Improbable Developments

Salem Oaks
Improbable Developments

Every medicine in your pharmacy has a human story behind it. Real people doing real work and living real lives. We all have romantic ideas about scientists working late into the evening or doctors dropping everything to answer a phone call about a patient. You can almost envision the moment when one of those researchers finally solves an intellectual puzzle and leaps into action. Their eyes go from an empty stare to an alert laser-like focus. They sit a bit taller and start to read frantically. I am sure you’ve seen those movies too. But is it real? Is that how it really happens? That’s what we intend to explore in “Improbable Developments.” Each month we will talk to someone who was or is in the trenches of biopharma R&D and let them tell their story. We’ll be talking about medicines you may know and some that never saw the light of day. We’ll talk to people involved at the bench in the earliest stages through to those who run the clinical trials and present the data to regulators around the world. We'll even be talking to patients who have joined the effort. The science of drug discovery and development creates a rich landscape for all sorts of stories to unfold. The technical challenges, the urgency to help patients, career aspirations, the fight for resources, and many other factors all work together to produce a complex and enthralling human drama. In our monthly discussions, we will look at this from many different angles. Through our discussions, we hope to give you a real appreciation for the types of people behind the medicines you take and the medical devices you may use. You’ll get to know each of them a little bit and start to understand what they have in common and how different and unique they really are. We at Salem Oaks love to bring you these stories of people who are involved in the science, process, and profession of finding and developing new medicines. In our Emerging Researchers Series, we are even talking to people just entering the field and we hope you are enjoying their fresh energy and new ideas. But we need to ask for your help in continuing to bring you this podcast. As creators, we are looking for patrons who want to help us cover our expenses to bring you this service. We have established an account on Patreon that you can use to become a member of Salem Oaks at the Acorn or Sapling levels. Members receive exclusive benefits that you can read about at www.patreon.com/salemoaks. Thank You for your support. We truly appreciate it.

  1. Alison Bateman-House, MPH, PhD: Not can we… but should we?  Bioethics

    05/17/2021

    Alison Bateman-House, MPH, PhD: Not can we… but should we? Bioethics

    “I don't think a bioethicist is normally who people have come to their elementary school career day. So, we are a novel breed to many people.” Alison Bateman-House, PhDThat is how our latest guest on Improbable Developments reflected on her chosen profession, bioethics. It is a field where scientists do not ask the questions about whether they can run an experiment or clinical study, but whether they should. Until recently, most people would not even know the field existed let alone give a good example of where it made a difference.  But COVID has changed that.  Who should be vaccinated first?How do we ensure equity in distributing the vaccine?If we run low on oxygen or ICU beds, who do we treat?Should we expand access to experimental or repurposed drugs before they have been tested? These are ethical questions that require considering multiple dimensions and perspectives. They are difficult questions. They are very human questions.  Tune in to learn how Alison Bateman-House was led into this challenging field and the work she is doing today on policy, clinical trial design, and ethics consulting. Her career path is fascinating to say the least.  https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/alison-bateman-house https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw To see how MTV inspired Alison to think about bioethics as a career. https://med.nyu.edu/departments-institutes/population-health/divisions-sections-centers/medical-ethics/research/working-group-compassionate-use-preapproval-access https://med.nyu.edu/departments-institutes/population-health/divisions-sections-centers/medical-ethics/research/working-group-pediatric-gene-therapy-medical-ethics

    44 min
  2. Emerging Research: Emily McIntosh

    02/23/2021

    Emerging Research: Emily McIntosh

    In the latest episode of our Emerging Researchers Series, we talk to Emily McIntosh (@MCINTOSE) a recent Ph.D. from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. Living less than an hour from Toronto, she is a big Leafs fan (that is the Maple Leafs for all you non-hockey listeners.) Emily earned her doctorate in biomechanics after studying age-related muscle loss and how that influences balance and mobility. As she says, it seems so intuitive, but she wanted to know why this happens. Emily began her work with elderly people as part of a summer research project just before her senior year in undergrad. She went on to get her master’s and eventually started her Ph.D. studies. And that’s when the story got quite a bit more interesting. Emily had gotten a piercing headache that went away in a day or so. It was bad enough that she was worried but not so bad to call the doctor.  She attributed it to dehydration and stress.  When it happened again, she did call a doctor and was referred to a neurologist who found what he thought was a benign tumor in her brain. After getting a somewhat different and scarier second opinion, Emily used her well-earned scientific skills to start learning as much about this type of tumor as possible. It was this initiative and her ability to think clinically about her own condition that may have saved her life. You’ve just got to listen to hear what happened.   You can reach Emily on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcinsite) and via e-mail (EMCINT03@UOGuelph.ca) Please help support Improbable Developments at www.patreon.com/salemoaks

    50 min

About

Every medicine in your pharmacy has a human story behind it. Real people doing real work and living real lives. We all have romantic ideas about scientists working late into the evening or doctors dropping everything to answer a phone call about a patient. You can almost envision the moment when one of those researchers finally solves an intellectual puzzle and leaps into action. Their eyes go from an empty stare to an alert laser-like focus. They sit a bit taller and start to read frantically. I am sure you’ve seen those movies too. But is it real? Is that how it really happens? That’s what we intend to explore in “Improbable Developments.” Each month we will talk to someone who was or is in the trenches of biopharma R&D and let them tell their story. We’ll be talking about medicines you may know and some that never saw the light of day. We’ll talk to people involved at the bench in the earliest stages through to those who run the clinical trials and present the data to regulators around the world. We'll even be talking to patients who have joined the effort. The science of drug discovery and development creates a rich landscape for all sorts of stories to unfold. The technical challenges, the urgency to help patients, career aspirations, the fight for resources, and many other factors all work together to produce a complex and enthralling human drama. In our monthly discussions, we will look at this from many different angles. Through our discussions, we hope to give you a real appreciation for the types of people behind the medicines you take and the medical devices you may use. You’ll get to know each of them a little bit and start to understand what they have in common and how different and unique they really are. We at Salem Oaks love to bring you these stories of people who are involved in the science, process, and profession of finding and developing new medicines. In our Emerging Researchers Series, we are even talking to people just entering the field and we hope you are enjoying their fresh energy and new ideas. But we need to ask for your help in continuing to bring you this podcast. As creators, we are looking for patrons who want to help us cover our expenses to bring you this service. We have established an account on Patreon that you can use to become a member of Salem Oaks at the Acorn or Sapling levels. Members receive exclusive benefits that you can read about at www.patreon.com/salemoaks. Thank You for your support. We truly appreciate it.

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