BioTech Nation ... with Dr. Moira Gunn

This week on BioTech Nation, we celebrate the life of the late Dr. Phil Low, Purdue University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and biotech entrepreneur. In this 2017 interview, he describes the development of fluorescence-guided surgery - and why it's a game-changer for cancer treatment.

On this week's BioTech Nation...want to go to space? Well...it's never too late to follow your dreams, and Tech Nation Health Chief Correspondent Dr. Daniel Kraft joins us to talk about who could medically qualify to climb aboard and rocket into orbit. His answers may surprise you...

On this week's BioTech Nation...what could the future of American Healthcare look like? Moira speaks with Dr. Marschall Runge, University of Michigan Medical School Professor, about how Big Tech is quickly redefining the entire healthcare system. His book is, “The Great Healthcare Disruption: Big Tech, Bold Policy, and the Future of American Medicine.”

On this week’s BioTech Nation, Moira speaks with Dr. Adam Rogers, CEO of NervGen Pharma, about a new treatment that’s showing significant trial results for patients with spinal cord injuries. While typically, patient progress is defined by the early months of recovery after the injury, some trial participants have seen increased function as much as 10 years post-trauma.

On this week’s Biotech Nation, Moira speaks with Dr. Arun Swaminathan about an intervention for ALS that Coya Therapeutics is taking into phase two clinical trials. The goal? To stop progression of the disease in its tracks. It could even help in patients with Parkinson’s, Alzheimers, and Frontotemporal Dementia.

What if you could routinely screen for early cancer, detecting it while it's easier to treat? Tech Nation Health Chief Correspondent, Dr. Daniel Kraft discusses the latest diagnostics that could allow us to do just that. From blood tests to full-body scans, the future of cancer screening could mean finding cancer before obvious symptoms even begin...

On this week’s Biotech Nation, how doctors and hospitals are using AI, and how it could change the practice of medicine. Moira speaks with Dr. Robert Wachter about his book, “A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future”.

You may already use "Dr. ChatGPT" to answer your medical questions... but now, OpenAI has announced the rollout of ChatGPT Health and OpenAI for Healthcare. Dr. Daniel Kraft has the latest on how each platform will work, and what happens with the health data you share.

This week on BioTech Nation, what is AI-Powered Biology? Dr. Shana Kelley, President of Bioengineering and Head of Biohub, Chicago for the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, discusses how AI can be used to accelerate research, and what this could mean for the future.

This is the 2026 BioTech Nation "5": Five Companies Ready to Make a Difference. We're highlighting 5 biotech companies with a special release of interviews in time for the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference right here in San Francisco. Hear all 5 interviews at https://www.biotechnation.com/jpm-2026-btn-5On this episode of BioTech Nation...Ever wonder what makes opioids so addictive? Moira speaks with Ketan Mehta, Founder and CEO of Tris Pharma, about opioid-induced euphoria...and an opioid that's actually meant to suppress this response. For more information about BioTech Nation and the companies featured here, visit: TechNation.com

This is the 2026 BioTech Nation "5": Five Companies Ready to Make a Difference. We're highlighting 5 biotech companies with a special release of interviews in time for the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference right here in San Francisco. Hear all 5 interviews at https://www.biotechnation.com/jpm-2026-btn-5On this episode of BioTech Nation...Moira speaks with Neil Klompas of Augurex Life Sciences, about a new diagnostic for chronic, long-term back pain that pinpoints a form of arthritis. On average, patients with this condition could go 7-10 years without a diagnosis, having to first eliminate everything else with an odyssey of tests. Now, a simple blood test could be the answer.For more information about BioTech Nation and the companies featured here, visit: TechNation.com

This is the 2026 BioTech Nation "5": Five Companies Ready to Make a Difference. We're highlighting 5 biotech companies with a special release of interviews in time for the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference right here in San Francisco. Hear all 5 interviews at https://www.biotechnation.com/jpm-2026-btn-5On this episode of BioTech Nation, Moira speaks with Dr. Barry Quart, CEO of Connect Biopharma, about a new fast-acting treatment for inflammatory conditions like Asthma, COPD, and Eczema. Often, these conditions can be managed with anti-inflammatory therapeutics like Dupixent, but even then, sudden and painful flare-ups can occur. We take a closer look at a new anti-inflammatory in late-stage development which starts working quickly, much needed when those flare-ups develop. For more information about BioTech Nation and the companies featured here, visit: TechNation.com

This is the 2026 BioTech Nation "5": Five Companies Ready to Make a Difference. We're highlighting 5 biotech companies with a special release of interviews in time for the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference right here in San Francisco. Hear all 5 interviews at https://www.biotechnation.com/jpm-2026-btn-5On this episode of BioTech Nation...Dr. Harry Selker & Dr. Atul Deshpande of Immediate Therapeutics speak with Moira about a new treatment that could be administered to heart attack patients right away...potentially before they even arrive at the hospital. Already successfully tested in Phase 2, it’s ready to go into final pivotal trials in Ambulances and Emergency Rooms.For more information about BioTech Nation and the companies featured here, visit: TechNation.com

This is the 2026 BioTech Nation "5": Five Companies Ready to Make a Difference. We're highlighting 5 biotech companies with a special release of interviews in time for the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference right here in San Francisco. Hear all 5 interviews at https://www.biotechnation.com/jpm-2026-btn-5On this episode of BioTech Nation: Can cancer cells be turned against themselves? Moira speaks with Cyriac Roeding and Dr. David Suhy, Co-Founders of Earli, about an innovative new approach to treating solid tumor cancer. They discuss their effort to turn the cancer cells inside solid tumors into factories that produce their own cancer-fighting therapeutic.For more information about BioTech Nation and the companies featured here, visit: TechNation.com

This week on Biotech Nation, Dr. Martin Borch Jensen and Dr. Francisco LePort from Gordian Biotechnology share a bold new approach to fighting diseases of aging before they take hold. Instead of testing one drug at a time, their technology allows scientists to test hundreds of potential treatments at once, making drug discovery faster and more precise. This could change how we treat conditions like arthritis, heart failure, and fatty liver disease.

This week on BioTech Nation, we explore what happens when your immune system overreacts. Professor Niels Riedemann, CEO of InflaRx, explains how the body’s defense system can sometimes cause more harm than good, leading to serious conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, severe COVID-19, and lung failure. Learn how InflaRx is developing treatments to calm the immune system and why their breakthrough drug is getting attention from U.S. health agencies.

This week on Biotech Nation, Dr. Ari Azhir, Founder and CEO of Neuvivo, shares the incredible journey of an ALS drug that was once abandoned, but is now making its way toward FDA approval. After two failed phase two trials, the drug was left behind until Dr. Azhir and her team discovered a crucial mistake in the trial data. Now with new insights and groundbreaking survival results, Neuvivo is giving hope to ALS patients and exploring its potential for other neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s.

This week on BioTech Nation, Bruin Biometrics CEO Martin Burns talks about a new diagnostic tool being used to detect and prevent potentially fatal bedsores in their earliest stages.

For years, we've all turned to Google to self-diagnose every cough, rash, and weird pain. Dr. Daniel Kraft says the shift is happening, from Dr. Google to Dr. ChatGPT.

This week on Biotech Nation, Dr. Lincoln Nadauld shares how Culmination Bio is using 9 million preserved tissue samples and decades of patient data to improve how we understand and treat diseases. From discovering patterns in cancer treatments to exploring breakthroughs in heart and autoimmune diseases, this unique approach is changing medicine.

What if we could fix the gene that causes dementia? In this episode, Aviado Bio CEO Lisa Deschamps tells us how her team is working to correct the gene driving many cases of frontotemporal dementia.

What if you could tune your DNA to fix any mistakes? Dr. Derek Jantz from Tune Therapeutics talks about tuning DNA, not just with humans, but stopping the Hepatitis B virus in its tracks.

Imagine a world where the toughest wounds heal twice as fast, and patients get their lives back sooner than anyone thought possible. Dr. Ned Swanson, the President and Chief Medical Officer of Polarity Bio, tells us about their approach to healing serious, hard-to-treat skin wounds. In early trials, it's twice as effective as the current treatment for diabetic foot ulcers.

40% of all rheumatoid arthritis patients do not respond to any of the current drugs. Rob Armstrong, CEO of Artax Biopharma, aims to bring new hope for those patients who've been left without effective treatment options.

Can you imagine parents expecting a baby, going in for an ultrasound, and finding out that their baby is missing the heart's left ventricle? This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Joshua Hare, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Longeveron, talks about how they are testing the use of stem cells to treat babies born with a serious congenital heart defect.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Jeff Stein, President & CEO of Cidara Therapeutics, brings up promising news about a new approach to flu shots.

Dr. Marc Salzberg, CEO & Chief Medical Officer of Airway Therapeutics, talks about what they are doing to help preterm babies. It may all boil down to delivering these babies a single protein as soon as they are born.

Dr. Avak Kahvejian, Founding CEO of Cellarity, explains their new approach to discovering drugs by using AI to look at how cells behave as a whole, rather than focusing on one part of the problem. This approach could lead to faster development of better treatments, such as a pill for sickle cell disease.

This week on Biotech Nation, Paul Hastings, CEO of Nkarta and former chair of BIO—the Biotechnology Innovation Organization—discusses the impact of cuts to research funding and stepping away from recommending vaccines—what this means for you and the biotech industry.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Mark Kendall, CEO of WearOptimo, tells us about progress with their new wearable. You could be dehydrated and not even know it … And exactly how hydrated are you right now, anyway? The old “if you’re thirsty, drink something” turns out to be a little too late.

Tech Nation Health Chief Correspondent Daniel Kraft reports in on the BioTech Nation session from NextMed Health 2025

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Steve Harr, CEO of Sana Biotechnology, talks about their progress in Type I diabetics, in particular. The New England Journal of Medicine publishes early success with Sana Biotechnology's engineered insulin-producing cells without immunosuppressant drugs.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Neal Kassell, founder of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, introduces us to a powerful, non-invasive technology that’s already changing lives, and it doesn’t involve surgery, injections, or pills.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Raza Bokhari, CEO of Medicus Pharma, shares a new non-surgical treatment approach for basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. Their novel microneedle patch delivers a powerful cancer drug directly into the skin, avoiding the scarring, cost, and discomfort of Mohs surgery. With promising phase 2 trials underway in the US and Europe, this could change the way we treat millions of skin cancer cases every year.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Eric Topol returns to continue his conversation on, "Super Agers … An Evidenced-Based Approach to Longevity", his evidence-based approach to living longer, healthier lives. He shares why longevity must be accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy, and how new tools like AI, personalized diagnostics, and even gut hormones are reshaping the future of health.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Eric Topol, professor and Executive Vice President at Scripps Research and author of "Super Agers … An Evidenced-Based Approach to Longevity", breaks down what science really says about aging well and what is just marketing. From immune-boosting cell therapy to the myth of magic longevity pills, Dr. Topol explains how evidence-based prevention, personalized health data, and AI are changing the future of aging.

This week on Biotech Nation, Dr. Neil Kumar, founder and CEO of BridgeBio Pharma. Dr. Kumar emphasizes that genetic diseases, particularly Mendelian diseases caused by single gene mutations, are solvable due to advancements in genetic measurement and understanding. He discusses BridgeBio Pharma's innovative corporate structure, which consists of multiple specialized companies under a centralized infrastructure to efficiently tackle various genetic diseases. This model allows for focused expertise on individual conditions while sharing common resources. Dr. Kumar highlights the company's commitment to using diverse therapeutic modalities, such as small molecules and gene therapies, to develop treatments that address the underlying causes of these diseases.

Dr. John Scarlett, President and CEO of Geron Corporation talks about their drug Imetelstat for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). MDS patients often require frequent blood transfusions, impacting their quality of life. Imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor, aims to reduce transfusion dependence by targeting cancer cells in the bone marrow. Phase three trials showed promising results, with 40% of patients experiencing at least an 8-week transfusion-free interval.

This week on BioTech Nation, Robert Blum, CEO of CytoKinetics, joins me to talk about the company’s decades-long mission to keep hearts beating stronger and longer. With one heart drug under FDA review and more in the pipeline, CytoKinetics is working to address the full spectrum of heart failure, from weak hearts to overactive ones, and even exploring muscle health beyond the heart to support healthy aging.

This week on BioTech Nation, BioSTEM Technologies CEO Jason Matuszewski explains how donated placental tissue is being used to treat chronic wounds that just won’t heal, from diabetic ulcers to pressure sores. With millions affected and traditional care often falling short, BioSTEM’s approach offers a new way to support healing and reduce scarring.

This week on BioTech Nation, Biotech Entrepreneur, Dr. Jake Glanville, Founder, Chair and CEO of Centivax, gives us the insider’s view of this Biotech Breakthrough – from the first telephone call through each significant step, all leading to the first breakthrough generalized antivenom vaccine in 125 years.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Daniel Kraft, Tech Nation Health Chief Correspondent, returns with highlights from the 2025 NextMed Health conference. From AI-powered health agents to voice-based disease detection, hear what’s emerging at the intersection of medicine, technology, and global health equity.

Dr. Peter DeMuth, Chief Scientific Officer of Elicio Therapeutics, discusses the revolutionary approach of detecting cancer at its earliest stages through circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) tests. Highlighting their innovative treatment method, which aims to train the body's immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells, the episode explores the potential transition from treatment to vaccine, offering hope for more effective and durable solutions.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Cory Nicholas, CEO of Neurona Therapeutics, returns for part two. With early results now in from Neurona’s first clinical trial, patients with severe epilepsy are seeing dramatic improvements, including seizure reductions of over 90 percent, and even full remission in some cases. This one-time treatment delivers new brain cells that help calm seizure activity without the side effects of traditional medications or the risks of surgery.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Cory Nicholas, Co-Founder and CEO of Neurona Therapeutics, discusses their groundbreaking success in treating drug-resistant epilepsy. With a single, targeted delivery of lab-grown brain cells, Neurona is offering not just symptom control but the possibility of long-term seizure relief. This is Part 1 of a two-part series exploring the future of regenerative medicine in neurology.