How Community-Based Clinical Trials Can Transform Patient Access and Participation with Ro Wickramasinghe Pi Health
Release Date: 01/20/2026
Using Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression with Dr. Josh Eloge Connected Neuroscience TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Josh Eloge, Associate Director for the Woman's Board Treatment Research Center, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Rush University Medical Center, and Founder of Connected Neuroscience has a focus on treatment-resistant depression which is defined as depression that is not relieved by at least two first-line medications. Research has identified that TRD is associated with hyperactivity in a specific brain region, shifting attention from a chemical view of depression to a neurobiological one. Research on deep-brain stimulation and implantable technology...
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Using Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression with Dr. Josh Eloge Connected Neuroscience
Empowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Josh Eloge, Associate Director for the Woman's Board Treatment Research Center, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Rush University Medical Center, and Founder of Connected Neuroscience has a focus on treatment-resistant depression which is defined as depression that is not relieved by at least two first-line medications. Research has identified that TRD is associated with hyperactivity in a specific brain region, shifting attention from a chemical view of depression to a neurobiological one. Research on deep-brain stimulation and implantable technology...
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Addressing Health Disparities Through Workforce Diversity and Improved Access to Clinical Trials with Dr. Eugene Manley STEMM & Cancer Health Equity Foundation TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Eugene Manley, biomedical scientist turned social impact leader and Founder and CEO of the STEMM & Cancer Health Equity Foundation, is focused on increasing STEMM workforce diversity and improving outcomes for underserved cancer patients. He highlights the lack of diversity in foundational lung cancer research and the need to expand the number of cell lines being included to develop more effective therapies. Eugene also raises concerns about barriers to clinical trial participation and the need to engage local community partners and AI to raise awareness and improve...
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Addressing Health Disparities Through Workforce Diversity and Improved Access to Clinical Trials with Dr. Eugene Manley STEMM & Cancer Health Equity Foundation
Empowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Eugene Manley, biomedical scientist turned social impact leader and Founder and CEO of the STEMM & Cancer Health Equity Foundation, is focused on increasing STEMM workforce diversity and improving outcomes for underserved cancer patients. He highlights the lack of diversity in foundational lung cancer research and the need to expand the number of cell lines being included to develop more effective therapies. Eugene also raises concerns about barriers to clinical trial participation and the need to engage local community partners and AI to raise awareness and improve...
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How Community-Based Clinical Trials Can Transform Patient Access and Participation with Ro Wickramasinghe Pi Health TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Ro Wickramasinghe, Vice President and Head of Global Business at Pi Health, identifies fundamental problems plaguing clinical trials, including operational inefficiencies and limited access to trials. Pi Health is addressing these challenges by developing an integrated software platform for clinical trial sponsors, sites, and patients and partnering with community-based cancer treatment centers worldwide. The company has built a hospital in India to serve as a living laboratory to test and refine its model to democratize access and increase the ethnic diversity of trial...
info_outline
How Community-Based Clinical Trials Can Transform Patient Access and Participation with Ro Wickramasinghe Pi Health
Empowered Patient Podcast
Ro Wickramasinghe, Vice President and Head of Global Business at Pi Health, identifies fundamental problems plaguing clinical trials, including operational inefficiencies and limited access to trials. Pi Health is addressing these challenges by developing an integrated software platform for clinical trial sponsors, sites, and patients and partnering with community-based cancer treatment centers worldwide. The company has built a hospital in India to serve as a living laboratory to test and refine its model to democratize access and increase the ethnic diversity of trial...
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Implantable Blood Glucose Monitors Provide Years of Accurate Monitoring with Paul Goode Glucotrack TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Paul Goode, President and CEO of Glucotrack, discusses the evolution and future of continuous glucose and continuous blood glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, as well as opportunities for implantable CMG monitors. In addition to convenience and comfort, the Glucotrack implantable CGM monitor is designed to be more accurate and measure blood glucose. This approach eliminates the lag time associated with wearable CGMs that measure interstitial fluid, enabling faster, more effective treatment decisions. Paul explains, "When you look at the market penetration of CGM in the US,...
info_outline
Implantable Blood Glucose Monitors Provide Years of Accurate Monitoring with Paul Goode Glucotrack
Empowered Patient Podcast
Paul Goode, President and CEO of Glucotrack, discusses the evolution and future of continuous glucose and continuous blood glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, as well as opportunities for implantable CMG monitors. In addition to convenience and comfort, the Glucotrack implantable CGM monitor is designed to be more accurate and measure blood glucose. This approach eliminates the lag time associated with wearable CGMs that measure interstitial fluid, enabling faster, more effective treatment decisions. Paul explains, "When you look at the market penetration of CGM in the US,...
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VR-Based Vision Therapy for Lazy Eye and Binocular Vision Disorders with Ben Backus and James Blaha Vivid Vision TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Ben Backus, Chief Science Officer, and James Blaha, CEO and Founder of Vivid Vision, discuss their work addressing binocular dysfunctions and improving visual field testing. Their innovative visual test uses a consumer-grade VR headset to deliver a gamified, less stressful, more engaging experience for patients, encouraging longer, more frequent testing. This approach also improves dataset precision and overcomes barriers in clinical trials for new therapeutics for diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, potentially accelerating the development of vision-saving treatments. Ben...
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VR-Based Vision Therapy for Lazy Eye and Binocular Vision Disorders with Ben Backus and James Blaha Vivid Vision
Empowered Patient Podcast
Ben Backus, Chief Science Officer, and James Blaha, CEO and Founder of Vivid Vision, discuss their work addressing binocular dysfunctions and improving visual field testing. Their innovative visual test uses a consumer-grade VR headset to deliver a gamified, less stressful, more engaging experience for patients, encouraging longer, more frequent testing. This approach also improves dataset precision and overcomes barriers in clinical trials for new therapeutics for diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, potentially accelerating the development of vision-saving treatments. Ben...
info_outlineRo Wickramasinghe, Vice President and Head of Global Business at Pi Health, identifies fundamental problems plaguing clinical trials, including operational inefficiencies and limited access to trials. Pi Health is addressing these challenges by developing an integrated software platform for clinical trial sponsors, sites, and patients and partnering with community-based cancer treatment centers worldwide. The company has built a hospital in India to serve as a living laboratory to test and refine its model to democratize access and increase the ethnic diversity of trial participants.
Ro explains, "I think the challenge has always been, from a pharma-biotech perspective, is to find patients, but, from the other perspective, its patients participating in trials and being able to find clinical trials. So a lot of stats get bandied around, but despite many eligible patients, the percentage of eligible patients who actually end up in a clinical trial is really small. It's like 5% to 8%, so not a huge amount. I think that's kind of one problem."
"So we have it in chicken and egg scenario where we as a company develop clinical trial software, but when ultimately the vision for us is for that to really become the standard of care and really make trials more efficient for the clinicians that treat the patients and run the trials for these pharma companies and biotech companies that develop the drugs and sponsor the study."
"But having said that, I think to run lots of studies, what we decided to do was to build our own cancer hospital in India. And the beauty of that is that it is fully vertically integrated at the point of care. So the data gets captured on those patients in FICS, which is the software we've developed and then we can run trials. We have run trials for pharma and biotech at that site using our software. So it was, I guess, one of the quicker ways to test the software in a real-world environment and also getting lots of data on FICS and how it can benefit patients from the point of care to being on trials."
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