Patient Empowerment Program: A Rare Disease Podcast

Q&A #1 with Patient Families

Amber Freed and Shanna Tolbert join n-Lorem founder and CEO, Stan Crooke, for the first ever Patient Empowerment Program Q&A episode. Amber and Shanna are two nano-rare patient mothers and rare disease advocates who have experience with the n-Lorem pathway to treatment as caregivers. Through their experiences, and by canvasing others in the nano-rare community, they’ve compiled questions aimed to help current and potential n-Lorem patients and their families become more knowledgeable about the process, receive advice, understand side effects, and more! Stan sits down with these patient families to have a conversation and together address questions from the nano-rare community. Question Bank:- How do you apply to be an n-Lorem patient and who do you need on your team to help? 05:26 - How does the Foundation assess cases? 05:26- Once a patient is accepted, what is the best way to track the progress of the ASO program? 12:45- Any advice for when seeking information from a research physician who isn’t communicative? 14:05- How often should a patient expect to hear communication from a research physician? 15:50- What is hydrocephalus, and should patients be concerned about the side effect? 19:30- If side effects occur in treated patients, will subsequent patients be notified in real time? 30:55- What is the difference between an ASO and gene therapy? 33:55- How is n-Lorem defining an “optimal ASO”? 37:20- Can n-Lorem help patients who are severely advanced in their disease? 44:10- How can treating one person can lead to breakthroughs for many more? 39:40- What is Stan’s favorite success story from his career? 46:20

Bits and Bytes Help Streamline Bench to Bedside

The creation of a drug consists of a copious and complicated series of projects that are all intertwined. Andy Mehrotra, CEO of Unipr, joins the Patient Empowerment Program to discuss how Unipr’s AI based cloud program, project, and portfolio management platforms allow organizations like n-Lorem to quickly analyze data to inform program management. Today, n-Lorem effectively manages more than 90 accepted patient programs thanks to help from Unipr. Discovering locations where productivity can be increased while maintaining quality in every step is critical to treating as many nano-rare patients as possible. On This Episode We Discuss:Andy’s upbringing among physicians and pharmaceutical entrepreneurs Traveling the world to launch Humera Baring the frigid Boston winters at MIT Inspiration to found Unipr How biotech and pharmaceutical organizations can use Unipr to increase efficiency The partnership between Unipr and n-Lorem Unipr’s focus areas: Increasing the probability of success, decreasing the operational costs, and decreasing the cycle time for drug development Why Andy would donate himself to help n-Lorem

Fostering Collaboration to Fight ALS

Manish Raisinghani joins the Patient Empowerment Program to discuss how Target ALS fosters collaboration between academia and industry to research and accelerate the fight against ALS. Target ALS has funded over 50 collaborative projects. Greater than 50% of which have had an industry partner and over 60% have resulted in an ongoing drug discovery program. From their Innovative Ecosystem, 6 clinical trials have emerged. Target ALS’ commitment to fight all forms of ALS, no matter how rare, is evident in their founding support of Silence ALS, an initiative that aligns Columbia University and n-Lorem to offer an integrated solution to identify, support and potentially treat nano-rare ALS patients. Target ALS hopes that one day, no patient, no matter how rare their form of ALS, is left behind. On This Episode We Discuss: Target ALS’ innovative model Accelerating ALS research through collaboration How a single nano-rare study can inform the ALS research landscapeThe importance of understanding the fundamental biology behind ALS Committing to fight all forms of ALSTarget AlS’ support for n-Lorem and Columbia University’s Silence ALS Initiative

The Energy of Life

Regardless of the circumstances, life finds a way! Jurassic Park got that one right. Cells need to live and depending on the conditions they will use one of two systems that take nutrients, break them down and use that process to generate energy. That energy is needed to sustain life – hence why it is called The Energy of Life. All the order that you see in the night sky, like planets, star clusters and galaxies, are due to an incredible amount of energy in the universe, creating order out of chaos. The amount of chaos and disorder is measured in entropy. In this episode, the energy of life, entropy and how we convert, store and use energy is explored.Visit www.nlorem.org

Everybody Lives

Dan Doctoroff joins the Patient Empowerment Program to talk about his mission to support a world where everyone with ALS lives. Dan is the former NYC deputy mayor for economics and former CEO of both Bloomberg L.P. and Sidewalk Labs. In this episode, Dan discusses his family’s battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), his own inspiring story of how his diagnosis completely changed his outlook on life and his work with the foundation he started, Target ALS. On This Episode We Discuss: Dan’s inspiration to bring the Olympic Games to NYC 3 things he learned as a CEO Dealing with the reality of being diagnosed with ALS Shifting his perception of life How ALS has impacted his bloodline Scaling up Target ALS and fighting for the lives of every ALS patient

Cardiovascular System Part 4B: (The Spigot) Kidney Diseases

If your car’s oil filter is clogged, it’ll lead to severe issues within your engine. The same goes for the blood filters of your body... but worse. The kidneys filter water-salable waste from the blood. As kidneys fail, waste builds up. A blockage in your kidneys may cause a heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure. Detecting kidney disease early on can save lives! While kidney disease isn't reversible, it can be treated to slow or stop the progression of the disease.n-Lorem is accepting nano-rare kidney patients for treatment. Information about the application process and can be found at www.nlorem.org/access

Cardiovascular System Part 4A: (The Spigot) Kidney Functions

There is so much filtration around you, you may not even notice. Your water, coffee, air, gasoline, and social media feeds... all filtered. So is your blood! It's just a part of everyday life at this point. This episode of the Patient Empowerment Program focuses on the functions of the spigot of the cardiovascular system – the Kidneys. Their main job? To remove water salable waste from the body along with other functions that are necessary for life. Did we mention that n-Lorem is accepting nano-rare kidney patients for treatment? Information about the application process and can be found at www.nlorem.org/access

Cardiovascular System Part 3: (The Pipes) Arteries and Veins

Drip... Drip. When your pipes are leaking, it's never a good thing. Who you gon’ call, YOUR DOCTOR! The next lesson in our ‘pipe’-line focuses on the pipes of the cardiovascular system - the Arteries and Veins. Learn about the arterial and venous systems that manage blood flows with differing pressures, high and low. However, both systems have mechanisms that control blood flow under unique conditions to supply our tissues with nutrients, remove waste, and keep us alive. In the event of a busted pipe, know that a plumber can’t help you. Call a doctor, because the pipes in your body are much more complex and interactive with the materials inside than the ones in your home.

CROs and Their Role for Nano-rare

This episode is sponsored by our partner, Parexel, one of the world’s largest clinical research organizations (CROs) providing the full range of Phase I to IV clinical development services. Parexel provides clinical operations, real-world data solutions, medical and regulatory expertise and innovative clinical research tools that significantly enhance and streamline n-Lorem’s therapeutic development efforts. Their depth of industry knowledge and strong track record gained over the past 40 years is moving the industry forward and advancing clinical research in healthcare’s most complex areas, like rare disease. Jamie Macdonald, CEO of Parexel, joins Stan to discuss the moment he realized his desire to make a difference, Parexel’s role in clinical trials and their partnership with n-Lorem aimed to serve patients.

Cardiovascular System Part 2B: (The Pump) Heart Diseases

In this episode, Stan continues his lecture series on organs, concluding his lesson on the pump of the cardiovascular system, the Heart. Organs are individual tissue components that help meet the needs of an entire organism (that's you). The heart is one of the most important, complex, and fascinating organs in your body - and we couldn't squeeze it into just one episode! Learn all about heart diseases in the final installment of this two-part series.