Episode 30: Chasing my Cure with Dr David Fajgenbaum

04/27/23 • 42 min

This month, we're thrilled to have Dr. David Fajgenbaum on our podcast. He is a clinician scientist, rare disease patient, author, and all-around incredible human being. On this episode, he tells the riveting true story of his battle with Idiopathic Multicentric Castleman’s Disease (IMCD), including his brush with death (a priest gave him last rites), and his subsequent journey to discovering his own cure. David later wrote a book about his journey called ‘Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action” and co-founded ‘Every Cure,’ a nonprofit organization aimed at unlocking the full potential of every approved medicine to treat every disease possible. He has been interviewed by the New York Times, CNN, The Today Show, The BBC... and now Around the Rheum!

Dr. Fajgenbaum is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine in translational medicine and human genetics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman Medical School.

Special Thanks: Around the Rheum is produced by the Canadian Rheumatology Associations Communications Committee. A special thank you to the podcast team, Dr. Dax G. Rumsey (CRA Communications Committee Chair), Dr. Daniel Ennis (Host), David McGuffin (Producer, Explore Podcast Productions), Erin Stewart (Marketing and Communications Director, CRA) for leading production. Our theme music was composed by Aaron Fontwell.

For more on the work of the Canadian Rheumatology Association, visit rheum.ca

Dr. Fajgenbaum is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine in translational medicine and human genetics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman Medical School.

For more on the work of the Canadian Rheumatology Association, visit rheum.ca

Previous Episode

Episode 29: Medical Mysteries #2 with Drs. Angela Hu and Danya Al-Nujaidi

"The patient in this case is a 73-year-old woman. [She] was previously healthy and not on any medications... She developed exertional shortness of breath for a few months, which prompted her to visit [the] emergency room. It was discovered that she had bilateral pleural effusion."

And so begins our latest episode of our popular new segment, Clinical Pearls and Medical Mysteries, in which two UBC Rheum Fellows try to stump Dan and Janet with this case, laying out increasingly complex details piece by piece. No spoilers, but we will say that Dan describes Janet's approach to the case in this episode as "Lebron James-like."

Our guests are Dr. Angela Hu, who is finishing her final year of Rheumatology Fellowship at UBC. She is from Vancouver and completed medical school at McMaster University and internal medicine training in Toronto. She has an interest in lupus and will be pursuing an additional fellowship in this. Dr. Danya Al Nujaidi is also in her final year of her Rheumatology Fellowship at UBC. She completed medical school and Internal Medicine Board at IAU in Saudi Arabia.

Special Thanks: Around the Rheum is produced by the Canadian Rheumatology Association's Communications Committee. A special thank you to the podcast team, Dr. Dax G. Rumsey (CRA Communications Committee Chair), Dr. Daniel Ennis (Host), David McGuffin (Producer, Explore Podcast Productions), Erin Stewart (Marketing and Communications Director, CRA) for leading production. Our theme music was composed by Aaron Fontwell.

For more on the work of the Canadian Rheumatology Association, visit rheum.ca

Next Episode

Episode 31: Myopathies avec Docteure Valérie Leclair

Bienvenue à ce premier de deux balados en français pour cette nouvelle saison d’Autour de la Rhumato avec notre animateur, le docteur Hugues Allard-Chamard. Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir la docteure Valérie Leclair pour une discussion sur les myopathies.

Docteure Leclair est rhumatologue auprès des adultes à l’Hôpital général juif, affilié à l’Université McGill. Elle est également étudiante au doctorat en épidémiologie à l’Institut Karolinska à Stockholm, en Suède. Son intérêt de recherche porte sur les myopathies inflammatoires. Elle fait d’ailleurs partie de l’équipe de recherche de l’Étude canadienne sur les myopathies inflammatoires.

Le Dr Hugues Allard-Chamard, diplômé en rhumatologie, a également obtenu son doctorat en pharmacologie à l’Université de Sherbrooke. Il est professeur-chercheur et clinicien à l’Université de Sherbrooke.