Interviews

Mitzi Joi Williams, MD, FAAN, medical director and CEO of Joi Life Wellness Neurology Clinic, discusses how underrepresentation of minority population patients in clinical trials became an issue and how education and raising awareness can begin to remedy it.

Insurance is by far the most important factor of whether patients followed up with treatment after getting screened for glaucoma, said Byron L. Lam, MD, professor of ophthalmology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine's Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.

Nicholas Bagley, JD, professor at Michigan Law at the University of Michigan, speaks about the benefits of ongoing communication about the effects of the Braidwood ruling and what will be done to keep preventive care accessible.

Mark A. Socinski, MD, executive director at AdventHealth Cancer Institute, shares insight on the cost-effectiveness and utility of biomarker testing in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Christopher P. Cannon, MD, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and senior physician in the Cardiovascular Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, spoke about the benefit seen in a study of sotagliflozin for patients with acute heart failure.

Current myasthenia gravis therapies can exacerbate comorbidities or create other complications, said James F. Howard Jr, MD, professor of neurology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Chitra Lal, MD, D-ABSM, FCCP, FAASM, FACP, ATSF, professor of medicine at Medical University of South Carolina, says that the screening threshold for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) should be low because 70% to 75% of patients with mild cognitive impairment have sleep apnea.

Debra Boyer, MD, pediatric pulmonologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and co-chair of the American Thoracic Society International Conference Committee says that even though there are strides to be made in pediatric pulmonology, treatments for children with diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, have improved.

Milena Pavlova, MD, neurologist, and medical director of the sleep testing center at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner hospital, says that since sleep disorders are common, it’s important to consider that sleep can be a separate symptom from epilepsy.

Franco Laghi, MD, a professor and pulmonologist affiliated with Loyola University Medical Center as well as the Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital in Maywood, Illinois, discussed the use of home-based exercise rehabilitation programs for veterans with long COVID-19, and patient reluctance to come to a medical facility during the pandemic.

Chitra Lal, MD, D-ABSM, FCCP, FAASM, FACP, ATSF, professor of medicine at Medical University of South Carolina, talks about how there might be a link between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and Alzheimer disease (AD), and that treating sleep apnea early and aggressively may help prevent AD development.

Jeff Hunnicutt, CEO of Highlands Oncology Group, discusses the difference between business intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI), including process implementation and data compilation.

Anna E. Mullins, PhD, assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses the necessity of awareness of how health issues can present in World Trade Center (WTC) responders.

Gerard Criner, MD, FACP, FACCP, professor and founding chair, Thoracic Medicine and Surgery, at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, discusses a new trial that investigated how long treatment would last for patients with emphysema, and if any complications arose.

Debra Boyer, MD, pediatric pulmonologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and co-chair of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference Committee, says that more needs be done for children who have respiratory diseases to improve their adult health outcomes.

Mitzi Joi Williams, MD, FAAN, medical director and CEO, Joi Life Wellness Neurology Clinic, addresses several reasons that have potential to delay a correct multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in minority patient populations, including social determinants of health.

Nicholas Bagley, JD, professor at Michigan Law at the University of Michigan, discusses how Congress can help address the consequences of Braidwood v Becerra.

Addressing racial disparities in skin cancer involves education, understanding rates of risk and ethnicity, and knowledge of the different types of melanoma, which makes skin cancer disparities complex to attack, said Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, professor and chair in the Department of Dermatology and director of the Melanoma Research Program at the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University.

Debra Boyer, MD, pediatric pulmonologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and co-chair of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference Committee, highlights the need for more specialized care and research for children with respiratory diseases, who don't have access to the same therapies and testing as adults.

Rupal Shah, MD, associate professor at the University of California San Francisco, talks about how the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for patients who have undergone a lung transplant to undergo spirometry testing at home instead of at the the hospital.

Mark A. Socinski, MD, executive director of the AdventHealth Cancer Institute, shared his thoughts on the most important recent advances in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including a better understanding of patients who may benefit from immunotherapy.

Gene therapies like RGX-314 are looking to treat very common diseases in ophthalmology, which would represent a tremendous opportunity for chronic disease management, said Charles C. Wykoff, MD, PhD, of Retina Consultants of Texas and the Blanton Eye Institute at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Telehealth provides more flexibility for patients with gastrointestinal issues to better fit their care into their lives and around symptoms they may be experiencing, said Sam Holliday, co-founder and CEO of Oshi Health.

Myasthenia gravis expert James F. Howard, Jr, MD, professor of neurology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explains the burdens that step therapy places on patients with rare diseases and their providers.

Melinda Gooderham, MD, MSc, FRCPC, Peterborough Regional Health Centre in Ontario, Canada, discusses recent trials and studies that have been conducted on emerging therapies for patients with atopic dermatitis.

Milena Pavlova, MD, neurologist, and medical director of the sleep testing center at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner hospital, talks about how factors such as the sedative effects of anti-epileptic medications can mask sleep issues and diagnoses in people with epilepsy.

David Maahs, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and division chief of pediatric endocrinology at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, highlights key points from his review on pediatric diabetes technology and therapy.

Precision medicine starts with the patient-physician relationship, and this also involves an entire care team, emphasized Sigrun Hallmeyer, MD, medical oncologist with Advocate Health.

Joel Segel, PhD, associate professor of health policy and administration at Penn State University, talks about what he's looking forward to as a member of The American Journal of Accountable Care's editorial board.

Horace DeLisser, MD, associate dean for diversity and inclusion in undergraduate medical education at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and associate professor of medicine in the pulmonary, allergy, and critical care division, looks forward to the American Thoracic Society (ATS) international conference to reconnect with friends and colleagues and stay up to date on clinical knowledge and controversial topics.