Dr. Roy Smythe likens our current healthcare system to medieval warfare. We address only the most acutely ill individuals, the flaming objects flying over the castle walls, rather than finding a way to stave off the endless supply of catapults. But what if we had a better method for assessing health and predicting disease? With innovations in AI and machine learning, his team is leveraging proteomics to develop breakthrough technologies in diagnostic testing with the potential to avoid the endless attacks.
Dr. Smythe is the CEO of SomaLogic, the healthcare information company leveraging proteomics to develop breakthrough clinical diagnostic products that will transform healthcare. Trained as a thoracic surgeon and physician-scientist, he spent two decades practicing medicine before transitioning to the corporate side of healthcare in 2013. Dr. Smythe has served as Chief Medical Officer at both Valence Health and AVIA, a healthcare technology accelerator out of Chicago.
On this episode of HLTH Matters, Dr. Smythe joins Dr. Shlain to explain what inspired his shift from practicing medicine to the corporate side of healthcare. He discusses his work helping health providers discern from among emerging technologies at AVIA, sharing the lessons he learned there around the many impediments to adoption. Listen in to understand how SomaLogic is using proteomics to predict health, wellness and disease and learn how the SomaScan Platform is a game-changer in terms of risk assessment and preventative care.
Topics Covered
- What inspired Dr. Smythe’s shift to the corporate side of healthcare
- AVIA’s work in helping providers discern among new tech
- Dr. Smythe’s medieval warfare metaphor for the healthcare system
- Why we’re only addressing the top of the ‘triangle of disease’
- The lessons Dr. Smythe learned from his experience with AVIA
- The distinction between human genomics and proteomics
- How the SomaScan Platform uses AI to measure 5K proteins
- SomaLogic’s ability to predict health, wellness and disease
- SomaScan’s benefits in terms of convenience + affordability
- How SomaScan might impact the medically developing world
- How Dr. Smythe’s mom’s cancer informs his career in healthcare
Connect with Dr. Roy Smythe
SomaLogic
Connect with Dr. Shlain
Resources
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford