The Doctor's Art
The practice of medicine–filled with moments of joy, suffering, grace, sorrow, and hope–offers a window into the human condition. Though serving as guides and companions to patients’ illness experiences is profoundly meaningful work, the busy nature of modern medicine can blind its own practitioners to the reasons they entered it in the first place. Join resident physician Henry Bair and oncologist Tyler Johnson as they meet with doctors, patients, leaders, educators, and others in healthcare, to explore stories on finding and nourishing meaning in medicine. This podcast is for anyone striving for a deeper connection with their medical journey. Visit TheDoctorsArt.com for more information.
The Doctor's Art
At the Edge of Precision Medicine | Euan Ashley, MBChB, DPhil
Precision medicine — the approach to health care that involves tailoring medical interventions to an individual's genetic makeup, environment and lifestyle — promises to deliver the right treatment to the right person at the right time. From preventing diseases decades before they appear, to specially designed cocktails of cancer drugs, to genetic modification of rare diseases, many of these applications sound straight out of science fiction.
At the forefront of precision medicine and medical genomics is Euan Ashley, MBChB, DPhill, Chair of Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center. A cardiologist and intensive care physician by training, Dr. Ashley has pioneered the use of genetic sequencing to identify risk factors for heart disease and new treatments for rare diseases. He is also the author of The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them (2021).
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss his path from growing up in a small Scottish town to now working at the cutting edge of medicine, the excitement and fulfillment he experiences as a clinician in the cardiac intensive care unit, remarkable patient stories of healing and resilience, the future of precision medicine, why he is optimistic about the development of artificial intelligence, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:24 - Dr. Ashley’s path to medicine and to cardiology
7:19 - What life is like working in the CCU
21:34 - How the Undiagnosed Diseases Network was founded and what it does
33:22 - An overview of precision medicine
38:09 - The impact that genetic testing and genomic medicine is having on modern medicine and where it could go from here
45:00 - Dr. Ashley’s thoughts on how AI will change the field of medicine
51:40 - Making access to medical advancements in AI and genomics more equitable
1:04:39 - Dr. Ashley’s advice for healthcare professionals in training
Dr. Euan Ashley can be found on Twitter/X at @euanashley.
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