Empowered Patient Podcast

Karen Jagoda

Empowered Patient Podcast with Karen Jagoda is a window into the latest innovations in digital health, the changing dynamic between doctors and patients, and the emergence of precision medicine. The show covers such topics as aging in place, innovative uses for wearables and sensors, advances in clinical research, applied genetics, drug development, and challenges for connected health entrepreneurs.

  1. 2d ago ·  Bonus

    Image-Based Digital Biomarkers Detected by AI Platform to Transform Drug Development and Clinical Care with Susan Wood VIDA TRANSCRIPT

    Susan Wood, CEO of VIDA, develops AI-driven imaging-based biomarkers that quantitatively measure biological processes and disease states using imaging modalities such as CT, MRI, PET, and ultrasound. Unlike traditional visual image analysis, VIDA's technology extracts approximately 25,000 measurements per imaging timepoint, enabling detection of therapeutic responses at the sub-millimeter level. This convergence of advanced scanner technology, high-quality imaging data, and AI-powered analysis represents a significant new frontier in precision medicine and drug development. Susan explains, "I'll start with what VIDA brings in. Our background has been the development and validation of AI-driven imaging-based biomarkers. I'll start by defining a biomarker, specifically an imaging-based biomarker. It's a quantitative measurement derived from an imaging modality. An imaging modality can be a CT scan, an MRI, a PET scan, or an ultrasound, and the measurement reflects a biological process, a disease state, or a response to therapy. VIDA's formation was focused on the production and validation of those imaging-based biomarkers and on incorporating them into provider-based clinical workflows as well as clinical trial or drug development workflows." "I would say that in general, traditionally radiology has relied on radiologic images, those imaging modalities have been read visually. And if you read an image visually, there's just a fraction of information that you can get from those images versus reading them with these AI-generated processes. So there's less than 1% of that image you'll be able to understand the extent and the complexity of the measurements that image can offer. We read, or we combine that visual reading with a highly quantitative process. So for each imaging time point, we'll measure 25,000 measurements per imaging time point. Obviously that's well beyond what a human eye could do just from an efficiency standpoint, but certainly from a precision standpoint, they wouldn't be able to measure that level of precision in the imaging by an eyeball alone." #VIDA #AI #DigitalBiomarkers #MedicalImaging #Radiology #ClinicalTrials #DrugDevelopment #PrecisionMedicine #HealthcareInnovation #RespiratoryCare vidalung.ai Listen to the podcast here

  2. 2d ago

    Image-Based Digital Biomarkers Detected by AI Platform to Transform Drug Development and Clinical Care with Susan Wood VIDA

    Susan Wood, CEO of VIDA, develops AI-driven imaging-based biomarkers that quantitatively measure biological processes and disease states using imaging modalities such as CT, MRI, PET, and ultrasound. Unlike traditional visual image analysis, VIDA's technology extracts approximately 25,000 measurements per imaging timepoint, enabling detection of therapeutic responses at the sub-millimeter level. This convergence of advanced scanner technology, high-quality imaging data, and AI-powered analysis represents a significant new frontier in precision medicine and drug development. Susan explains, "I'll start with what VIDA brings in. Our background has been the development and validation of AI-driven imaging-based biomarkers. I'll start by defining a biomarker, specifically an imaging-based biomarker. It's a quantitative measurement derived from an imaging modality. An imaging modality can be a CT scan, an MRI, a PET scan, or an ultrasound, and the measurement reflects a biological process, a disease state, or a response to therapy. VIDA's formation was focused on the production and validation of those imaging-based biomarkers and on incorporating them into provider-based clinical workflows as well as clinical trial or drug development workflows." "I would say that in general, traditionally radiology has relied on radiologic images, those imaging modalities have been read visually. And if you read an image visually, there's just a fraction of information that you can get from those images versus reading them with these AI-generated processes. So there's less than 1% of that image you'll be able to understand the extent and the complexity of the measurements that image can offer. We read, or we combine that visual reading with a highly quantitative process. So for each imaging time point, we'll measure 25,000 measurements per imaging time point. Obviously that's well beyond what a human eye could do just from an efficiency standpoint, but certainly from a precision standpoint, they wouldn't be able to measure that level of precision in the imaging by an eyeball alone." #VIDA #AI #DigitalBiomarkers #MedicalImaging #Radiology #ClinicalTrials #DrugDevelopment #PrecisionMedicine #HealthcareInnovation #RespiratoryCare vidalung.ai Download the transcript here

  3. 3d ago ·  Bonus

    Clinician-Supervised Purpose-Built AI Bridges Behavioral Health Therapy Gaps with Luis Voloch Jimini Health TRANSCRIPT

    Luis Voloch, Co-Founder and CEO of Jimini Health, focuses on mental health through the Sage platform, which provides continuous AI support for patients while keeping clinicians informed and in control. The approach addresses the problem of patients turning to general-purpose AI for behavioral health support by offering a HIPAA-compliant, purpose-built alternative with proper safeguards and clinician supervision. The platform improves patient adherence to therapy and provides valuable information about progress between appointments, which is particularly important in mental health care where outcomes are non-linear and diagnostic precision is limited. Luis explains, "Right now, the AI healthcare environment is, I'd say, largely split when it comes to clinical AI between largely clinician-facing and back-office capabilities. So things like AI scribes and RCM tools and clinician coaching tools and products like that on one hand, with on the other hand, things that are primarily for patients. You may see things on the app store that are like AI therapists or products that are standalone for patients. And where Jimini stands is really as unifying both of these, where the core thesis for the company is that the right way to help patients and to build helpful clinical AI products is by integrating with the clinician as well, where the clinician has the ability to oversee what the AI is doing and to guide what the AI is doing."   "The company's belief is that we need to build purpose-built AIs for mental health that are HIPAA-compliant and safe, with all the right guardrails. And most importantly, where clinicians are in the loop and where the clinicians can oversee and guide what the AI is doing." "We primarily work with large behavioral health provider organizations interested in improving the quality of care they deliver. One specific big opportunity we bring is bridging the time between sessions so that patients have additional support. The core of the product is what we call Sage. Sage is an app that engages with patients in various ways, with the guidance of the clinician, so that Sage knows what is happening in the therapy sessions or whatever other appointments the patient is having. It is then able to follow the clinical priorities of the clinician when the clinician is not there, and Sage supports these patients on a daily basis." #JiminiHealth #MentalHealth #DigitalHealth #BehavioralHealth #AIinHealthcare #PatientEngagement #CareAdherence #Telehealth #HealthTech #AI #MentalHealth #PatientSafety jiminihealth.com Listen to the podcast here

  4. 3d ago

    Clinician-Supervised Purpose-Built AI Bridges Behavioral Health Therapy Gaps with Luis Voloch Jimini Health

    Luis Voloch, Co-Founder and CEO of Jimini Health, focuses on mental health through the Sage platform, which provides continuous AI support for patients while keeping clinicians informed and in control. The approach addresses the problem of patients turning to general-purpose AI for behavioral health support by offering a HIPAA-compliant, purpose-built alternative with proper safeguards and clinician supervision. The platform improves patient adherence to therapy and provides valuable information about progress between appointments, which is particularly important in mental health care where outcomes are non-linear and diagnostic precision is limited. Luis explains, "Right now, the AI healthcare environment is, I'd say, largely split when it comes to clinical AI between largely clinician-facing and back-office capabilities. So things like AI scribes and RCM tools and clinician coaching tools and products like that on one hand, with on the other hand, things that are primarily for patients. You may see things on the app store that are like AI therapists or products that are standalone for patients. And where Jimini stands is really as unifying both of these, where the core thesis for the company is that the right way to help patients and to build helpful clinical AI products is by integrating with the clinician as well, where the clinician has the ability to oversee what the AI is doing and to guide what the AI is doing."   "The company's belief is that we need to build purpose-built AIs for mental health that are HIPAA-compliant and safe, with all the right guardrails. And most importantly, where clinicians are in the loop and where the clinicians can oversee and guide what the AI is doing." "We primarily work with large behavioral health provider organizations interested in improving the quality of care they deliver. One specific big opportunity we bring is bridging the time between sessions so that patients have additional support. The core of the product is what we call Sage. Sage is an app that engages with patients in various ways, with the guidance of the clinician, so that Sage knows what is happening in the therapy sessions or whatever other appointments the patient is having. It is then able to follow the clinical priorities of the clinician when the clinician is not there, and Sage supports these patients on a daily basis." #JiminiHealth #MentalHealth #DigitalHealth #BehavioralHealth #AIinHealthcare #PatientEngagement #CareAdherence #Telehealth #HealthTech #AI #MentalHealth #PatientSafety jiminihealth.com Download the transcript here

  5. 3d ago ·  Bonus

    Localized Immunotherapy by Direct Injection Treats Solid Tumors and Activates the Immune System with Lew Bender Intensity Therapeutics TRANSCRIPT

    Lew Bender, Founder and CEO of Intensity Therapeutics, has developed a novel approach to treating solid tumors through direct intratumoral injection of existing chemotherapy drugs. The company uses a proprietary formulation containing a special molecule that makes water-based drugs soluble in fatty tissue, allowing cisplatin and vinblastine to penetrate tumor cells effectively. Beyond direct killing of cancer cells, the approach triggers an immunological response that trains the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells throughout the body, including metastatic tumors that were not directly injected. Lew explains, "We're injecting directly into the tumors, and we have identified a formulation that allows for water-based drugs to become soluble in fat and water. Effectively, a tumor is fat and water. And while it has been tried before to inject water into fat, I helped to develop a chemistry that allows for water-based products to be absorbed by fatty tissue like tumors." "We are injecting our formulation, which is a special molecule called SHAO, that makes things soluble in fat and water, and two very well-known potent anti-cancer agents, cisplatin and vinblastine, that are able to kill cancers when they get into the cancer cells. So we dose based on the size of the tumor, check into the tumors, and the tumors in an immunological way. So what does that mean? It means that as the tumor cells die, they create chemicals that allow for the influx and recognition of the immune cells that this is not a good entity to be in the body." "We are killing the cancer with the drug, but at the same time training the immune system on the tumors so that the immune system can recognize the cancer as not self and attack the cancer in a more precise way." #IntensityTherapeutics $INTS  #CancerResearch #Oncology #Biotech #CancerCare  #ClinicalTrials #BreastCancer #TargetedOncology #IntratumoralInjection #OncologyInnovation #ImmunoOncology #IntratumoralTherapy #SolidTumors #TNBC #Sarcoma #HealthcareProfessionals intensitytherapeutics.com Listen to the podcast here

  6. 3d ago

    Localized Immunotherapy by Direct Injection Treats Solid Tumors and Activates the Immune System with Lew Bender Intensity Therapeutics

    Lew Bender, Founder and CEO of Intensity Therapeutics, has developed a novel approach to treating solid tumors through direct intratumoral injection of existing chemotherapy drugs. The company uses a proprietary formulation containing a special molecule that makes water-based drugs soluble in fatty tissue, allowing cisplatin and vinblastine to penetrate tumor cells effectively. Beyond direct killing of cancer cells, the approach triggers an immunological response that trains the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells throughout the body, including metastatic tumors that were not directly injected. Lew explains, "We're injecting directly into the tumors, and we have identified a formulation that allows for water-based drugs to become soluble in fat and water. Effectively, a tumor is fat and water. And while it has been tried before to inject water into fat, I helped to develop a chemistry that allows for water-based products to be absorbed by fatty tissue like tumors." "We are injecting our formulation, which is a special molecule called SHAO, that makes things soluble in fat and water, and two very well-known potent anti-cancer agents, cisplatin and vinblastine, that are able to kill cancers when they get into the cancer cells. So we dose based on the size of the tumor, check into the tumors, and the tumors in an immunological way. So what does that mean? It means that as the tumor cells die, they create chemicals that allow for the influx and recognition of the immune cells that this is not a good entity to be in the body." "We are killing the cancer with the drug, but at the same time training the immune system on the tumors so that the immune system can recognize the cancer as not self and attack the cancer in a more precise way." #IntensityTherapeutics $INTS  #CancerResearch #Oncology #Biotech #CancerCare  #ClinicalTrials #BreastCancer #TargetedOncology #IntratumoralInjection #OncologyInnovation #ImmunoOncology #IntratumoralTherapy #SolidTumors #TNBC #Sarcoma #HealthcareProfessionals intensitytherapeutics.com Download the transcript here

  7. 4d ago ·  Bonus

    How Voice AI Agents Coordinate Healthcare and Improve Patient Access with Dr. Erin Palm Infinitus TRANSCRIPT

    Dr. Erin Palm, medical lead at Infinitus, specializes in agentic AI for healthcare, leveraging voice technology to facilitate actions and execute tasks on behalf of providers, payers, and patients to coordinate administrative functions and patient-facing applications. These agents can handle appointment booking, medication inquiries, and emergency triage within an environment with rigorous quality controls and guardrails to mitigate  AI errors. The platform supports seven languages, adapts communication to technical levels, and integrates with patient systems to maintain clinical consistency and regulatory compliance. Erin explains, "We focus on agentic communications for healthcare, which means building AI agents that can have conversations and execute on tasks on behalf of patients, pharmaceutical manufacturers, providers, and health plans. And our thesis in all this is that the care exists. It's the coordination layer that sometimes falls short and fails patients, and Infinitus makes sure that that care arrives."   "It's a reality that we're holding AI to a different standard than we hold humans performing the same tasks. That said, I actually see it as an opportunity to improve quality across the board. And I think it's reasonable to hold AI to a higher standard. And we measure those things closely using continuous evaluations of agent performance even before we put them into production. And then once they're live with patients, we continue to closely monitor their performance."  "We have benchmarks that show improved performance on tasks versus human agents doing some of those same tasks, such as appointment booking. That said, we know that generative AI DRs make mistakes and it predicts things that don't end up being true. And we call those hallucinations. In the clinical world, we like to call them confabulations. It tends to be more clinically correct." #Infinitus #AIinHealthcare #VoiceAI #DigitalHealth #HealthIT #PriorAuth #PatientAccess #HealthcareInnovation #AgenticAI #PatientSafety #HealthcareAutomation infinitus.ai Listen to the podcast here

  8. 4d ago

    How Voice AI Agents Coordinate Healthcare and Improve Patient Access with Dr. Erin Palm Infinitus

    Dr. Erin Palm, medical lead at Infinitus, specializes in agentic AI for healthcare, leveraging voice technology to facilitate actions and execute tasks on behalf of providers, payers, and patients to coordinate administrative functions and patient-facing applications. These agents can handle appointment booking, medication inquiries, and emergency triage within an environment with rigorous quality controls and guardrails to mitigate  AI errors. The platform supports seven languages, adapts communication to technical levels, and integrates with patient systems to maintain clinical consistency and regulatory compliance. Erin explains, "We focus on agentic communications for healthcare, which means building AI agents that can have conversations and execute on tasks on behalf of patients, pharmaceutical manufacturers, providers, and health plans. And our thesis in all this is that the care exists. It's the coordination layer that sometimes falls short and fails patients, and Infinitus makes sure that that care arrives."   "It's a reality that we're holding AI to a different standard than we hold humans performing the same tasks. That said, I actually see it as an opportunity to improve quality across the board. And I think it's reasonable to hold AI to a higher standard. And we measure those things closely using continuous evaluations of agent performance even before we put them into production. And then once they're live with patients, we continue to closely monitor their performance."  "We have benchmarks that show improved performance on tasks versus human agents doing some of those same tasks, such as appointment booking. That said, we know that generative AI DRs make mistakes and it predicts things that don't end up being true. And we call those hallucinations. In the clinical world, we like to call them confabulations. It tends to be more clinically correct." #Infinitus #AIinHealthcare #VoiceAI #DigitalHealth #HealthIT #PriorAuth #PatientAccess #HealthcareInnovation #AgenticAI #PatientSafety #HealthcareAutomation infinitus.ai Download the transcript here

4.9
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

Empowered Patient Podcast with Karen Jagoda is a window into the latest innovations in digital health, the changing dynamic between doctors and patients, and the emergence of precision medicine. The show covers such topics as aging in place, innovative uses for wearables and sensors, advances in clinical research, applied genetics, drug development, and challenges for connected health entrepreneurs.