Liquid biopsy is breaking speed and access barriers in precision oncology. In this episode of the Precision Medicine Podcast, part of our series Bringing Precision Medicine to Everyone and the first in a two-part focus, founder and host Karan Cushman speaks with Dr. Kashyap Patel, CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates, author, and national leader in value-based oncology.

Together, they explore how liquid biopsy is changing the diagnostic and treatment landscape. This blood-based test can deliver results in days, be repeated as needed, and reduce the need for invasive procedures. Tissue biopsy remains important, but when the samples are too small or unsuitable for testing, liquid biopsy provides a valuable alternative in guiding treatment decisions and monitoring disease.

For patients with aggressive “turbo cancers” such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or small cell lung cancer, the time saved can be lifesaving. Karan shares her own experience with DLBCL, while Dr. Patel highlights real-world cases where liquid biopsy revealed actionable mutations, informed therapy, or enabled minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring.

Finally, Dr. Patel underscores the need for standardization and payer alignment to move liquid biopsy from innovation to everyday practice. This candid discussion frames liquid biopsy not as a futuristic idea, but as a clinically powerful and scalable tool that is closing gaps in precision oncology today.

What does it really mean to bring precision medicine to every patient, in every community?

In this inspiring, one-hour episode of the Precision Medicine Podcast, host Karan Cushman sits down with Dr. Arif Kamal, Chief Patient Officer at the American Cancer Society (ACS), for a wide-ranging conversation that reframes how we think about progress in cancer care. With a background in oncology, palliative care and health system innovation—and a personal story shaped by his mother’s metastatic breast cancer diagnosis—Dr. Kamal offers a deeply human perspective on what it means to deliver not just the right treatment, but the right experience for every patient.

Dr. Kamal shares how the ACS is working to make precision medicine more equitable by addressing barriers like geography, affordability, clinician burnout, and fragmented care. He explains the importance of “precision compassion”—the idea that personalized care must also include empathy, listening, and action tailored to the needs of each individual. “We can’t talk about innovation,” he says, “without talking about accessibility.”

From the importance of whole-person care and mobile health units in rural communities, to expanding insurance coverage for biomarker testing and building trust with patients and caregivers, this conversation is full of insight into what it will truly take to change the odds for people facing cancer.

You’ll also hear about the ACS’s bold initiatives:

• The Change the Odds campaign, tackling ZIP code-driven disparities in care
• ACS CAN’s legislative efforts to expand access to biomarker testing
• How the ACS’s roundtables and grassroots partnerships support health systems, clinicians, and researchers nationwide

Dr. Kamal challenges us to think beyond science alone and focus on what really matters to patients—whether that’s more time, better quality of life or simply the ability to hold a grandchild on the beach.

Don’t miss this conversation about how we turn precision medicine from a possibility into a promise—one rooted in empathy, equity and action.

Subscribe here to catch every episode in the series "Bringing Precision Medicine to Everyone." Next, we explore the evolving world of liquid biopsy and its role in expanding access to early cancer detection and precision treatment.

In this episode of the Precision Medicine Podcast, host Karan Cushman does some time traveling with Dr. Douglas Flora through his lifetime journey with cancer. Dr. Flora is the Medical Director of Oncology Services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare and Editor-in-Chief AI in Precision Oncology, a peer-reviewed research journal dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence applications in clinical and precision oncology.

Read the full summary and tune in here.



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In this episode of the Precision Medicine Podcast, hosts Karan Cushman and Clynt Taylor welcome back Dr. Luis Raez, Medical Director and Chief Scientific Officer at Memorial Cancer Institute who is joined by Dr. Pranil Chandra, Chief Genomic Officer at PathGroup. 

Together, we discuss the key barriers to performing comprehensive genomic profiling in lung cancer; how collaboration between oncologists and pathologists can enable a more consistent approach; and the improvements that should be made to close the gaps between the available life-extending, targeted therapies on the market today and the lung cancer patients who need them. 

To read the full summary, download the transcript and subscribe to receive future episodes straight to your in-box visit Precision Medicine Podcast Episode #58.

Special thanks to our partners at Janssen Biotech for their sponsorship of this episode.

We encourage you to share this episode with others in your community.

To mark the beginning of Season 5 of the Precision Medicine Podcast, we are honored to welcome Dr. Debra Patt, Executive Vice President of Texas Oncology. As an oncologist and breast cancer specialist at one of the nation’s largest community cancer practices, Dr. Patt is on the frontlines of oncology care every day. She joins us to discuss how Texas Oncology uses clinical decision-support technologies and health economics and health services research (HEOR) to deliver more consistent precision oncology care to patients at over 200 locations across Texas. 

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In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Karen Winkfield, Executive Director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, appointee to President Joe Biden's National Cancer Advisory Board, and co-host of the weekly podcast, 3 Black Docs, which is dedicated to educating the community about health and health disparities in an approachable and entertaining way.

Dr. Winkfield’s commitment to her calling was clear by the fact that she joins us during her vacation to discuss racial disparities in the healthcare system that prevent many Black patients from seeking and receiving appropriate care. She tells us that she didn’t discover her calling early and, due to family and cultural barriers of her own, she almost didn’t pursue it at all. In fact, it took the support of a dedicated high-school teacher and nine emotional years to finish her undergraduate degree in biochemistry to get her where she is today as a practicing radiation oncologist.

Off the top we ask Dr. Winkfield what can be learned from greater participation of underrepresented groups in clinical trials or greater participation in the healthcare system. She notes that Black people are still dying of cancer at a much higher rate than the rest of the population, and while there are some biologic reasons, much of the cause is under-representation in cancer clinical trials.

We point out her step-by-step plan to address this type of imbalance in the healthcare system, and we are reminded that this is nothing new as she has been working to help address it for decades. She says, "Okay, I laid out a plan, but there's been a plan out for ending cancer disparities for over 20 years." The unequal burden document that was essentially kind of written by the Institutes of Medicine. Congress actually was the one who said, "Hey, we need to kind of understand what's going on with this cancer disparities thing." The whole plan is outlined.

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Part of what the challenge is now is, do we have the will, do we have the will to do what is needed? Yes, I mean, there are those of us who've been kind of yelling from the mountaintops for decades now that we need to do something different because people are dying.”

She goes on to explain that balancing disparity isn’t as easy as, say, offering translation services, because institutionalized racism runs so deep that it presents barriers at every step. For instance, she says that if you look at the Cancer Genome Atlas Program, which has over 11,000 primary cancer samples, only 25 of those specimens are from prostate cancers derived from Black men, despite the fact that Black men not only have a much greater risk of developing prostate cancer, probably twice as high as any other racial ethnic group, and they're two-and-a-half times as likely to die of prostate cancer. She says, in America, your wealth directly impacts your health. Your zip code impacts your outcome more than your genetic code.

We naturally asked what role technology can play in eliminating healthcare disparities, and she says that without more representative patient samples, trials and access, precision medicine can never be precise.

In fact, she believes precision medicine can actually deepen the divide if it is not used with precision in terms of the whole person.

Where do they come from? What are barriers to them accessing precision medicine, such as transportation or even paying for parking?

Dr. Winkfield is a strong proponent of navigators who help cancer patients overcome those institutional barriers to ensure that they have equal access to the promise of precision medicine. She says, “These are the things, the social determinants of health, if we can stop and just see the person in front of us and say, what is it that you need to help you along your cancer journey? That to me is being precise.”

In episode 55 of the Precision Medicine Podcast, we welcome Dr. Stephen Kingsmore, President and CEO of the Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine. Dr. Kingsmore joins us to discuss the extraordinary role whole genome sequencing is playing in prolonging and improving the life of critically ill newborns.

Read the full summary and tune in here!

Dr. Christian Rolfo, President of the International Society of Liquid Biopsy and Associate Director for Clinical Research at the Center of Thoracic Oncology at the Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, joins us to explain the unique role liquid biopsies are playing in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Read the full summary, subscribe and tune in here.

Learn more about our lead sponsor Trapelo Health here.

In this Precision Medicine Podcast episode, we are joined by Dr. Belinda King-Kallimanis, Director of Patient-Focused Research at LUNGevity—an organization that brings together research, education and support services for patients and caregivers in the lung cancer community—and Nichelle Stigger, LUNGevity board member and lung cancer survivor. They sat down with us to discuss everything from the importance of patient-friendly language in lung cancer to discrepancies in access to biomarker testing and what LUNGevity is doing to improve the status quo. Read the full summary and listen here.

In celebration of the three-year anniversary of the Precision Medicine Podcast, we take a look back at how far precision diagnostics have come with the help of one of our first guests Hannah Mamuszka, Founder and CEO of Alva10, and her colleague Lena Chaihorsky. Both women are focused on resolving the knowledge gap between payers and diagnostic companies and moving diagnostics to the forefront of the precision medicine conversation.

Read the full summary and tune in here!

In this episode, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we speak with Ali Rogin, author of Beat Breast Cancer Like a Boss and award-winning producer of PBS NewsHour. Ali is what is commonly known as a breast cancer previvor, someone who knows they have a mutation that may lead to cancer and takes preventative steps to avoid a diagnosis. With the growth of genetic testing and precision medicine and the ability to isolate genes that can lead to cancer, more and more people may fall into the category of previvors. For instance, women that have the BRCA 1 or 2 mutation, as Rogin does, have a 70% chance of developing breast cancer by the age of 80. Rogin says progress in precision medicine has given these women options they would never have had before, enabling them to make proactive, informed decisions about their future health.

For our 50th episode, we welcome Dr. Kashyap Patel, medical oncologist and CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Center, current president of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), and author of the book, Between Life and Death: From Despair to Hope. Dr. Patel explains the social determinants that can impact the quality of care and opportunity for precision medicine that patients—and specifically oncology patients—receive. For him, Covid-19 brought to light the impact that disparities in healthcare can have for all of us. He notes that one in three cancer deaths could be prevented if disparities didn't exist and that disparities result in 230B of excess expense. Read the full summary, listen and subscribe to the Precision Medicine Podcast here.

When patients understand their inherited risk for cancer, they’re empowered to take action—often before cancer has a chance to take hold.

In this second episode of our Bringing Precision Medicine to Every Patient series, host Karan Cushman is joined by two trusted experts, Ellen Matloff and Dr. Angella Charnot-Katsikas. Together, they provide clear, practical guidance on how patients and clinicians can identify inherited cancer risk early—and take steps to address it.

Whether you’re a patient wondering where to begin, or a provider navigating limited time and resources, this episode delivers clear takeaways to help you move from uncertainty to informed action.

It’s a timely reminder that precision medicine doesn’t begin with treatment—it begins with knowledge. And with the right tools and support, patients can take control of their health and rewrite the story for generations to come. (Be sure to subscribe here so you don't miss an episode in this important series!)

Ellen Matloff is a nationally recognized genetic counselor, founder and CEO of My Gene Counsel, and a leading voice in digital health and patient-centered genomics. She founded and led the Yale Cancer Genetic Counseling Program and was a plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case that overturned gene patenting.

Dr. Angella Charnot-Katsikas is Chief Medical Officer at Palmetto GBA and a molecular diagnostics expert who helps guide coverage decisions through her work in precision medicine policy.

They share compelling stories that bring the science to life. Ellen reflects on one of her first BRCA1-positive patients—a healthy young mother who chose preventive surgery based on a powerful family history of cancer and a determination to break the cycle. Dr. Katsikas offers her own experience as both a pre-vivor and survivor, whose early diagnosis was only possible because of proactive testing and screening guided by her family history.

The episode also explains why many patients still miss these opportunities—due to limited awareness, inconsistent risk assessments, and systemic barriers in access. The guests highlight the limitations of consumer tests like 23andMe and the critical role of genetic counselors in interpreting results and guiding decisions.

They offer actionable strategies for integrating family history collection and risk assessment into routine care, including the use of digital tools in busy or resource-limited settings. Reimbursement challenges are discussed, alongside encouraging progress toward making precision medicine standard of care.

Special thanks to our good friend Dr. Kashyap Patel and the No One Left Alone initiative for

collaborating with us on this series. Our goal with Bringing Precision Medicine to Everyone is to equip patients, caregivers and care teams with the knowledge and tools needed to deliver the best of modern cancer care–no matter where a patient lives.

In this episode of the Precision Medicine Podcast, Janine Morales, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at Trapelo Health takes us inside the complex world of evidence-based decision making in oncology.

Specifically, she dives deeps into some of the nuances in the latest targeted therapy approvals and explains how having access to a real-time knowledge-base and a team of experts that curate current clinical evidence can empower physicians to make more appropriate decisions at the point of care. Read the full summary here and subscribe to join us in the advancement of precision medicine.

Dr. Howard McLeod is Medical Director for Precision Medicine at The Geriatric Oncology Consortium, a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and has worked on research projects with some of the most notable institutions around the world, including FDA, NIH, and NCI.

We cover a lot of ground with Dr. McLeod in this podcast, including career advice, the advancement of precision medicine technology and the positive impact of COVID on telemedicine and clinical trials. Read the full summary and tune in to the audio here.

Bill Bonello, president of NeoGenomics Informatics, and Clynt Taylor, president of Trapelo Health, discuss challenges in precision medicine and how evidence-based technologies can help deliver more appropriate, value-based care to more patients.As a subtext to the discussion is the recent acquisition of Trapelo Health, creator of clinical decision-making platform Trapelo, by NeoGenomics Informatics, provider of bioinformatics services. This acquisition is aimed at improving access to precision medicine testing and treatment. Read the full summary and learn more about Trapelo here.

In this notable episode, Dr. Caroline Carney, Chief Medical Officer at Magellan Health, and Clynt Taylor, CEO at Trapelo Health, join us to discuss how collaborative technologies can help payers more effectively manage the cost of precision oncology while delivering the best outcomes for patients. Read the full summary.

In this episode, Dr. F. Anthony Greco, medical oncologist at Tennessee Oncology, discusses the role that precision medicine has played in improving our diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

In this Part 2 podcast featuring Dr. Gabriel A. Bien-Willner, Medical Director of the MolDX programat Palmetto GBA, we dive into the core challenges that payers face in navigating the explosion of precision medicine tests and treatments, and specifically how the prior authorization process can be streamlined by keeping payers updated on changes in coverage policy for new genes or CDx.

Be sure to tune in to Part 1 with Dr. Bien-Willner who speaks about reshaping reimbursement policies for genetic and genomic testing.

Christopher Boone, Vice President and Global Head of Health Economics & Outcomes Research at AbbVie, shares his thoughts on how using data to understand a patient’s real-world environment can expand the practice of Precision Medicine.

It is fitting that our first guests on Season 3 of the Precision Medicine Podcast are Rob Metcalf, CEO of Concert Genetics and Clynt Taylor, CEO of Trapelo Health who are both innovators in precision medicine technology. What we learn from them in this episode is that after 20 years of hearing about the “promise of precision medicine,” technology has reached a critical point where it can begin to accelerate that progress. Read the full summary, listen and learn more here.

In this episode, and in honor of lung cancer awareness month we had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Luis Raez, Medical Director and Chief of Hematology Oncology at Memorial Cancer Institute who focuses on treating lung cancer. Hear how the emergence of next-generation sequencing has changed his approach to lung cancer treatment, what notable discoveries in lung cancer have occurred over the last year, and how he sees COVID-19 impacting the treatment of cancer. Tune in to the full episode here.

In the first of a two-part podcast, Gabriel A. Bien-Willner MD, PhD, FCAP, Medical Director at MolDX, and Chief Medical Officer at Palmetto GBA shares how he has helped implement payer controls and coverage and set policies for affiliated Medicare Administrative Contractors in 28 states.

In the past, payers have had to navigate the growing field of precision medicine without the benefit of expertise, so their only guidance came from the NCCN or consultations with other experts in the field. Today, under his direction, Palmetto GBA is able to base its policies on evidentiary reviews, and he believes this form of evidence-based decision-making should be an industrywide standard.

In Episode 66 of the Precision Medicine Podcast, host Karan Cushman kicks off a vital new series, Bringing Precision Medicine to Everyone in collaboration with Dr. Kashyap Patel, a nationally respected community oncologist and founder of the No One Left Alone initiative. This series explores what it takes to close the gap between innovation and access in precision cancer care—especially in community and rural settings where disparities remain greatest.

Dr. Patel, a long-time advocate for equitable oncology care, shares the real-world barriers patients face—from gaps in provider awareness to financial constraints and restrictive payer policies—and how his organization is actively working to address them. He also offers powerful patient stories that highlight the life-saving potential of timely biomarker testing and personalized therapies.

Joining the conversation is Dr. Angella Charnot-Katsikas, a molecular pathologist, policy leader at Palmetto GBA, and breast cancer survivor, who brings a unique perspective from both the clinical and payer sides. She emphasizes the importance of collaboration across care teams, the need for rapid diagnostic turnaround, and the urgency of keeping pace with evolving clinical guidelines.

Together, the guests affirm that precision medicine is the standard of care—but for too many, it’s still not the reality. This episode lays the foundation for a transformative series focused on dismantling systemic barriers and ensuring every patient—regardless of their zip code—can benefit from the best of modern cancer care.

Dr. Mark Moasser, a physician-scientist and breast cancer specialist at the University of California, San Francisco discusses his research focus on the HER2 oncogene, the latest trial findings and the importance of improving patient access to clinical trials.

At Trapelo, connecting oncologists with patient-appropriate clinical trials is a major part of our mission, so we were grateful for the opportunity to talk to Dr. Moasser and learn more about his thoughts on this matter. Tune in to the full episode to learn more about his current research and perspective on the future of precision medicine.

In this episode, Clynt Taylor, CEO at Trapelo Health, talks with Lori Brisbin, Vice President of Precision Medicine at Texas Oncology, one of the largest practices in the United States. The discussion centers on how this expansive network of oncologists is leveraging the web-based Trapelo™ platform to provide evidence-based decision support to its physicians and bring precision medicine to the forefront of patient care

On this Precision Medicine Podcast, author and CEO of the Toft Group (a ZRG company), Robin Toft, joins us to discuss her new book, We Can, and share her thoughts on the need for more women and greater diversity in the C-suite and the boardroom within the life science industry. Read the full summary here. 

Roy Smythe, M.D, explains why proteins are more useful than genes for understanding the human body and creating precision medicines to heal it.

Dr. Smythe is CEO of SomaLogic, a leading-edge, biotechnology company headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. The company scans human proteins to gain insights into the past, current, and future health of patients, making it a promising new technology for precision medicine outcomes. Tune in here for the full summary and more :https://www.trapelohealth.com/proteins-in-precision-medicine

In this Precision Medicine Podcast episode, we met with lung cancer patients Lisa Goldman and Tori Tomalia to discuss their organization, the ROS1ders, which they created to advocate and support those with ROS1-positive cancer—a group that represents just 2% of lung cancer patients.

We were fascinated by how two women with no medical background could form a highly respected and resourceful group for those with this rare type of cancer. The women told us that when they and a mutual friend Janet were diagnosed with ROS1-positive lung cancer, they came together to learn more about precision medicine treatment options by reaching out to one of their doctors with questions.

What they learned is that there wasn’t much information to be found, and, as the doctor said, they would need to bring together a critical mass of ROS1-positive lung cancer patients to enable better cancer models and the needle on research. That’s exactly what these heroic women did.

In our second podcast with Dr. John Quackenbush, Chair of the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, we delved deeper into his approach to understanding cancer by studying entire gene networks rather than simple mutations. Read the full summary here, subscribe and learn more about our lead sponsor Trapelo Health.

In this episode of The Precision Medicine Podcast, we speak with Dr. Arturo Loaiza-Bonilla, Chief Medical Officer and Director of Research for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia, about how precision medicine is changing the treatment of GI cancers. Learn about the personal experiences that inspired his medical career focus and the hidden talent that nearly stole him away.

Dr. Adam Brufsky, Medical Director for the Women’s Cancer Program at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, shares the newest findings from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) and discusses the important role of precision medicine in breast cancer care. Tune in and #Subscribe here https://bit.ly/2sT9y8r #PrecisionMedicinePodcast #SABC19

In this first episode of season two of the Precision Medicine Podcast, Dr. John Quackenbush discusses his approach to understanding what makes cancer cancer by studying entire gene networks rather than simple mutations. Dr. Quackenbush is Chair of the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and one of the first people to have worked on the Human Genome Project. Read our full summary and tune in to the episode here.

In this episode of the Precision Medicine Podcast, host Karan Cushman engages in a thought-provoking discussion with two pioneers in AI-driven oncology: Dr. Douglas Flora and Dr. Sanjay Juneja. Together, they explore how AI is revolutionizing cancer care, from earlier detection and faster diagnoses to personalized treatments and clinical trial optimization.

AI’s potential in oncology is game-changing. Dr. Flora and Dr. Juneja break down how AI is helping to identify cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages, automate biomarker testing, and streamline clinical trials to match patients with the best therapies faster than ever before. AI is not just a futuristic concept—it is already helping oncologists reduce misdiagnoses, improve screening accuracy, and speed up treatment approvals, all of which could significantly improve patient outcomes.

But if AI is so transformative, why isn’t it more widely used? Adoption remains one of the biggest hurdles, with challenges ranging from regulatory barriers and insurance limitations to the slow integration of AI into clinical practice. Karan challenges her guests to explain what needs to change for AI-driven precision medicine to reach more patients—sooner rather than later.

With her patient-first perspective, Karan ensures the conversation stays focused on what these advancements mean for real people. Looking ahead to 2030, the discussion explores what a fully AI-integrated oncology system could look like—and why the revolution in cancer care isn’t coming—it’s already here.

Dr. Douglas Flora is the Executive Medical Director of Oncology Services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, and Dr. Sanjay Juneja is a hematologist-oncologist, social media educator, and VP of Clinical AI Operations at Tempus AI. Both guests are co-founders of Tensor Black, an education and consulting company specializing in AI applications in oncology.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Selin Kurnaz, CEO and cofounder of Massive Bio, who led a panel at the Precision Medicine Leadership Summit in Philadelphia. The panel discussion, Precision Medicine Clinical Trials and Novel Designs: Levering Data, ‘Omics’, AI and Policy focused on the importance of increasing patient accessibility to clinical trials, an issue that drove Dr. Kurnaz to cofound her company. Read more in our full summary and tune in to the episode here.

In this episode, we talk with Kristine Ashcraft, founder and CEO of YouScript, a platform that synthesizes all evidence impacting drug response, including pharmacogenetic testing, to support doctors and pharmacists in making faster, more proactive decisions at the point of care. For a summary and transcript visit https://bit.ly/2O5Fpuj

Dr. Bruce Johnson, Chief Clinical Research Officer from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, joins us to discuss how recent advances in treating rare cancers can help drive the understanding and expansion of precision medicine.

To celebrate our upcoming anniversary, we're going back to where the Precision Medicine Podcast made its debut nearly one year ago.

Dr. Edward Abrahams is President of the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) and host of the 15th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference coming up on November 13 at Harvard Medical School. In this episode, we discuss the evolution of precision medicine and the value it can bring to all stakeholders, including innovators, scientists, patients, providers, and payers.

If you are a regular listener we've heard over and over about the challenges associated with convincing everyone—and most notably payers—of the value of precision medicine. So, we are excited to share Dr. Abrahams’ and the PMC’s vision for communicating it as a win-win for all stakeholders.

In honor of breast cancer awareness month, Dr. Erica Stringer-Reasor joins us to discuss how breast cancer has led the way in the adoption of precision medicine. Dr. Stringer-Reasor is an expert in the field of breast cancer, a fast-rising star in cancer research and Assistant Professor of Hematology Oncology at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

In this podcast, Nigel Russell, Founder and Co-president of the Journal of Precision Medicine and host of the Precision Medicine Leadership Summit, joins us to talk about how his team communicates the importance and challenges of Precision Medicine to a broad and sometimes under-informed readership.

In Part Two of our two-part interview with Dr. Jack West, Associate Clinical Professor at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, we discuss the differences between how community oncologists are applying—or in many cases not applying—precision medicine as opposed to how it is applied by academic oncologists.

Ten-year cancer survivor and patient advocate Randall Broad, shares his personal story with stage III non-small cell lung cancer and how that experience made him acutely aware of the need for improved communication between patients and physicians in an effort to facilitate mutual understanding and better outcomes. Listen here.

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Dr. Michael Kolodziej is CIO at ADVI Health and a pioneer in developing value-based reimbursement models for cancer care. Having seen him present his talk, “The Healthcare Landscape of 2025: 3 Trends That Can Change Cancer Care Forever,” at a Florida Association of Clinical Oncology (FLASCO) event, we were anxious to dive deeper into the trends here on the Precision Medicine Podcast.

In this part two podcast, he talks about payer reform and alternative payer models in cancer care today.

Mr. Chet Burrell, former president and CEO of Care First Blue Cross Blue Shield and Executive Chairman of the Intervention Insights Board of Directors, discusses the challenges payers face in managing the growth of precision medicine for cancer care and why he's championing Trapelo's precision diagnostic platform as the first collaborative technology solution.

In this two-part episode of the Precision Medicine Podcast, host Karan Cushman continues her deep dive into prostate cancer care with expert guest Dr. William Oh, a leading genitourinary oncologist, Director of Precision Medicine at Yale Cancer Center and Chair of the American Cancer Society National Prostate Cancer Roundtable. Building on part one (episode 63), they explore the transformative role of precision medicine, advanced diagnostics, and targeted therapies—emphasizing the urgent need for greater awareness, understanding, and advocacy as prostate cancer continues to rise steadily.

Karan opens the conversation by emphasizing the growing complexity of prostate cancer diagnostics and treatment. Dr. Oh discusses the wide array of diagnostic tools, from PSA tests and MRIs to the cutting-edge PSMA PET scan, which has revolutionized staging and treatment planning by providing detailed insights into cancer spread. He highlights how these tools are helping oncologists tailor treatment plans with unprecedented precision.

The discussion shifts to molecular diagnostics, a burgeoning field that provides critical information about the aggressiveness of cancer. Dr. Oh explains how molecular tests, such as genomic profiling, are enabling personalized treatment decisions for prostate cancer patients, particularly those on the fence about options like surgery, radiation, or active surveillance. Karan and Dr. Oh also address disparities in access to these advanced diagnostics, underlining the need for wider implementation.

Karan steers the conversation toward advancements in targeted therapies. Dr. Oh outlines breakthroughs in precision treatments, including PARP inhibitors for patients with BRCA mutations and the innovative LU-177-PSMA therapy, a “smart bomb” approach that targets cancer cells with remarkable specificity. He also explores the promise of immunotherapy, though he acknowledges its limited applicability for prostate cancer due to the disease’s low mutational burden.

The role of artificial intelligence in precision oncology is another key topic. Dr. Oh and Karan discuss how AI and machine learning are helping clinicians process complex data, from imaging to genomic profiles, to guide more informed treatment decisions. Dr. Oh envisions AI as an essential tool for streamlining oncology workflows while preserving the human connection between doctors and patients.

Karan highlights the importance of effective communication in prostate cancer care, referencing a recent editorial co-authored by Dr. Oh. Together, they explore the need for more patient-centered terminology, such as replacing the term “castration-resistant prostate cancer” with “androgen deprivation-resistant prostate cancer,” to foster better understanding and improve patient experience.

The episode concludes with a forward-looking discussion on clinical trials, the integration of new technologies like liquid biopsies, and the ongoing efforts to expand insurance coverage for biomarker testing. Dr. Oh emphasizes the critical role of collaboration, awareness, and education in advancing precision medicine and ensuring that patients benefit from the latest innovations.

With Karan’s thoughtful questions and Dr. Oh’s expertise, this episode offers a comprehensive and accessible exploration of how precision medicine is reshaping the future of prostate cancer care. We hope you’ll tune in to the series and share this important episode with others!

In this first episode with Dr. Jack West, we discuss the state of precision oncology and the challenges providers face when it comes to performing the right molecular tests to appropriately prescribe targeted therapies. Leave a review and subscribe here.

In this first episode with Dr. Jack West, we discuss the state of precision oncologyand the challenges providers face when it comes to performing the right molecular tests to appropriately prescribe targeted therapies. Leave a review and subscribe here.

Laboratories could be considered the epicenter of the precision medicine industry, so we were thrilled to have Dr. Michael Astion, Medical Director for the Department of Laboratories at Seattle Children's Hospital join us. In this episode, he introduces us to PLUGS, (Patient Centered Laboratory Utilization Guidance Service) a grassroots program he co-founded that exists to promote and strengthen laboratory stewardship.

We’ve received many questions about the challenges clinicians face in knowing when to use pharmacogenetic tests in practice. So we invited our resident "genome educator" back! Inthis episodeJeanette McCarthy, co-founder of Precision Medicine Advisors, returns to address those questions and discuss some of the issues health care providers face. Listen here.