Well, here we are—the final episode of Informatics in the Round (we think!). After five incredible years, 38 episodes, and thousands of listeners, we’ve decided it’s time to wrap up this journey. But first, we’re taking a minute (or maybe two hours) to reflect on this wild ride—and we’ve brought some people you might recognize! In this episode, we pull some clips from the archive to help us look back at our best moments, favorite topics, and silliest slip-ups over the years. We take you through ...
Mar 14, 2025•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 37
What role can AI play in mental health care? Let’s talk about it! In this year's final episode of Informatics in the Round, we explore how AI can assist both patients seeking diagnoses and treatments for mental health disorders as well as therapists looking to improve their clinical practice. While AI offers exciting possibilities, we also address important concerns around data privacy, potential bias, and the need to maintain human connection in the therapeutic process. It was a fitting discuss...
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 36
Can AI do our jobs better than we can? Let’s test it! You might have noticed that this episode got off to a strange start… who were those people talking anyway? That, my friends, was Google NotebookLM ’s best shot at recording this very podcast. In it, two AI-generated guests conduct an ironic “deep dive” into the topic we are discussing in this episode: whether AI will come to replace certain jobs and how it will change existing jobs in our healthcare system and beyond. For this episode, we had...
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 35
What exactly is a “learning health system”? In several of our episodes, you’ve heard us talk about how data collection has modernized through new technologies and enhanced approaches to clinical trials. But now that we have all that data, we need to transform it into clinical practice. Learning health systems are all about completing this virtuous cycle from scientific discovery to implementation, and yet, there are few that exist and work well. In this episode, you’ll hear us discuss (and perha...
Oct 09, 2024•57 min•Ep. 34
Live from the studio, it's Informatics in the Round! Okay, we aren't technically live, but we are bringing you an extra special episode from the Penn Engineering Online studio! Since all our guests are from the University of Pennsylvania, we thought we would sit down in-person to enjoy this lively discussion. Today we are talking all about chatbots and the future of generative AI in medicine. We discuss topics such as what chatbots are, whether they present the markers of true artificial intelli...
Aug 28, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 33
Welcome, everyone, to your introductory course in public health informatics! On today's episode, we discuss all things public health, including what it is, how it varies on a state and national level, and how health departments respond to public health crises. We demystify some of our misconceptions about how the public health system works, like how state departments are separate from the CDC, how we share disease statistics such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how our medical history may o...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 32
It’s no secret that handling medical data is complicated and time-consuming. Of course, the goal is to address the patient buried beneath the in-depth patient notes, multiple EHRs, and drug prescriptions. Perhaps technology can make that a bit easier! In this episode, we have the special privilege of hearing the research of two graduate students who have found the biggest pain points in our primary healthcare system and have brainstormed ways that technology, especially emerging AI, can help add...
Jun 12, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 31
What happens when you bring together three previous heads of biomedical informatics departments? A lot of reflection, storytelling, and joking around! In this episode, we bring together guests who have previously run informatics departments and are still involved in various ways, whether through research, teaching, or creating content to educate the public. We get the inside scoop into all the administrative responsibilities of these department chairs, their favorite parts of the job, and how th...
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 30
How does social media challenge or reinforce our own biases? On this episode, we sat down with the University of Pennsylvania's Desmond Upton Patton to discuss his research on social media and adolescence. We talk about the many roles social media has for young people and how they have taken advantage of social media as a storytelling mechanism and a tool for navigating safety. We discuss how social media can also be reductionist, reinforce negative stereotypes, and even perpetuate misinformatio...
Feb 01, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 29
Is every clinical trial created equal? In this episode, we learn some shocking information about the proportions of populations normally included in clinical trials. We specifically cover recent treatments for Alzheimer’s disease to discuss how we may have failed to consider minority populations in our research and how we can use precision medicine to create more equitable clinical trials. We also discuss how we can redevelop trust in scientific institutions in the wake of the pandemic and how h...
Nov 10, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 28
In this episode, we tackle an all-too-familiar topic: misinformation. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen how technology and social media can be used to both spread health information awareness and popularize misinformation. The question remains: in the age of technology, how can we be sure about the validity of the information we are receiving online, and how can we all be vigilant against the spread of misinformation? To help us, we had the wonderful Evan Thornburg join us for today's po...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 27
In this episode, we look at the genetic basis for different psychiatric disorders, the interconnectedness of psychological and physical symptoms, and how they apply to our ongoing conversation regarding health equity. For this episode, we welcomed back some of our previous guests: Lea Davis Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Division of Genetic Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her work explores the genomic architecture of complex traits, defined...
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 26
In this episode, we talk a bit about the recent advances in large language models, also known as GPT/ChatGPT. We have two wonderful guests: Christoph U. Lehmann, M.D., is a Professor of Pediatrics, Population and Data Sciences, and Bioinformatics at UT Southwestern, where he directs the Clinical Informatics Center. In addition, Chris was the first chair of the Examination Committee of the American Board of Preventive Medicine, Subcommittee for Clinical Informatics. Dr. Lehmann’s research focuses...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 25
This episode is going to introduce the concepts of health equity and biomedical informatics. We'll revisit this theme multiple times in 2023 but ST and I wanted to kick off the year with this overview that will also serve to provide a framework for some of what we will be discussing as we revisit this theme. We are really lucky to have two guests, both of whom are great colleagues and friends, whose careers have focused on this topic from two very different disciplines. Lea Davis Ph.D. is an Ass...
Feb 05, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 24
This episode, ST and I cover one of the hottest non-COVID topics in healthcare today. We strike at the heart of clinician burnout and in particular issues related to unnecessary documentation. Our guests today were discovered by Sam Butler from Epic, who invited them to present their incredible work at a national meeting where I was an attendee. I thought this was work that needed to get noticed as quickly as possible. And so we decided to develop this podcast to discuss what they’ve been doing....
Dec 01, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 23
This promises to be an incredibly informative podcast for most of us., If there was anything learned from the pandemic, it was the importance of data and helping most of us track SARS CoV2 prevalence wherever we traveled when we traveled, as well as to manage vaccine compliance within specific regions or states. Health information exchange was vital to many public health organizations. And our speakers today were front and center during the pandemic, as well as in some cases, decades before the ...
Oct 21, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Hello and welcome to Informatics in the Round, a podcast designed to help everyone become a part of the dialog about topics in biomedical informatics. I’m Kevin Johnson, a physician and informatics researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. @kbjohnsonmd on Twitter, www.kevinbjohnsonmd.net on the web! The overturning of Roe v. Wade has had a significant impact on our country. What many may not realize is the impact it might have across all of the health care system as we know it, including the...
Sep 10, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 21
This episode of IIR focuses on the functions we want in our EHR portals, including some research into some surprising new uses for portal information. Our special guest is a brilliant young faculty member from Johns Hopkins. Kevon-Mark Jackman is a Dr.PH and MPH, and an assistant professor of pediatrics, in adolescent medicine. We met a few months ago, and I thought it would be fun to discuss some of what he’s doing with EHR patient portals with the group. Sarah Bland, a leader in Vanderbilt’s C...
Jul 22, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 20
In this episode of Informatics in the Round we have a small but MIGHTY team. Sarah Bland, a leader in Vanderbilt’s Center for Precision Medicine is here, and offers her usual insight coupled with wit! We’re happy to introduce you all to Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, who is the Senior Associate Dean and Director of the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment, and Professor of Anesthesiology Medical College of Wisconsin. But wait, there’s more. Jesse is chair of the American Medical Association Board of ...
Mar 18, 2022•56 min•Ep. 19
Hello and welcome to Informatics in the Round, a podcast designed to help everyone become a part of the dialog about topics in biomedical informatics. I’m Kevin Johnson, a physician and informatics researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. @kbjohnsonmd on Twitter, www.kevinbjohnsonmd.net on the web! In this episode of Informatics in the Round I’m joined by a half dozen guests. Sarah Bland, a leader in Vanderbilt’s Center for Precision Medicine is here, along with her son Bradley. Dr. Yaa Kum...
Jan 09, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 18
Hello and welcome to Informatics in the Round, a podcast designed to help everyone become a part of the dialog about topics in biomedical informatics. I’m Kevin Johnson, physician and informatics chair at Vanderbilt. @kbjohnsonmd on twitter, www.kevinbjohnsonmd.net on the web! ------------------- In this episode of Informatics in the Round, we get some follow-up information. A few episodes back, Dr. Trent Rosenbloom led a discussion about impending changes and a lot of national concern about a s...
Nov 12, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 17
Summary In this episode, we talk in a bit more honest detail about clinician burnout and the role electronic health records are playing in taking the joy out of health care for some professionals, and in the case of some patients, making it completely unclear what is changing with their own health. For those of you who are regular listeners to this podcast, you’ll recall that our last episode focused on the issue of women in health. We’re joined by that team again. Allison McCoy is an assistant ...
Sep 16, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 16
This episode is a bit of a departure from our norm. I set up this team with the intention of discussing physician burnout from EHRs and what we are doing to improve it. It happened to be our first all-female team, plus me. In the wake of our post-pandemic attempts to return to normalcy, and some of the conversations I’ve heard from my colleagues, I realized we had an opportunity to cover some ground here that might be of interest to professionals in academic environments, dealing with remote wor...
Aug 14, 2021•55 min•Ep. 15
Hello and welcome to Informatics in the Round, a podcast designed to help everyone become a part of the dialog about topics in biomedical informatics. To paraphrase Dorothy, “Exomes and genomes and VUSes…oh my!” Time to go back to high school biology, but not the version most of us took!!!!….the one they’re teaching now. Our fourth episode of this year covers a very current informatics topic—how health care is using your genomic information to understand your symptoms and your diagnoses. This id...
Jun 20, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 14
Our third episode of this year covers a very important, timely, and relevant topic. Every so often the Federal government passes landmark legislation. We’re going to see what’s happening at Vanderbilt, which is a microcosm of what’s happening in your world as a result of 21st Century Cures and the specific actions it is requiring to stop information blocking. Huh? Yea, we’ll get into what that means. We have Dr. Trent Rosenbloom, an expert in biomedical informatics and especially technologies th...
May 15, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 13
Our second episode of this year is fascinating. What do phenotypes, COVID, Cancer, Spiderman, and Jurassic Park have in common? Well, we talk about almost all of this in the episode, but I bring up Spiderman now, and the Peter Parker principle (With great power comes great responsibility....) We welcome back Shannon Rich (@richones1), a regular on this show and a constant boost of energy and cynicism. Jane Bach (@janebach) also returns for this episode, with a great song that hints at the subtex...
Apr 01, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 12
Season 2 is here! Our first episode of this year should have the theme, meeting guests where they are. We welcome back Sarah Bland who is a regular on the podcast, for which I’m very thankful. Sarah is a leading project manager in our biomedical informatics department, and is extremely knowledgeable about informatics and precision medicine, very funny, but who also has life experiences very relevant to this episode that she shares. Alissa Abeler and Hannah Smith are a wonderful team. In their pr...
Feb 06, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 1
We conclude the 2020 year with an episode that straddles informatics education and social issues. Oliver Bear Don’t Walk is a PhD candidate doing informatics research in the Columbia University Department of Biomedical Informatics. He’s joined by Suzanne B. Bakken, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, FACMI, one of the world’s most prominent figures in informatics, and Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University. In addition to her international acclaim as a nursing informaticist, Suzanne currently s...
Nov 08, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 11
This episode includes a number of people who’ve become regulars of late: Shannon Rich is funny, irreverent, but also at times seriously frustrated, and all that comes out in the hour plus of this discussion. Jane Bach, one of the world’s well-known songwriters, returns and also has a lot to say. Dax Westerman, an incredibly thoughtful and articulate software engineer at Vanderbilt, and the man responsible for the name of this podcast, joins us. This was a topic of interest to him, and I have to ...
Oct 03, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 10
I’m Dr. Kevin Johnson , physician and informatics chair at Vanderbilt. @kbjvanderbilt on Twitter. This episode covers the most requested topic we have had so far. We have two of the world’s experts on the topic of data privacy on the show today: Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton and Dr. Brad Malin . They were incredibly generous with their time and had a lot of information to share with a very inquisitive and engaged group on this podcast. Brad and Ellen are a dynamic duo in the world of genomic privacy ...
Aug 30, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 9
