S5E25 Erica Kahn | Ophthalmology Device Design & Being Laid Off

Being an Engineer · 21 Jun 2024 · 43m · Episode 25

What this episode covers

Erica Kahn, a biomedical engineer formerly of Ocular Therapeutix, discusses her work developing hydrogel technologies for treating wet macular degeneration and her recent unexpected layoff. She explains how her team used Higuchi kinetics modeling to accelerate formulation development for a sustained-release drug implant, bypassing lengthy in vivo studies. Kahn shares her emotional journey through job loss, emphasizing the importance of leveraging professional networks via LinkedIn and maintaining 'kindergarten skills' like empathy to secure support and new opportunities.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Let's Combinate · 19m

    194 - Drug Delivery Innovation, Networking in Pharma, and Building a Career That Matters with Mike Denzer

    Mike Denzer, a mechanical engineer and combination product leader with experience at Amgen, Teva, and Bristol Myers Squibb, discusses his career in drug delivery and the importance of professional networking. He highlights the development of Amgen’s Auto Click autoinjector and explains how connecting with industry experts helped him navigate complex regulatory pathways for biosimilars at Civica RX. Denzer emphasizes that building a resilient career requires asking thoughtful questions and leveraging community knowledge to solve sticky technical and regulatory problems.

  • Let's Combinate · 38m

    150 - Ocular/Ophthalmic Drug Delivery, Intravitreal Administration, Glaucoma, WetAMD, Vision, Range and Presence with Maysaa Attar

    Maysaa Attar, Senior Vice President of R&D at Bausch + Lomb, explains the unique challenges of ocular drug delivery, noting that the eye’s anatomy acts as a formidable barrier requiring combination products to achieve efficacious concentrations. She details the risks of intravitreal injections, such as endophthalmitis, and the regulatory complexities involving human factors studies for devices like syringes and bioerodable implants. Attar also discusses innovations in treating glaucoma and wet AMD, including drug-eluting stents and intraocular lenses, while emphasizing the personal impact of vision loss on patients.

  • Global Medical Device Podcast · 27m

    Meet a Guru: Ryan Behringer

    Ryan Behringer, a Training and Onboarding Medical Device Guru at Greenlight Guru, discusses his journey from a biomedical engineering student at the University of Cincinnati to a product development engineer at an Omaha startup. He explains how he used the Greenlight Guru platform to manage design controls and risk management, successfully achieving 510(k) clearance for his device. Behringer emphasizes the importance of integrating quality and regulatory knowledge early in the engineering process to avoid checkbox compliance and ensure true product value. He now helps other companies implement these systems to streamline their path to market.

  • Let's Combinate · 1h 37m

    030 - "Why Don't I Try?" with Marc Koska

    Marc Koska, founder of Apiject, explains how he identified the global health crisis of syringe reuse and developed the K1 auto-disabled syringe by modifying existing injection molds with a small mechanical valve. He details the 21-year struggle to convince conservative manufacturers to adopt the technology, leading to its adoption by UNICEF and the World Health Organization, and his advocacy work in India to mandate safer syringes. Koska then discusses his current work at Apiject on the BFS (Blow Fill Seal) single-dose injector, a biomimetic device inspired by honeybees that eliminates glass vials and enables self-administration of drugs like oxytocin.

  • Global Medical Device Podcast · 30m

    Meet a Guru: Etienne Nichols

    Etienne Nichols, a Medical Device Guru at Greenlight Guru, discusses his transition from mechanical engineering in aerospace and steel to medical device project management, highlighting how a personal injury sparked his interest in biomedical design. He explains that Greenlight Guru was founded to solve the inefficiency of managing dynamic design controls in static Excel spreadsheets, aiming to keep traceability matrices updated in real-time. Nichols emphasizes the value of the 'Guru Edge,' where a team of experienced engineers helps customers navigate complex regulatory workflows, such as UDI implementation and software as a medical device (SaMD), to bring safe products to market faster.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Being an Engineer. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.