A new title for a new day!

The name of this blog has been bothering me.

Rogue is good. But if responsibility is an axis it’s not clear where on that continuum rogue sits—rogue and responsible?

For all the problems with health—or more accurately, sick—care, medicine is still necessary - we owe much to doctors. We need them.

That said, trust in institutions is already low (hard to see this shifting positive anytime soon), and healthcare is no exception. Patients are left navigating a system that wasn’t designed for them. And expecting doctors to quarterback every part of care is asking too much of an already overwhelmed profession.

I spent an embarrassingly long time thinking about the new name: Seeing Patients.
It has that Necker-cube quality I love—seeing patients / patients who see. Some people got it immediately: “Ah, double meaning. I like it.”
Others... “Wait, do you mean seen patients?”

You can decide if it works. That second response was a bit frustrating…it’s tru that being seen is a deeply human need, but patients often don’t have that luxury. No, to get good outcomes they/their loved-ones need to see. The good news is information is becoming ever more accessible to people. But that opens up new challenges to make sense of it all. There’s some basic truths;

What’s very clear: patients are confused….There’s no obvious source of truth… no clear quarterback…No consistent approach to navigating care.

Part of my motivation for writing again is that I realized the people I’m working with daily—patients, caregivers, scientists, technologists—are astonishingly impressive and working on deeply innovative technologies. I find myself learning a lot every day on topics ranging from new genomic platforms, to precision tests and treatments, to data policy. There's so much happening just below the radar that is cause for optimism in what’s otherwise a dismal system. Think of it like nurturing saplings.

That’s the problem space I’ve been focused on. To that end:

• I co-founded CancerHacker Lab (along with Brad Power) - a community of health tech founders building solutions to real patient problems. We’re backed by a brilliant network of advisors and other kickass humans. I get to help founders shape ideas, build teams, and tell stories. It feels like real impact.

• We are also building an AI platform for cancer care designed for patients & care givers, and for maximum trust. We’re currently in beta testing with a handful of advanced cancer patients. I’ll have more to say on that soon.

So what is this blog actually about?

• Patient stories

• Conversations with industry leaders—scientists, doctors, founders

• Thoughts, tools and breakthroughs at the edge of health-tech/AI, life sciences that have potential to impact patients.

For all the problems with healthcare (and cancer care in particular), this space does offer something rare: a chance to do well by doing meaningful work.

I want to share that with you. Thanks for reading. I'm glad you're here.