Biomedical Frontiers: Stories with Innovators in Healthcare

Crossing the Valley of Death: How the Manning Institute Will Transform Science into Medicines

Why do so many promising scientific discoveries never become real medicines? In this episode of Biomedical Frontiers Dr. Mark Esser, Chief Scientific Officer of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Virginia, describes one of the biggest challenges in healthcare innovation: the translational valley of death. Dr. Esser explains how the Manning Institute is being built to bridge the gap between academic discovery and patient-ready therapies. Drawing on decades of experience in industry, he shares how infrastructure, cross-disciplinary teams, regulatory expertise, and new funding models are essential to turning science into medicine. The conversation explores: * Why promising biomedical research often stalls before reaching patients * How the Manning Institute’s Accelerate, Create, Educate (ACE) model is designed to overcome these barriers * A real-world case study of a novel sepsis therapy entering clinical trials * What this effort means for the future of drug discovery and Virginia’s growing biotech ecosystem Follow Dr. Mark Esser on Social Media LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-esser-0b152b2/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-esser-0b152b2/] Email: mark.esser@virginia.edu [mark.esser@virginia.edu] Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology (University of Virginia) https://manninginstitute.virginia.edu [https://manninginstitute.virginia.edu] UVA Licensing & Ventures https://lvg.virginia.edu/ [https://lvg.virginia.edu/] Resources: * Recommended Book: “A Practical Guide to Drug Development in Academia” https://catalog.nlm.nih.gov/permalink/01NLM_INST/vdtut1/alma9916234173406676 [https://catalog.nlm.nih.gov/permalink/01NLM_INST/vdtut1/alma9916234173406676] * SPARK Drug Discovery Model (Stanford) https://sparkmed.stanford.edu [https://sparkmed.stanford.edu] Love this episode? Follow and write to us: 📸 Instagram: @biomedicalfrontiers 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uvacoulter [https://www.linkedin.com/company/uvacoulter]📧 Reach us: biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu [biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu] Director & Host: Dasha Tyshlek, StratCraft, Inc. www.strat-craft.com [http://www.strat-craft.com] Executive Producer: David Chen, Managing Director & Instructor of Engineering Design, UVA Senior Producer: Hannah Moore, Associate Director, UVA Coulter Design Director: Carolyn Wagner, Inc. & Link: carolynwagnerinc.com [http://carolynwagnerinc.com] Produced on behalf of Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research at University of Virginia https://engineering.virginia.edu/centers-institutes/coulter-center-translational-research [https://engineering.virginia.edu/centers-institutes/coulter-center-translational-research]

Time to Critical Care: How AI Can Cut Patient Wait Times | Dr. Jamie Wisser & Robert Holton

When every minute counts, inefficiencies in communication and data flow can cost lives. In this episode of Biomedical Frontiers, trauma surgeon Dr. Jamie Wisser and entrepreneur Robert Holton share how they’re using AI and interoperability to accelerate time to critical care. Dr. Wisser, founder of Actual Healthcare Solutions, describes how his experience performing 26-hour reconstructive surgeries exposed the limits of today’s electronic medical records. Together with Holton, he’s building a platform that connects hospital systems, specialists, and radiologists in real time—using AI to automate referrals, interpret imaging in seconds, and bridge the silos that slow patient care. 💡 What you’ll learn: ✅ Why healthcare still runs on disconnected “data islands” ✅ How AI-driven radiology can deliver results in under 30 seconds ✅ How interoperability can improve patient outcomes and physician efficiency ✅ Lessons from a trauma surgeon turned health tech founder 📚 Resources: * Actual HealthCare Solutions: https://www.actualhealthcaresolutions.com [https://www.actualhealthcaresolutions.com] * HIT Lab: https://www.hitlab.org [https://www.hitlab.org] * New York Innovation Week: https://www.nyinnovationweek.com [https://www.nyinnovationweek.com] * Follow Biomedical Frontiers for more: 📸 Instagram: @biomedicalfrontiers 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uvacoulter [https://www.linkedin.com/company/uvacoulter] 📧 Reach us: biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu [biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu] Love this podcast? Write to us with feedback or guest recommendations! Production Team: Director & Host: Dasha Tyshlek, StratCraft, Inc. www.strat-craft.com [http://Inc.www.strat-craft.com] Executive Producer: David Chen, Managing Director & Instructor of Engineering Design Senior Producer: Hannah Moore, Associate Director, UVA Coulter Design Director: Carolyn Wagner, Inc. & Link: carolynwagnerinc.com [http://carolynwagnerinc.com] Produced on behalf of: Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research at University of Virginia

Reversing Diabetes: The Promise of Lifestyle Medicine With Dr. Meagan Grega

Type 2 diabetes affects over 37 million Americans — but what if our standard treatment paradigm is all wrong? In this episode, Dr. Meagan Grega shares the science and strategy behind lifestyle medicine, a fast-growing movement that uses food, sleep, movement, stress reduction, and social connection to treat and even reverse chronic disease. Dr. Grega is the co-author of the first-ever Clinical Practice Guideline on Lifestyle Interventions for Type 2 Diabetes and a lead author of ACLM’s Expert Consensus Statement on lifestyle medicine in primary care. She co-founded the Kellyn Foundation, where she helps families across Pennsylvania access fresh food, grow gardens, change lifestyle and improve their health together. You’ll learn: * How fat in your muscles causes insulin resistance — and how to reverse it * What makes behavior change stick * Why doctors don’t prescribe lifestyle medicine — and how that’s changing * How community-based programs and school gardens are transforming lives * New Clinical Guidelines and Expert Consensus on treating diabetes with lifestyle interventions 📚 Resources: * Free CME course: https://lifestylemedicine.org/education-certification/course-catalog/ [https://lifestylemedicine.org/education-certification/course-catalog/] * Kellyn Foundation: https://www.kellyn.org/ [https://www.kellyn.org/] * Dr. Grega’s TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efGa8QD8pU4 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efGa8QD8pU4] * ACLM Clinical Practice Guideline: https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/ajla/19/2_suppl [https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/ajla/19/2_suppl] * ACLM Expert Consensus Statement: Lifestyle Medicine for Optimal Outcomes in Primary Care: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15598276231202970 [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15598276231202970] Follow Biomedical Frontiers for more: 📸 Instagram: @biomedicalfrontiers 🔗LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uvacoulter [https://www.linkedin.com/company/uvacoulter] 📧 Reach us: biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu [biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu] Love this podcast? Write to us with feedback or guest recommendations! Production Team: Director & Host: Dasha Tyshlek, StratCraft www.strat-craft.com [http://www.strat-craft.com] Executive Producer: David Chen, Managing Director & Instructor of Engineering Design Senior Producer: Hannah Moore, Associate Director, UVA Coulter Design Director Produced on behalf of: Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research at University of Virginia

Personalized Drug Design: New Therapies for Rare Genetic Diseases with Dr. Stanley Crooke

Dr. Stanley Crooke pioneered a new class of medicine—antisense oligonucleotides—and built a $5B biotech company, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, to prove it could work. Then he walked away to found a nonprofit, n-Lorem, to treat patients with one-in-a-billion genetic mutations—people no one else would help. In this episode, we explore: * What nano-rare diseases are, and why they represent medicine’s next great frontier. * The promise of antisense therapy for individualized, mutation-specific treatment. * The 30-year scientific journey behind genetic medicine—and what it takes to lead through failure. * Why n-Lorem offers a new nonprofit model for treating diseases too rare to commercialize. * The privilege, heartbreak, and hope of doing science not just for success, but for purpose. Mentioned Resources: * Antisense Technology: A Review (PubMed) [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33600796/] * n-Lorem Foundation [https://www.nlorem.org/] * Hope Lies in Dreams – Nature’s 10-part series on Dr. Crooke [https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41587-021-00015-5/index.html] * The National Economic Burden of Rare Disease Study (EveryLife Foundation) [https://everylifefoundation.org/burden-study/] Follow Biomedical Frontiers for more: 📸 Instagram: @biomedicalfrontiers 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uvacoulter [https://www.linkedin.com/company/uvacoulter]📧 Reach us: biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu [biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu] Love this podcast? Write to us with feedback or guest recommendations! Production Team: Director & Host: Dasha Tyshlek, StratCraft, Inc. www.strat-craft.com [http://www.strat-craft.com]Executive Producer: David Chen, Managing Director & Instructor of Engineering Design Senior Producer: Hannah Moore, Associate Director, UVA Coulter Design Director: Carolyn Wagner, Inc. & Link: carolynwagnerinc.com [http://carolynwagnerinc.com]Produced on behalf of: Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research at University of Virginia

Pharmacists + Doctors: Partnerships That Make Healthcare Affordable and Accessible

Why Is Your Prescription So Expensive? How Pharmacists Can Help Fix Healthcare 💊 Featuring: Vinay Patel, Pharmacist & Founder of MakoRx Did you know that prescription drugs now account for 40% of healthcare spending on many employer plans? Or that pharmacists were once forbidden from telling you about cheaper alternatives to the medications you take? In this eye-opening episode, pharmacist and healthcare entrepreneur Vinay Patel joins host Dasha Tyshlek to expose the tangled web of middlemen, opaque pricing, and policy loopholes that drive up the cost of care—and to offer real, actionable solutions. Drawing from his experience serving over 15,000 patients through home delivery and launching the cost-plus pharmacy platform MakoRx, Vinay shares: * Why drug prices vary wildly—and who really profits from your prescriptions * What “gag clauses” were and why they harmed patients * How subscription-based pharmacy models are changing the game * The forgotten role of pharmacists in patient-centered care * How employers can save 30–40% on their pharmacy costs Whether you’re a patient, a provider, or a policymaker, this episode is packed with insights on how to untangle the “complification” of our system—and why independent pharmacies could be the future of accessible, affordable care. 📚 Mentioned on the podcast: * Unlocking the Value of AI in Healthcare by Dasha Tyshlek: https://www.strat-craft.com/learnwithstratcraft/ai-healthcare-report-info/report [https://www.strat-craft.com/learnwithstratcraft/ai-healthcare-report-info/report] * Bottle of Lies by Katherine Eban: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/bottle-of-lies-katherine-eban [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/bottle-of-lies-katherine-eban] * Books by Marty Makary: https://www.martymd.com/ [https://www.martymd.com/] 🔗 Learn more about Vinay Patel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinaypharmd/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinaypharmd/]Company: https://www.makorx.com/ [https://www.makorx.com/] Director & Host: Dasha Tyshlek, StratCraft, Inc. www.strat-craft.com [http://www.strat-craft.com] Executive Producer: David Chen, Managing Director & Instructor of Engineering Design, UVA Senior Producer: Hannah Moore, Associate Director, UVA Coulter Design Director: Carolyn Wagner, Inc. & Link: carolynwagnerinc.com [http://carolynwagnerinc.com] 🎧 Produced on behalf of Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research at University of Virginia https://engineering.virginia.edu/centers-institutes/coulter-center-translational-research [https://engineering.virginia.edu/centers-institutes/coulter-center-translational-research]📩 Send feedback or guest ideas: biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu [biomedicalfrontiers@virginia.edu]