Heroes of Healthcare

In the face of a global pandemic, people fought and won the battle. Their weapon of choice to go faster and be better? Data and artificial intelligence. Tom Lawry , Former National Director for Artificial Intelligence of Health and Life Sciences at Microsoft and author of Hacking Healthcare joins us to discuss what the healthcare industry learned from the pandemic and how those lessons can transla...

Healthcare workers are suffering in silence from burnout and poor mental health. Dr. Olivia Ong , speaks to us about overcoming a life-changing car accident and struggling with the stresses of being a physician. Healthcare is undeniably a field that requires its workers to be strong, both physically and mentally. Yet, countless employees are suffering from burnout because of the stigmas around see...

There are only a handful of people in the world who get the opportunity to work directly with the country’s leaders to influence the public health of the United States. The insights and experiences gained by these industry leaders are invaluable. Returning to the podcast, Sandra Elizabeth Ford , Former Special Assistant to the President for Public Health and Science at The White House , joins to d...

One in three women experiences abnormal uterine bleeding and pain. What’s worse — it’s normalized. Symptoms leave women struggling in silence, options limited to ineffective hormonal therapies, expensive and invasive surgeries or continual suffering. Keren Leshem , Chief Executive Officer at OCON has set out to make a change in women’s health. The development and launch of innovative products like...

Poverty and healthcare are deeply intertwined in Brazil, creating a vicious cycle of hospitalization, rehospitalization, and poor health outcomes. Without intentional intervention and innovative solutions that reach beyond the hospital setting, overall well-being will never improve. Dr. Vera Cordeiro , Founder and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Dara Institute is on a mission to spearhead...

56% of women get turned away from emergency rooms when presenting with symptoms of an active heart attack. Across 700 different diseases, women get diagnosed later than men. These are just a few detrimental results of the existing gender gap in healthcare. In this episode of Heroes of Healthcare, we speak with Valentina Milanova , Founder and CPO of Daye about the groundbreaking ways Daye has been...

The passion that drives any real innovation is the passion to do something better. When Dr. Toby Hamilton began his journey in medicine he noticed a disconnect in emergency care — by the time he saw a patient they were already upset with him. Instead of digging into treatment, staff had to focus on regaining patient trust. These inefficiencies and frustrations led Dr. Hamilton and several partners...

We are ready to revolutionize healthcare — and the system needs it. Through cultural changes and diversity, we can create an atmosphere for compassionate care that leads to improved mental health of providers and decreased provider burnout. Today we speak with Dr. Dhaval Desai , Director of Hospital Medicine, Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, Inc about how we can lead the driving change to...

Radiology is one of the most technologically innovative medical specialties — it is in a constant state of change and evolution. As AI blazes through industries, upending how things are done and understood, radiology is not immune to AI’s sweeping impact. But, as our guest Dr. Nina Kottler , Associate Chief Medical Officer, Clinical AI at Radiology Partners , explains — radiology is utilizing AI i...

We live in an age with ever-advancing psychiatric treatments for mental health and addiction, yet the opioid epidemic continues to rage unabated. With all these modern tools at our disposal, why is our approach to addiction treatment still failing? Our latest guest in our 3 part Opioid Crisis Series, Dr. Michael Genovese, Chief Medical Officer at Acadia Healthcare, joins the show to examine what’s...

Workers in neurocritical care have an incredibly demanding job, but — as the pandemic revealed — one that is absolutely vital in supporting societal wellbeing. But are we doing everything we can to support their wellbeing? In this episode, Dr. Sasha Yakhkind, Neurocritical Care Physician at Tufts Medical Center, joins to discuss the ongoing burnout crisis and what can be done to prevent it. Join u...

The pharmaceutical industry is the least trusted by the public — and it’s not hard to see why. The rise of OxyContin and the ensuing opioid crisis is one of the greatest preventable tragedies of our times, touching almost everyone. But if we failed to prevent bad incentives from reigning supreme in the marketing of OxyContin, how can we stop something similar from happening next time? In this epis...

With a perpetuating labor shortage resulting in healthcare facilities reporting continued losses year-over-year, healthcare professionals are desperate for reprieve. While there is no impending wave of new professionals to hit the workforce any time soon, the world has begun to see a wild jump in the development of AI. On this episode, we’re joined by Ken Perez , Vice President of Healthcare Polic...

This is the first episode in a special three-part series on OxyContin and the opioid crisis. The next episode will be live on 4/11/23. At some point, the opioid epidemic has touched nearly everyone’s life in this country. That makes it one of the few issues that cut across every demographic and political line. The people want the corporations held responsible for their part in the epidemic, but th...

Headlines, studies and endless social media posts remind us that occupational burnout is more widespread than ever — but how exactly do we define burnout? And more importantly, how do we prevent it? This week we are joined by Ginny Bonner , Senior Consultant of Physician, APP and Nursing Experience, Development and Well-Being at Banner Health . Ginny defines occupational burnout as a syndrome char...

One great thing about medicine in the US is the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that can tackle some of the biggest challenges in health. The downside? Smaller markets, like pediatrics, are often overlooked in favor of bigger, more lucrative problem solving solutions. This means healthcare heroes in these smaller sectors have to step up to fill those gaps in funding and recognition in o...

In this episode, Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of Annovis Dr. Maria Maccecchini discusses the biological difficulties of treating cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Dementia, and how two developing therapeutics may hold the key to stopping them.

Concarlo Therapeutics is developing a drug that could transform the way we treat cancer. In this episode, Co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer, and acting CEO of Concarlo Therapeutics, Dr. Stacy Blain,shares her journey of researching, testing and securing funding for a drug that kills off cancer cells. Join us as we discuss: Clinical grade manufacturing processes FDA regulations and clinical tria...

In the past fifty episodes, we’ve spoken with heroes of healthcare from White House public health experts to the makers of Covid-19 tests. Now, co-hosts Ted Weyn and Olivia D'Angelo reflect on their favorite lessons from the past year’s episodes and share a glimpse into what they have planned for the future. Join us as we discuss: Workforce shortages and technological limitations Supply and demand...

To better meet the needs of patients, healthcare systems are embracing new technologies that allow for most non-emergency visits to be performed remotely. In this episode, VP and Chief Quality Innovation Officer of the Heart & Vascular Institute at Hartford HealthCare, Howard L. Haronian shares his perspective on how new innovations allow for more equitable communication with insurance companies a...

SSM Health is one of the largest health systems in the midwest. As a faith-based, not-for-profit hospital network, their mission is to treat and heal their friends and family in the communities they serve.  In the episode, Physician and Provider Recruiter for SSM Health, Jason Nelson shares an inside glimpse into the experiences of physicians and advanced practitioners working for SSM. Listen as w...

Capillary flow membranes are the base for both Covid and pregnancy tests. Once sprayed with a protein solution, they act as a key indicator by changing colors when in contact with the right compounds.   In this episode, head of product management for diagnostic manufacturing materials at MilliporeSigma, Shawn Gaskell explains the creation processes for these tests, their evolution during the pande...

In every profession, there are systems in place to cover for when someone can’t show up for work. In education we have substitute teachers but in healthcare, we have Locum Tenens. In today’s episode, our hosts Ted Weyn and Olivia Reed, come together to share how the physicians and doctors come to work in Locum Tenens, the inspiration for the Heroes of Healthcare podcast, and the work that Jackson...

There is a longstanding cultural belief that all illnesses can be healed by a surgery or drug prescribed by a doctor. While advances in healthcare are saving lives, there are holistic healthcare practices backed by evidence that can be used to treat illnesses. In today’s episode, we speak to Dr. Joanne Wu MD MBA, a multi-entrepreneur, President and Principal of Fit2bwell, who provides board adviso...

Making their own medications. Prescribing meds to customers right on the spot. Pharmacists were a different kind of healthcare hero back in the mid 20th century. In this episode of Heroes of Healthcare, we're rebroadcasting a conversation between our host Ted Weyn Jr. and his father, Ted Weyn Sr., a 91-year-old retired pharmacist. The pair discusses… The responsibilities of a pharmacist in the mid...