What does it take to spend decades pursuing one of the hardest problems in medicine?

In this episode of HiveCast, Jared Bauer sits down with Dr. Ryan Watts, CEO of Denali Therapeutics.

Ryan shares why he chose neurodegenerative disease as the problem he wanted to dedicate his career to solving despite the enormous challenges and high failure rates in the field.

He also reflects on the emotional day Denali received approval for its first drug after nearly 20 years of work and discusses the extraordinary effort from the team that helped make it possible.

The conversation explores purpose, persistence, leadership, and what it really takes to bring a new therapy to patients.

Topics covered include:

• Why Ryan Watts chose neurodegenerative disease research

• The emotional impact of Denali’s first drug approval• The persistence required to finish long-term scientific work

• Leadership and teamwork inside a biotech company

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In partnership with

U of U Health Plans: https://uhealthplan.utah.edu/

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