Oct 12, 2020

Dr. Sangeeta Chavan is a professor at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. In September of 2020, the Feinstein Institutes hosted its fourth annual Bioelectronic Medicine Summit located in New York. In this episode, Dr. Sangeeta Chavan discusses the key takeaways of the summit. 

Top three takeaways: 

1. Bioelectronic medicine uses modulation and stimulation of neural activity for the benefit of those with diseases as an alternative to drugs. 
2. Various advances are being made in clinical trials dealing with problems such as Crohn’s disease, neural plasticity disorders, and vision loss. 
3. Vagus nerve stimulation has opened a gateway to many bioelectronic medicine applications. 

[0:00] Ladan introduces the episode and the guest, Dr. Sangeeta Chavan.  

[3:40]  Dr. Chavan discusses Dr. Kevin Tracey’s background in neuromodulation.  

[5:10]  Bioelectronic medicine takes into account molecular mechanisms and neural circuits that contribute to diseases, to be able to modulate them. 

[7:20] At the summit, Dr. Chris Puleo discussed non-invasive neuromodulation using ultrasound as a form of therapy. 

[9:30] The speakers that inspired Dr. Chavan the most were Dr. Molly Stevens and Dr. Chris Collier for their cutting-edge projects.  

[11:50] The keynote speaker for the second day was Dr. Lawrence Steinman, whose research focuses on the role of amyloid proteins in inflammatory disease models. 

[13:40] Dr. Larry Miller spoke about the uses of bioelectronic medicine in regulating sphincter function.   

[15:00] Targeting nerves to treat diseases has been proven to work for many patients and is continuing to grow. 

To learn more about the Feinstein Institutes, listen to these episodes: Dr. Stavros Zanos, Dr. Kevin Tracey, Jojo Platt, Dr. Harbi Sohal