Excerpted from full article as featured on Healthline
- Advocates say they’re optimistic about the future of cancer research during the incoming Biden administration.
- They describe President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as passionate supporters of cancer research.
- They also note that the new administration will preserve the Affordable Care Act, which provides healthcare coverage for people with cancer.
[An] area of concern for the cancer patient advocate community is the lack of awareness of and access to the latest clinical trials and treatments.
Patrick Howie is founder and chief executive officer of MediFind, an online resource that deploys advanced artificial intelligence to help people with cancer find the right clinical trials, treatments, physicians, and second opinions.
He believes the Biden-Harris administration will support his efforts.
“Creating ways for patients to find better care faster is something we believe both the president-elect and vice president-elect will appreciate,” said Howie, who was head of global analytics for the pharmaceutical company Merck before creating MediFind.
“Our platform helps patients struggling with any form of cancer find the experts and learn about every clinical trial and treatment option for their specific form of cancer, saving them the one thing they need most, which is time,” Howie explained.
He decided to develop this new resource for cancer patients and their families after the experience he had with his brother, Dennis Howie, who had a rare cancer that was difficult to treat.
“After my brother was diagnosed, we spent hundreds of hours doing internet research and using every connection we had to find the best care possible. But we just kept losing time,” Howie said.
“Despite all our efforts, it took us over 3 months to find a surgeon who really knew this specific cancer and over a year to find out about a relatively novel treatment option,” he added.
Despite the family’s efforts, Dennis Howie died of his cancer in 2015.
MediFind exists, Howie said, “in honor of my brother and his family, with the hope of helping the millions of people living with serious, chronic, and rare illnesses find better care faster.”
Read the full article as written by Jamie Reno here.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Mike Segar
