Damian Sanchez, (Damian J to music fans) is a Miami-based jazz musician. A car accident landed him in the hospital with multiple fractures to his leg. Once there, he faced the difficult decision of whether or not to take the pain medication that was offered to him. With patients like Damian in mind, Dr. Paul Negulescu and the research team at Vertex are thinking differently about pain – they’re investigating potential non-opioid based treatment options that aim to target pain differently.

Produced by Bloomberg Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Featured guests:

Damian Sanchez is a Miami based jazz musician. He is the founder of the Damian J Foundation.

Norm Buckley is the Scientific Director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care at McMaster University.

David Altshuler is the Executive Vice President, Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Paul Negulescu is a renowned cystic fibrosis researcher and now the Senior Vice President leading the team researching pain at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Read more about Vertex's approach to targeting pain at VRTX.com

John Killian’s son was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) as a toddler. Until recently, children with DMD were not expected to live beyond their teens. The disease weakens the body's muscles and cognitive functions, which can lead to premature death. John’s son is now college-bound, thanks to the help of medical advancements that target the symptoms of the disease. Geneticist Dr. Alison McVie-Wylie and the research team at Vertex hope to move past only treating the symptoms of DMD by addressing the disease at its root cause.

Produced by Bloomberg Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Featured guests:

John Killian is the proud father of Sam Killian, who lives with DMD.

Mena Scavina is a Neurologist and Clinical Director at Nemours Children's Health and a Clinical Care Team Advisor at Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.

Jon Rey-Hastie is the Co-Founder of Pathfinders Neuromuscular Alliance

Dr. David Altshuler is the Executive Vice President, Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Alison McVie-Wylie is a Vice President leading the Duchenne muscular dystrophy research team at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Read more about Vertex's approach to targeting Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Madison Carter is a fearless investigative reporter. She takes no day for granted because she lives with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Dr. Doug Melton is a world-renowned stem cell researcher and distinguished fellow at Vertex – and his now grown children, Sam and Emma, live with T1D. Along with scientists like Dr. Felicia Pagliuca, who leads Vertex’s research into T1D, he’s been on a quest to help Madison, Sam, Emma, and others like them by investigating the disease at a cellular level.

Produced by Bloomberg Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Featured guests:

Madison Carter is an investigative journalist with 11Alive News, an NBC affiliate in Atlanta, GA. She's living with type 1 diabetes.

Aaron Kowalski is the President and CEO of JDRF.

Felicia Pagliuca is the Disease Area Executive, Type 1 Diabetes, at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Doug Melton leads investigations into treatments for Type 1 Diabetes at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. He is renowned for his stem cell research at Harvard University. Read more about Vertex's approach to targeting type 1 diabetes

Produced by Bloomberg Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.