Today, Elyse and Debbie are putting their finger on the pulse of THE NEWS around clinical research, drugs, science, health - as much news as you could want! We’re going to take it in turns and share with each other - and you - 2 stories each that we’ve seen in the news recently. And then at the end, we go on a tangent about racism and imperialism and white supremacy, you know what we’re like by now.

Also, just to let you know, Elyse & I will be taking a summer holiday - which means no new episodes for August. See you in September! Feel free to send in questions or suggestions if you miss us too badly!

Resources

Debbie Story 1 - IBD - https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/05/bowel-disease-hope-researchers-find-biological-pathway

Elyse story 1 - Covid vaccines

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/05/22/covids-new-flirt-variants-what-to-know-as-experts-fear-summer-surge/?sh=59372a3dd705

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/06/05/fda-panel-recommends-new-covid-vaccines-for-jn1-lineage-by-fall/

https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-calendar/postponed-vaccines-and-related-biological-products-advisory-committee-may-16-2024-meeting

https://www.who.int/news/item/26-04-2024-statement-on-the-antigen-composition-of-covid-19-vaccines

Debbie Story 2 - lung cancer

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/31/trial-results-for-new-lung-cancer-drug-are-off-the-charts-say-doctors

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03052608

Elyse Story 2 - Hair Relaxers

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/16/health/hair-straighteners-black-women-fda.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/13/magazine/hair-relaxers-cancer-risk.html

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36245087/

Today’s topic is not a fun one, but is something many of us have experience with - we’re talking about cancer - what causes it, how it works, and how it’s treated. Once we’ve got the science part out of the way, we’ll look at how complex and interesting cancer research is.

Remember, you can get in touch with us via clinical.research.intro@gmail.com. Please feel free to send questions, comments and compliments for Elyse to read out on the pod. It’s fun to make Debbie squirm!

Credit to our friend Sam Winnie for their awesome and cute music. Check out their work at https://www.samwinnie.com/

References -

Hank Green’s blog on cancer - https://youtu.be/rCo71uX_pCI?si=0Gv2eEg8J5ZL7s0p

Hank Green’s chemo vlog - https://youtu.be/ceF4GxVkOqA?si=fynv30g5hynlKB58

In this episode, we’re back in Elyse’s corner, and it has some extremely shiny rocks! Today, we’re talking about temperature and how important it it to the delivery of research and successful medical treatment.

Remember, you can get in touch with us via clinical.research.intro@gmail.com. Please feel free to send questions, comments and compliments for Elyse to read out on the pod. It’s fun to make Debbie squirm!

Credit to our friend Sam Winnie for their awesome and cute music. Check out their work at https://www.samwinnie.com/

References -

https://www.cdc.gov/heat-health/hcp/heat-and-medications-guidance-for-clinicians.html

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10903127.2016.1258098

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/toolkit/storage-handling-toolkit.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0939641117308731#b0175

https://www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals/essential-programme-on-immunization/supply-chain/controlled-temperature-chain-(ctc)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X14000723

https://www.gpha.org/expired-vaccine-guidance-from-cdc/

https://aspr.hhs.gov/SNS/Pages/default.aspx

https://torontosun.com/news/national/feds-gets-new-covid-vaccines-as-1-5-b-worth-of-shots-expire-are-trashed

https://www.state.gov/covid-19-recovery/vaccine-deliveries/

https://www.who.int/news/item/29-11-2021-joint-statement-on-dose-donations-of-covid-19-vaccines-to-african-countries

As members of the public how can we influence what is developed? Who is making the decisions about which new medicines and products get researched? That’s the topic for today, and I’m afraid it’s not great news, everyone!

References - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7841468/

https://researchsupport.admin.ox.ac.uk/equity-and-inclusivity-in-research-funding

Remember, you can get in touch with us via clinical.research.intro@gmail.com. Please feel free to send questions, comments and compliments for Elyse to read out on the pod. It’s fun to make Debbie squirm!

Credit to our friend Sam Winnie for their awesome and cute music. Check out their work at https://www.samwinnie.com/

Getting a clinical trial site (or sites) ready to start is a busy, hectic and high pressure time and the focus of our episode today. What is needed, how the items interlock and overlap, and who is responsible!

Remember, you can get in touch with us via clinical.research.intro@gmail.com. Please feel free to send questions, comments and compliments for Elyse to read out on the pod. It’s fun to make Debbie squirm!

Credit to our friend Sam Winnie for their awesome and cute music. Check out their work at https://www.samwinnie.com/

Ever thought about a career in clinical research? In this episode that’s exactly what we’re talking about - what the options are, what you need to know, and what transferable skills you need.

Remember, you can get in touch with us via clinical.research.intro@gmail.com. Please feel free to send questions, comments and compliments for Elyse to read out on the pod. It’s fun to make Debbie squirm!

Credit to our friend Sam Winnie for their awesome and cute music. Check out their work at https://www.samwinnie.com/

Today, we’re talking about Informed Consent - what it is, how it works, how it's documented and how it is handled for different people. This is a whistle-stop tour covering the main principles and points, but as always we could talk for hours about this topic!

Remember, you can get in touch with us via clinical.research.intro@gmail.com. Please feel free to send questions, comments and compliments for Elyse to read out on the pod. It’s fun to make Debbie squirm!

Credit to our friend Sam Winnie for their awesome and cute music. Check out their work at https://www.samwinnie.com/

In this episode, we’re talking about some issues with treatments. We’re looking at some drugs that have lost or might lose their approvals, or cases where additional measures are put in place for safety reasons.

Here are some resources or references used in the research for this episode -

Crizanlizumab statement. January 2024 » Sickle Cell Society

Crizanlizumab - end of NHS supply » Sickle Cell Society

FDA starts speedy review of Novartis’ sickle cell antibody - PMLiVE

Exa-Cel (Casgevy) Gene Therapy Update » Sickle Cell Society

Montelukast (Singulair): reminder of the risk of neuropsychiatric reactions - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Remember, you can get in touch with us via clinical.research.intro@gmail.com. Please feel free to send questions, comments and compliments for Elyse to read out on the pod. It’s fun to make Debbie squirm!

Credit to our friend Sam Winnie for their awesome and cute music. Check out their work at https://www.samwinnie.com/