Healthcare Unfiltered

Returning guest Megan Melody, MD—lymphoma and CAR-T hematologist at Tampa General Hospital and the University of South Florida—joins the show for a practical, data-driven discussion on the evolving role of measurable residual disease (MRD) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in lymphoma. The conversation explores which lymphoma subtypes benefit most from MRD assessment, the available commercial assa...

Returning guest Doug Flora, MD, LSSBB, practicing oncologist and healthcare innovator, joins the show to discuss his new book Rebooting Cancer Care and his pragmatic vision for how artificial intelligence is reshaping oncology today. Dr. Flora explores how AI is already being leveraged to accelerate drug discovery and development, redesign smarter clinical trials, and support more informed, effici...

Chadi sits down with Gregory Vidal, MD, PhD, medical oncologist at the West Cancer Center, for a comprehensive, state-of-the-field discussion on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Dr. Vidal walks listeners through how TNBC emerged as a diagnosis of exclusion, who is most commonly affected, current treatment paradigms and sequencing in early-stage and metastatic disease, and key considerations a...

Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD—Assistant Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Informatics at Stanford University—joins the show and offers a pragmatic look at how data science and AI can be meaningfully integrated into everyday medical practice. He breaks down how complex clinical data can be translated into intuitive, real-world use cases, from algorithm-driven decision support in cancer diagnosis to rec...

Chadi sits down with Sanjay Juneja, MD—board-certified hematologist/oncologist, healthcare futurist, and physician executive—to demystify artificial intelligence and explain what it truly means for patient care today and in the years ahead. Dr. Juneja breaks down how AI is already influencing healthcare broadly and oncology specifically, from generative AI applications to emerging tools that can a...

In this reflective and wide-ranging conversation, ASCO President Robin Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO, looks back on the formative moments that led her to oncology and the grit required to build a thriving community-based research program while balancing the demands of leadership, motherhood, and clinical practice. She shares the path that took her from ASCO member and fellow in 1997 to the presidency, unpa...

Chadi sits down with Dr. Sairah Ahmed just ahead of the ASH Annual Meeting for a comprehensive deep dive into the state of Hodgkin Lymphoma management in 2026. Dr. Ahmed walks through how clinicians should interpret the newest data releases, revisits whether histologic subtyping still influences decision-making in an era increasingly shaped by biomarkers, and details her practical framework for ap...

Journalist Erin O’Hearn joins Chadi to share her deeply personal story as both a patient and a caregiver navigating the healthcare system for more than two decades. Drawing from her lived experiences, Erin reflects on how today’s advances in artificial intelligence could have supported her journey—easing the emotional and logistical burdens of care while improving communication and empathy between...

Chadi sits down with Dr. Debra Patt, Executive Vice President of Texas Oncology and President of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), for an in-depth conversation about the evolving landscape of community oncology. Dr. Patt outlines her vision for bringing innovation and artificial intelligence into routine cancer care—addressing challenges from clinical decision-making to physician burnout—whil...

Chadi resumes his WCLC review with Dr. Eric Singhi of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, exploring the most significant updates in mutation-driven lung cancer presented at this year’s meeting. The discussion dives into advances in sequencing and molecular profiling to identify actionable genomic alterations (AGAs) and how these findings are transforming both early- and late-stage t...

Dr. Estelamari Rodriguez, thoracic oncologist at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, joins the show to break down the latest advances in non-mutation driven and small cell lung cancer presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) and how they translate into everyday clinical practice. She discusses pivotal studies including the ALCHEMIST trial exploring adjuv...

Returning guest Dr. Amer Zeidan of Yale Medicine and Smilow Cancer Hospital joins to discuss how clinicians should approach low-risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), which is most often managed in community settings. He breaks down how to risk-stratify patients using molecular and prognostic markers, when to treat versus observe, and his preferred first-line therapies in today’s landscape. Dr. Zeid...

Returning guest Jill Feldman, a prominent lung cancer survivor and patient advocate, shares her reflections on the World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) from a patient’s point of view. She discusses how patients and advocates interpret complex scientific data, why attending conferences like WCLC is vital for bridging the gap between research and real-world experience, and how the dialogue between...

Investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Gardiner Harris joins the podcast to dive deep into his groundbreaking book, “No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson.” Harris recounts the extensive research and challenges behind uncovering how J&J—long regarded as a trusted “goliath” of American healthcare—played a far greater role in fueling the opioid epidemic...

Returning guest Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, a practicing neurosurgeon at UCSF and noted health policy commentator, takes a deep dive into the 340B Drug Pricing Program—one of the most consequential yet misunderstood mechanisms in US healthcare. He traces the program’s origins in the early 1990s, designed to help safety net hospitals stretch scarce federal resources to better serve vulnerable patients....

Dr. Anand Patel, DO, founder of LV8 Health, walks us through the philosophy and mechanics of concierge-style longevity medicine. He explains how LV8 applies Medicine 3.0, combining precision diagnostics (DEXA, VO₂ max, resting metabolic rate, advanced blood panels) with regenerative and geroprotective therapies, nutrition, fitness, and sleep optimization. You’ll hear how he translates data from we...

Gavin MacBeath, CEO of TScan Therapeutics, takes us inside his journey from scientist to biotech leader and what it means to build and run a therapeutic development company at the cutting edge of immuno-oncology. He breaks down how TScan’s platform works to discover and match T-cell receptors (TCRs) with their antigens, and why TCR-T therapies may provide distinct benefits over CAR-T approaches, e...

Dr. Sameer Keole, radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic Arizona and president of ASTRO, joins the show to preview the upcoming ASTRO Annual Meeting and its key themes. He reflects on his presidential term, discussing accomplishments, lessons learned, and initiatives like his “defense to offense” vision and community outreach efforts. Dr. Keole also tackles hot-button topics in radiation oncology, in...

In this follow-up episode, Dr. Ed Livingston—renowned surgeon, educator, researcher, and former deputy editor at JAMA—returns to discuss the latest developments in his ongoing legal battle. He reflects on what has transpired in the three months since his last appearance, offering insights into the discovery process and the legal details shaping the case as it heads toward a July 2026 trial date. C...

Dr. Douglas Flora, Executive Medical Director of Oncology Services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare Cancer Center and Editor-in-Chief of the journal AI in Precision Oncology, shares his pragmatic perspective on how AI is reshaping cancer care today and tomorrow. He discusses real-world applications such as FDA-approved pattern recognition tools in imaging and pathology, how AI may soon integrate with c...

Dr. Monique Diaz, Chief Medical Informatics Officer at CommonSpirit Health, unpacks the intersection of big data, clinical care, and healthcare innovation. She shares how informatics transforms resource allocation, patient engagement, and system efficiency—while offering a behind-the-scenes look at the daily responsibilities of a CMIO, from EMR coding to AI integration. Dr. Diaz also explores the...

Dr. Sandy Scheinbaum, founder of the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, joins the show to break down the principles of functional medicine—a patient-centered approach that integrates lifestyle, nutrition, psychology, and mind-body practices to address the root causes of illness. She shares how her academy trains coaches to guide individuals through sustainable behavior change, explains how ment...

Dr. Anthony DiGiorgio, a neurosurgeon at UCSF with a strong interest in healthcare policy, joins the show to unpack the complex and often misunderstood world of Medicaid. In a wide-ranging and nuanced discussion, he explores who qualifies for coverage, why most Medicaid spending goes to groups people don’t typically expect, and whether the system should be expanded or fundamentally reformed. Dr. D...

Dr. Ed Livingston, renowned surgeon, educator, and researcher, who was a former deputy editor at JAMA, found himself out of a job after a JAMA podcast he hosted with Dr. Mitch Katz that discussed, among other items, structural racism as a contributor to the high mortality in minorities from COVID. This incident led to a series of lawsuits, some of which were highly publicized. Ed shares behind the...

Ben Casavant, co-founder and CEO of Tasso, joins the show to discuss how he transformed the idea of patient-led blood collection into a reality through devices like Tasso+. He explains how Tasso’s self-collection kits—designed to be easy, virtually painless, and used anytime at home—solve the scalability issues of mobile phlebotomy while improving patient convenience, adherence, and access to care...