Saatchi Wellcast

Data analytics, artificial intelligence, and algorithms are in the news, but what are they really? And how do healthcare companies use these technologies to more meaningfully connect with patients? On this episode of the Wellcast, we look at how companies like Saatchi Wellness use data analytics every day. We cover issues like working securely with sensitive health data, how data helps companies speak with more empathy, and why every organization needs a good data champion. We explore it all with help from Robin Paley and Liz Barrows from the pioneering analytics firm Epsilon, and Saatchi Wellness’ own Kevin Troyanos and Andrew Ghosh. Curious for more? Biotech experts discussed whether machine learning will produce new drug discoveries by 2022 (https://bit.ly/2OAZoQG). And in October 2019, John Seabrook asks if AI can learn to write for the New Yorker in “The Next Word” (https://bit.ly/2reQ0dw).

It’s early February… how are those healthy New Year’s resolutions going? Here at Wellcast we resolved to run 20 miles every day, eat nothing but high-fiber veggies, and binge only one season of the Great British Baking Show each weekend. It’s not going very well so far. So we asked our in-house behavioral science expert Talya Lazerus for two quick tips on getting those resolutions going again. Lace up those running shoes, put in your ear buds and listen on.

The immune system is a mysterious force in the body. It is there to protect you from harms like infection or cancer. But it can also get confused and attack its own body. This leads to autoimmune disease, a diverse group of conditions – like psoriasis, Type 1 diabetes, or multiple sclerosis – that affect 1 in every 6 Americans. Why does this happen? Are these diseases getting more common? Why are women affected more often than men? We ask rheumatologist Dr. Christine Lee to shed some light on these questions. We also hear Jessica tell her story with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Curious for more? Check out Megan O’Rourke’s gripping narrative, “What’s Wrong With Me?”, from the New Yorker in 2013. For anyone seeking physician and patient resources, head to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association website, www.aarda.org.

While prune juice and fiber chews are recent inventions, dietary fiber has been a key component of the human diet for eons. Our primate ancestors subsisted on high-fiber plant diets, and contemporary hunter-gatherer societies still get most of their calories from densely fibrous foods. That legacy shapes how and why fiber is still healthy for us. Many of these health benefits are still emerging from scientific research, especially around how the gut microbiome interacts with dietary fiber. But enough benefits have been established for fiber itself that physicians have been recommending dietary intake to their patients for years. Even packaged food startups are getting in on the action. Pop a bowl of popcorn, kick back, and listen on.

Immunotherapies in oncology have been touted as exciting new breakthroughs in cancer treatment, but do they deliver on the promise? In this episode, we’ll review disappointing results from two clinical trials in the cancer immunotherapy space reported in July 2017. We’ll also hear from physicians at ASCO 2016 on the first line role of immunotherapy, as well as challenges of using these agents.