Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Boris Pasche, MD, PhD, FACP, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Oncology Department Chair at Wayne State University

Transcript

Boris Pasche, MD, PhD, FACP, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Oncology Department Chair at Wayne State University · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  - This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:02
  - podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
• 0:04
  - doctor Boris Pash, president and chief executive officer
• 0:06
  - of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, oncology
• 0:09
  - department chair of Wayne State University. Doctor Pash,
• 0:11
  - it's a pleasure to have you on the
• 0:12
  - podcast today.
• 0:13
  - Thank you.
• 0:14
  - Now I'm excited for our conversation.
• 0:16
  - But before we begin, can you tell us
• 0:18
  - a little bit more about yourself and your
• 0:19
  - background?
• 0:20
  - I'm happy to. Yeah. My name is Boris
• 0:22
  - Pash. I was born and raised in Switzerland.
• 0:26
  - I received an MD degree from Sweden and
• 0:28
  - one from Switzerland just to make things
• 0:31
  - more, complicated,
• 0:33
  - and I received a PhD from Sweden at
• 0:35
  - Karolinska Institute.
• 0:37
  - I then moved to The United States and
• 0:39
  - did a postdoc at Harvard Medical School at
• 0:42
  - the Brigham and Women Hospital.
• 0:44
  - I did my residency at Cornell,
• 0:46
  - New York Hospital,
• 0:47
  - my fellowship at Sloan Kettering, and then I
• 0:50
  - moved to the Midwest where I, started my
• 0:52
  - first academic position at Northwestern,
• 0:55
  - where I was the founding,
• 0:57
  - director of the cancer genetics program. After that,
• 1:01
  - I moved to
• 1:02
  - Alabama, became the chief of the hematology
• 1:04
  - oncology division
• 1:06
  - at, University of Alabama Birmingham as the deputy
• 1:09
  - director of the cancer center.
• 1:11
  - And then I served as the pre as
• 1:13
  - a cancer center director and chair of the
• 1:16
  - department of
• 1:17
  - cancer biology at Wake Forest,
• 1:20
  - Baptist Medical Center in
• 1:22
  - North Carolina in Winston Salem for for eight
• 1:25
  - years. And then I joined,
• 1:27
  - Carmanos in 2023,
• 1:30
  - and have been in,
• 1:32
  - beautiful Michigan since then.
• 1:34
  - Well, that's fantastic
• 1:36
  - to hear. And, you know, what a a
• 1:38
  - great experience you've been able
• 1:42
  - to have, and I'm just excited to learn
• 1:42
  - a little bit more about what you're doing
• 1:43
  - at Carmanos. So, with that, can you give
• 1:45
  - us a quick state of the union? What's
• 1:46
  - going well this year, and then what do
• 1:47
  - you have your eye on for the rest
• 1:48
  - of 2026?
• 1:50
  - So,
• 1:51
  - I this year was particularly important for Carmanos
• 1:54
  - because it was the year of our
• 1:56
  - renewal application as a comprehensive cancer center.
• 2:00
  - It's a process that happens every five years
• 2:03
  - for all NCI designated cancer center. It's a
• 2:06
  - great opportunity to
• 2:08
  - bring together all,
• 2:10
  - clinical,
• 2:11
  - basic, and translational researcher together,
• 2:15
  - wrap up our programs with three scientific programs,
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  - summarize our effort as it as it relates
• 2:23
  - to clinical trials,
• 2:26
  - talk about the major achievement that the cancer
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  - center has done with respect to community outreach
• 2:31
  - and engagement
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  - and, training and education.
• 2:35
  - So
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  - this,
• 2:37
  - this application
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  - contains all these elements,
• 2:40
  - and it was submitted in January. We then
• 2:42
  - received,
• 2:44
  - written
• 2:45
  - reviews,
• 2:46
  - in May, and we had last week our
• 2:49
  - site visit, which is the end of the
• 2:51
  - process of this renewal.
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  - All this went very well, and we are
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  - looking forward
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  - to hear back from the NCI later this
• 3:00
  - year and early next year,
• 3:02
  - as it relates to continuous funding of the
• 3:04
  - cancer center, but it was a,
• 3:07
  - very,
• 3:08
  - exciting experience
• 3:09
  - where everybody
• 3:11
  - is working together
• 3:13
  - to,
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  - summarize the work we are doing and and
• 3:17
  - describe
• 3:18
  - the vision for the next, five years to
• 3:21
  - our peers.
• 3:22
  - Well, that's amazing to hear, and what a
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  - huge accomplishment. Congratulations.
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  - I think it's it's definitely going through that
• 3:28
  - process is
• 3:31
  - really, really huge as you know. And so,
• 3:33
  - when you think about what it takes in
• 3:35
  - order to go through that application process, how
• 3:37
  - are you able to do it so effectively,
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  - and what do you really, you know, continue
• 3:41
  - to
• 3:43
  - think about it as you're and I know
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  - there's surely some headwinds
• 3:47
  - ahead as well. So I'd love to, just
• 3:49
  - get a sense of what you've got your
• 3:51
  - eye on and what you're thinking about it
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  - as you're heading into the next year or
• 3:54
  - so.
• 3:55
  - So I think the headwinds you are relating
• 3:57
  - you are alluding to were mostly,
• 4:00
  - due to changes that occurred with the new
• 4:02
  - administration,
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  - which really started last year in in February
• 4:07
  - and March
• 4:08
  - with a threat to cut the indirect for,
• 4:12
  - all,
• 4:13
  - funds from the National Institute of Health or
• 4:16
  - National Cancer Institute, and that caused certainly a
• 4:19
  - lot of anxiety
• 4:21
  - among faculty. There were also a lot of,
• 4:25
  - grants that were already awarded that were related
• 4:27
  - to
• 4:28
  - diversity, equity, and inclusions
• 4:30
  - that were
• 4:31
  - pulled and then were reinstated. So it was
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  - really a year
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  - full of,
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  - I would
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  - say, stressful events for the
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  - academic community
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  - not knowing really how the future would,
• 4:45
  - shape up.
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  - Fortunately, I would say over the past six
• 4:48
  - months, it seems that there has been some
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  - consensus bipartisan
• 4:53
  - consensus,
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  - at the level of the,
• 4:57
  - of congress and the senate that is very
• 4:59
  - supportive of
• 5:00
  - cancer research,
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  - particularly,
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  - the cancer research that is conducted by NCI,
• 5:07
  - designated cancer center, and we've seen a lot
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  - of support.
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  - I was at,
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  - in Washington for Hills Day, met with several
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  - of our congress,
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  - congressmen, congresswomen,
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  - and and senators from from Michigan,
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  - and, was very pleased to hear all the
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  - supports that they
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  - voiced,
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  - for the,
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  - the cancer
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  - the cancer mission,
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  - both in term of research and development as
• 5:34
  - well as clinical care in The US.
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  - So that was, I would say, a very
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  - positive,
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  - reflection over the over the past six months
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  - of the of the supports that,
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  - cancer centers have
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  - nationally.
• 5:50
  - That's great to hear. And, you know, I
• 5:52
  - think especially as you mentioned, having that bipartisan
• 5:54
  - support is so critical these days, and it
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  - seems like,
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  - cancer is really something that touches so many
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  - different people. So
• 6:01
  - Yes. Indeed. What I wanted to say also,
• 6:03
  - there have been some exciting new developments
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  - in cancer research.
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  - Over the past decade, I think as an
• 6:10
  - oncologist,
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  - it has been,
• 6:12
  - really,
• 6:14
  - exciting to be in the field of oncology
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  - because we've seen new therapies coming up and
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  - having a major impact on some,
• 6:24
  - on on some very deadly disease. I think
• 6:26
  - to mention a few, certainly, immunotherapy
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  - checkpoint inhibitors
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  - have been,
• 6:32
  - have been very important over the past decade.
• 6:36
  - This year, I would say one of the
• 6:38
  - highlight has been
• 6:40
  - the publication of,
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  - the data on pancreatic cancer
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  - showing that a pill called daraxelrasib,
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  - was able to
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  - shrink the tumor of the majority of patients
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  - and extend their survival quite dramatically.
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  - And it is a disease that,
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  - we have been
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  - treating for many years. We have made small
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  - progress with chemotherapy.
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  - It's a disease that has eluded
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  - the benefit of
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  - immunotherapy. It's what we call the immunotherapy
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  - cold disease.
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  - And to see now that a oral medication
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  - that blocks a
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  - gene mutation known known as KRAS is so
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  - effective
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  - has been
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  - a very good news for for our patients.
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  - And I would say if I had to
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  - to,
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  - summarize
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  - the the biggest news in oncology this year,
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  - that's probably the one,
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  - the daraxlorasib results
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  - and the and the fact that it opens
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  - an entire new alley of therapeutic
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  - opportunities
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  - for,
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  - many patients,
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  - in whom the tumor is driven by these
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  - activated
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  - KRAS mutations.
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  - Got it. That's so helpful to understand and,
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  - you know, really exciting to think about and
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  - look ahead the future of those different possibilities.
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  - And to your point, you know, where do
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  - you see some of the big growth coming
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  - from, whether it's on the clinical side with
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  - advancements and developments or, you know, other areas
• 8:09
  - that are really important for the Cancer Institute?
• 8:11
  - How are you thinking about growth?
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  - So, you know,
• 8:15
  - growth is sometime driven by,
• 8:18
  - by discoveries and changes. For example, theranostics
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  - has been a
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  - major plus for the treatment
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  - of,
• 8:27
  - of the prostate cancer, but also neuroendocrine tumors.
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  - So, sometime, these novel therapies, CAR T cells,
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  - really drive changes
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  - for a large part of,
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  - of a disease market, whether it's, early stage,
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  - whether it's late stage.
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  - And for academic centers, and I would say
• 8:47
  - cancer center in general, to adapt, necessitate
• 8:51
  - a foresight
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  - where you can see that some something's gonna
• 8:55
  - change. For example, you may see less less,
• 8:59
  - use of certain,
• 9:01
  - therapeutic,
• 9:02
  - application, whether it's radiation therapy or surgery, and
• 9:06
  - are replaced by some more targeted therapies such
• 9:08
  - as the one I just mentioned for pancreatic
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  - cancer
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  - or,
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  - for
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  - prostate cancer with these therapies that are called
• 9:16
  - theanostics.
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  - So I think what,
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  - what academic medical center needs to be,
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  - always aware of is that what we see
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  - today may not be what we'll we'll see
• 9:28
  - next year, and that some of these changes
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  - have a major impact on how you take
• 9:33
  - care of patient, but also how you grow
• 9:36
  - your enterprise
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  - in term of cancer center. It's very important
• 9:39
  - in this day and age to offer patients
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  - the best therapies and to be always a
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  - step ahead in term of when a new
• 9:47
  - therapy is becomes available, how quickly can you
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  - provide it to the majority of the patients
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  - in your catchment area? For for Karmanos,
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  - we we serve a very large region, about
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  - 17 sites
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  - throughout Michigan,
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  - and we are striving to provide the best,
• 10:07
  - cancer care anywhere throughout these 17 sites,
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  - being mindful that some therapies may not be
• 10:15
  - easily administered
• 10:17
  - at smaller sites that are more rural. And
• 10:20
  - I'm taking, for example, proton therapy
• 10:22
  - or,
• 10:23
  - theranostics.
• 10:24
  - They're only available at a fairly large referral
• 10:28
  - center. So what we have to think of
• 10:29
  - is how can we
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  - facilitate access to these
• 10:33
  - state of the art therapies to all patients,
• 10:36
  - in our region, in our catchment area
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  - through referral, through easy transport,
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  - through,
• 10:44
  - cons remote consultation. So there are a lot
• 10:46
  - of lot of aspects in cancer care that
• 10:49
  - are rapidly evolving,
• 10:51
  - that we try to stay ahead of so
• 10:53
  - that we can really provide to all patients
• 10:56
  - these best,
• 10:58
  - these best options.
• 11:00
  - Wow. That's fascinating to hear. And, definitely, it
• 11:02
  - seems like a lot of, great opportunities on
• 11:05
  - your end and especially given the patient population
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  - that you're serving. It's cool to to know
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  - that you've got, you know, so many sites
• 11:12
  - of care and opportunities
• 11:13
  - to spread through the community.
• 11:15
  - Now before we wrap up here, I'm curious.
• 11:18
  - I wanna ask you about leadership too, especially
• 11:20
  - given this unique moment in health care. Who
• 11:24
  - is a leader you admire really from any
• 11:26
  - industry and why?
• 11:28
  - It's a good question.
• 11:29
  - I wouldn't say that there is one single
• 11:31
  - leader
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  - that I admire from one given industry. I
• 11:35
  - think there are many visionaries and people who
• 11:38
  - have done,
• 11:39
  - creative things and were able to scale up
• 11:42
  - that I'm impressed,
• 11:44
  - by. I think one person I was always
• 11:46
  - quite impressed by was Bill Gates
• 11:49
  - for his foresight of how software
• 11:53
  - would change the world. Certainly, Steve Jobs had
• 11:57
  - had an art for both,
• 12:01
  - I would say, industrial
• 12:03
  - design as well as creating,
• 12:06
  - making a cell phone something that
• 12:09
  - people did not see would would become what
• 12:12
  - it is. I think I have also great
• 12:14
  - respect for people who have been
• 12:16
  - innovative in other in other fields, whether it's
• 12:22
  - engineering, whether it is chemistry.
• 12:25
  - I think we live in a time and
• 12:27
  - age where discovery,
• 12:30
  - is helped by a lot of tools we
• 12:32
  - didn't have maybe twenty or thirty years ago.
• 12:35
  - And I always appreciate people who have a
• 12:38
  - long term vision are able to
• 12:41
  - develop and then successfully
• 12:43
  - apply
• 12:44
  - novel thinking into medicine as well as other
• 12:48
  - other fields.
• 12:50
  - I love it. That's really interesting to hear.
• 12:53
  - It definitely makes a ton of sense. Doctor
• 12:55
  - Fash, thank you so much for joining us
• 12:56
  - on the podcast today. This has been a
• 12:58
  - really fun conversation, learning about what you're doing
• 13:01
  - at the Cancer Institute, some of the newest
• 13:03
  - advancements in, cancer care and therapies, and then
• 13:06
  - looking ahead to where our leadership would take
• 13:08
  - us. So I appreciate your time, and I
• 13:10
  - look forward to seeing you as well in
• 13:11
  - person at our CEO, CFO roundtable. I know
• 13:13
  - you'll be speaking on one of our panels,
• 13:15
  - and so it'll be great to see you
• 13:16
  - there.
• 13:17
  - Very much looking forward to meeting you in
• 13:19
  - person and being there. Thank you for the
• 13:21
  - opportunity.