Medical Breakthroughs from Penn Medicine

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP Guest: Elise Chong, MD Patients with follicular lymphoma who relapse or don’t respond to treatment don’t have many therapeutic options, but a recently FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapy may help change that. Dr. Charles Turck is joined by Dr. Elise Chong from Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center to explore this new treatment option.

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP Guest: Kirstin Leitner, MD Current screening tools for postpartum depression may have limitations, but a new texting service as part of the Healing at Home program may help clinicians detect postpartum depression earlier. Dr. Charles Turck is joined by Dr. Kirstin Leitner to take a look at this program and its impacts.

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP Guest: Kathryn Gallagher, MS, RN, BSN Guest: Kate Newcomb-DeSanto, MSN, RN, MSW What does Penn Medicine’s newly-opened patient room facility have to offer? Dr. Charles Turck is joined by Penn Medicine Clinical Advisors Kathy Gallagher and Kate Newcomb-DeSanto to discuss the new pavilion and how it's revolutionizing patient care.

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP Guest: Drew Weissman, MD, PhD Dr. Drew Weissman, Professor of Medicine at Penn Medicine joins Dr. Turck to discuss his new COVID-19 vaccine technology and how RNA and mRNA are being used to provoke an immune response in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO Guest: Kathleen E. O'Neill, MD, MTR Guest: Nawar Abdul Latif, MD, MPH, MSCE Patients with uterine factor infertility, or UFI, only had two options if they wanted to achieve parenthood: using a gestational carrier or adoption. Until now. Joining Dr. Jennifer Caudle to talk about the opportunities of uterine transplants and key information about the UNTIL trial are lead investigators Drs. Kathleen O’Neill and Nawar Latif from Penn Medicine.

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO Guest: Amit Bar-Or, MD, FRCP, FAAN, FANA Joining Dr. Jennifer Caudle to discuss the latest research furthering our understanding and treatment of multiple sclerosis is Dr. Amit Bar-Or, Chief of the Multiple Sclerosis Division and Director for the Center of Neuroinflammation and Neurotherapeutics at Penn Medicine. Could these recent findings finally help us solve some of the unanswered questions of multiple sclerosis?

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO Guest: Anjali Owens, MD Without any targeted therapies available for inherited cardiomyopathy, how can we treat our patients coping with its debilitating symptoms? Here to share her diagnostic and management strategies along with key data from a recent study is Dr. Anjali Owens, Medical Director at the Center for Inherited Heart Disease at Penn Medicine.

Host: Matt Birnholz, MD Guest: Howard C. Herrmann, MD Twelve years after performing the first transcatheter aortic valve replacement, Penn Medicine continues to gain momentum in the transformation of cardiovascular transcatheter therapies. Dr. Howard Herrmann recounts the evolution in alternative technologies to improve patient safety and outcomes and the role these advancements have in shaping how we approach treatment.

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO Guest: Suhail K. Kanchwala, MD Improving his patients’ post-surgical experience was Dr. Suhail Kanchwala's goal when he sought to develop a new method for autologous breast reconstruction. The result of his search has brought a new technique to the field, along with an array of benefits for patients, including reduction of post-surgical pain and opioid use.

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO Guest: Jean Bennett, MD, PhD Guest: Albert Maguire, MD Power couple Drs. Jean Bennett and Albert Maguire discuss how their new therapy for the RPE65 gene, which causes retinal blindness, was recently approved by the FDA to become the first gene therapy treatment for a genetic disease in the United States and the first worldwide treatment for inherited blindness. Not only do they delve into the mechanics of the corrected gene injection, but they also explain what this milestone means for patient eligibility and how their marriage has played a role in the success of their research partnership. Dr. Jean Bennett is the F.M. Kirby Professor of Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Albert Maguire is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Attending Physician in the Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.