4d ago

Dr. Karen Correa - VP Clinical Development Operations, Boehringer Ingelheim

After 30 years in clinical research, most people would tell you they've seen it all. But for today's guest, Dr. Karen Correa, three decades in the industry has only deepened her conviction that it’s less critical to know everything, and much more important to know everyone. Karen is the VP of Clinical Development Operations at Boehringer Ingelheim, and on this episode of Impactful Breakthroughs she speaks with Zach Gobst about what it really takes to build teams and cultures that deliver for patients. The two talk about why culture is the real unmet need in clinical development today. When processes, science, and timelines are all clearly established, company culture is the thing that can't be downloaded or rushed, and yet it's where everything begins and ends. Karen also opens up about the mentors who shaped her character, each pouring something different into her: truth, compassion, curiosity, and courage. And when it comes to the inevitable challenges that come with a career of this scope, Karen has a reframe that stays with you. A delay is not a denial. Keep knocking. That no is going to become a yes someday. Because at the end of it all, she's never lost sight of why the work matters, and that's exactly the kind of north star that keeps the best leaders going. Timestamps 00:00 Episode Start 01:45 How Karen's career in clinical research began 04:45 Understanding the patient experience from every angle 05:30 Why culture is the real unmet need in pharma 09:00 The mentors who shaped Karen's character and courage 12:30 Reframing challenges as learning opportunities 15:25 Finding your circle and embracing vulnerability 16:00 Being intentional about personal growth 17:15 How Karen is approaching AI today 19:55 What's energizing Karen about the future of clinical research Key Takeaways Culture is the real unmet need. When everyone in the industry already possesses the hard science skills, team culture is the only thing left. Karen believes it’s where everything begins and ends, but yet it’s still an overlooked aspect across the board. I don't want to know everything. I want to know everyone. Karen's approach to growth and vulnerability is simple. Surround yourself with people who are brighter than you, lean on them when you don't have the answers, and contribute what you know to the circle in return.Be kind to yourself. Karen reframes challenges not as setbacks but as redirections. Moments that force you down a different path you might not have found otherwise. Keep knocking, she says. That no is going to become a yes someday.Keep your leadership authentic. Karen credits many mentors for helping to build her into the leader she is today. She says “Leadership is about knowing who you are and refusing to compromise on that foundation.”Curiosity is a form of humility. Karen reminds us all to stay curious and teachable throughout our careers. “The best leaders never assume that they've arrived. They stay open, stay hungry, and stay teachable.”Guest Shoutouts Ubavka DeNoble MD, Corporate Vice President, Patient Technology Solutions/Growth, PAREXELChristine Enciso, Vice President, Development Services and Operational Excellence, RegeneronJeremy Chadwick, Chief Operating Officer, Kymera TherapeuticsBrian Meltzer MD, Vice President, Clinical Research, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Resources Connect with guest Karen Correa on LinkedInCheck out Boehringer IngelheimConnect with host Zach Gobst on LinkedInCheck out Leapcure

Sep 16

Kate Stratton - Executive Director, Lipodystrophy United

What does it look like to truly amplify the voices of those suffering from a rare disease, especially when you yourself have such a personal connection? On this episode of Impactful Breakthroughs, Zach Gobst sits down with Kate Stratton, Executive Director of Lipodystrophy United, a patient-driven global community dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by lipodystrophy through advocacy, community, and research. Kate shares how her empathetic approach to patient advocacy was shaped. From her own mother’s experience navigating a 37-year diagnostic odyssey, to her experiences working with Planned Parenthood and asylum seekers, she emphasizes the importance of direct conversations rather than assumptions. You’ll also hear Kate’s journey navigating imposter syndrome and her advice for any young entrepreneurs out there looking to make their ideas a reality. This conversation is a testament to what happens when personal experience, genuine empathy, and a refusal to wait for permission all come together in one person. Timestamps 00:00 Episode Start 01:55 Kate's personal path into patient advocacy 04:15 Lipodystrophy and how it affects the body 07:00 The common thread across all advocacy work 09:25 Patient voices matter most 12:15 Ensuring no one gets put in the wrong box 14:45 Being a young leader and navigating imposter syndrome 16:20 What Kate has learned from openness and collaboration 19:15 What's next for Lipodistrophy Untied 21:45 Kate’s advice for younger generations Key Takeaways One patient's experience is not a population. Kate is emphatic that true patient-centricity means continuously expanding the network of voices you listen to rather than relying on a single story or a token representative. After two years leading Lipodystrophy United, she still learns something new every time she speaks with a community member.Amplify, don't replace. Kate's approach to advocacy across immigration, health policy, and now rare disease, has always been the same: listen deeply, then lift others' voices rather than substituting your own. It's a philosophy that builds trust and creates lasting change.Just decide to do it. If you believe you can do something, you probably can. Surrounding yourself with people who are doing unconventional things and not waiting for external validation is what separates those who make an impact from those who talk about it.Age is not a barrier to impact. Kate has seen firsthand how quickly change can be made. At 23 she’s already expanded her team, published research, raised over $250,000 for the organization, and secured an FDA meeting for patients.Guest Shoutouts Andra Stratton, President and Co-Founder of Lipodystophy UnitedSabine Tilp, Journalist, Patient Advocate and leader of the German Lipodystrophy NetworkResources Connect with guest Kate Stratton on LinkedInCheck out Lipodystrophy UnitedConnect with host Zach Gobst on LinkedInCheck out Leapcure

Sep 2

Francesca Barone - Chief Scientific Officer, Candel Therapeutics

How far can curiosity take you when you’re not afraid of the unknown? For today’s guest, Francesca Barone, it led her across continents and disciplines as she navigated her way to the forefront of cancer immunotherapy. Francesca is the Chief Scientific Officer at Candel Therapeutics, and on this episode of Impactful Breakthroughs she speaks with Zach Gobst about how Candel is developing multimodal biological immunotherapies to help patients fight cancer. Francesca shares the driving force, her “backpack theory,” behind the journey she’s taken. Rather than settling into comfort, she believes every few years you should pack up what you've learned and head toward a new challenge entirely. It’s a belief that has carried her from academic rheumatology to leading cutting-edge oncology drug development, navigating language barriers, cultural shifts, and an industry that wasn't yet ready to believe in what her team was building. She also shares what it took to push Candel's novel intratumoral delivery approach through years of skepticism, why her physician background has been her greatest superpower in biotech, and what it really means to keep patients at the center even when your work may feel far removed. Behind every compassionate use request, every data point, and every clinical trial, there is a patient and a family. And for Francesca, that's always been reason enough to keep going. Timestamps 00:00 Episode Start 01:45 Why Francesca moved from academia to biotech 03:55 The power of stretching beyond your comfort zone 09:30 You're only as good as your team 10:15 Candel's novel approach to fighting cancer 13:35 Overcoming skepticism and remaining committed 17:05 The human side of drug development 19:20 A patient stories that say it all 23:25 Mentors who shaped Francesca’s journey 29:30 Closing reflections on purpose and impact Key Takeaways Explore curiosity throughout your career. Francesca's guiding philosophy is simple: every few years, pack up what you know and head somewhere new. The discomfort of starting over in a new field, a new country, or a new challenge is exactly where the best growth happens.Patients are better at designing trials than we are. When patients are truly embedded in your drug development process, you avoid mistakes you wouldn't have seen coming. Assuming you already know what will serve patients best is a trap that leads science in the wrong directionFind your conviction. Candel's intratumoral delivery was once met with investor skepticism and industry doubt. Now major pharma companies are building similar programs. Believing in your data when others don't is part of the job.Steady leadership is contagious. Francesca credits Candel CEO Paul Peter Tak with modeling a calm, thoughtful leadership style that she has worked to channel in herself, particularly in turbulent moments. In science and life, the ability to stay grounded in a storm makes everyone around you steadier too.Guest Shoutouts Guido Valesini, Professor of Rheumatology at Sapienza University of RomeChristopher Buckley, Kennedy Trust Feldmann Maini Professor of Translational Medicine at University of OxfordPaul Peter Tak, President, CEO, and Board Director of Candel Therapeutics Resources Connect with guest Francesca Barone on LinkedInCheck out Candel TherapeuticsConnect with host Zach Gobst on LinkedInCheck out Leapcure

Aug 19

Becky Weber - EVP of Sales, Lunit

What happens when a career built on the cutting edge of health technology suddenly extends to become deeply personal? On this episode of Impactful Breakthroughs, Zach Gobst is joined by longtime friend Becky Weber, the EVP of Sales at Lunit Cancer Screening. Lunit, formerly Volpara Health, provides AI-powered software for breast cancer screening and early detection, supporting over one million screenings annually. With 20 years working at the intersection of health and technology, Becky walks through her journey from shadowing surgeries as a teenager, to helping build HealthKit at Apple, to ultimately joining the team at Lunit following her own breast cancer diagnosis. You’ll hear her share why mission alignment has proven to be the secret in Lunit’s successful merger with Volpara, what she believes it’ll take to navigate regulatory hurdles safely in the AI era, and how her perspective on life and career has completely pivoted. Equal parts personal story and industry insight, this conversation serves as a reminder that the most powerful driver in health technology is the reason behind it. Timestamps 00:00 Episode Start 01:35 Becky's journey in health tech 04:05 A breast cancer diagnosis which changed it all 08:45 Following your passions 12:09 Prioritizing team impact over personal politics 13:45 Why startups beat big companies for the puzzle-solvers 14:45 Lunit's two-sided platform and the AI difference 17:10 The interval cancer study proving their work 20:25 Hiring for personal connection to the mission 22:10 Mentors who made a difference 22:50 The convergence of research, product, and diagnosis 25:00 AI, regulation, and the rocket ship problem Key Takeaways Personal connection drives performance. Just like in her own story, Becky has found that the candidates with personal ties to breast cancer consistently outperform those who don’t.Data is already changing what's possible. Lunit's AI would have reduced confirmed interval cancers by a third in a study out of Mass General Brigham, meaning women who would have faced late-stage diagnoses could have been found earlier. That's not a future promise, it's happening now.Drop the politics, focus on the outcome. Becky is candid about how her perspective on work shifted after her diagnosis. Empire building, org size, and resume padding simply stopped mattering. What replaced it was something much simpler and more freeing – to get the best result for the patient.The guidelines were built for a train, not a rocket ship. As Becky put it, the regulatory frameworks governing AI in medicine were designed for a different era. Figuring out how to move fast responsibly is the real challenge ahead.Guest Shoutouts Dr. Manisha Bahl, Radiologist at Massachusetts General HospitalTeri Thomas, CEO of Mach7 Technologies & Former CEO of Volpara Health / Lunit Cancer Screening Resources Connect with guest Becky Weber on LinkedInCheck out Lunit Cancer ScreeningConnect with host Zach Gobst on LinkedInCheck out Leapcure

Aug 5

Jennifer Good - President & CEO, Trevi Therapeutics

When all of the experts around you say it’s impossible to move the needle forward, how do you still maintain commitment to your research and patients? On the very first episode of Impactful Breakthroughs, Zach Gobst is joined by Jennifer Good, the President & CEO of Trevi Therapeutics, to explore why she has dedicated the past fifteen years to tackling one of medicine’s most overlooked conditions: chronic cough. Jennifer traces her path from running Pennwest Pharmaceuticals to negotiating a promising compound out of an acquisition and building Trevi from her kitchen table into the $2B public company it is today. She shares how a background in chronic pain research gave her and Co-Founder Dr. Thomas Sciascia a uniquely brain-centered lens on cough, and why listening closely to patients led them to double down on IPF when key opinion leaders told them to walk away. Equal parts science story and entrepreneurial journey, this conversation is a candid look at what perseverance, patient focus, and the willingness to evolve really look like in biotech. Timestamps 00:00 Episode Start 03:00 Starting Trevi Therapeutics from the kitchen table 05:45 Advice for early entrepreneurs 07:30 Setting checkpoints and sticking to them 08:45 What was missing on chronic cough and IPF 12:45 How chronic pain research unlocked a new view of cough 18:45 Where Trevi fits into the patient experience 22:45 Reflections on her 15-year journey 25:30 Evolving the team as the company grows 32:00 Giving back through rare disease boards and community 34:45 Mentorship shoutouts Key Takeaways The brain matters in cough. While the broader industry was targeting peripheral receptors in the lung, Trevi's neurology-rooted perspective led them to the brain, setting their data apart when everything else failed.Stay close to the patient. Jennifer's most powerful moment came from a patient advisory board member who couldn't finish her grocery shopping because of a coughing attack. That story is what drives the work and keeps the north star clear.Give yourself a checkpoint, not a cliff. As Jennifer put it, setting a defined window to test your idea, with real deliverables, takes the daily anxiety out of entrepreneurship. You're not on a never-ending rolling stone, you're running an experiment.Roles change, people change, and that’s okay. One of Jennifer's hardest and most important leadership lessons: the person who was right for the company at three people may not be the right person at forty-five. Honest self-reflection applies to the whole team, including the CEO.Guest Shoutouts David Meeker MD, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Rhythm PharmaceuticalsStuart Falber, Partner and Co-Chair of WilmerHale's Life Sciences PracticePaul Freiman, Former Chairman of the Board of PenwestResources Connect with guest Jennifer Good on LinkedInCheck out Trevi TherapeuticsConnect with host Zach Gobst on LinkedInCheck out Leapcure

Jun 24

Dan Ignaszewski - Executive Director, National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research

What does it take to protect the research that could one day save your sight? On this episode of Leap Together, Zach Gobst is joined by Dan Igniewski, Executive Director of the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) and the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR). With over 20 years in government affairs and patient advocacy, Dan has become one of Washington's most persistent voices for vision research funding, and today's conversation shows exactly why that work matters. Dan traces his path from early healthcare policy work to championing the National Eye Institute's independence on Capitol Hill, sharing how vision science is quietly leading some of medicine's most exciting frontiers, from the first FDA-approved gene therapy to AI-powered diagnostics and stem cell breakthroughs. He also unpacks NAEVR's “See What Matters” campaign, the mechanics of effective coalition building, and what it really takes to align patients, providers, researchers, and industry around a single message when federal funding is on the line. Timestamps 00:00 Episode start 01:45 Dan's background and path to advocacy 03:55 What makes vision research unique 05:45 Parallels between policy and clinical research 06:55 Bipartisan support for NIH and the National Eye Institute 08:00 Career inflection points and advocacy wins 11:00 The See What Matters campaign 14:50 Shared challenges in patient engagement 16:55 What makes advocacy most effective 19:40 Mentorship and career guidance 23:15 The power of persistence and confidence 25:30 Closing thoughts Key Takeaways Coalition is everything. When patients, providers, researchers, and industry align around a shared message, Congress listens. No single organization can move policy alone.Vision research punches above its weight. From the first FDA-approved gene therapy to stem cell and AI advances, vision scientists have quietly been leading the broader medical research field for decades.Don't wait to be taken seriously. As Dan once heard from a colleague: "You've been in the decision-making rooms for years, why do you think suddenly at 30 it's gonna change?" Show up, know your value, and make your point.Vigilance is ongoing. Even with recent wins protecting NIH funding, Dan reminds us that staying engaged and vocal is a continuous responsibility, not a one-time effort.Resources Connect with Dan Igniewski on LinkedInCheck out the See What Matters CampaignCheck out the National Alliance for Eye and Vision ResearchConnect with Zach Gobst on LinkedInCheck out Leapcure

Apr 24

Dr. Joshua Ortiz-Guzman - Director of Clinical Research and Translational Scientist

What happens when a neuroscientist follows his curiosity from the brain to the soil, and then to the stars? In this episode of Leap Together, Zach Gobst sits down with Dr. Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, a gene therapy engineer and developmental neuroscientist turned clinical research leader, industrial biotechnologist, and soil health innovator. Joshua's work spans an unusually wide range: building clinical research capacity in underserved El Paso, Texas; developing microbial biochar technologies that restore degraded soils; banking stem cells to rigorously track regenerative medicine outcomes; and orienting all of it toward a long-term vision of human longevity and space exploration. This episode explores how environmental health and human health are deeply interconnected, and why that connection is chronically underappreciated in clinical research. Joshua shares how his PhD on brain-driven food intake led him down a rabbit hole from farm-to-table agriculture to emerging environmental contaminants like PFAS ("forever chemicals"), and why he believes the clinical research community can't fully understand drug outcomes without accounting for the environments patients live in. He also reflects candidly on the challenges of building a research program from scratch in El Paso, a predominantly Spanish-speaking, medically underserved region where providers are overstretched, community trust requires intentional outreach, and groups like the Medical Center of the Americas are making real strides through “promotoras” led education. Joshua's journey from academic idealism to real-world business acumen, from soil pilots in Chihuahua and Colombia with Aurum Tech to a Florida-based stem cell bank called Prodigy Cells, is a rare example of evidence-first rigor applied consistently across human health and environmental systems.

Mar 30

Dr. John Mandeville - Oculoplastic Surgeon and Principal Investigator

What does it actually take for a high-performing clinical practice to step into research for the first time? In this episode, Zach Gobst sits down with Dr. John Mandeville, a leading oculoplastic surgeon at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston, to trace his unexpected path from bench science and surgical practice back to clinical research and what he's learned in his first year running studies. Dr. Mandeville shares how a career spent treating Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) led him to seek out new treatment options when surgical approaches alone weren't enough, and how that curiosity brought him from enrolling a single patient to running eight or nine clinical trials in just twelve months. He reflects honestly on the steep regulatory learning curve, the importance of building the right team, the challenge of managing patient expectations and motivations, and what it really costs, financially and personally, to build a research program inside a busy private practice. His perspective on patient recruitment is especially candid: from understanding why some patients are eager to enroll, to knowing when to talk someone out of a trial entirely, Dr. Mandeville brings a grounded, empathetic lens to what is often treated as a purely logistical problem.

Impactful Breakthroughs

Dr. Karen Correa - VP Clinical Development Operations, Boehringer Ingelheim

Kate Stratton - Executive Director, Lipodystrophy United

Francesca Barone - Chief Scientific Officer, Candel Therapeutics

Becky Weber - EVP of Sales, Lunit

Jennifer Good - President & CEO, Trevi Therapeutics

Dan Ignaszewski - Executive Director, National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research

Dr. Joshua Ortiz-Guzman - Director of Clinical Research and Translational Scientist

Dr. John Mandeville - Oculoplastic Surgeon and Principal Investigator

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Impactful Breakthroughs

Episodes

Dr. Karen Correa - VP Clinical Development Operations, Boehringer Ingelheim

Kate Stratton - Executive Director, Lipodystrophy United

Francesca Barone - Chief Scientific Officer, Candel Therapeutics

Becky Weber - EVP of Sales, Lunit

Jennifer Good - President & CEO, Trevi Therapeutics

Dan Ignaszewski - Executive Director, National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research

Dr. Joshua Ortiz-Guzman - Director of Clinical Research and Translational Scientist

Dr. John Mandeville - Oculoplastic Surgeon and Principal Investigator

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About

Information