Inside Out Quality

Gordon Isaacs sat on a table at Stanford Medical School in 1955. A large linear accelerator shadowed behind him while he waited for treatment of the tumor growing in his retina. He made history as the first patient treated in the US with this radiation therapy approach. Linear Accelerators (LINACs) have come a long way since that time and have treated millions. How has there been so much success? The answer is a harmonization betwe...

Scott Jerome Parks died in 2007 from a radiation overdose. His slow, agonizing death captured headlines. Headlines were followed by a congressional hearing, where his dad shared of Scott's suffering and the need for reform in medical device and radiation safety.  As I learned of his story, it brought me to many more stories. The first being the Therac 25.

Natalia Silvis-Cividjian also found the story of the Therac 25...

In this episode, Dr. David Evans, Virologist at the University of Alberta joins Leslie and I, where we explore a question he once asked. Could he and his team synthetically recreate horsepox virus? 

Science is all about asking questions and creating experiments to answer them. These questions can make us uncomfortable. Quality Assurance also thrives on questions. Listen in while we discuss his experiment and ask him questi...

In 1920, the US began recording deaths from Opioids; between 1920 and 1921, 105 people died from accidental overdose.

In 2021, 80,816 people died from overdose on opioids (CDC). We are losing a battle. The opioid crisis is a healthcare system problem; one component of this system is the sales rep. In this episode, we interview Alec Burlakoff. Alec was the VP for sales at Insys and a master of sales and building teams. His ...

Michelle Hutchison is an actress, voiceover coach, writer, and producer. She also teaches professionals in the medical product industries on how to present more effectively-- we knew we couldn't talk about motivational speaking with talking about the speaking part!

In this episode, Michelle talks about performance in presentations with Leslie and I to discuss getting past slide decks and communicating with skilled exp...

Earlier this year, I began searching for a Quality Assurance motivational speaker. This search introduced me to many amazing people; Bart Bosch is one of them.  Bart is the founder of Vlitix and specializes in utilizing quality systems as a value driver for organizations. 

If you want to turn Quality Assurance into a value driver for your company, this is your episode! Listen in as Bart and I discuss how quality can make y...

In the world of GMPs and quality, it's easy to overlook the importance of pest management until its too late. In this episode,  Frank Meek, Manager of Technical Services at Rollins/Orkin joins us to tell us how Orkin approaches all things pest control, from prevention, investigations, and control of pest along with other services they provide the industry. 

Frank Meek is a Technical Services Manager for Rollins. As a ...

Gabriel Licina is a leader in the world of independent science and was at the forefront of the biohacking culture. His work showed that exciting technology can be created from the home using networking, education, and freedom. 

I expected someone known as a Biohacker to be resistant to regulations and quality concepts, but I quickly learned the opposite. On this episode, Gabriel joins Leslie and I to talk about Biohacking,...

“Are you disturbed at night and broken of your rest by a sick child suffering…. It will relieve the poor sufferer…and is the prescription of one of the oldest and best female physicians and nurses in the United States.” --This is not an ad about our podcast :) This is an add from 1905 for Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup (a morphine based product advertised to help sooth children)

FDA Historian Vanessa Burrows joins Lesl...

Jason Vuic, author and historian, joins Leslie and I to discuss one of the best examples of quality reputation and public perception: the Yugo.

Zastava manufactured the low cost car in the 1980's, but low cost could not overcome the quality issues that turned the name Yugo, into a punchline for jokes. Car and Driver named it "Worst Car in History."

Jason wrote the book: The Yugo -The Rise and Fall...

Quality Assurance professionals are tasked with bringing continuous improvement to organizations. This means change. Change can evoke emotions.  Do we prepare our quality professionals to navigate emotional conflict?   

This episode discusses tactics to minimize and de-escalate conflict in the workplace with help from Joel Reinesch, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Dakota Wesleyan University, former Police Office...

Warning Letters are more than a slap on the wrist.  They are the first step in what can be a costly remediation and legal battle.  

How do we prevent them? What is within the power of the FDA and government when they spot quality issues? To help us with these questions and more, we are joined by Amanda Johnston of Gardner Law. Amanda has over a decade of experience in FDA Regulatory Law and experience with all sizes of com...

The FDA stands for The Food and Drug Administration, but they are also key in regulating the cosmetic industry.  In 1938, The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act gave the FDA the responsibility for regulating cosmetics and protecting customers. 

To explore how cosmetics are regulated, Charmain Rodriques, Regulatory Affairs Manager at LVMH joins us to explore how the FDA, FTC, and even customers shape the cosmetic industry...

"Mad Cow Disease" emerged in the United Kingdom in 1986. Named from the symptoms seen in cattle, it was eventually renamed more appropriately to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). When humans are infected, the disease seen is variant creutzfeldt-jakob disease (vCJD).  

This episode explores the story of how a prion shaped the beef and biotech industries and revealed a failure in questions and ethics.  We are...

Chris Schilken is the Deputy Commissioner and the Director of Business Development in the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development. South Dakota has a growing Biotech community and Chris is key to helping businesses connect to state resources to help both startups and larger companies.

He joins us on this intermission as we learn more about him and how he can help.

Learn more or contact the Governor...