Episode 157: The Critical Role of Disease Foundations in Biotech Innovation
What role can disease foundations play in moving scientific discoveries from the lab toward meaningful solutions for patients?
In this episode, host Elaine Hamm, PhD, sits down with Tim Coetzee, PhD, President and CEO of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, to explore how disease foundations can help shape the research and innovation ecosystem. Tim shares the Society’s evolution from funding its first research grants nearly 80 years ago to connecting scientists, clinicians, policymakers, patients, biotech innovators, and pharmaceutical companies around a common goal: creating a world free of multiple sclerosis. They also explore the possibilities emerging technologies like AI could create for scientific discovery and drug development.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- How disease foundations can connect patients, researchers, government, biotech, and industry to help move promising science toward solutions.
- Why MS remains an important area for biotech innovation despite decades of progress, and where new therapies and scientific discoveries are still needed.
- How funding, convening, advocacy, and a willingness to support bold scientific questions can help foundations accelerate innovation and bring better outcomes closer to patients.
Tune in to learn why disease foundations can be powerful partners in biotech innovation, and how bringing the right people, resources, and ideas together can help turn scientific possibility into progress for patients.
Links:
Connect with Tim Coetzee, PhD, and learn about the National MS Society.
Connect with Elaine Hamm, PhD, and learn about Tulane Medicine Business Development and the School of Medicine.
Check out the Pathways to Cures Roadmap and the Voice of the Patient.
Connect with Ian McLachlan, BIO from the BAYOU producer.
Learn more about BIO from the BAYOU – the podcast.
Bio from the Bayou is a podcast that explores biotech innovation, business development, and healthcare outcomes in New Orleans & The Gulf South, connecting biotech companies, investors, and key opinion leaders to advance medicine, technology, and startup opportunities in the region.
