'A Strong Read for Holmesians'
"The Remedy deftly combines a strong narrative with a great overview of the rapid development of science and medicine, making it a very strong read for both Holmesians and those with an interest in the history of medicine."
Thank you to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere for the great review!
"The Remedy deftly combines a strong narrative with a great overview of the rapid development of science and medicine, making it a very strong read for both Holmesians and those with an interest in the history of medicine. ... In short, The Remedy is a definite must-read, making a solid link between advances in medical science, one man's quest to find a cure for a devastating disease....and Conan Doyle developing Sherlock Holmes' character." - I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere
'The Bacteria Precede Us. They Outnumber Us. And They Will Outlast Us.'
Many thanks to Deborah Hopkinson at BookPage for her excellent review of The Remedy.
Many thanks to Deborah Hopkinson at BookPage for her excellent review of The Remedy.
"Goetz weaves together a compelling narrative, chronicling the struggle to find the causes and cures for some of the most ferocious diseases that have stalked humans (and animals) through time: cholera, smallpox, anthrax and tuberculosis. ... Perhaps most importantly, The Remedy reminds us of how far we have come, and how much we take for granted in modern medicine. Tuberculosis is still very much with us. Just as we thought we had bested the bacterium, multi-drug-resistant TB has emerged. As Goetz reminds us, in the end, “The bacteria precede us. They outnumber us. And they will outlast us.” - BookPage
The Remedy Selected as a Best Book of the Month
Honored that The Remedy has been chosen as a Best Book for April by Amazon and Apple's iBooks!
Honored that The Remedy has been chosen as a Best Book for April by Amazon and Apple's iBooks!
The Remedy comes out tomorrow. Order your copy!
'A Truly Fascinating Volume'
Thank you to the Washington Independent Review of Books, A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall and the Boston Globe for their reviews of The Remedy.
Thank you to the Washington Independent Review of Books, A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall and the Boston Globe for their reviews of The Remedy.
"…this book is my current obsession…A truly fascinating volume, a must-read for fans of medical history." – Washington Independent Review of Books
"This book made me thankful for germ theory. For basic hygiene. For vaccines! I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. I really got a feel for how relentless tuberculosis was, and how hopeless it seemed." – A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall
"The Remedy is a highly entertaining, interesting, and thought-provoking book, leaving the reader with a much deeper appreciation of how much safer — and in many ways, predictable — our lives are today thanks to the toil and efforts of men such as Robert Koch and his contemporaries." – Boston Globe
The release of The Remedy is just a few days away. Pre-order your copy today.
Highlights From World TB Day 2014
Tuberculosis was once the most feared disease on earth. In the 19th century, effectively every man, woman and child carried TB. One in four died of it.
Today, TB is curable, but efforts to find, treat and cure everyone are insufficient. Of the 9 million people a year who get sick with TB, 3 million don't get the treatment they need.
I've been following the #WorldTBDay conversation today and wanted to share highlights from the many dedicated organizations working to end this horrible disease.
Tuberculosis was once the most feared disease on earth. In the 19th century, effectively every man, woman and child carried TB. One in four died of it.
Today, TB is curable, but efforts to find, treat and cure everyone are insufficient. Of the 9 million people a year who get sick with TB, 3 million don't get the treatment they need.
I've been following the #WorldTBDay conversation today and wanted to share highlights from the many dedicated organizations working to end this horrible disease.
The Remedy, out April 3, chronicles the career of Robert Koch, a provincial German doctor who rose, through sheer determination and methodical diligence, to be the greatest scientist of the day. Learn more and pre-order your copy.
Discussing Visualizing Health & Flip the Clinic
I was honored to be interviewed for the TEDMED Blog Visionary Series and to discuss my work as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the Flip the Clinic and Visualizing Health projects.
I was honored to be interviewed for the TEDMED Blog Visionary Series and to discuss my work as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the Flip the Clinic and Visualizing Health projects. Speaking on Visualizing Health, I said:
There are the Edward Tufte’s of the world who have an expert [design] sense. But we wanted to actually validate, through statistical surveys and other testing instruments, what works best for different groups. We tested pie, bar and spread charts and different visualizations on various audiences and now have a library.
Visualizing Health launched this month. Through a partnership with the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a handful of talented designers led by Tim Leong, we've set out to develop and scientifically test ways of visually communicating health data. You can see a few examples below, but be sure to head over to vizhealth.org and check out the full gallery. You can also learn more in this Culture of Health blog post.
In January, I moderated a TEDMED Great Challenges Google+ Hangout about Flip the Clinic, focusing on rethinking the clinical visit to maximize value for both providers and patients. Watch the discussion and comment below with your thoughts about flipping the clinic.
What Weight Watchers Can Teach Us About Health
I recently spoke with Workforce about what Weight Watchers can teach us about health and what employers need to learn in order to change employees' health behaviors.
I recently spoke with Workforce about what Weight Watchers can teach us about health and what employers need to learn in order to change employees' health behaviors.
“Behavior change is the biggest opportunity that we have, but also the biggest challenge. It’s such a juicy target, but people aren’t so easy to cajole. But I believe that, just because it’s hard, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep trying.”
We also chatted about visualizing health data, Flip the Clinic (more on that soon), Iodine, and my role as Entrepreneur in Residence at RWJF.
Thanks to Workforce's Rita Pyrillis for the in-depth profile.
TED & the Inspiration Behind Iodine
TED published a new story about the impact of my TED talk on redesigning medical data and the role it played in inspiring me to found the health technology company Iodine.
Earlier this year, TED published a nice story about the impact of my TED talk on redesigning medical data and the role it played in inspiring me to found the health technology company Iodine. The TED piece provided a first look at Iodine's Med Labels project.
In mid-December 2013 Iodine launched its first project: Med Labels, which are redesigned FDA drug labels. Search for any FDA-approved drug in the Med Labels database, and you’ll see all the information submitted by drug companies to the FDA in an easy-to-read format, indexed with links for jumping to relevant information … Check out Iodine’s labels, versus the FDA originals, at the bottom of this post.
Iodine’s easy-to-understand Med Label for Prozac. Click on the image to see it a little bigger.
A look at the FDA’s label for Prozac. Click on the image to read its sprawling complexity in detail.
Also, I've been blogging over on the Iodine Blog. Check out my interviews with Susannah Fox and Eric Topol.
Updates on Iodine and The Remedy
A quick update on my latest projects. 1) I have a new startup. Iodine is a health technology company that I've founded with Matt Mohebbi. 2) The Remedy is coming. My next book, The Remedy, is all set for publication on April 3, 2014.
A quick update on my latest projects. 1) I have a new startup.
Iodine is a health technology company that I've founded with Matt Mohebbi. Iodine mines clinical data to help consumers make better decisions about drugs. We crunch open government datasets (FDA, CMS, VA) to create targeted, actionable tools that drive better decisions, better adherence, and better outcomes. We believe that Iodine will address a massive need among Internet users: 23% are searching for drug information, and half of these are unsatisfied by what they find.
I'm terrifically fortunate to have met Matt, and to have aligned with him in our vision for what Iodine can become. For years, I've advocated a philosophy built around providing individuals with better resources to make better decisions, and Matt is uniquely skilled to actually build such tools. What's more, his formidable engineering skills are perhaps overshadowed by his insights into what healthcare needs, and the potential for a new sort of consumer resource. We're having great fun and are building an incredible, world-class team. For a peek at the philosophy, check our Med Labels, our redesign of the FDA drug labels database. Expect to see the inklings of what we're up to over the next few months.
2) The Remedy is coming.
My next book, The Remedy, is all set for publication on April 3, 2014. You can pre-order the book at Amazon here. The book has had a couple splendid early reviews from Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus, which described it quite nicely (and accurately!) as "a beguiling real-life medical detective story." That's exactly what I was aiming for, and it's a real thrill to see that it comes across.
More soon, including an update at some work from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and some insights from Iodine.
Discovering Innovative Ideas at RWJF Pitch Day
In the fall, I emceed Pitch Day, an RWJF event to discover innovative ideas for solving health and health care challenges. Go inside Pitch Day by watching RWJF's video of the event.
In the fall, I emceed Pitch Day, an RWJF event to discover innovative ideas for solving health and health care challenges. Go inside Pitch Day by watching RWJF's video of the event.
Pitch Day was also featured on the Pioneering Ideas podcast, which you can hear below.