Amplify: A Podcast Powered by Patient Voice Partners

Sponsor Acknowledgment This episode is sponsored by LEO Pharma . LEO Pharma is a global research-based pharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing the standard of care for people living with skin conditions, their families, and society. Sponsorship helps support the Amplify podcast, but the conversation, perspectives, and final content are produced independently by Patient Voice Partners and its...

Sponsor Acknowledgment   This episode is sponsored by LEO Pharma . LEO Pharma is a global research-based pharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing the standard of care for people living with skin conditions, their families, and society. Sponsorship helps support the Amplify podcast, but the conversation, perspectives, and final content are produced independently by Patient Voice Partners and i...

Episode Summary What happens when lived experience becomes a catalyst for systemic change? In this episode of Amplify, Ursula Mann and Anne-Marie sit down with accessibility consultant, speaker, entrepreneur, and founder of Accessible Creates, Sydney Elaine Butler. Sydney shares her personal journey growing up as an autistic, biracial woman navigating healthcare, education, and the workplace while...

Episode Summary What does it take to turn personal caregiving experience into lasting healthcare change? In this episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , Ursula Mann and co-host Barry Liden welcome Annie Kennedy, Chief Mission Officer of the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases and one of the leading voices in rare disease advocacy and policy. Annie shares her journey from aspiring physici...

Episode Summary In this powerful episode of Amplify, Carmen Wyton joins Ursula Mann and Anne Marie for a bold conversation about the invisible gaps in women’s healthcare — and the movement to change them. Carmen shares how her experience listening to women with uterine fibroids, many of whom waited over a decade for diagnosis and treatment, sparked the creation of the Women’s Health Coalition of A...

Episode Summary This episode is sponsored by Medlior Health Outcomes Research . Sponsorship supports Amplify, while all conversations and perspectives remain independently produced. In this episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , Ursula Mann and Anne Marie Hayes sit down with Neelam Bance for a thoughtful conversation about leadership, lived experience, healthcare innovation, and the import...

What happens when surviving cancer in your 20s leads to a completely different health journey decades later? In this powerful episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , hosts Ursula Mann and Anne-Marie Hayes sit down with Jackie to explore the realities of women’s heart health, delayed diagnosis, and why patient-led advocacy is changing the future of care. After surviving Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphom...

Episode Summary This episode is sponsored by Medlior Health Outcomes Research . Sponsorship supports Amplify, while all conversations and perspectives remain independently produced. In this episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , hosts Ursula Mann and Anne Marie Hayes are joined by Jeff Beach , President & CEO of Asthma Canada. Jeff shares his deeply personal journey—from a childhood ma...

Episode Summary In this deeply moving episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , we sit down with Charles Cook—a two-time deceased donor transplant recipient who received a life-saving heart transplant in 2016 and a kidney transplant in 2017.  Charles shares his extraordinary journey—from being diagnosed with a genetic heart condition at 17, to surviving a massive stroke, to enduring years of...

Episode Summary In this powerful episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , Harjeet Kaur shares her journey through an ultra-rare stage IV blood cancer—subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (SPTCL)—and the life-altering moments that followed. From months of unexplained symptoms and relentless advocacy for answers, to undergoing a stem cell transplant during the height of COVID-19, Har...

What happens when your life changes in an instant—and you’re left to navigate uncertainty, fear, and a system that isn’t built around you? In this episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , hosts Ursula Mann and Brent Korte sit down with Claire Snyman , a brain tumor survivor, patient advocate, and health data champion. Claire shares the moment everything shifted—from a sudden onset of vertigo...

Kidney disease is often called a “silent illness”—but for those living with it, the reality is anything but quiet. In this powerful episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , Ursula Mann joined by Christine Pisapia and special guest Susan McKenzie, a kidney transplant recipient and leading patient advocate. Sue shares her deeply personal journey—from delayed diagnosis and emergency dialysis to...

In this episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , hosts Ursula Mann and Brent Korte sit down with Sandra Walker , venture capital partner at Hard Climate Venture Studio and founder of Viacern . Sandra has spent decades working across global healthcare systems—spanning pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics, venture capital, and now climate innovation. Throughout her career, she has been...

Episode Summary In this episode, Ursula Mann is joined by Christine Pisapia for a thoughtful conversation with Sigrun Watson , a healthcare leader and entrepreneur passionate about improving women’s health and reducing stigma around mental health. Sigrun shares her personal journey with perfectionism, an eating disorder, depression, and what it meant to seek help—and why storytelling and community...

Episode Summary In this episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , hosts Ursula Mann and Brent Korte speak with Reg Joseph , CEO of Health Cities , about how community-based care, patient empowerment, and system design shape real healthcare outcomes. Reg shares insights from his background in biotechnology, finance, and healthcare innovation, explaining why technology alone cannot fix healthca...

In this episode of Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices , hosts Ursula Mann and Barry Liden are joined by Barry Stein , President and CEO of Colorectal Cancer Canada , for a powerful and deeply personal conversation about colorectal cancer, early screening, and why patient voices matter in shaping healthcare systems. Barry Stein shares his remarkable journey—from a late-stage colorectal cancer diagno...

How is patient engagement evolving in one of the world’s fastest-changing healthcare regions?  In this episode, Ursula Mann and Christine Pisapia sit down with Mostafa Najib , a pharmaceutical leader with more than 20 years of experience across the Middle East. Together, they explore how patient expectations are shifting, how technology and policy are reshaping access to innovation, and why meanin...

Welcome to the launch episode of Amplify , the podcast powered by Patient Voice Partners , where real stories spark bold conversations. In this episode, host Ursula Mann is joined by her co-hosts Brent Korte, Barry Liden, Anne Marie Hayes, and Christine Pisapia as they explore what patient engagement really means - and why it’s personal, not just professional.  Together, they share stories of care...

Episode Summary   In this powerful episode of Amplify , hosts Ursula Mann and Christina Pisapia speak with Erin Paterson , a writer, caregiver, and advocate whose life was transformed by Huntington’s Disease (HD).  Just as Erin and her husband were preparing to start a family, she learned a long-kept family secret: her grandmother may have died from Huntington’s. This revelation pushed Erin into r...

In this conversation, Ursula and Anne Marie sit down with Mark Stolow , Founding Director of People Before Patients , to explore what it truly means to humanize healthcare .   Drawing from early caregiving experiences and over two decades in public health, Mark challenges the industrial logic shaping today’s system and offers new metaphors—like forests, ecologies, and “the dome”—to help us reimagi...

A routine nudge from a family doctor changed everything. After being sent for a mammogram she had delayed, Share was diagnosed with stage 0, triple-negative breast cancer —caught extraordinarily early. In this candid conversation, she walks us through that phone call, the whirlwind of next steps, and the mindset and micro-supports that helped her stay grounded: humor, weekly friend check-ins, comp...

Episode Summary   What happens when a physician becomes the patient—and then an entrepreneur? Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Shazhan Amed shares her harrowing, transformational journey through toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) , a rare, life-threatening reaction often triggered by medications. Shazhan opens up about pain, fear, advocacy, and the moments of kindness that sustained her. She then conne...

 Trigger warning   This episode includes discussion of severe postnatal mental health challenges, including postpartum psychosis, hospitalization, and panic. If you or someone you know needs medical assistance, please contact your healthcare professional.  If you’re in Canada and need support right now:   Call or text 9-8-8 – Suicide Crisis Helpline, available 24/7/365, bilingual. Youth & youn...

In this episode, Ursula and Christine are joined by Tara Cowling , Founder and President of Medlior Health Outcomes Research —a Canadian leader in real-world evidence (RWE), health technology assessment (HTA), and health outcomes research . Together, they explore how health data can be transformed into actionable insights that improve care, trust, and outcomes for patients.  Tara shares her journe...

How do you embed patient voices across a complex, research-driven organization—and across a country’s health system? Brigitte Nolet shares how her own journey with psoriatic arthritis shaped her leadership, why Roche Canada created a Chief Patient Experience Officer role held by someone with lived experience, and how collaboration across government, industry, and patient groups can accelerate acce...