Medical Insights from Industry

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"Insights from Industry" is a dynamic series of interviews at the cutting edge of the medical industry. Every interviewee is a leader in their particular field and is handpicked to give an informative and accessible insight into their chosen field. These interviews are guaranteed to keep you in the know in a rapidly changing industry.

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: an interview with Dr. Alexandria Phan

GEP-NETs stands for gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). This is a type of rare cancer that is increasing in incidence and prevalence – more on this later.

22 Oct 2014

Identifying infections rapidly: an interview with Dr. David J. Ecker

Current methods for diagnosing infectious diseases are based on the 150-year-old culture method, where physicians collect a sample of a patient’s tissue, such as blood, mucus or urine, and transfer it onto media bottle to allow the pathogens to grow.

From Abbott Diagnostics 20 Oct 2014

Reducing heart failure deaths: an interview with Dimitrios Georgiopoulos, UK Medical Director, Novartis

Heart failure is a debilitating, and life-threatening, condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood around the body. When heart failure continues to progress and worsen over time, the persistent condition is known as chronic heart failure.

From Novartis 16 Oct 2014

Molecular diagnostics and blood screening systems: an interview with Dr Bos and Dr Koppelman

Screening blood donations and molecular diagnostics for patients started in the nineties. At the beginning, the level of automation in molecular diagnostic testing was limited; most of the work had to be done manually.

12 Oct 2014

Molecular breast imaging: an interview with Jim Calandra, CEO Gamma Medica

Studies have shown that mammograms fail to detect cancers in one-third to one-half of women with dense breasts (Clinical Literature on MBI). In some cases, the findings from a mammogram are inconclusive and secondary screening will almost always be required.

6 Oct 2014

Managing diabetes and intensive exercise: an interview with Dr Rafael Castol, Team Novo Nordisk

Team Novo Nordisk is a professional cycling team that races at UCI Pro Continental level. It's the first ever team to be made up of athletes diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The team was created three years ago, and is part of the Changing Diabetes initiative developed by Novo Nordisk.

From Novo Nordisk 1 Oct 2014

Gaucher disease: an interview with Dr Clement Olivier, Shire

Gaucher disease is the most common condition within a family of rare diseases known as the lysosomal storage diseases. The disease causes lipids to accumulate in cells, which is why it is referred to as a storage disorder. The accumulation occurs mainly in the spleen, liver, and bones, but may also occur in the lungs, heart, and central nervous system.

30 Sep 2014

Combating prescription drug abuse: an interview with Mark Trudeau and Carmen Catizone

Prescription drug abuse is an extremely complex problem with no single solution. For example, the very same medications that are so critical for alleviating pain in legitimate patients could easily be diverted and misused by other people.

16 Sep 2014

Stages of symptoms in schizophrenia: an interview with Dr. Mark Opler, ProPhase

I think there's a perception that schizophrenia is principally a disorder that involves hallucinations such as hearing voices, seeing things and believing things that aren't real. These are indeed part of the phenomenon, but the condition is much broader than that.

9 Sep 2014

Treating wet AMD with gold nanoparticles: an interview with Jim Taylor, CEO, Oraya Therapeutics

Wet AMD is characterized by abnormal growth of blood vessels in the macula (the area of the eye containing vision-enabling photoreceptors), and is responsible for the vast majority of severe vision loss in the industrialized world.

4 Sep 2014

Aging healthily: an interview with Dr. Jack Watters, Vice President for External Medical Affairs, Pfizer

Get Old was developed by Pfizer in 2012 to challenge misperceptions about aging and foster a candid conversation around aging. Our goal for the program was to redefine what it means to “get old” and encourage people to adopt healthy behaviors to age the way they want.

3 Sep 2014

Extracting Cardiac Leads: An Interview with Barry Norlander from Cook Medical

The pacemaker or ICD unit, which is the implanted box or generator i.e. the electrical component of the device that's implanted in the chest, usually lasts between seven to 10 years before the generator’s battery is depleted.

From COOK MEDICAL INC. 2 Sep 2014

Remote monitoring of implanted pacemakers and defibrillators: an interview with Dr. Suneet Mittal

Remote monitoring is the ability to follow patients who have implantable pacemakers or defibrillators from home. This technology was introduced in the U.S. in 2001 so it’s been available for close to 15 years.

27 Aug 2014

Cognitive impairment communication: an interview with Marc Wortmann, Executive Director, Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI)

Cognitive impairment is the loss of brain functions like short and long term memory, the ability to plan ahead or conduct more complicated intellectual tasks.

27 Aug 2014

Acromegaly and antisense therapy: an interview with Mark Diamond, CEO Antisense Therapeutics

Acromegaly is a chronic, life-threatening disease triggered by a benign tumour of the pituitary gland causing excessive growth hormone release. Oversupply of growth hormone stimulates liver, fat and kidney cells to produce excess levels of Insulin-Like Growth Factor I (IGFI), which causes abnormal growth of the bones of the hands, face and feet and bodily organs.

26 Aug 2014

Tackling rising healthcare costs: an interview with Professor Graeme Currie, Warwick Business School

I think the main reason involves the impact of an aging population, some of whom age healthily, but many of whom, unhealthily, particularly those from poorer sectors of society.

12 Aug 2014

New spinal fixation technique: an interview with Dr. Ian Armstrong, Medical Director, Southern California Spine Institute

Traditionally, the most commonly used medical devices for spinal fusion procedures have been pedicle screws and rods, and interbody cages or spacers. Each are coupled with bone grafts and limit movement while the area being fused heals.

4 Aug 2014

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease flare-ups: an interview with Dr. MeiLan Han, University of Michigan and Scott Cerreta, Director of Education, COPD Foundation

During a flare-up, symptoms of a patient’s COPD worsen significantly, and breathing becomes more difficult. A persistent increase in shortness of breath, cough and sputum production are typical symptoms.

30 Jul 2014

Tackling hepatitis C: an interview with Gaston Picchio, Global Hepatitis Disease Area Leader at Janssen

Gaston Picchio outlines the major findings of the recent report published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU): ‘Tackling hepatitis C: Moving towards an integrated policy approach’

23 Jul 2014

Genomics testing in action: an interview with Kevin Haar, CEO, Appistry

The more connections are made between genes, disease and drugs, and the more that we continue to understand about those connections, the more critical genetic testing will become in modern medicine.

21 Jul 2014