When Your Career and Personal Life Collide - VP of Medical and Science Strategy and Head of Syneos Health's Rare Disease Consortium FSHD Rare Dad - Raymond Huml | Like A Girl Media, a podcast agency for elevating women's voices in healthcare

ONCE UPON A GENE - EPISODE 146

When Your Career and Personal Life Collide - VP of Medical and Science Strategy and Head of Syneos Health's Rare Disease Consortium FSHD Rare Dad - Raymond Huml

Ray Huml and his wife have two kids with Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD). He's an author, Vice President of Medical and Scientific Strategy and Head of the Rare Disease Consortium at Syneos Health Clinical Solutions.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

As a family, how do you navigate metal health?

We've decided as a family to take what's not good and make it good. We reach out to the professionals we need to for mental and physical health. My dad used to say we're all composed of body, mind and spirit and they're all interwoven, so you have to address all aspects.

How do you find patients to participate in clinical trials?

There has to be a compelling argument for why a person should participate in a clinical trial. I lobby heavily in the FSHD Society to develop ICD-10 codes for Muscular Dystrophy, including FSHD, so patients can be tracked. That provides a digital footprint of identifiable patients with a diagnosis. With HIPPA rules, you can't contact patients directly, but the data can be used to know how many patients there are.

What advice do you have for patient advocacy groups to get ICD-10 codes approved?

Be persistent and advocate for each rare disease individually so it's more easily differentiated and tracked.

How have things changed for you as a caregiver as your children have grown into adults and gone away to college?

We've changed our life in order to support them, traveling often to help how we can, encouraging them and staying connected.

CONNECT WITH RAY

Email: raymondhuml@gmail.com or raymond.huml@syneoshealth.com

LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED

Global Genes Patient Advocacy Summit

https://globalgenes.org/event/rare-patient-advocacy-summit/

FHSD Society

https://www.fshdsociety.org/

Accelerating Rare Disease Drug Development: Lessons Learned from Muscular Dystrophy Patient Advocacy Groups