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Welcome everyone to the Becker's Healthcare podcast series.

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I'm Ryan Muhammad, writer and moderator with Becker's

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Healthcare. And I'm thrilled to have with me

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today, doctor Jane Abraham,

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chairman of the department of hematology and medical

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oncology at the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Institute.

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Doctor, welcome to the podcast. I'm very excited

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to have you join us today. I know

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you recently did another Becker's oncology webinar with

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me, so it's nice to speak with you

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again. But to get us started, would you

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mind please introduce yourself for the audience and

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tell us a bit about your background?

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Sure. Thank you, Mariah, for having me again.

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So I'm Jame Abraham. I'm the department chair,

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for the hematology and oncology,

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at Cleveland Clinic, and, I'm a professor of

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medicine

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at the Leona College of Medicine.

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So as the department chair or, if I

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can say the enterprise

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chair of the HemOnc,

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I'm responsible for our

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cancer caregivers,

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in Ohio and Florida

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and then Abu Dhabi.

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Our goal is to make sure

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we provide,

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the best care and across

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our enterprise

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for patients with cancer.

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Yeah. Wonderful. Thank you so much for giving

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us that background.

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As a fellow Ohioan that now lives, in

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another state, I'm glad that you're doing what

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you're doing for the state. So what are

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some of your top priorities for the rest

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of the year, do you think?

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So 2025,

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we will continue to focus on our mission,

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that's providing the best care for our patients,

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making sure,

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we can provide

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most advanced and and then new cancer

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treatment for our patients who are coming through

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our doors, you know, here at,

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Ohio,

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in Florida,

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and Abu Dhabi.

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To do that, we need to continue to

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make sure we continue to support our team,

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recruit

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number of doctors, continue to recruit number of

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doctors to our team

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because

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we are expanding our services

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and our we continue to grow.

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So our my number one number two priority

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is continue to recruit people,

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doctors, and other team members to the team.

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And the third priority is continue to look

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for newer

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treatment options,

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so that we are

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staying

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ahead of the curve

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as far as the cancer treatment is concerned,

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as standard of treatment,

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and then, of course, in our clinical trials.

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So, and then, of course, we continue to

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educate. We have a you know, one of

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the largest fellowship program in the country.

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We continue to educate our fellows,

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and and we have APP fellowship.

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So we train in a huge workforce

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to support,

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that increasing

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need for cancer care in our country.

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Got it. Yeah. Thank you so much for

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giving us that that overview.

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Are there any programs

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or initiatives that have been the most needle

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moving for you or the organization,

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in 2024?

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So 2024,

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we continue to grow.

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We saw more patients than before.

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Some of the unique programs,

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we introduce

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a large number of new clinical trials for

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our patients.

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Most of them are first in humans.

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So number of novel treatment

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options came through

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in our site, mostly at our main campus

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in Cleveland.

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So that is one of our biggest this

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thing. And then our team has made tremendous

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progress in

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cellular therapy,

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mainly in Till,

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tumor infiltrating lymphocytes,

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and, of course, and other CAR T products,

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CAR t treatments in, heme malignancy.

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So we are really proud of our team's

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clinical

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and research effort. And then if you look

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at

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a number of our colleagues have press have

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published

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journals which are, you know, really practice

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changing,

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across the country or across the world.

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Yeah. Absolutely. And and, doctor, before I let

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you go, the last thing I really want

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to ask you is, how are you thinking

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about growth in member experience,

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as a whole?

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So,

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again,

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let let me rephrase that question. Again, when

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we continue to grow,

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we want to make sure

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our

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patients

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get the best experience,

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and has you number. I know cancer is

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not the easiest diagnosis.

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We want to make sure,

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we,

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take care of patients

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holistically, you know, from the diagnosis to treatment

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to supporting them physically and emotionally.

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So patient experience,

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is, our forefront. I know that's we continue

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to focus on that. And at the same

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time, we continue to support our team.

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How do we continue to support them

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when

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we see more patients

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than before?

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And as you know, Maria,

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the world is getting complicated with

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genomics,

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new treatments coming through every day,

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and now the AI is really coming to

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disrupt

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the existing

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care delivery,

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diagnostics,

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and even, you know, the drug discovery.

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So how do we continue to support our

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team

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in this disruptive

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environment? So we continue to focus on all

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these things,

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when we look for look forward to 2025.

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Got it. Yeah. Absolutely. That makes a lot

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of sense. And thank you so much for

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those final thoughts. It's definitely been, a very

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informative discussion, doctor. So I wanna thank you,

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for coming back on Becker's HealthCare,

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and I look forward to connecting with you

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again soon.

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Thank you, Maria.