RealPharma: Conversations with Pharma Pathfinders

When Healthcare Policy Incentives Backfire: 340B, Hospital Pricing, MFN, and Drug Affordability with Deborah Williams Healthcare policies are often evaluated by what they are intended to accomplish. But what happens when the incentives created by those policies produce very different results? In this episode of RealPharma, Ian Wendt and Dr. Na-Ri Oh speak with longtime health policy expert Deborah...

Episode Summary In this episode of Real Pharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Kristiaan Rawlings, Executive Director at EPM Scientific, to unpack what is really happening in the biopharma talent market right now. From the surprising resurgence of market access hiring to the growing influence of AI in recruiting and candidate preparation, this conversation explores the forces reshaping...

🧠 Episode Summary What if we’ve been thinking about cancer all wrong? In this deeply personal and paradigm-shifting episode of RealPharma, hosts Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Dr. Christopher Gregg—neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and stage 4 cancer patient—to explore a bold new vision for cancer care. Dr. Gregg shares how his own diagnosis sparked a radical rethink of oncology: moving awa...

The Opioid Reckoning (Part 2): Litigation, Accountability, and the Fight for Justice with Paul T. Farrell Jr. In Part 2 of our deep dive into the opioid crisis, hosts Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt continue their conversation with Paul T. Farrell Jr., the West Virginia attorney who helped lead the historic national opioid litigation. This episode moves beyond the legal strategy discussed in Part 1 and...

The Opioid Reckoning (Part 1): Paul Farrell Jr. on Litigation, Accountability, and the System That Failed West Virginia has had the highest drug overdose death rate in the United States for over a decade. In a state with fewer than 2 million people, 780 million prescription opioids were distributed in just six years. For Paul Farrell Jr., a Huntington, West Virginia native and mass tort attorney,...

Ending the Diagnostic Odyssey: Rare Disease, Employers & Reimagining Health Plans Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt Guest: Joshua Resnikoff, Founder & CEO, Sunstone Health Episode Overview What if the biggest innovation in rare disease wasn’t a new drug—but a new way to navigate the system? In this episode, Na-Ri and Ian sit down with Joshua Resnikoff, biomedical engineer turned founder of S...

  🎙️ Beyond Survival: Why Empathy Is the Missing Prescription in Pharma Episode Summary: In this no-holds-barred conversation, Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Matthew Zachary—brain cancer survivor, founder of Stupid Cancer, host of Out of Patients, and a relentless disruptor in patient advocacy. At 21, Matthew was diagnosed with brain cancer and faced a life-altering decision: take chemothera...

  🎙️ Real Pharma – Episode Title: Breaking the Silence: Why Pharma Needs to Speak Up Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt Guest: Brian Reid, Founder & Principal at Reid Strategic 🔍 Episode Summary: In this episode of Real Pharma, Na-Ri and Ian sit down with Brian Reid—a healthcare communicator, strategist, and former journalist who's worked across government, pharma, and media—to explore a provoca...

Episode Title: Formulation as Strategy: Why CDMOs Matter More Than Ever Guest: Elizabeth Hickman, President & CEO, Austin Pharmaceutics Episode Overview In this episode of RealPharma, hosts Nari Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Elizabeth Hickman, President and CEO of Austin Pharmaceutics, to unpack one of the most critical—and often misunderstood—elements of drug development: formulation and the...

🎧 Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt 🎓 Special Guests: Emma Cousin (PhD Candidate, Choice Institute – UW), Amos Fung (RealPharma Intern & Student Pharmacist) 🔍 Episode Summary: In this thought-provoking episode, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Emma Cousin, a PhD candidate at the Choice Institute, University of Washington, to unpack the real-world implications of the Inflation Reduct...

Reinventing Cell Therapy with Acoustics, Microfluidics & High-Throughput Engineering In this episode, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Dr. Andrew Gray — immune cell engineer, biotech founder, venture capitalist, and CEO of CellEcho — to explore how a new acoustic-powered gene-delivery platform may redefine the boundaries of cell therapy. The conversation spans the current state of th...

👩‍🔬👨‍⚕️ Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt 🎧 Guest: Dr. Ron Shigeta – Biotech visionary, co-founder of IndieBio, and food innovation expert. 🧬 Episode Summary: In this deeply insightful and refreshingly candid episode, Ian and Nari welcome back biotech veteran Dr. Ron Shigeta to explore the evolving landscape where food, health, and biotech collide. From the collapse of the lab-grown meat hype c...

  🎙 Episode Title: From Job Search to Power Move: How Top Talent’s Playing 2025 🧠 Guests: Kristiaan Rawlings, Executive Director at EPM Scientific 🎧 Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt Episode Summary Layoffs. AI. Resume black holes. The biopharma hiring market feels noisy—and not in a good way. But beneath the doomscrolling, there’s a more nuanced story unfolding. In this episode, Kristiaan Rawling...

  Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter Featuring Congressman Jake Auchincloss Episode Summary In this episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) to dissect the tangled web of policy, profit, and politics driving America’s drug pricing system. From pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to the politics of tariffs, this discussion explores the...

  Episode Title: “Conversations, Not Campaigns: The Art of Authentic Engagement in Healthcare” 🗣️ Episode Summary In this episode, hosts Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Colin Hung — healthcare technologist, marketing strategist, and co-founder of the long-running #HCLDR (Healthcare Leadership) Twitter community. Colin shares his journey from biomedical engineering to becoming one of the m...

  🎙️ Episode Title: Building the Highway for AI in Pharma: A Conversation with Ilya Burkov 📍 Episode Summary In this episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Dr. Ilya Burkov, Head of AI Cloud at Nebius, to explore the critical infrastructure enabling the AI revolution in drug development. While the headlines often focus on the promise of AI, Ilya brings us backstage—where...

  🎙️ Episode Title: Inside the CMC Black Box: A Deep Dive with Reza Oliyai 🧾 Show Notes: What exactly is CMC — and why is it behind more FDA rejections than any other category? In this episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Dr. Reza Oliyai, former SVP of Pharmaceutical & Biologics Operations at Gilead Sciences, and now Founder & CEO of Oliyai Consulting, to demy...

In this episode of RealPharma, Ian Wendt and Na-Ri Oh sit down with Dara Katcher Levy, a regulatory attorney at Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. —widely regarded as one of the nation’s top firms in food and drug law. Dara brings decades of expertise in promotional review, labeling negotiations, and post-market compliance, helping life sciences companies navigate the complex world of FDA regulati...

Episode Title: From Rock Star to Rare Disease Revolutionary: Casey McPherson’s Fight for His Daughter’s Life In this deeply personal and inspiring conversation, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Casey McPherson, founder and CEO of AlphaRose Therapeutics—and acclaimed recording artist—to explore how one father’s determination to save his daughter’s life is shaking up the rare disease drug...

  Episode Title: Behind the PBM Curtain: Antonio Ciaccia Exposes the Game Show Notes: In this compelling episode of Real Pharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt welcome back Antonio Ciaccia, CEO of 46brooklyn Research and President of 3 Axis Advisors, for a hard-hitting discussion on the power and pitfalls of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PBMs remain one of the most opaque and influential forces...

  🎙️ 340B or Bust: Is This Program Failing the Sick? This week on Real Pharma, hosts Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt dive into the tangled world of 340B with returning guest William “Bill” Sarraille—one of the most respected voices in healthcare law, an active patient advocate, and a rare disease patient himself. The 340B Drug Pricing Program was intended to help vulnerable patients by requiring drug m...

  Episode Title: Paging Dr. ChaptGPT with Bryce Sady AI Adoption in Healthcare: Navigating the Present and Shaping the Future with Bryce Sady Episode Description: On today's insightful episode of RealPharma, hosts Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Bryce Sady, Vice President of Product Development at PSL Group's Medical Education and Communications Division, a veteran innovator at the inters...

Episode Title: “Hiring Heat Check: What’s Hot in Biotech + Pharma Talent in Mid-2025” 🎙️ Hosts: Ian Wendt & Na-Ri Oh 🎧 Guest: Kristiaan Rawlings, Executive Recruiter at EPM Scientific   Episode Overview: This week, fan favorite Kristiaan Rawlings returns to RealPharma to give us the raw and real insights on pharma and biotech hiring trends as we hit the midpoint of 2025. From compensation cur...

🎙 Episode Title: The Future of Biotech Guest: Andrew Craig, Founder of Plain English Finance | Author of Our Future is Biotech     📌 Episode Summary In this bold and wide-ranging conversation, Ian Wendt and Na-Ri Oh sit down with Andrew Craig—British investor, entrepreneur, and author—to explore how biotechnology is poised to shape the next century in the same way physics and computing shaped the...

  🎙 Episode Title: Rooted in Results: The Future of Functional Medicine with Dr. Erica Armstrong    🧬 Episode Summary In this episode, Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Dr. Erica Armstrong, board-certified family medicine physician and founder of Root Functional Medicine, to explore the promise, challenges, and evolution of functional medicine. Dr. Armstrong discusses how Root’s systems-ba...