The PennHealthX Podcast

Latest Episodes:

75 -Adam Lessler - From EM Residency to Consulting and Venture Capital/Growth Equity Aug 16, 2020

Show notes

Today’s episode is a conversation I had with Dr. Adam Lessler, who is currently a Principal at Evidity Health Capital in New York City. He is a licensed physician with residency training in emergency medicine and over a decade of healthcare industry experience counseling Boards and senior leadership teams. Prior to joining Evidity, Adam was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, where he served clients across the health care value chain, with a focus on provider growth and M&A/partnership strategy. Previously, Adam completed his internship in emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and worked as an analyst in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs and as a research assistant in Harvard Medical School’s Department of Health Care Policy. Adam has a B.A. in economics from Amherst College, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.D. from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In the episode we chat about his background, some memories from getting his MD/MBA at Penn, his decision to pursue consulting and later venture capital after completing 1 year of an Emergency Medicine Residency, and a bit about his current role in the venture capital world. Dr. Lessler has been a terrific mentor to many in the HealthX and Penn community, and we are lucky to have him share his stories and lessons with us here. Footnotes Adam’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-lessler-9537414b/ Evidity Website https://www.evidity.com/

74 - Kwaku Owusu - CEO of DrugViu - Eliminating the Underrepresentation of POC in Clinical Trials Aug 09, 2020

Show notes

Today’s episode is one I co-hosted with Mariam Alausa, who is the current co-VP of Curriculum for Penn HealthX. Our guest was Kwaku Owusu, who is the founder and CEO of DrugViu and TrialViu. Drugviu aggregates patient-related outcomes for people of color who take specific pharmaceutical drugs. TrialViu is a companion site that then educates those same patients about clinical trials, and then matches them to trials they may qualify for using AI. Their lofty mission is to eliminate underrepresentation in medicine Reading from DrugViu’s website to share more about the problem they are looking to solve: Racial and ethnic minorities are 40% of the US population and growing, yet represent less than 8% of the participants in pharmaceutical clinical trials. Especially concerning are clinical trials for diseases that disproportionately affect minorities. Here are few more examples: Per the National Cancer Institute, African-American men are twice as likely as their white counterparts to die from prostate cancer but represent 4% of clinical trial participants. The CDC reports that suicide is one of the leading causes of death among Asian-American women under 45 years of age. Yet, Asian-Americans constituted less than 1% of trials for CDER-approved treatments of major depressive disorders in the last two years. Cancer is the leading cause of death among Hispanics, yet Hispanic cancer patients only make up 4% of participants in cancer clinical trials in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute. Native Americans are often not represented in studies at all Without enough minority participants, it’s virtually impossible to determine the effectiveness and side effects of a particular medication to that group. To compound this, there is no place online for minorities to research drug information specifically targeted for them. There is no online community where users can read and contribute to side effect/drug efficacy reviews by people that look like them. In the episode, we discuss Kwaku’s background, more about what made him interested in this area of medicine, and what he has learned along the way getting these companies off the ground. Now, let’s get to our conversation with Kwaku Owusu. FootNotes Kwaku’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwaku-owusu/ DrugViu Website https://www.drugviu.com/ TrialViu Website https://www.trialviu.com/

73 - Erik Maltais, CEO of IMMERTEC - Innovation in Surgical Education Using Virtual Reality Aug 03, 2020

Show notes

Today’s episode is with Erik Maltais, who is the founder and CEO of IMMERTEC, which is a company using virtual reality tools to bring remote surgeons and trainees into the OR to teach them skills and how to use certain medical devices. He has a really cool background in both the business and medical worlds, and it was a pleasure to speak with him to learn about his journey, the process of founding IMMERTEC and finding physicians to collaborate with, and what the long term goals are. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Erik Maltais. Host - Ryan O'Keefe Footnotes Erik’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maltaisem/ Erik’s Website https://erikmaltais.com/ IMMERTEC Website https://immertec.com/

72 - Catherine Bryt - Creating a Healthcare Services Marketplace with Sibi Health Jul 15, 2020

Show notes

This episode is a conversation I had with one of my friends and Wharton colleagues, Catherine Bryt. Catherine is the CEO and founder of Sibi Health. Put simply, Sibi Health is a marketplace for healthcare services, now serving the Philadelphia area. You can compare local doctors and pre-set service prices for both in-person and video visits, select, book, and pay in advance using a credit card or HSA/FSA card, and then receive care. In the episode, we discuss Catherine’s background studying neuroscience and economics, some of the jobs she had before Wharton, and what her experience has been like starting a company in the Wharton environment, and during the COVID pandemic. To learn more about Sibi, check out their website sibihealth.com. Also check out their instagram @sibi.health. Footnotes Catherine’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbryt/ Sibi Health website https://www.sibihealth.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sibi.health/ MM.LaFleur https://mmlafleur.com/ Create Health Plans https://createhealthplans.com/

71 - Dr. David Nash - A Deep Dive Into Population Health and the Future of the U.S Healthcare System Jun 20, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, back by popular demand, is Dr. David Nash. Dr. Nash was a guest back in March for episode #45 when we spoke about how population health transforming the healthcare system. We decided to have him back to continue the conversation and delve deeper into how clinicians are actually utilizing data being collected, and what the future holds. Dr. Nash is the Founding Dean of the Jefferson College of Population Health in Philadelphia. He completed his MD at the University of Rochester and his internal medicine residency at Graduate Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Hewas a RWJ Clinical scholar, and through this program completed an MBA with the Wharton School. He has been on faculty at Jefferson for nearly 30 years. He is widely regarded to be a “pioneer” in the world of population health, and he has many interests including health policy, quality and safety, outcomes management, and health reform. Dr. Nash has served on many national committees and has sat on the board of a number of public and private organizations. He has written many blog posts about these areas which you can find on MedPage, and he is frequently asked to share his thoughts in public speaking events and live webinars. In this episode, we dive deeper into the social determinants of health, EHR operability, the usefulness of physician “report cards”, transparency in outcomes reporting, and many other topics. We touch on many interesting topics that are shaping the future of our healthcare system, and it was great to hear where Dr. Nash thinks we are headed. Host: Ryan O'Keefe Footnotes Dr. Nash’s Bio https://www.jefferson.edu/university/population-health/faculty/nash.html Dr. Nash’s Blog Posts - MedPage https://www.medpagetoday.com/columns/focusonpolicy/np_3

70 - Zack Gray - Co-Founding Ophelia to Improve Access for Patients Addicted to Opioids Jun 17, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, I interview Zack Gray, who is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ophelia, which seeks to address the opioid epidemic by making medication-assisted treatment (MAT) private, convenient, and affordable for patients. Zack is a graduate of Columbia where he studied Astrophysics and Philosophy. After being in the working world for a few years, he pursued an MBA at Wharton. During this time, he was able to work on building Ophelia. Ophelia took the 1st Place prize at the Penn HealthX Conference Pitch competition last year when Ophelia was still in the works. Thus, I was excited to catch up with Zack to see how Ophelia has been doing since. The conversation is loaded with tons of information about the opioid epidemic, the many barriers that exist which keep innovators from helping patients who are addicted to opioids, and what he has learned along the way as he has started a healthcare company from scratch. I was so impressed by Zack’s dedication to solving the problem, and his approach to overcoming the obstacles inherent in the space and am excited to see what he and the Ophelia team are able to achieve in the coming years. We’ve linked off to many resources and articles that we discuss in the show notes – so please take a look if you are interested in learning more. Host: Ryan O'Keefe Foot Notes Zack’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/zack-gray-58437936/ Ophelia Website https://www.meetophelia.com/ Article Covering Ophelia’s Raise https://www.forbes.com/sites/berenicemagistretti/2020/05/12/rehab-20-yc-backed-ophelia-raises-27-million-to-help-people-quit-opioids-without-the-burden-and-cost-of-rehab/#8b248551ee82 Zack’s Explanation for Why He Founded Ophelia and What They Do https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22570133 Zack’s Graduation Speech http://media.licdn.com/embeds/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2Fa2kxSycPey0%3Ffeature%3Doembed&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Da2kxSycPey0&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube Evidence/Research for the Efficacy of MAT with suboxone https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29934549 Atlantic Article on the Opioid Crisis https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/11/why-heroin-and-fentanyl-addicts-cant-get-treatment/576118/ Book by Dr. Bisaga - Overcoming Opioid Addiction: The Authoritative Medical Guide for Patients, Families, Doctors, and Therapists https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Opioid-Addiction-Authoritative-Therapists/dp/1615194584 Article on Primary Care Providers Not Prescribing MAT https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/20/opioids-addiction-physicians-doctors-naltrexone/?utm_source=STAT+Newsletters&utm_campaign=f5e5d9e1cc-MR_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8cab1d7961-f5e5d9e1cc-149667945

69 - Dr. Jane Zhu - What's the Deal with Private Equity in Healthcare Services? Jun 14, 2020

Show notes

This episode is an interview with Dr. Jane Zhu. Dr. Zhu is an assistant professor of medicine at OHSU, and a practicing primary care provider. She studied global health at Duke, received both an MD and an MPP from Harvard, completed her internal medicine residency at USCF, and was a National Clinician Scholar at Penn. She remains a senior fellow for the Leonard Davis Institute at Penn, which is how I found out about her exciting research! Her interests span across many fields and include payment reform, mental and behavioral health, and improving equity and access for patients. We touch on her career path, how she became interested in the fields noted above, and then we do a deep dive into a topic she and others published on recently – the role of private equity in healthcare. Footnotes Dr. Zhu’s Bio https://ldi.upenn.edu/expert/jane-m-zhu-md-mpp-mshp Private Equity Research Press Releases and Coverage https://ldi.upenn.edu/healthpolicysense/private-equity-investment-physician-practices https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/practices/acquisition-physician-practices-by-private-equity-firms-increases-study-finds-which

68 - Michellene Davis - How We Can Fight to Address the Social Determinants of Health Jun 07, 2020

Show notes

In light of the recent events across the country, I wanted to read a statement that Penn HealthX sent out to our community and the Perelman School of Medicine. Along with this, we decided to move up an episode in our release schedule with Michellene Davis. Michelle is a healthcare leader who has dedicated her entire career to addressing the Social Determinants of Health, especially as they impact communities of color. I’ll begin by reading our statement, and then I’ll tell you more about Michellene and the episode. --------------------------------------------------- Dear HealthX Community, We write to address the recent events happening across our country. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and David McAtee are but a few of far too many innocent Black people that have been needlessly killed at the hands of police officers. These tragedies are indicative of the institutional and systemic racism that has plagued our country for centuries. This is deeply saddening for us and cannot continue. HealthX condemns all forms of racial hatred, violence, and injustice against our Black peers and the Black community at large. Predatory business practices, inequitable access to healthcare innovations, and unjust restriction from care based on financial constructs in our health system have perpetuated the racial inequities in this country. As future leaders in these sectors of healthcare, we have a responsibility to take an active role in dismantling the systems that promote harm to Black bodies and the exclusion of Black voices. As individuals, we must play an active role in fighting racial injustice in every aspect of our lives. We are committed to furthering the development of Black leaders in healthcare management, entrepreneurship, and technology. We have not been perfect in this regard, but we are dedicated to improvement. We have begun and will continue to develop inclusive programming and partner with Black organizations within Penn and the Philadelphia community to have a positive impact on our community in need. Through the generous commitment of alumna Marketa Wills, MD, MBA, in 2019, we received funding specifically dedicated to supporting students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine which will help support this mission. We reaffirm our commitment to this cause today and every day. In solidarity, The Penn HealthX Board ----------------------------------------------- As I mentioned earlier, our guest for today’s episode is Michellene Davis. A graduate of Seton Hall for undergrad and law school, Michelle began her career as a trial litigator, before moving into government roles where she was the NJ State Treasurer, the CEO of the NJ Lottery, and worked as a Chief Policy Council for Jon Corzine. Today, she is the EVP and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer for RWJ Barnabas Health in New Jersey. She was a panelist at the Wharton Business in Healthcare Conference earlier this year, where she shared her experiences addressing the Social Determinants of Health. Notably, our conversation happened in mid-May before the recent tragedies, protests, and calls for policy changes, but the content of the conversation is more relevant than ever. I personally learned a lot from Michellene about the difficulties and barriers in place and what it will take to ensure that we continue to fight for change. We discussed her role at RWJ Barnabas, how she became interested in the SDoH, policy changes she would like to see, some examples of successful programs, and advice to those who want to be advocates. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Michellene Davis. Stay strong, and stay safe. Footnotes Michellene’s Website Bio http://michellenedavis.com/about/ Michellene’s RWJBarnabas Bio https://www.rwjbh.org/why-rwjbarnabas-health-/social-impact/social-impact-and-community-investment-strategic/the-team/michellene-davis/

67 - Dr. Angela Bradbury - Improving Communication About Cancer Genetics in an Evolving Field May 23, 2020

Show notes

This episode was done in collaboration with the American Cancer Society or ACS. May is National Cancer Research Month, and we wanted to help promote a great program they have launched called ResearcHERS. We'll share some links in the show notes, but in short, to share some words from the team, ResearcHERS empowers women to fundraise in support of women-led cancer research, but it's more than just a fundraising campaign. ResearcHERS is a movement. A sisterhood of purpose determined to sustain women-led cancer research and recognize the female trailblazers in the field. While the American Cancer Society has funded 49 researchers who have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize, none of them has been a woman...yet. Consider joining the ResearcHERS movement and help us fuel the future of women-led cancer research. In light of the collaboration and new program, we wanted to highlight the work of a prominent cancer researcher at Penn who has received funding from the program, Dr. Angela Bradbury. Dr. Bradbury’s research interests are at the intersection of cancer genetics, communication, and telemedicine. She received a BA from UVA, completed her post-bacc and MD at the University of South Carolina, and completed an internal medicine residency and heme/onc fellowship at The University of Chicago. In the episode, we spoke about what drew her to the cancer field, how she became passionate about her research topics, the evolving landscape of cancer genetics, and how it has changed, and will continue to change. These changes will be informed by exciting research, such as ACS funded work on the MyCancer Gene Platform we discuss. Lastly, Dr. Bradbury shares some advice and takeaways for those beginning an academic research career. Footnotes Dr. Bradbury’s Bio Page https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p8527609 Dr. Bradbury’s Talk on “Rethinking the Traditional Office Visit” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgcFLR1CFs ResearcHERS ACS Home Page https://secure.acsevents.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=researchers_home ResearcHERs Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSeGBI8WRsM ResearcHERS Virtual Panel Discussion - Kickoff Event https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxk0reurPFQ

66 - COVIDCast #17 - Elana Meer and Maguire Herriman - Developing a COVID Chatbot With Google May 21, 2020

Show notes

This episode is a continuation of our COVIDCast series. In it, Jonathan Wakim and I speak with Maguire Herriman and Elana Meer about a COVID Chatbot project they worked on at Penn along with Google to better address questions posed by those who visit the Penn Medicine website to learn about the coronavirus and current policies. To give you some more perspective on the project, I’ll read off from an article highlighting the work. A Penn team led by Roy Rosin, MBA, and Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD, and a team from Google have created an AI chatbot to help answer common questions related to COVID-19. This chatbot helps offload call volume from Penn Medicine’s phone lines to unburden our clinicians and shorten wait times for patients, while also making it faster and easier to find answers whether you’re a nurse managing the hotline or an anxious patient seeking accurate information. Soon, this chatbot will expand to assess symptoms and triage patients to make sure they are routed to the most appropriate clinical intake level. An open-source version of the chatbot will be made available to other health systems through Google for free. In the episode, we discuss both of their backgrounds, what drew them to medicine and the MD/MBA degree, and how they’ve been able to help as project managers for the Chatbot project to improve its functionality. Show Notes Maguire's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maguire-herriman-97463287 Elana's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/elana-meer-b7532399 Chatbot Link https://www.pennmedicine.org/coronavirus/frequently-asked-questions-about-covid-19 Article About the Chatbot https://chibe.upenn.edu/chibeblog/covid-19-how-chibe-is-making-a-difference/

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