Empowered Patient Podcast

Maggie Cline, Executive Director at EyeCare4Kids Utah, highlights the importance of providing eye exams and eyeglasses to underserved children, their parents, and those in shelters, refugee camps, and Native American reservations. Early testing and glasses with the correct prescription can significantly impact academic performance, confidence, and social skills. Making wearing glasses cool and offering a wide selection of frames is key to encouraging everyone to wear them proudly. The EyeCare4Kids partners with various organizations to operate brick-and-mortar and mobile clinics in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Africa with expansion plans.

Maggie explains, "I think glasses are cool these days, but the kids have to wear their glasses. So something that we do, and I love that we do this, we don't just give them a selection of five or six glasses. They get hundreds to choose from because we know that if they feel good about what they're wearing, they will wear them. And so I just got a message from a nurse the other day telling me she has been so happy seeing these students proudly wearing their glasses. They absolutely love them, and they show them off. They tell their friends about them."

"There are a lot of barriers. There are parents who are working, and in many of the homes just here in the US, both parents are working, so there's just no time. They don't want to take them out of school. I think there's just a lot of different reasons. I think there needs to be more education for parents to be able to notice the signs. Maybe kids have behavioral problems in the classroom that are often misdiagnosed. A kid sitting at the back of the classroom who isn't able to see the PowerPoint or the board is probably just unable to focus because they can't see clearly."

"For example, our team was dispensed at an elementary school. There was a first grader who put on his pair of glasses, his first pair of glasses, and he had a significant prescription, and there was a brick wall right next to him. He was just amazed at the brick wall and that it had texture, and he just kept feeling it and talking about it. Then he looked at the school staff and was like, I can see your face. And they were just so amazed at the different details he could see."

#ChildrensVisionCare #PediatricVisionCare #Glasses4Kids #EyeGlasses

EyeCare4Kids.org

Listen to the podcast here

Maggie Cline, Executive Director at EyeCare4Kids Utah, highlights the importance of providing eye exams and eyeglasses to underserved children, their parents, and those in shelters, refugee camps, and Native American reservations. Early testing and glasses with the correct prescription can significantly impact academic performance, confidence, and social skills. Making wearing glasses cool and offering a wide selection of frames is key to encouraging everyone to wear them proudly. The EyeCare4Kids partners with various organizations to operate brick-and-mortar and mobile clinics in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Africa with expansion plans.

Maggie explains, "I think glasses are cool these days, but the kids have to wear their glasses. So something that we do, and I love that we do this, we don't just give them a selection of five or six glasses. They get hundreds to choose from because we know that if they feel good about what they're wearing, they will wear them. And so I just got a message from a nurse the other day telling me she has been so happy seeing these students proudly wearing their glasses. They absolutely love them, and they show them off. They tell their friends about them."

"There are a lot of barriers. There are parents who are working, and in many of the homes just here in the US, both parents are working, so there's just no time. They don't want to take them out of school. I think there's just a lot of different reasons. I think there needs to be more education for parents to be able to notice the signs. Maybe kids have behavioral problems in the classroom that are often misdiagnosed. A kid sitting at the back of the classroom who isn't able to see the PowerPoint or the board is probably just unable to focus because they can't see clearly."

"For example, our team was dispensed at an elementary school. There was a first grader who put on his pair of glasses, his first pair of glasses, and he had a significant prescription, and there was a brick wall right next to him. He was just amazed at the brick wall and that it had texture, and he just kept feeling it and talking about it. Then he looked at the school staff and was like, I can see your face. And they were just so amazed at the different details he could see."

#ChildrensVisionCare #PediatricVisionCare #Glasses4Kids #EyeGlasses

EyeCare4Kids.org

Download the transcript here

Olivier Visa, President and CEO of Evergen specializes in developing and manufacturing biomaterials for use in regenerative medicine. These customized biomaterial solutions use xenografts, allografts, and emerging technologies inside and outside the body with applications in wound healing, cardiac, dental, breast, neuro, and spine repair. This approach provides surgeons with a broader range of biomaterials to better tailor treatments for individual patients.

Olivier explains, "There is a multitude that we can support. There is form and function, and I can give you a couple of examples of biomaterials in regenerative medicine. One is bovine pericardium, which is bovine collagen that we use for the development and manufacturing of cardiac heart valves. Another one would be acellular dermal matrix from human tissue that we use for reconstruction in plastic and, of course, with surgeries such as breast reconstruction after mastectomy."

"Think about the body as a whole, and I'll give you a couple of examples where- when you're in cardiac - whether it's a patch or a valve, we're inside the body. When we're in breast reconstruction, we are totally inside the body. When we're in the neuro spine, we're totally inside the body, whether you're repairing or restoring or regenerating peripheral nerves or dura around the brain, you're inside the body. And yes, you are right, wound management is part of it, whether it's diabetic food, ulcer, ulcer or some form of a burn, then I would say you're looking at the skin as an organ and repairing, restoring, and regenerating that skin."

#Evergen #TissueEngineering #RegenerativeMedicine #CDMO #Biomaterials #Biotechnology #LifeSciences #MedicalDevices #SportsMedicine #Orthopedics #Surgeons

evergenbio.com

Listen to the podcast here

Olivier Visa, President and CEO of Evergen specializes in developing and manufacturing biomaterials for use in regenerative medicine. These customized biomaterial solutions use xenografts, allografts, and emerging technologies inside and outside the body with applications in wound healing, cardiac, dental, breast, neuro, and spine repair. This approach provides surgeons with a broader range of biomaterials to better tailor treatments for individual patients.

Olivier explains, "There is a multitude that we can support. There is form and function, and I can give you a couple of examples of biomaterials in regenerative medicine. One is bovine pericardium, which is bovine collagen that we use for the development and manufacturing of cardiac heart valves. Another one would be acellular dermal matrix from human tissue that we use for reconstruction in plastic and, of course, with surgeries such as breast reconstruction after mastectomy."

"Think about the body as a whole, and I'll give you a couple of examples where- when you're in cardiac - whether it's a patch or a valve, we're inside the body. When we're in breast reconstruction, we are totally inside the body. When we're in the neuro spine, we're totally inside the body, whether you're repairing or restoring or regenerating peripheral nerves or dura around the brain, you're inside the body. And yes, you are right, wound management is part of it, whether it's diabetic food, ulcer, ulcer or some form of a burn, then I would say you're looking at the skin as an organ and repairing, restoring, and regenerating that skin."

#Evergen #TissueEngineering #RegenerativeMedicine #CDMO #Biomaterials #Biotechnology #LifeSciences #MedicalDevices #SportsMedicine #Orthopedics #Surgeons

evergenbio.com

Download the transcript here

Dr. Rekha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at Found, is focused on weight care, not just weight management, to provide personalized medical care. GLP-1 medications have changed the landscape of obesity treatment, providing doctors with more effective tools for patients, but they don't work for everyone. With this telehealth approach, patients engage with the platform to determine a tailored treatment plan based on each patient's unique biology, lifestyle, and history. There is also an increased stigma around obesity due to the availability of GLP-1s, reinforcing the need for new medications and approaches based on real-world outcomes.

Rekha explains, "I would say the way GLP-1s have changed this entire field of medicine is that doctors now feel like they have a tool that works that they can offer their patients. Although GLP-1s don't work perfectly in everybody, and there may be people who don't respond well to them for decades or longer than decades, doctors felt like all they could tell patients was to eat less and exercise more. Even when doctors said that, I think they felt like what they were offering wasn't very useful. Now, an actual tool, or a class of medicine, can be very effective for patients."

"I am looped into the conversation on stigma. In some ways, it's been helpful to that conversation in the sense that people like Oprah have come out and said that now she realizes biology is involved in body weight control and that thin people are wired differently. They don't have as much of a preoccupation with food or noise."

"In some ways, it's reduced the stigma by bringing attention to the role of biology and hormones that contribute to our body weight that we don't have control of. Unfortunately, now that there is this tool that's so powerful, some would say that it's made weight stigma worse because if somebody chooses not to take this medicine, they're judged for not wanting to be thin."

#JoinFound #WeightCare #WeightManagment #Obesity #GLP1

joinfound.com

Listen to the podcast here

Dr. Rekha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at Found, is focused on weight care, not just weight management, to provide personalized medical care. GLP-1 medications have changed the landscape of obesity treatment, providing doctors with more effective tools for patients, but they don't work for everyone. With this telehealth approach, patients engage with the platform to determine a tailored treatment plan based on each patient's unique biology, lifestyle, and history. There is also an increased stigma around obesity due to the availability of GLP-1s, reinforcing the need for new medications and approaches based on real-world outcomes.

Rekha explains, "I would say the way GLP-1s have changed this entire field of medicine is that doctors now feel like they have a tool that works that they can offer their patients. Although GLP-1s don't work perfectly in everybody, and there may be people who don't respond well to them for decades or longer than decades, doctors felt like all they could tell patients was to eat less and exercise more. Even when doctors said that, I think they felt like what they were offering wasn't very useful. Now, an actual tool, or a class of medicine, can be very effective for patients."

"I am looped into the conversation on stigma. In some ways, it's been helpful to that conversation in the sense that people like Oprah have come out and said that now she realizes biology is involved in body weight control and that thin people are wired differently. They don't have as much of a preoccupation with food or noise."

"In some ways, it's reduced the stigma by bringing attention to the role of biology and hormones that contribute to our body weight that we don't have control of. Unfortunately, now that there is this tool that's so powerful, some would say that it's made weight stigma worse because if somebody chooses not to take this medicine, they're judged for not wanting to be thin."

#JoinFound #WeightCare #WeightManagment #Obesity #GLP1

joinfound.com

Download the transcript here

Tim Tobin, CEO and Founder of Planatome, has a background in the semiconductor industry where precision polishing techniques were developed. Planatome has used that technology to create molecularly smooth scalpel blades that remove all the jagged edges on traditional surgical scalpels. These new nano polished blades significantly reduce scarring and inflammation from incisions and improve healing outcomes for patients, especially those with darker skin tones who are more prone to hypertrophic scarring. The challenge is disrupting an industry that has not changed in over 100 years and that has been driven by reducing the costs, not improving the blade.

Tim explains, "So we picked the surgical scalpel because it's still the foundation, the primary incision tool, whether it's a minimally invasive procedure or a procedure with a lot of cutting. So we started with that. We've since applied our technology to many other surgical instruments. We started with the scalpel, which was patented in 1915. There's been no change, no technological change, just change to drag down the cost. So it's just completely commoditized, a scalpel blade somewhere in the 20 to 50 cent range, and nobody thinks about it because everybody just uses a scalpel, and they don't need to be more critical."

"So we started looking, and if you look at a scalpel blade underneath magnification, it looks almost like it's highly serrated and jagged because they're made by taking a piece of stainless steel, and they grind it up to a point, and that's the cutting edge. But they leave it like that."

"We took that, and we said, okay, well, what if we polish it and take out all of those jagged serrations, at least a thousand times smoother. Now if you measure the surface, it changes the cutting mechanism from tearing and snagging to a nice clean incision. So some of the challenges in that is when surgeons have been using the same thing pretty much their whole career, when they try something different, that's not always something they want to think about."

#Planatome #MedTech #MedicalDevice #Surgery

planatome.com

Listen to the podcast here

Tim Tobin, CEO and Founder of Planatome, has a background in the semiconductor industry where precision polishing techniques were developed. Planatome has used that technology to create molecularly smooth scalpel blades that remove all the jagged edges on traditional surgical scalpels. These new nano polished blades significantly reduce scarring and inflammation from incisions and improve healing outcomes for patients, especially those with darker skin tones who are more prone to hypertrophic scarring. The challenge is disrupting an industry that has not changed in over 100 years and that has been driven by reducing the costs, not improving the blade.

Tim explains, "So we picked the surgical scalpel because it's still the foundation, the primary incision tool, whether it's a minimally invasive procedure or a procedure with a lot of cutting. So we started with that. We've since applied our technology to many other surgical instruments. We started with the scalpel, which was patented in 1915. There's been no change, no technological change, just change to drag down the cost. So it's just completely commoditized, a scalpel blade somewhere in the 20 to 50 cent range, and nobody thinks about it because everybody just uses a scalpel, and they don't need to be more critical."

"So we started looking, and if you look at a scalpel blade underneath magnification, it looks almost like it's highly serrated and jagged because they're made by taking a piece of stainless steel, and they grind it up to a point, and that's the cutting edge. But they leave it like that."

"We took that, and we said, okay, well, what if we polish it and take out all of those jagged serrations, at least a thousand times smoother. Now if you measure the surface, it changes the cutting mechanism from tearing and snagging to a nice clean incision. So some of the challenges in that is when surgeons have been using the same thing pretty much their whole career, when they try something different, that's not always something they want to think about."

#Planatome #MedTech #MedicalDevice #Surgery

planatome.com

Download the transcript here

Kiran Nistala, Chief Medical Officer and head of development at Zura Bio, describes how their novel molecules target multiple pathways to provide more effective treatments for patients with autoimmune diseases. This is particularly necessary for those with complex, heterogeneous manifestations not well addressed by current therapies. Zura Bio's novel molecules target rare diseases such as systemic sclerosis and hidradenitis suppurativa and show potential for use in combination with existing approaches.

Kiran, "Developing bispecifics is a known, but it's quite a technical skill, and I think there are lots of reasons—first, bioengineering to get the right molecule. Secondly, you must also know how to design studies to show that both sides are doing what you expect of that molecule. So both pathways are being affected. And I guess you must also choose the right disease where you think those pathways are super important. So, we've been incredibly thoughtful in our approach- we haven't just jumped in, and some of that time we've taken is really to speak to patients and physicians and learn and hopefully overcome some of the mistakes we've seen from other competitors."

"Your point about heterogeneity speaks to why we're stuck and don't have enough medicines that are changing the boundaries. If I give you a specific example, scleroderma, I talked a bit about it. One of the points is that there's no treatment for the whole of this disease -there's just treatment for the lung. And maybe the lungs are a bit simpler, but what you want to treat is every organ, the whole of disease. That issue is probably more varied between patients. The same is true for our second disease of interest: hidradenitis suppurativa. There's been some great progress, and molecules are out there now that are licensed to treat it. But unfortunately, the same thing occurs. So, more than half of patients in recent studies are still not getting good or very good responses. I think it's not just one thing, but heterogeneity certainly contributes to it."

#ZuraBio #SystemicSclerosis #SSc #Scleroderma #HidradenitisSuppurativa #Autoimmune #Immunology #RareDisease #Biologic

zurabio.com

Listen to the podcast here

Kiran Nistala, Chief Medical Officer and head of development at Zura Bio, describes how their novel molecules target multiple pathways to provide more effective treatments for patients with autoimmune diseases. This is particularly necessary for those with complex, heterogeneous manifestations not well addressed by current therapies. Zura Bio's novel molecules target rare diseases such as systemic sclerosis and hidradenitis suppurativa and show potential for use in combination with existing approaches.

Kiran, "Developing bispecifics is a known, but it's quite a technical skill, and I think there are lots of reasons—first, bioengineering to get the right molecule. Secondly, you must also know how to design studies to show that both sides are doing what you expect of that molecule. So both pathways are being affected. And I guess you must also choose the right disease where you think those pathways are super important. So, we've been incredibly thoughtful in our approach- we haven't just jumped in, and some of that time we've taken is really to speak to patients and physicians and learn and hopefully overcome some of the mistakes we've seen from other competitors."

"Your point about heterogeneity speaks to why we're stuck and don't have enough medicines that are changing the boundaries. If I give you a specific example, scleroderma, I talked a bit about it. One of the points is that there's no treatment for the whole of this disease -there's just treatment for the lung. And maybe the lungs are a bit simpler, but what you want to treat is every organ, the whole of disease. That issue is probably more varied between patients. The same is true for our second disease of interest: hidradenitis suppurativa. There's been some great progress, and molecules are out there now that are licensed to treat it. But unfortunately, the same thing occurs. So, more than half of patients in recent studies are still not getting good or very good responses. I think it's not just one thing, but heterogeneity certainly contributes to it."

#ZuraBio #SystemicSclerosis #SSc #Scleroderma #HidradenitisSuppurativa #Autoimmune #Immunology #RareDisease #Biologic

zurabio.com

Download the transcript here