Dr. Brian Koffman is extraordinary, in many ways. He’s extraordinary in the medical sense because, after twelve years of battling blood cancer, doctors can no longer find a single trace of malignancy in his entire body.
In this week’s episode of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Dr. Brian Koffman, a doctor turned CLL patient, whose patient education and advocacy efforts have given hope and encouragement to CLL cancer patients everywhere.
Dr. Brian Koffman is extraordinary, in many ways. He’s extraordinary in the medical sense because, after twelve years of battling blood cancer, doctors can no longer find a single trace of malignancy in his entire body. He is 100% cancer-free going on almost two years, thanks to an experimental therapy that wiped out his CLL cancer in less than a month.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO INTERVIEW ON HIDDEN FORCES
But there’s another way in which Dr. Koffman is extraordinary, and this has to do with how he has handled his diagnosis. Brian Koffman’s willingness to share his experience undergoing cutting edge treatments, as well as his decision to leave his medical practice behind and dedicate his life entirely to being a CLL advocate have both had an enormously positive impact on the lives of CLL patients and their families.
Many listeners will already know Demetri’s story and that he is a survivor of a brain tumor that caused him debilitating psychological and physical distress, but which also empowered him to change his life. It took such an experience for Demetri to truly understand that his time in this world is limited. This is not just true of him; it is true of you, too. It’s true of all of us. We’re all mortal, and how we choose to spend our precious time in the face of this reality is what gives our lives their meaning. It is what distinguishes Dr. Koffman’s life from yours, and yours from someone else’s.
Dr. Koffman has made his choices, and hopefully, he will have many, many more to make. His story is one of perseverance, leadership, generosity, and service to a cause greater than himself. But besides serving as an important source of information and optimism about a very serious illness, we hope that his story and this conversation provide you with cause to reflect on your own life and on the things that matter most to you and how you want to spend your remaining time on this planet.
GeoVax (Symbol: GOVX) Announces Initiation of Phase 2 Clinical Trial of COVID-19 Vaccine Booster in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Brian Koffman, M.D.C.M., FCFP DABFP (retired) MS Ed, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the CLL Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the unmet needs of those diagnosed with CLL/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), commented, “Despite the current authorized COVID-19 vaccines providing protective immunity among the majority of patient populations, individuals with CLL/SLL, regardless of their treatment status, have had less predictable and often insufficient immune responses to the currently authorized vaccines.”
“Within the CLL/SLL patient population, more robust and durable protective immunity is needed, especially next-generation vaccines that could induce stronger T cell and antibody responses. This trial leverages past success with a similar type of vaccine used for protection against a different viral infection (Herpes – CMV) in the immunocompromised to develop a vaccine intended to provide enhanced and more durable protection against COVID-19 infections in the high-risk CLL/SLL population. The CLL Society and the CLL/SLL community welcome this study and look forward to the results.”
Interview with Dr. Koffman and Dr. Don Diamond, Chief Investigator for the joint City of Hope and Geovax Covid vaccine for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia patients.
(Related News), Hidden Forces has no affiliation or relationship with GeoVax (GOVX) though we would love to see Dimitri interview David Dodd, CEO as GeoVax is in clinical trails to develop a Covid vaccine for CLL patients.
For more information about Brian Koffman or to learn more about his work in CLL patient education and advocacy, please visit https://cllsociety.org.
You can access the afterthoughts segment to this week’s rundown, the transcript of Demetri conversation with Dr. Koffman, as well as the episode rundown (show notes and educational materials about the substance of today’s conversation) through the Hidden Forces Supercast Page. All subscribers also gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily be added to your favorite podcast application.
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
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#Dr Brian Koffman, #GOVX
