DrORourke
@DrORourke2
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Neurosurgeon-Scientist at UPenn. Director, Glioblastoma Translational Center of Excellence, Abramson Cancer Center. Innovator. Working to cure brain cancer.
Philadelphia, PA
Joined June 2018
This is an entertaining post
There's a new kind of biotech company in silicon valley, the 'human enhancement company'. I believe this is the next new category of technology company to yield not only a >$100B household name, but to truly uplevel human health and wellbeing. These companies are
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Patrick’s hyperfluency is on point in this interview > a16z was arguably the first TechBio fund, so I thought there there might be more “hot” takes from the interviewer side > *new legibility* of virtual cell as a copilot for lab for time series perturbations. Eg they can let
Can AI cure disease & make science faster? @pdhsu @JorgeCondeBio and @eriktorenberg discuss (00:45) The Moonshot: Virtual Cells and Human Biology (02:58) Interdisciplinary Collaboration at Arc Institute (05:11) The Role of AI in Biology (10:18) Understanding Virtual Cells
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I have a suggestion - involve physician scientists in your efforts, those who are immersed in all aspects of a specific disease #GBM @PennCancer
What if we could manipulate biology as quickly and easily as we do software? That is the bet @pdhsu and @arcinstitute are making. Science is slow because biology is the most complex system we study and because we do not natively speak its language (DNA). Those constraints are
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Katy - this is a tour de force paper ! Congratulations to you and your group for leading the path for optimizing #NK cells for tumor therapy !
Delighted to share our Cancer Cell paper published today, co-authored by Dr. Alexander Biederstädt @ABiederstadt_MD and Dr. Rafet Basar @rftbsr9 reporting the first genome-wide CRISPR screen in primary cord blood NK and CAR NK cells. We identify key genetic checkpoints including
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What does “conservative” have to do to do with this decision? He was unqualified and that has always been the consensus in academia
It's never meant to be personal so sorry to Vinay if it sounds this way, but this is beyond the best case scenario for biotech. Conservatives' clear message to FDA: be generous in allowing patient and family choice.
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Katy congratulations to your group - this is a big advance towards the goal of making CAR-NKs a therapeutic reality
Hind, many congratulations on this important work & sincere thanks to the brilliant co-authors who made it possible. I’m so proud of all you’ve achieved and wish you every success as you begin your independent career. Excited to see what comes next!
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Our full P1 trial paper now available @NatureMedicine for treatment of recurrent #Glioblastoma completed at @PennMDForum @PennCancer with support from @KitePharma
#cureGBM We see anti tumor responses and have defined dose for ICV #CART cells
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#ASCO25 Tune into the “Turning ‘Cold’ Tumors ‘Hot’” Clinical Science Symposium tomorrow morning to hear more from @StephenBagleyMD on CAR T cell therapy for recurrent #glioblastoma. Abstract 102. @PennNSG @DrORourke2
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I find this sentiment from a reporter on the biotech sector to be both alarming and grotesquely simplified. Perhaps you don’t warrant the platform you have for new innovation? #RFK is a disaster for health at home and abroad
RFK isn’t where he is right now because he’s right on every issue - it’s because he’s on the right side of the public’s anger towards the status quo. Now that he’s in, protesting change is going to get people and our industry nowhere. Better to be a part of the solution.
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He wasn’t part of the ticket and is a threat to the health of all Americans including children. I urge you to reconsider your position #RFKJr should not be confirmed
My take on RFK Jr is that while a disagree with many of his ideas and I think he has a questionable temperament, I do think he should be confirmed because in his case he was essentially part of the ticket and many Americans in part voted for him and for change in healthcare.
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Patient-derived glioblastoma organoids as real-time avatars for assess... https://t.co/MGZYFFoT0V Happy to report our work using #GBM organoids to predict #CART response in #glioblastoma @PennCancer
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Very pleased to report that our trial results discussed here by @carlhjune have been extended to 14 patients to date and we are seeing longer survival in recurrent #glioblastoma with bivalent #CART cells - this approach was developed by my team at @PennCancer in the #GBM Center
#Glioblastoma (GBM) is a devastating disease. But hope may be on the horizon. #CARTcelltherapy trailblazer @carlhjune shares how the revolutionary therapy has showed promise in recent trials involving #GBM patients.
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Great news for @PennMedicine and @PennCancer - Daniel if you have interest in #glioblastoma let’s talk soon or at @parkerici to discuss new #CART cell design for #GBM
Big news! 🥳🥂 In July 2025, I will be joining the faculty of University of Pennsylvania, @Penn_CBIO. The Goodman Lab for Synthetic Immunology will combine synthetic biology, genome engineering, and ML-driven functional genomics to study and manipulate primary immune cells. 🧵1/3
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Our group recently also showed that TGFb disruption enhanced our bivalent CART cell approach currently in P1 for recurrent #glioblastoma
#Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most difficult cancers to treat, in part due to its immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in which TGF-β protects the tumor. Research in @OUPAcademic’s Neuro-Oncology journal unveils a strategy to overcome this: https://t.co/RgnvGh5soN (1/3)
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Important talk! Great to see this !@PennNSG
@CNS_Update #2024cns Understanding and Improving Quality in Neurosurgery symposium. Representing @PennNSG along with Dr. Zarina Ali. She’s a leader in #eras and #peripheralnerve surgery.
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You should do a Substack - this is a great resource !
Biggest medical discoveries of the week (🧵) 1. The inflammation that can happen in severe COVID-19 can be prevented (in mice!) with an anti-fibrin antibody - named '5B8' ( https://t.co/sD3lsXdxs4)
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This is a massive overreach - AI driven discovery does not account for biological complexity which is the major challenge in drug evaluation and approval
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says AI could increase the rate of discovery in biology by 100x, compressing the total amount of progress that occurred in the 20th and 21st centuries to just a few years
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We have received remarkable support from @PennCancer and the Center for Cellular Immunotherapy at @PennMedicine led by @carlhjune for our #glioblastoma #CART trials and believe strongly in progress leading to FDA-approved products in this time frame
.@carlhjune discussed the potential of using #CARTtherapy to treat #glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. “I think about five years down the line, we’re going to have FDA-approved CARs for glioblastoma.” @PennCancer
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This is one of the worst takes on how we approach patients I have ever heard- get yourself informed
One thing that struck me today was how many physicians just want to feed you a line of crap to keep you quiet. I've heard that it takes anywhere from 1 to 7 days to get a biopsy result. Estimates bouncing all around. In fact, the best look for solid indications in the first 24-48
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