C-Sessions

Dr.  Elizabeth O'Day is the CEO and Founder of Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company that uses a pioneering metabolomics platform and  proprietary machine learning algorithms to fundamentally improve how disease is diagnosed and treated. Olaris identifies “biomarkers of  response” (BoR) to stratify patients into optimal treatment groups, increasing survival rates, decreasing adverse events, and reducing unnecessary healthcare costs.

Outside of Olaris, Dr. O’Day plays an incredibly active role in  partnering with government leaders and global organizations in advancing  the field of precision medicine around the world. After founding  Olaris, Dr. O’Day was invited to attend the first United State of Women  Summit convened by the White House in 2016, and was recognized as a  “nominated Change Maker.” She was also invited to participate in Vice  President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot Summit to discuss collaborative  ways “to end cancer as we know it.” In 2016, Dr. O’Day began serving as  the co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on  Biotechnology. In this role, she has focused on leading the council in  identifying policy opportunities capable of accelerating new biotech,  and also guiding the dialogue about the implications of biotech  advancements globally.

Dr. O’Day serves on the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) Board  of Directors.  In this role, Dr. O’Day collaborates with stakeholders  across academia, industry, and government to increase access to  personalized medicine.

Dr. Elizabeth O'Day is the CEO and Founder of Olaris, Inc., a precision medicine company that uses a pioneering metabolomics platform and proprietary machine learning algorithms to fundamentally improve how disease is diagnosed and treated. Olaris identifies “biomarkers of response” (BoR) to stratify patients into optimal treatment groups, increasing survival rates, decreasing adverse events, and reducing unnecessary healthcare costs.

Outside of Olaris, Dr. O’Day plays an incredibly active role in partnering with government leaders and global organizations in advancing the field of precision medicine around the world. After founding Olaris, Dr. O’Day was invited to attend the first United State of Women Summit convened by the White House in 2016, and was recognized as a “nominated Change Maker.” She was also invited to participate in Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot Summit to discuss collaborative ways “to end cancer as we know it.” In 2016, Dr. O’Day began serving as the co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biotechnology. In this role, she has focused on leading the council in identifying policy opportunities capable of accelerating new biotech, and also guiding the dialogue about the implications of biotech advancements globally.

Dr. O’Day serves on the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) Board of Directors.  In this role, Dr. O’Day collaborates with stakeholders across academia, industry, and government to increase access to personalized medicine.

In this edition of C-Sessions, your host, Randall Broad interviews C. Anthony "Tony" Blau, M.D. and Founder/CEO of All4Cure.  

Here are a few areas in which All4Cure aims to make a difference:  Sharing, Learning, Curing = Learning from each patient's experience for the benefit of all other patients.  Access to an external network of expertise and a large database of the treatments and outcomes of hundreds and eventually tens of thousands of patients.  Democratizing access to expert level care irrespective of geographic barriers.   Initial focus on Multiple Myeloma, and eventually all cancer.  

Tony founded All4Cure after 27-years as a Professor of Medicine/Hematology and physician scientist at the University of Washington (UW). His research has spanned hematopoiesis, gene therapy,  stem cell biology, genomics and cancer.  He consistently focusing on bringing the very latest research advances to patients with heretofore incurable diseases. 

At UW, he founded the Center for Cancer Innovation,  which brings together a distributed network of investigators to help  patients with advanced cancer. Tony co-founded the UW Institute for Stem  Cell and Regenerative Medicine and chaired the Molecular and Cellular Hematology Study Section for the National Institutes of Health. He has  authored more than 85 scientific publications. Diagnosed himself with myeloma in April 2015, Tony infuses All4Cure with an incredible sense of  urgency to improve the prospects for cancer patients now and in the future.

J. Michael Wrigglesworth has spent most of the last 20 years working to increase access to oncology medication for cancer patients around the world. As the Senior Director of Programs Strategy and Data Solutions for The Max Foundation, Michael has helped design, build, and manage the operational teams and programs for the organization over the past 18 years. Max programs promote health equity by creating access channels to targeted medicines for people in low / middle - income countries where no other means of access exist. 

Michael is also deeply passionate about how technology can accelerate global health equity. With an expertise in information technology, he designed and engineered PATS, the custom Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution Max uses to connect physicians with supply chains to track case detail and deliver medicine to thousands of patients - FOR FREE! 

Michael is a graduate of Santa Clara University and lives on the island of Maui, Hawaii.

C-Session podcast is pleased to have Rebecca Owens, CEO of Swellter.  At the ripe old age of 10, Rebecca knew she would change cancer.  She has since spent the last 20 years researching, learning, selling, creating, and building novel solutions that would bridge gaps in communication and understandings about cancer testing, treatments and overall care. At the core, her work has always been ethics, quality, transparency, and respect for the patient as they deal with a life altering disease.

Today, we have great scientific and technological advancements at our fingertips. Over the past two decades, she and her colleagues have focused on the various ways they can leverage technology to improve the transfer of and enable new learning's from patient data for optimal care. Furthermore, they have rigorously studied and participated in many of clinical workflow initiatives from both the patient’s and physician’s unique purview. With the knowledge gained, they bring together a ‘Patient Immersion Application’ that enables a patient to dynamically understand and learn about the illness they are dealing with.  In real-time. With a deep understanding of patient privacy, consent and authorization to data; Swellter’s platform can ensure that no unauthorized patient data is being shared outside of their provisions all while seamlessly gaining knowledge and insights throughout their care.

Swellter is a patient immersion platform that consents, educates, collects, and shares data in real-time with patients and their care team. The Swellter mission is to close the gaps in patient care by transforming patient data into usable data that will seamlessly inform patients and stakeholders on important care decisions.

This C-Session's guests are Pat Garcia-Gonzalez, CEO of The Max Foundation (Max).  In addition, Jerry Radich, MD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  Both share the amazing story of Max, and how it's reaching and treating cancer patients on a global scale.  

Max is a nonprofit global health organization that provides cancer patients in low and middle-income countries with access to lifesaving treatment and care. Today, Max provide services to over 30,000 patients in more than 70 countries, including access to over 8 million daily doses of medicine yearly. Max’s patient services include efforts to expand access to molecular diagnostics, educational workshops, and one-on-one care. 

The Max Foundation supports physicians in diagnosing and monitoring patients in areas where patients have no access or cannot afford diagnostic testing. Max’s leading access to treatment model harnesses the power of effective partnerships with local hospitals, cancer centers, NGOs and Ministries of Health, as well as global drug manufacturers, diagnostic companies, and international distributors to ensure that every patient receives the right treatment at the right time.

In this edition of C-Sessions, your host, Randall Broad interviews Andy Peet, Telehealth Program  Manager along with Dr. Jennie Crews, M.D., Medical Director, with SCCA. Telehealth has accelerated heavily since the COVID 19 Pandemic.  SCCA has expanded Telehealth services significantly in the past year.   Please join in and learn about the latest breakthrough and benefits of communication via phone and Zoom with treatment providers.  

Dr. Crews is Medical Director for the SCCA Network, Administrative / Medical Director for Community Sites and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington.  Her clinical focus is Survivorship.  She received her B.S. in Biology with highest honors from UNC- Chapel  Hill and completed her MD and oncology fellowship at Duke University.  

Andy Peet is excited to be working at the intersection of technology and healthcare as the Telehealth Program Manager at SCCA.  Prior to joining the Telehealth team, he was Manager of Medical Staff Services and Access in the Medical Director's Office of SCCA.  A seasoned healthcare operations, project, and people manager,  Mr. Peet has served in various operational and technical roles at  SightLife, the largest global health NGO focused on eliminating corneal  blindness.  He also served as Project Manager in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  

In this powerful session, we have the pleasure of having my friend and fellow cancer patient, Matt Partlow, share his story of where he's come to with treatment and his disease, Multiple Myeloma.  He met with his oncologist, Dr. Lilly of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance this week and mutually decided his treatments have come to an end. Thus, he and his family have made the decision 'Death with Dignity' is his destiny. Please listen in as he shares life and readying himself for the next chapter and experience.  Forever grateful to know him and be able to share his legacy...

On this C-Sessions with Randall Broad an interview with Dr. Jing Zeng,  an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the  University of Washington School of Medicine.  There are congratulations in order to Dr. Jing Zeng, who officially  became the SCCA Proton Therapy Center's Medical Director on October 16,  after serving as Associate Medical Director since 2019.  Like many, Dr. Zeng was drawn to health care because she wanted to help  people. She studied at Duke University and completed her residency at  Johns Hopkins Hospital focusing on radiation oncology. Although treating  cancer is extremely challenging, Dr. Zeng knew it was her calling.  "It's a privilege that my job is to help people in their time of dire  need. Work doesn't feel like work when you know what you're doing is  meaningful," says Dr. Zeng.  As one of the first physicians to treat at the Center, Dr. Zeng  initially specialized in lung cancer radiation. By 2014, she expanded  her role to lead the genitourinary/prostate cancer program - at one  time, treating nearly half of the Center's prostate cancer patients.

In this weeks C-Sessions, we're pleased to have Dr. Jerry Radich of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  Please join in to hear Jerry's cancer research world, his theory of the Darwinian nature of cancer evolution, and its implications for genetic therapy.  

Liszet is the Community Health Educator for  Urban Populations for the Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer  Consortium's Office of Community Outreach & Engagement (OCOE).  Originally from Arizona where she got her Bachelor of Science degree in  Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona, her  personal experience led her to pursue a career assisting underserved  populations and access to health care. She began her work at West Side  Head Start serving the El Mirage, AZ community which is the same  community she participated in as a child. In 2013, she moved to Seattle  to obtain her Master's in Social Work with a concentration in Health  Policy and Advocacy. Liszet began her career at Fred Hutch in 2015  working as a bilingual Information Specialist at the nation's only NCI  Cancer Information Service, where she provided callers from all over the  world up-to-date cancer information, clinical trial search, and local  resources. Liszet continues her work in health disparities now in cancer  prevention and survivor-ship as part of the Cancer Consortium's OCOE.  She's had the honor of working with African American communities in  clinical trial information sessions, working with the Mexican Consulate  to provide Spanish Cancer information, and most recently recruiting for a  monoclonal Anti-body study for COVID-19. Liszet hopes to expand her  work in connecting with any under-served communities and working towards  decreasing gaps in health care and cancer information resources.  Michael has spent 25 years in the medical industry bringing disruptive  technology to the patients and systems that treat them. He's worked both  with national and international companies to bring the latest  technology to the patient front line.   Additionally, Michael has worked  with large health systems; University of Washington, Kaiser, Stanford,  and Providence from the commercial vendor side.  Focused on breakthrough  diagnostic test for breast and colorectal cancer, helping identifying  patients in the care gap.  Currently, Michael is with Deciphera  Pharmaceuticals, a rare disease cancer company focusing on (GIST  gastrointestinal stromal tumors).  C-Sessions is a fascinating healthcare-focused program designed to  improve communication and collaboration between patients and their  healthcare provider.  "The ultimate takeaway is to improve outcomes," said Randy, adding, "We  believe that education, transparency, and open dialogue are essential to  providing quality healthcare throughout the patient journey and  treatment process."