RealPharma: Conversations with Pharma Pathfinders

🎙 Episode Title: From Job Search to Power Move: How Top Talent’s Playing 2025 🧠 Guests: Kristiaan Rawlings, Executive Director at EPM Scientific 🎧 Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt

Episode Summary Layoffs. AI. Resume black holes. The biopharma hiring market feels noisy—and not in a good way. But beneath the doomscrolling, there’s a more nuanced story unfolding.

In this episode, Kristiaan Rawlings returns to RealPharma to delive...

Featuring Congressman Jake Auchincloss

Episode Summary In this episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) to dissect the tangled web of policy, profit, and politics driving America’s drug pricing system. From pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to the politics of tariffs, this discussion explores the push for transparency, fair compet...

“Conversations, Not Campaigns: The Art of Authentic Engagement in Healthcare”

In this episode, hosts Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Colin Hung — healthcare technologist, marketing strategist, and co-founder of the long-running #HCLDR (Healthcare Leadership) Twitter community. Colin shares his journey from biomedical engineering to becoming one of the most respected community builders ...

Building the Highway for AI in Pharma: A Conversation with Ilya Burkov

In this episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Dr. Ilya Burkov, Head of AI Cloud at Nebius, to explore the critical infrastructure enabling the AI revolution in drug development.

While the headlines often focus on the promise of AI, Ilya brings us backstage—where the real acceleration happens. F...

Inside the CMC Black Box: A Deep Dive with Reza Oliyai

What exactly is CMC — and why is it behind more FDA rejections than any other category?

In this episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Dr. Reza Oliyai, former SVP of Pharmaceutical & Biologics Operations at Gilead Sciences, and now Founder & CEO of Oliyai Consulting, to demystify the world of Chemistry, Manu...

In this episode of RealPharma, Ian Wendt and Na-Ri Oh sit down with Dara Katcher Levy, a regulatory attorney at Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.—widely regarded as one of the nation’s top firms in food and drug law. Dara brings decades of expertise in promotional review, labeling negotiations, and post-market compliance, helping life sciences companies navigate the complex world of FDA regulations.

Together, they unpack the most ...

Episode Title: From Rock Star to Rare Disease Revolutionary: Casey McPherson’s Fight for His Daughter’s Life

In this deeply personal and inspiring conversation, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Casey McPherson, founder and CEO of AlphaRose Therapeutics—and acclaimed recording artist—to explore how one father’s determination to save his daughter’s life is shaking up the rare disease drug development model.

Casey shares his...

Episode Title: Behind the PBM Curtain: Antonio Ciaccia Exposes the Game

Show Notes: In this compelling episode of Real Pharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt welcome back Antonio Ciaccia, CEO of 46brooklyn Research and President of 3 Axis Advisors, for a hard-hitting discussion on the power and pitfalls of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

PBMs remain one of the most opaque and influential forces in healthcare—shaping drug prices, ...

This week on Real Pharma, hosts Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt dive into the tangled world of 340B with returning guest William “Bill” Sarraille—one of the most respected voices in healthcare law, an active patient advocate, and a rare disease patient himself.

The 340B Drug Pricing Program was intended to help vulnerable patients by requiring drug manufacturers to provide discounted...

Episode Title: Paging Dr. ChaptGPT with Bryce Sady

AI Adoption in Healthcare: Navigating the Present and Shaping the Future with Bryce Sady

Episode Description: On today's insightful episode of RealPharma, hosts Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Bryce Sady, Vice President of Product Development at PSL Group's Medical Education and Communications Division, a veteran innovator at the intersection of healthcare data, educatio...

Episode Title: “Hiring Heat Check: What’s Hot in Biotech + Pharma Talent in Mid-2025”

🎙️ Hosts: Ian Wendt & Na-Ri Oh 🎧 Guest: Kristiaan Rawlings, Executive Recruiter at EPM Scientific

Episode Overview:

This week, fan favorite Kristiaan Rawlings returns to RealPharma to give us the raw and real insights on pharma and biotech hiring trends as we hit the midpoint of 2025. From compensation curves and BD boom times to the rise...

Guest: Andrew Craig, Founder of Plain English Finance | Author of Our Future is Biotech

In this bold and wide-ranging conversation, Ian Wendt and Na-Ri Oh sit down with Andrew Craig—British investor, entrepreneur, and author—to explore how biotechnology is poised to shape the next century in the same way physics and computing shaped the last.

Craig draws on his decades ...

🎙 Episode Title: Rooted in Results: The Future of Functional Medicine with Dr. Erica Armstrong 

🧬 Episode Summary In this episode, Dr. Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Dr. Erica Armstrong, board-certified family medicine physician and founder of Root Functional Medicine, to explore the promise, challenges, and evolution of functional medicine. Dr. Armstrong discusses how Root’s systems-based, data-driven approach is helpi...

🎙️ RealPharma Podcast

Episode Title: Cracking the Code on Patient Engagement: Conversational AI with Dan Fox

🗓️ Release Date: May 5, 2025 🎧 Hosts: Dr. Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt 🎤 Guest: Dan Fox, Managing Director of Healthcare at Drips

In this eye-opening episode, we welcome Dan Fox, a trailblazer in AI-powered patient communication, to explore how proactive outreach and conversational AI are reshaping healthca...

In this powerful and deeply human episode of RealPharma, we’re joined by Grace Magedman, PharmD—former Chief Pharmacy Officer at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, functional medicine practitioner, and founder of The Magidman Group.

Grace takes us inside her 20+ years of hospital pharmacy leadership, where she navigated high-stakes medication decisions, complex implementation of rare disease therapies, and the ethical strain of ...

In this second part of our deep dive into hematology and oncology, we welcome back Dr. Yaming Wang, founder of Alphabet Health LTD and an expert in molecular oncology, pharmaceutical strategy, and medical education. Building on our previous discussion, we explore cutting-edge advancements in cancer diagnostics and therapies, including the promise and limitations of liquid biopsies, the evolution of immunotherapy, and the expanding ...

🎙 RealPharma Podcast – Oncology Part 1: Understanding the Cancer Universe with Dr. Yaming Wang

Cancer is one of the most complex and pressing challenges in modern medicine. But how much do we really understand about it? In this first episode of our two-part oncology deep dive, we sit down with Dr. Yaming Wang, founder of Alphabet Health, to break down the fundamentals of oncology and hematology.

From the earliest discoveries in ca...

In this episode of Real Pharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt engage with Joshua Kettner, co-founder of DreamBody Clinic, to explore the intricacies of stem cell therapy.

They discuss the clinic's unique approach to regenerative medicine, the science behind mesenchymal stem cells, and the various applications and limitations of this therapy. The conversation also delves into the regulatory challenges faced in the US and how these im...

In this riveting episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with the renowned ethnopharmacologist, Dennis McKenna, to explore the profound intersection of nature, science, and healing. From Dennis’s storied journey into the world of plant medicines to the evolving landscape of psychedelic therapies, this conversation is as thought-provoking as it is inspiring.

Key Topics Discussed:

🌿 Dennis’s Journey: How an ea...