David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, is a groundbreaking physician-scientist, disease hunter, speaker, and national bestselling author of the acclaimed memoir, "Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action." Best known as the ‘doctor who cured himself’ ('Doctor Cure Thyself,' NY Times), Fajgenbaum went from being a beast-like college quarterback to receiving his last rites while in medical school and nearly dying four more times battling Castleman disease, a deadly cytokine storm disorder. To try to save his own life, he spearheaded an innovative approach to research through the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) and discovered a treatment that has put him into his longest remission ever. This approach is saving his life (https://nyti.ms/2kzaTet) and other patients' lives too (https://youtu.be/xeA1rbkhtZE).Now, he is spreading this approach to other diseases ('His method could save millions,' CNN) like COVID-19 and sharing lessons he learned about living from nearly dying through "Chasing My Cure," which has been translated into five languages and named one of the “Best Non-Fiction Books of 2019” by Next Big Ideas Club.

In this episode we discuss:David’s journey with Idiopathic Multicentric Castleman’s Disease, a very rare disease that almost cost him his life, and how after exhausting all treatment options he started researching potential solutions for patients with his disease. He founded the Castleman’s Disease Collaborative Network and, using his own samples, went about trying to find a cure. The importance of turning hope into action.How COVID-19 and Castleman’s Disease cause the body to respond in a similar ways, and how David’s organization has been a key part of the global effort to discover drugs that can help.Their work with tracking previous and potential drugs that could help treat COVID patientsHow timing is so important in COVID drug administrationTheir collaborations with the FDA and UCSFFInding silver linings through tough times

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