Lab to Lives

Send us Fan Mail “Patients first” sounds simple until you follow the incentives. We’re joined by Dr Grant Coren, a genetics-trained PhD who moved from cancer research into decades of recruiting talent across the pharmaceutical industry and biotech. Together, we ask the uncomfortable question that sits under mission statements and glossy brand values: do pharma organisations truly value patients ov...

Send us Fan Mail AI is everywhere in pharma right now, yet drug development still feels slow, fragmented, and full of avoidable rework. We sit down with Anastasia Christianson, former SVP and Global Head of AI Data and Analytics at Pfizer and now Managing Principal at EPAM Life Science Consulting, to get specific about what actually blocks progress in clinical trials and what AI can realistically...

Send us Fan Mail The clinical trial system is starting to look like a motorway at a standstill: more and more drugs are lining up, but the lanes ahead are already full. We sit down with Pamela Tenart to unpack why the industry may have reached the limit of human-only clinical development, and why “adding more people” is no longer a realistic plan when experienced CRAs, site co-ordinators and trial...

Send us Fan Mail A medicine can be proven safe and effective, approved by regulators, and still fail the one test that matters: actually reaching patients in the real world. We sit down with Anish, a deep commercial thinker, to unpack what pharmaceutical commercialisation really is when you strip away the slogans and look at incentives, bottlenecks, and human behaviour.  We start with our five val...

Send us Fan Mail This is the first episode in the rebranded show! Drug and medical device breakthroughs do not reach patients because they’re clever in a lab. They reach patients when innovation, regulatory strategy, partnerships, clinical evidence and commercial reality line up at the same time, and that’s where things get messy. We’re launching Lab to Lives with a simple goal: talk honestly abou...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when we stop calling people “subjects” and start inviting them to help build the solutions they need? We sit down with pharmacist and patient engagement leader Mark Duman to unpack how language, literacy, and lived experience can transform clinical trials, medtech, and digital health from the ground up. Mark introduces his three Cs—co-creation, choice, and coaching—an...

Send us Fan Mail Ever wondered why a clean CSR still leaves you unsure how a trial actually ran? We dive into the hidden layer that explains the “how”: audit trails across EDC, IRT, eConsent, and ePRO. With guests Ellis Hiroki of Study OS (now rebranded  siteroAI) and Nechama Katan of Wicked Problem Wizard, we unpack how E6(R3) shifts sponsors from “we can export logs” to “we continuously analyse...

Send us Fan Mail Want clinical research that respects real life? We sit down with Caroline Potts, GM of Site and Patient Services at MRN, to rethink how patients are recruited and supported when the standard trial model collides with work, school, caregiving, and distance. We start at the site level, exploring why trial sites remain the beating heart of studies, then unpack how participants actual...

Send us Fan Mail Two leaders from Sionna Therapeutics walk through a 15‑year journey from Genzyme science to a public company advancing NBD1‑targeted therapies in cystic fibrosis. We examine why most patients still fall short of normal CFTR, how a predictive assay de‑risks choices, and what it takes to finance, hire, and execute with patients as the North Star. Visit: sionnatx.com Visit Labtolives...

Send us Fan Mail What if the documents behind a clinical trial were written with the patient’s voice in mind and delivered at the speed modern science deserves? We sit down with writer, consultant, and patient-advocate Bilal Bham to unpack how protocols, clinical trial applications, and clinical study reports actually get made, why structure beats chaos, and where AI genuinely shortens timelines w...

Send us Fan Mail A routine dental visit, a few days of diarrhea, and then the unthinkable: septic shock and a life lost within 24 hours. Our guest, Christian John Lillis, shares how losing his mother Peggy to a community-acquired C. diff infection exposed a silent public health crisis and led him to co-found the Peggy Lillis Foundation (https://cdiff.org/). From that moment, advocacy turned concre...

Send us Fan Mail What if millions of electronic health records could transform how we understand medicine? In this thought-provoking conversation with Dr. Manfred Stapff, physician and real-world evidence pioneer, we uncover how anonymized patient data is revolutionizing healthcare research. Dr. Stapff reveals how the 21st Century Cures Act dramatically accelerated electronic medical record adopti...

Send us Fan Mail Cloud computing is transforming biotech by offering purpose-built infrastructure that supports AI-driven drug discovery and development while meeting strict regulatory requirements. Dr. Ilya Burkov explains how Nebius provides full-stack solutions that democratize access to powerful technology, enabling researchers to achieve breakthroughs that previously required generations. • C...

Send us Fan Mail Dominik Lysek, CEO of PharmaTrail, explains how blockchain technology can solve trust issues in clinical trials by providing an incorruptible audit trail that verifies data integrity. This solution could significantly accelerate the time required for regulatory approvals, partnerships, and acquisitions, ultimately getting treatments to patients faster. • Blockchain provides a comp...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Shervin Molayem shares his journey of innovation in dentistry, starting with his discovery of a connection between periodontal disease and COVID-19 severity that became the world's most-read dental article of 2020. He discusses groundbreaking technologies including AI-powered diagnostic tools and a revolutionary non-surgical treatment that regenerates bone tissue around t...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Wood discusses how early diagnostics of lung cancer through artificial intelligence and medical imaging can lead to better survival rates through early intervention.  • Lung cancer takes more lives than breast, prostate and colon cancer combined, with approximately 70% of cases caught at late stages • The National Lung Screening Trial showed that screening high-risk populati...

Send us Fan Mail Building high-performing teams in life sciences requires understanding how neurodiversity can be an advantage and designing work systems that enable different brain types to collaborate effectively. • A high-performing team continues to function when everything around it has fallen apart • Star players can become crutches that mask underlying team issues • Life sciences faces uniq...

Send us Fan Mail Sebastian Andruszczak, Chief Growth Officer at Holisticon (part of the Nexer Group), brings fresh perspective to the conversation around generative AI adoption in pharmaceutical companies. Drawing from his unique background in sales, marketing, and technology, Sebastian cuts through the hype to address fundamental challenges that prevent successful AI implementation in life scienc...

Send us Fan Mail Why do we wait until we're severely unwell before seeking help? In this thought-provoking episode, I'm joined by Eva Papadopoulou, a mental health professional and expert in digital and AI-enabled healthcare solutions, to explore the transformative potential of preventative mental healthcare. Eva reveals the stark reality of our current healthcare systems - less than 10%...

Send us Fan Mail Rob Freistat, President of Uncommon Cures, discusses how clinical trials are transforming to accelerate drug development and ensure patients receive treatments faster, particularly in the rare disease space. • Current market uncertainty and investment challenges in biotech, especially for rare disease research • Approximately two-thirds of clinical trial processes add no value and...

Send us Fan Mail Jonathan Hill takes us on a fascinating journey through the cutting-edge world of DNA sequencing and its revolutionary potential for early disease detection. As both an academic professor at Brigham Young University and co-founder of Wasatch BioLabs, Hill shares how third-generation sequencing technologies are transforming our ability to identify diseases years before symptoms app...

Send us Fan Mail Vectors are the unsung heroes of cell and gene therapy—molecular couriers that transport therapeutic genes into human cells to treat disease. But as Alan Griffith, Head of Global Operations at Vector Builder reveals, creating these sophisticated delivery vehicles is far more complex than most realize. Drawing from over a decade of experience developing gene therapies before joinin...

Send us Fan Mail The untapped potential of electronic health records has long been recognized in clinical research, but extracting meaningful insights from this treasure trove of data has remained an elusive challenge—until now. Vish Srivastava, founder of Century Health, reveals how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing real-world evidence by unlocking critical patient data trapped in EHRs....

Send us Fan Mail Join us for a conversation with guest Shelli Pavone, co-founder of Inlightened, to uncover the untapped potential of diversity in clinical trials. Discover how historical mistrust, structural barriers, and exclusion criteria continue to hinder diverse patient recruitment. Shelli sheds light on the transformative impact inclusive trials have on scientific integrity, safety, and the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we dive into Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology, where the brain's faint signals are harnessed to create life-changing applications. Andreas Forsland and Greg Johns emphasize the importance of community-driven innovation, guided by the Brainiac Council—a unique assembly of patients, caregivers, and experts. This collaborative approach ensures that the s...