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BioTech Nation ... with Dr. Moira Gunn
BioTech Nation ... with Dr. Moira Gunn
Author: Moira Gunn
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Welcome to BIOTECH NATION !!! With understandable interviews requiring no background in science, BTN attracts a wide global audience. From everyday people looking for hope in treatments in development, to bioentrepreneurs interested in the experience of their fellow travelers, to venture capitalists looking for possibilities in cutting-edge breakthroughs, to scientists simply interested in the work of others, BioTech Nation is the voice of human endeavor, driving science to new realities for everyone. These interviews are drawn directly from the public radio program, "Tech Nation", which also can be heard in numerous global radio and podcasting venues.
146 Episodes
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For years, we've all turned to Google to self-diagnose every cough, rash, and weird pain. Dr. Daniel Kraft says the shift is happening, from Dr. Google to Dr. ChatGPT.
This week on Biotech Nation, Dr. Lincoln Nadauld shares how Culmination Bio is using 9 million preserved tissue samples and decades of patient data to improve how we understand and treat diseases. From discovering patterns in cancer treatments to exploring breakthroughs in heart and autoimmune diseases, this unique approach is changing medicine.
What if we could fix the gene that causes dementia? In this episode, Aviado Bio CEO Lisa Deschamps tells us how her team is working to correct the gene driving many cases of frontotemporal dementia.
What if you could tune your DNA to fix any mistakes? Dr. Derek Jantz from Tune Therapeutics talks about tuning DNA, not just with humans, but stopping the Hepatitis B virus in its tracks.
Imagine a world where the toughest wounds heal twice as fast, and patients get their lives back sooner than anyone thought possible. Dr. Ned Swanson, the President and Chief Medical Officer of Polarity Bio, tells us about their approach to healing serious, hard-to-treat skin wounds. In early trials, it's twice as effective as the current treatment for diabetic foot ulcers.
40% of all rheumatoid arthritis patients do not respond to any of the current drugs. Rob Armstrong, CEO of Artax Biopharma, aims to bring new hope for those patients who've been left without effective treatment options.
Can you imagine parents expecting a baby, going in for an ultrasound, and finding out that their baby is missing the heart's left ventricle? This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Joshua Hare, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Longeveron, talks about how they are testing the use of stem cells to treat babies born with a serious congenital heart defect.
This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Jeff Stein, President & CEO of Cidara Therapeutics, brings up promising news about a new approach to flu shots.
Dr. Marc Salzberg, CEO & Chief Medical Officer of Airway Therapeutics, talks about what they are doing to help preterm babies. It may all boil down to delivering these babies a single protein as soon as they are born.
Dr. Avak Kahvejian, Founding CEO of Cellarity, explains their new approach to discovering drugs by using AI to look at how cells behave as a whole, rather than focusing on one part of the problem. This approach could lead to faster development of better treatments, such as a pill for sickle cell disease.
This week on Biotech Nation, Paul Hastings, CEO of Nkarta and former chair of BIO—the Biotechnology Innovation Organization—discusses the impact of cuts to research funding and stepping away from recommending vaccines—what this means for you and the biotech industry.
This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Mark Kendall, CEO of WearOptimo, tells us about progress with their new wearable. You could be dehydrated and not even know it … And exactly how hydrated are you right now, anyway? The old “if you’re thirsty, drink something” turns out to be a little too late.
Tech Nation Health Chief Correspondent
Daniel Kraft reports in on the BioTech Nation session from NextMed Health 2025
This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Steve Harr, CEO of Sana Biotechnology, talks about their progress in Type I diabetics, in particular. The New England Journal of Medicine publishes early success with Sana Biotechnology's engineered insulin-producing cells without immunosuppressant drugs.
This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Neal Kassell, founder of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, introduces us to a powerful, non-invasive technology that’s already changing lives, and it doesn’t involve surgery, injections, or pills.
This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Raza Bokhari, CEO of Medicus Pharma, shares a new non-surgical treatment approach for basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. Their novel microneedle patch delivers a powerful cancer drug directly into the skin, avoiding the scarring, cost, and discomfort of Mohs surgery. With promising phase 2 trials underway in the US and Europe, this could change the way we treat millions of skin cancer cases every year.
This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Eric Topol returns to continue his conversation on, "Super Agers … An Evidenced-Based Approach to Longevity", his evidence-based approach to living longer, healthier lives. He shares why longevity must be accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy, and how new tools like AI, personalized diagnostics, and even gut hormones are reshaping the future of health.
This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Eric Topol, professor and Executive Vice President at Scripps Research and author of "Super Agers … An Evidenced-Based Approach to Longevity", breaks down what science really says about aging well and what is just marketing. From immune-boosting cell therapy to the myth of magic longevity pills, Dr. Topol explains how evidence-based prevention, personalized health data, and AI are changing the future of aging.
This week on Biotech Nation, Dr. Neil Kumar, founder and CEO of BridgeBio Pharma. Dr. Kumar emphasizes that genetic diseases, particularly Mendelian diseases caused by single gene mutations, are solvable due to advancements in genetic measurement and understanding. He discusses BridgeBio Pharma's innovative corporate structure, which consists of multiple specialized companies under a centralized infrastructure to efficiently tackle various genetic diseases. This model allows for focused expertise on individual conditions while sharing common resources. Dr. Kumar highlights the company's commitment to using diverse therapeutic modalities, such as small molecules and gene therapies, to develop treatments that address the underlying causes of these diseases.
Dr. John Scarlett, President and CEO of Geron Corporation talks about their drug Imetelstat for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). MDS patients often require frequent blood transfusions, impacting their quality of life. Imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor, aims to reduce transfusion dependence by targeting cancer cells in the bone marrow. Phase three trials showed promising results, with 40% of patients experiencing at least an 8-week transfusion-free interval.























