Robert Weker: Against All Odds

Rob Weker’s story is remarkable for many reasons.

First and foremost, he has beaten cancer.

Not once. Not twice. But three times.

Getting the third diagnosis, this time it was pancreatic cancer, really got his attention. Only 7% of pancreatic patients live beyond 5-years.

I met Rob at last year’s Patients as Partners conference and really enjoyed his perspective. His plea was for the conference attendees to walk in his boots. And yes, he had those boots on stage. 

You see, Rob is also a veteran of pharmaceutical R&D. He had a deeper message for his professional colleagues. In his professional life, he turned his propensity for asking questions into a career looking at the process improvement and quality.

Rob is very methodical in how he analyzes problems – whether at work or as a patient. His experience has taught him that it is very important to keep asking questions until there are none. In this episode, he shares a few stories of how this has worked well for him as he battled for his life.

Obviously, on the health side, he has beaten the odds. He just passed the 5-year mark since his diagnosis.

And now he is turning his energy to bridge the gap between patients, industry, and the rest of healthcare.

You can read Rob’s blog on LinkedIn (click here) It’s about being proactive and not relying on luck.

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