Now More Than Ever

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I keep going back to that phrase. Now more than ever. As a research evangelist, patient advocate and lung cancer survivor, these things define who I am and shape everything I do and every project I am involved with to bring impact on the world. As a champion for research, I want to share positive stories about the people in research labs and life science companies who do brilliant things. Though I am but one voice, my voice comes from a perspective of a patient who survived cancer living a life full of gratitude and building trust. I believe now, more than ever, the world needs to appreciate the work of the life science industry and the people who work there. This community, and biopharma companies in particular, often gets criticized for high drug prices and being greedy, but doesn't get the credit it deserves for all the good it does. Now more than ever the people who work in this community deserve to be praised for the good things they do. Many people and organizations in the life science community in greater Boston where I live, rose to the occasion in response to COVID-19 in the early days of the crisis. I know a lot of them.

My wife and one of our sons are both nurses in Boston so when the coronavirus outbreak intensified in Massachusetts, and hospitals were inundated with COVID-19 patients, it was personal to me. When personal protective equipment (PPE) was in short supply, and healthcare workers like my wife and son were being potentially exposed to a highly contagious virus, our family faced increased risk. Plus I was at higher risk because of diminished lung capacity due to my cancer and lobectomy. In response, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) teamed up with Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC), Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA), and Conference of Boston teaching Hospitals (COBTH), to create the Life Sciences Emergency SupplyHub to fill the supply shortage front line health care workers and first responders faced in their work addressing the coronavirus pandemic. The supply hub sought to track down lab equipment, protective gear, diagnostics and other supplies in coordination with the state so it could send to those who are testing and treating coronavirus patients.

Bob Coughlin, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, joins the Baker administration for a news conference announcing an Emergency Supply Hub to fight the coronavirus.

The rallying cry was a call to action to the broader life sciences community to donate PPE and other supplies to support healthcare workers on the front lines. And wow the response was amazing! Over 200 companies offered to help in the first 24 hours after the call went out. Ultimately over 500 companies offered to donate. MassBio CEO and President Bob Coughlin, one of the key leaders of this effort noted that "beyond these donations, many biopharma employees who already had medical experience leveraged those skills and offered to volunteer on the front lines as doctors, nurses, and paramedics." This response, and the collaboration among the organizations involved was such a shining example of the good work of the industry. And I believe this community will get us out of this crisis as well. There are hundreds of companies working on treatments and vaccines, with many pivoting from other research to join the effort to find a solution. Companies are collaborating and sharing ideas with a common goal of leading us out of this pandemic. No more than ever we should appreciate that there are thousands of very good people in the life science community. I want to introduce them to you.

 

I started the FRAXA Biotech Games in 2018 to bring together the life science community to network, build new relationships and collaborations and raise money for rare disease (Fragile X) research. I always wanted this event to bring positive attention to the life science community - a community that deserves it. It's a gathering of good people coming together for good common purpose. Serendipitous meetings of brilliant people committed to science and the end goal of helping get treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. It's hard to describe the feeling I get when I see authentic interactions between scientists and in conversations with them you can feel the passion they have for their work. As a Boston event, and given the coronavirus pandemic we had to switch to an online event this year. So I decided, now more than ever, we should make this a national event and bring together and connect with the other amazing biotech hubs in the U.S. including San Francisco, New York and New Jersey, San Diego and more. I want to shine a positive light on good work being done in all of these communities with my common mantra of "we're all in this together." Now more than ever it is the right time to connect with good people around the country. This is an opportunity for even more serendipitous meetings between scientists. And for me, the research evangelist, to meet more interesting people. I will be sharing more positive stories about brilliant people on my upcoming podcast.

 

Two people I want to thank for their leadership and commitment to building the life science industry are Bob Coughlin and Joe Panetta. Thank you for all you do to bring value to the healthcare system and improve the lives of patients.

#gratitude #trust 

 

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