Why Sean Parker Took on Cancer: Funding Risk, Failure, and Real Progress

Most people know Sean Parker as the prodigy behind Napster and Facebook. Far fewer know why he chose to take on one of the hardest problems in science: cancer. In this clip from Precision Signals, we explore the founding insight behind the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy—that the greatest barrier to progress in cancer research isn’t talent or ideas, but how science is funded. Despite more than $300 billion spent on cancer R&D in the U.S. alone, progress has been slowed by systems that reward safety, incrementalism, and short-term wins—rather than bold, high-risk, potentially curative science. In conversation with Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute, we unpack why embracing risk and accepting failure aren’t flaws in science—they’re prerequisites for real breakthroughs.

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Decoding Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs

Expert perspectives on the trends and technologies redefining healthcare and the biomedical enterprise

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About the Podcast

Precision Signals

Decoding the Systems Behind Breakthroughs in Healthcare and Biomedicine

Precision Signals is a podcast from the CEO Roundtable on Cancer about decoding biomedical progress: what’s real, what matters, and what’s next. We talk with scientists, regulators, investors, and builders operating across the messy interface of research, healthcare, and policy. Some are moving the system from within; others are reshaping it from the outside. All of them bring signal in a world crowded with noise.

About your host

Sean Khozin, MD, MPH

Sean Khozin, MD, MPH is a physician-executive and board-certified oncologist internationally recognized for his pioneering work on advancing the use of artificial intelligence and novel data science solutions in cancer research and drug development. As Chief Executive Officer of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer and its independent AI research organization, Project Data Sphere, he leads initiatives that bridge cutting-edge technology with clinically-meaningful applications to accelerate cancer research and care.

Dr. Khozin is founder of Phyusion Bio LLC, an advisory and venture creation firm specializing in precision therapies and AI-powered solutions. His entrepreneurial track record includes co-founding Hello Health (acquired by Myca Health) and serving as CEO of CancerLinQ, where he orchestrated its strategic acquisition by ConcertAI.

His regulatory and industry expertise spans leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson/Janssen R&D as Global Head of Data Strategy and at the US FDA, where he served as founding Executive Director of INFORMED—the agency's first data science incubator—while helping establish the Oncology Center of Excellence. Earlier in his career at the National Cancer Institute, he spearheaded clinical research on molecular profiling strategies for targeted therapy development.

Dr. Khozin maintains his academic connections as a Research Affiliate at MIT and serves on multiple boards advancing the intersection of cancer research and artificial intelligence in biomedicine.