustaining trust across breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship
• Integrating lived experience and community voices into equitable care models
• Expanding inclusion in innovation and clinical trials for underrepresented populations
• Strengthening communication and shared decision-making between providers and patients

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This episode of the “Empowering Providers to Empower Patients” (EPEP) podcast features Dr. Andrew Laccetti of NYU Langone Health discussing the rapidly evolving field of bladder cancer care. Dr. Laccetti explores what makes bladder cancer unique among genitourinary cancers, highlights recent innovations,including combination therapies achieving 70% response rates in advanced cases and shares strategies to empower patients through clear communication and decision-making support.

Key Topics in this Podcast:

• Understanding the unique landscape of bladder cancer and recent treatment innovations
• Identifying at-risk populations and addressing access barriers, including rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities
• Bridging the generalist-specialist divide in complex cancer care
• Empowering patients through clear communication, treatment education, and shared decision-making

Full transcript here.

This inaugural episode of the Empowering Providers to Empower Patients (EPEP) podcast features Dr. Andrew Laccetti, medical oncologist and Director of Quality for Hematology and Medical Oncology at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.

Dr. Laccetti explores the rapidly evolving landscape of prostate cancer care and shares strategies for overcoming practice inertia, addressing healthcare disparities, and personalizing treatment to meet each patient where they are. Learn actionable approaches to shared decision-making, building patient trust, and empowering patients to participate actively in their care.

Key Topics in this Podcast:

• Addressing healthcare disparities in marginalized communities
• Overcoming practice inertia in prostate cancer care
• Enhancing shared decision-making with patients and care partners
• Personalizing care to each patient’s needs and preferences

 In this DECODE episode, host Lisa Hatfield speaks with Dr. Virginia Sun of Massachusetts General Hospital about how AI, particularly large language models like ChatGPT, is already changing cancer care. From identifying immune-related side effects to easing documentation burdens, they explore what’s hype, what’s real, and what patients should know as they navigate cancer in an increasingly tech-driven world.

In this DECODE podcast, Empowerment Lead Lisa Hatfield and Dr. Virginia Sun explore how artificial intelligence, especially large language models (LLMs), is transforming cancer care. From diagnosing adverse events to streamlining clinician workflows, they unpack what patients need to know, clarify common concerns, and discuss how AI can improve outcomes while preserving the irreplaceable human connection in medicine.

Link to full transcript.

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