Recorded June 5, 2020.Dr. O’Connell is joined by Dr. David Fajgenbaum to discuss how existing drugs can be used to help treat new diseases, specifically regarding his work in treating Castleman disease and how that treatment is now being tested with COVID-19.Questions from this episode include:Part of your personal and professional story is that you discovered your own treatment. Can you tell us about that process and how you made the discovery to save your own life?You have literally been on your deathbed and have received last rites because you were so close to death. But you have actually survived five times over. What lessons did you learn when you were so critically ill?Your lab at the University of Pennsylvania studies cytokine storms, which occur when the immune system goes into overdrive fighting certain diseases, and this is part of what we are seeing in COVID-19 infections. Can you tell us about what a cytokine storm is and how it affects the body?You have re-directed your laboratory studies toward identifying the most promising, existing drugs that might be able to treat COVID-19.  Can you tell us about this process and what you have studied so far?How can what you learned about researching your own treatment for Castleman disease help save more COVID-19 patients?Your host is Dr. Ted O’Connell, family physician, educator, and author of numerous textbooks and peer-reviewed articles. He holds academic appointments at UCSF, UC Davis, and Drexel University's medical schools and also founded the Kaiser Permanente Napa-Solano Community Medicine and Global Health Fellowship, the first program in the U.S. to formally combine both community medicine and global health. Follow Ted on Instagram (@tedoconnellmd) and Twitter (@tedoconnell)! Dr. David Fajgenbaum, a groundbreaking physician-scientist, disease hunter, speaker, and bestselling author of the acclaimed memoir, "Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action." Best known as the ‘doctor who cured himself,’ Dr. Fajgenbaum went from being a college quarterback to receiving his last rites while in medical school and nearly dying four more times battling Castleman disease, a deadly cytokine storm disorder. To try to save his own life, he spearheaded an innovative approach to research through the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network and discovered a treatment that has put him into his longest remission ever. This approach is saving his life and other patients' lives too. Now, he is spreading this approach to other diseases  like COVID-19 and sharing lessons he learned about living from nearly dying through "Chasing My Cure," which has been translated into five languages and named one of the “Best Non-Fiction Books of 2019” by Next Big Ideas Club. One of the youngest individuals ever appointed to the faculty at Penn Medicine and the top one-percent youngest grant awardees of a leading NIH R01 grant, Dr. Fajgenbaum has been recognized on the Forbes '30 Under 30' list, as a top healthcare leader by Becker's Hospital Review, the Global Genes RARE Champion of Hope: Science awardee, and one of three recipients—including Vice President Joe Biden—of a 2016 Atlas Award from the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. He has published scientific papers in high-impact journals such as Blood, Lancet Haematology, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation, including one that was selected by STAT News in 2020 as one of the best innovations in science and medicine. Before co-founding the CDCN, Dr. Fajgenbaum co-founded and led the Actively Moving Forward Support Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting grieving college students. Dr. Fajgenbaum has been profiled in a cover story by The New York Times as well as by Good Morning America, CNN, and the Today Show, among others. Dr. Fajgenbaum earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University magna cum laude with honors and distinction, master’s degree from the University of Oxford, his MD from the University of Pennsylvania, and MBA from The Wharton School. He is a former Division I college quarterback, state-champion weightlifter, and co-founder of a national grief support network.Links for this episode:Submit Your Questions for the PodcastSend an email to [email protected] or check out covidpodcast.comWhat Can You Do? You can help spread commonsense about COVID-19 by supporting this podcast. Hit subscribe, leave a positive review, and share it with your friends especially on social media. We can each do our part to ensure that scientifically accurate information about the pandemic spreads faster than rumors or fears. Remember to be vigilant, but remain calm. For the most trusted and real time information on COVID-19 and the coronavirus pandemic, both the CDC and WHO have dedicated web pages to keep the public informed. The information presented in this podcast is intended for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Producers: Madison Linden and Christopher Breitigan. Executive Producer: Patrick C. Beeman, MD