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INsights & OUTcomes with Taylor Hirschberg

This episode features Taylor Hirschberg, an award winning writer, activist, and academic. He is the CEO of Metli Consulting, an inclusive consultancy firm focused on helping to prepare for launch and providing a faster, more flexible approach to market access. Liquid Epidemiology and the Voice of the Patient: At first glance, the worlds of wine tasting and infectious disease epidemiology seem worlds apart. Yet, for Taylor Hirschberg—an infectious disease nurse, researcher, and former sommelier—they share a fundamental method: deconstruction. Just as a sommelier breaks down a vintage by its terroir, history, and water sources, an epidemiologist must dissect the environmental and social vectors that drive disease. In this episode of INsights & OUTcomes, we sit down with Hirschberg to explore how this granular understanding of human experience is revolutionizing healthcare through Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs). Beyond Binary Lab Results: Hirschberg describes PROs not merely as data points, but as a “patient-centered measurable operating system.” While traditional clinical data provides binary lab results (positive or negative, high or low), PROs reveal the “hidden gradients of suffering.” They measure the lived experience of an illness—pain, emotional distress, and the ability to fulfill social roles. However, capturing this voice requires more than just asking questions; it requires cultural and linguistic precision. If a measurement tool isn’t culturally appropriate, the data fails, potentially widening the gap in care access and tolerability. The Digital Double-Edged Sword: The conversation shifts to the role of technology in magnifying these patient voices. Hirschberg shares a powerful example from his work with the UNHCR during the Syrian civil war. With a shortage of providers and medication, digital tools allowed for “digital triage,” informing displaced populations on how to treat symptoms like diarrhea based on real-time data trends. This transformed sporadic reports into immediate, actionable historical data. Yet, Hirschberg warns that digital health is a double-edged sword. While it scales data collection, it introduces new barriers; Access to technology remains unequal, 24-hour reporting cycles can be invasive and burdensome to patients, and without high digital literacy, self-selection bias occurs, meaning the data may only represent those with the privilege to report it. The Fight for Representation: The dialogue takes a passionate turn toward the necessity of diversity in science. Hirschberg argues that you cannot produce “good science” or ensure drug safety without diverse data sets. He highlights a troubling paradox in the current regulatory landscape: while agencies like the FDA require diverse population data for drug approval, political and administrative mandates are simultaneously scrubbing the language of “diversity” from the scientific record. Hirschberg cites a specific, alarming statistic regarding a systematic review on migrant health and sexual minorities intended for The Lancet. Upon review, he found that one-third of the pivotal articles—specifically those addressing HIV and historical care models—had been completely removed from online archives. This erasure, he warns, slows innovation and creates a “generation of impact” where clinicians may lack the specific guidelines needed to treat marginalized groups, such as specific cancer screening protocols for lesbian women. The Connective Tissue of Care: Looking toward the future, Hirschberg views PROs as the “connective tissue” linking clinical care, treatment, and research. The goal is to move toward “equity-grade measurement”—a system where patient voices from all backgrounds act as the primary driver for how care is delivered and how success is defined. Learn more about Metli Consulting: https://www.metliconsulting.com/ “Science without story fails to reach policymakers. Policy without equity fails communities. Story without evidence fails everyone. Metli is a life sciences and public health consulting firm founded at the intersection of science, policy, communications, and human impact.”