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Public Health On Call

Science Podcasts

Evidence and experts to help you understand today’s public health news—and what it means for tomorrow.

Location:

United States

Description:

Evidence and experts to help you understand today’s public health news—and what it means for tomorrow.

Language:

English


Episodes

734 - How Hospital Infection Control Has Changed Since COVID

3/18/2024
Four years after the early days of the pandemic, how are hospitals thinking about infection control, how much has changed, and to what degree have things returned to “normal”? Dr. Lisa Maragakis, the head of infection control at Johns Hopkins Hospital, returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about this “post-pandemic phase” and why health care has not fully recovered from pandemic disruptions.

Duration:00:16:10

733 - Projections of Excess Deaths in Gaza Over the Next Six Months

3/15/2024
A new report models projections of the human costs of conflict in Gaza over the next six months across several scenarios. Paul Spiegel, director of the Center for Humanitarian Health, and Tak Igusa, professor of Civil and Systems Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the project they developed with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. See the full report here: https://gaza-projections.org/

Duration:00:13:56

BONUS - How "Illiberal" Is Public Health?

3/14/2024
In his new book Within Reason: A Liberal Public Health for an Illiberal Time, Dean Sandro Galea of the Boston University School of Public Health challenges closed-mindedness and invective in public health. In this special, extended bonus episode, Dr. Galea and his friend and colleague Dr. Josh Sharfstein discuss—and debate—the fairness of his critique.

Duration:00:31:39

732 - Bringing Back Condoms to Prevent HIV

3/13/2024
Condoms were once an essential part of the public health toolkit to fight HIV and STIs. But over the last decade, and coinciding with the rise of medication that prevents HIV infection, condom use among men who have sex with men has declined. Steve Goodreau, an expert in mathematical modeling and HIV and STIs at the University of Washington, talks with Stephanie Desmon about his research on declining condom use and why public health should be doing more to tout the advantages of what was once one of the most ubiquitous tools in safer sex. Read his op-ed here: https://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/citation/9900/bringing_back_condoms.458.aspx

Duration:00:13:41

731 - A Playbook for Addressing Health Misinformation

3/11/2024
Health misinformation is rampant—online and through rumors—but there are steps people can take to help stamp them out. Aishwarya Nagar and Tara Kirk Sell from the Center for Health Security are co-authors of a new playbook aimed at helping public health practitioners, medical professionals, and health communicators recognize and respond to health-related rumors and misinformation. They talk through some specific tactics with Lindsay Smith Rogers and also discuss how we can all help improve our own health information literacy. Learn more: https://centerforhealthsecurity.org/2024/center-launches-new-practice-oriented-playbook-for-addressing-health-misinformation

Duration:00:15:29

730 - Women’s History Month: A Conversation With Sue Baker, the “Mother of Injury Prevention”

3/8/2024
When Sue Baker started her research career in the 1960s, there was no field devoted to injury prevention despite accidents being a leading cause of death in the US. In honor of Women’s History Month, Stephanie Desmon talks with injury prevention pioneer Baker about her half century of research looking at everything from aviation safety to hot dog choking deaths, and her hands-on approach to research which included getting her pilot’s license, working in a medical examiner’s office, and driving a commercial truck.

Duration:00:17:21

BONUS - COVID-19 Updated: The CDC’s New Isolation Guidelines, Vaccines For People Over 65, and New Variants

3/6/2024
The CDC announced new isolation guidelines last week that bring COVID-19 in line with recommendations for other viral respiratory diseases. Virologist Dr. Andy Pekosz returns to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about what this means in the contexts of vaccines, variants, and protecting the most vulnerable.

Duration:00:16:29

729 - Hidden Food Insecurity: The Adolescents Who Aren’t Getting Enough to Eat

3/6/2024
Food insecurity uniquely impacts youth ages 14-18 but it’s largely a hidden problem. Kristen Mmari, an adolescent health researcher at Johns Hopkins, talks with Lindsay Smith Rogers about the long-term impacts being hungry can have on young people and why most programs aimed at relieving food insecurity don’t help this age group. They also discuss false claims that nutrition assistance programs contribute to childhood obesity. Learn more: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307489

Duration:00:16:22

728 - Methadone Access for Incarcerated Pregnant People

3/4/2024
Opioid use disorder is a major contributor to maternal mortality in the US. The gold standard of care is medication like methadone, but for incarcerated pregnant people, treatment can be difficult to access and highly stigmatized. Johns Hopkins obgyn and reproductive health researcher Dr. Carolyn Sufrin and Bloomberg Fellow Camille Kramer talk with Lindsay Smith Rogers about their new study that shows not only just how difficult OUD medication is to access behind bars for anyone, let alone pregnant women in the prison system. https://arrwip.org/projects/management-of-pregnant-people-with-opioid-use-disorder-in-jail/

Duration:00:15:21

727 - What The Conviction of a Parent of a High School Shooter Could Mean

3/1/2024
The manslaughter conviction of Jennifer Crumbley, whose son shot and killed four students at his school, is unprecedented. But will it be a watershed moment for gun violence in schools? Tim Carey, law and policy advisor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the unique facts of this case, larger implications, and why Child Access Prevention laws are an important part of the conversation. Please note that since this podcast was recorded, a man in Michigan became the first person to be charged under the state’s new firearms storage law. The law requires gun owners to store firearms unloaded and secured with a locking device or in a lockbox if a minor lives at or is likely to visit their property.

Duration:00:17:01

726 - Substandard and Fake Drugs

2/28/2024
Imagine going to the pharmacy to buy a needed medicine and then finding out you purchased a falsified product that was, at best, ineffective, but at worst contained something toxic or deadly? This is the unfortunate reality in many places worldwide. Dr. Murray Lumpkin, who leads global regulatory systems for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, talks with Lindsay Smith Rogers about the substantial problem of substandard and falsified drugs, and what the world’s watchdog systems are trying to do to counter them.

Duration:00:21:25

BONUS: The Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling on Frozen Embryos

2/27/2024
The Alabama Supreme Court issued an extraordinary ruling on February 16 that embryos that are the result of in vitro fertilization are “children.” Public health law expert Joanne Rosen returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the case and its implications for IVF, how it connects to the larger context of post-Roe litigation, and what’s at stake as anti-abortion sentiment crashes up against medical technology designed to facilitate pregnancies.

Duration:00:18:49

725 - “An Unforgiving Virus” Measles Hits the U.S.

2/26/2024
Measles outbreaks can quickly spread like wildfire. Vaccination expert Dr. Saad Omer returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the threat posed by this highly contagious and potentially lethal virus – especially when communities let their guard down. They discuss the situation in Florida, misinformation spreading on social media, and what's needed to minimize the threat.

Duration:00:16:27

724 - Social Media and Adolescent Health

2/23/2024
What's the state of the evidence on the impact of social media on the mental health of adolescents? Dr. Ceren Budak, a computational social scientist at the University of Michigan, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about a new report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. The report finds a gaping need for more evidence – and for participation by social media companies in supporting research. They discuss recommendations for caregivers, Congress, and social media companies to help maximize the benefits of social media while minimizing potential harms.

Duration:00:22:37

723 - The White House’s Initiative to Eliminate Hepatitis C

2/21/2024
Deadly hepatitis C is curable, but 2.5 million Americans remain infected without treatment. Dr. Francis Collins, longtime director of the National Institutes of Health, is now serving as a special advisor to Present Biden for an effort to eliminate hepatitis C in the US. He speaks with Stephanie Desmon about why hepatitis C has been so tricky to diagnose and treat and what it will take to launch a coordinated effort to cure every American living with the disease.

Duration:00:15:12

722 - Healing City Baltimore: How A City Is Responding to A Mental Health Crisis

2/19/2024
From a 2019 school shooting in West Baltimore, Healing City Baltimore was born. The program aims to help city agencies train their employees, reform stigmatizing policies, and build new response programs—all with a goal of helping to improve mental health and well-being. Councilman Zeke Cohen and executive director Reverend Kim Lagree talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about this initiative, which recently won the Culture of Health prize from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is now a model for other cities. Learn more: https://www.rwjf.org/en/grants/grantee-stories/2023/2023-winner-baltimore-md.html

Duration:00:20:53

721 - Preventing Alcohol Misuse, Use Disorders, and Deaths

2/16/2024
Alcohol use is the fourth leading cause of death in the US, but there are evidence-based approaches to preventing alcohol misuse and deaths and treating use disorders. Dr. Cara Poland, an addiction medicine specialist at Michigan State University, talks with Stephanie Desmon about excise taxes, evidence of the harms of alcohol, and her personal connection to the topic. They also discuss the differences between misuse and disorders and challenging false notions around alcohol’s health protective effects.

Duration:00:16:31

720 - Medical Diagnostic Errors Are a Public Health Emergency

2/14/2024
Missed diagnoses account for 800,000 deaths or permanent disabilities among Americans every year. Johns Hopkins neurologist Dr. David Newman-Toker talks with Stephanie Desmon about the consequences of missed opportunities and diagnoses, especially for vascular events, infections, and cancers. They also discuss why solutions are complex and will require major efforts in terms of research and resources.

Duration:00:17:03

719 - The Two Major Abortion Cases Coming to the Supreme Court

2/12/2024
In the Dobbs decision, the SCOTUS majority hoped to return legal issues around abortion back to the states. But since overturning Roe v. Wade, a flurry of litigation has now put two consequential cases before the Supreme Court. Public health law expert Joanne Rosen talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about these two cases and the wide-ranging impacts they could have. They also discuss why abortion health care, largely an issue governed by individual states, keeps finding its way back into conversations about federal oversight.

Duration:00:19:56

718 - Why So Many Babies Didn’t Get RSV Vaccines This Winter

2/9/2024
When the FDA approved an RSV vaccine for infants in July of 2023, parents and pediatricians rejoiced. But product shortages and a patchwork of insurance coverage throttled the rollout, leaving many babies still unprotected this winter. Pediatrician and Internist Dr. Wendie Grader-Beck talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about her frustrations around implementation, and what needs to be done before the next RSV season for this lifesaving technology to fulfill its promise.

Duration:00:20:11