About this episode: There’s a lot of flu out there right now, but just how bad is it and by what measures is it “bad”? In today’s episode: How this year’s flu season stacks up against years past, some factors that could be driving such high rates and severe disease, and how bird flu is further complicating things. Also: It’s not too late to get a flu shot! Guests: Dr. Erica Prochaska is a pediatric infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a...
Feb 20, 2025•19 min•Season 11Ep. 854
About this episode: The FDA is responsible for labeling on food packaging, such as the ubiquitous black and white nutrition label. But consumers could soon see new labels on foods offering more information about nutrition in key areas like sodium, sugar, and saturated fat. In today’s episode: the FDA’s proposed changes for food labeling and new standards for using the term “healthy” in everything from product names to descriptions and marketing. Guest: Dr. Peter Lurie is the president and execut...
Feb 17, 2025•17 min•Season 11Ep. 852
About this episode: Traditional police work has struggled to meet the needs of cities like Rapid City, South Dakota. Often, police are called to address situations that are related to mental health crises, homelessness, and substance use. In this episode: Rapid City’s Chief of Police, Don Hedrick talks about what it means to police with public health in mind, the success of partnerships and outreach, and how a nontraditional approach helped Rapid City address an influx of violent crime. Guest: D...
Feb 14, 2025•19 min•Season 11Ep. 851
About this episode: In 1868, the 14th Amendment established birthright citizenship in the United States. In this episode: a look at the court cases, historical events, and people that shaped one of the Constitution’s human rights provisions. Guest: Martha Jones is a writer, historian and legal scholar, and a professor of history at the SNF Agora Institute. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public He...
Feb 12, 2025•16 min•Season 11Ep. 850
About this episode: Research has linked America’s food system with a host of health problems including obesity and heart disease. Advocate Marion Nestle, a food lover and food advocate, wants to change that. In this episode: how she got interested in the food system, the link between food marketing and diet, her excitement around GLP-1 drugs, and what she’ll be watching if RFK Jr. is confirmed as the head of HHS. Guest: Marion Nestle is a molecular biologist and public health nutritionist known ...
Feb 10, 2025•17 min•Season 11Ep. 849
About this episode: Today, in another episode in a series of podcasts exploring vaccine basics from the molecular level to global policy and everything in between: The Vaccines For Children Program is a CDC program that provides recommended vaccines without charge to about half of the nation’s children. In this episode: the program’s origins in a terrifying measles outbreak, how the program works, and what the evidence shows about its success. Guest: Claire Hannan is the executive director of th...
Feb 07, 2025•17 min•Season 11Ep. 848
About this episode: Today, in another episode in a series of podcasts exploring vaccine basics from the molecular level to global policy and everything in between: how compensation for most vaccine-related injuries works in the U.S. Serious vaccine injuries are rare, but when they do happen, people can bring their claims to a special court. In today’s episode, Judge Gary Golkiewicz, a “special master” of the United States Court of Federal Claims, talks about how the program works, how often it’s...
Feb 06, 2025•23 min•Season 11Ep. 847
About this episode: Today, in the next episode in a series of podcasts exploring vaccine basics: the science of vaccine safety. In this episode, a look at what’s unique about vaccine safety compared to the safety of other medical products, and how experts tell the difference between an adverse effect that is "causal" and one that is "coincidental." Guest: Dan Salmon is the director of the Johns Hopkins Institute For Vaccine Safety . Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practi...
Feb 05, 2025•16 min•Season 11Ep. 846
About this episode: A tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas City is one of the largest in recent history. Risk to the general public remains low, but the outbreak itself could be a signal of a seriously strained public health system. In today’s episode: an overview of tuberculosis including how it spreads and who is most at risk, and what the Kansas City outbreak means for public health. Also: How the U.S.’s departure from the WHO could impact the fight against the world’s leading infectious disease k...
Feb 04, 2025•18 min•Season 11Ep. 845
About this episode: On Friday, January 31, a number of important datasets and pages housed on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website became inaccessible. In this episode: Dr. Nirav Shah, a member of the advisory committee to the director of the CDC and co-chair of the advisory committee’s data and surveillance workgroup talks about the critical work of the CDC and the value of its data sets, and the questions being asked about what’s going on. Note: Dr. Josh Sharfstein, producer ...
Feb 03, 2025•21 min•Season 11Ep. 844
About this episode: Since the mapping of the human genome in 2003, scientists have sought data from Indigenous and isolated populations. But often that research doesn’t translate into better health care for the groups whose biological specimens informed it. In this episode: all about the Native Biodata Consortium, a research organization that collects, stores, and shares data from indigenous environments and communities. Guest: Joseph Yracheta, Pūrepecha , is a biomedical researcher and the exec...
Jan 30, 2025•15 min•Season 11Ep. 843
About this episode: Thanks to vaccines, most people under a certain age have no memory of the devastation and terror caused by the poliovirus. Although widely eliminated, polio still poses a threat in certain countries around the world. Waning vaccination rates in pockets of the U.S. mean some communities are at risk of a resurgence. In this episode: a look back at polio before vaccines, and how technology has evolved—including a discussion about a previous version of the vaccine that did, in ra...
Jan 29, 2025•25 min•Season 11Ep. 842
About this episode: President Trump’s executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO could have lasting implications on the health and wellbeing of the world, and on the American people. In today’s episode, the essential roles that the WHO plays both for the U.S. and around the globe, America’s imperfect relationship with the institution, and the potential consequences of a U.S. exit. Guest: Dr. Judd Walson is an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist, and the chair of the department...
Jan 28, 2025•18 min•Season 11Ep. 841
About this episode: The first of a series of podcasts about vaccine basics from the molecular level to global policy and everything in between. What actually are vaccines and how do they work? In this episode: back to basics on vaccines and immunology with Dr. Arturo Casadevall and Dr. Josh Sharfstein, including a discussion on why we still don’t have a vaccine for HIV. Guest: Arturo Casadevall is chair of the department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Pub...
Jan 27, 2025•16 min•Season 11Ep. 840
About this episode: In the first few days of President Trump’s second term he signed a blitz of executive actions. In today’s episode: a look at some of the actions and memos that take aim at key public health policies including the communications pause for health and science agencies, a pause on NIH study sections, immediate posturing on DEI initiatives, exiting the Paris Agreement and WHO, and more. Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the posi...
Jan 24, 2025•14 min•Season 11Ep. 839
About this episode: Throughout history, humans have been engaged in public health work. In a new book, epidemiologist Caitlin Rivers shares lessons from past outbreaks, what’s changed since COVID-19, and how, at a difficult moment for public health, she’s thinking about the future and keeping a watchful eye on mpox, H5N1, and more. Guest: Caitlin Rivers is an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who specializes in preparedness and response for epidemics and pandemics. H...
Jan 22, 2025•15 min•Season 11Ep. 838
About this episode: As the administration in Washington DC changes, where will public health be able to work across partisan lines to improve the health of all Americans? A conversation with Brian Castrucci, President and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation. Guest: Brian Castrucci is president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation , a philanthropy dedicated to supporting state and local public health agencies. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engageme...
Jan 20, 2025•13 min•Season 11Ep. 837
About this episode: The FDA’s ban on the use of Red Dye No. 3 raises two questions — why is this color additive leaving the food supply? And what does this mean for other chemicals in the foods we eat? In this episode: a discussion about how the FDA regulates food additives, and how that might change in the future. A note for listeners: By the end of this episode, you will understand why “GRAS reform” is not about cannabis. Guest: Howard Sklamberg is the former deputy commissioner of the U.S. Fo...
Jan 17, 2025•21 min•Season 11Ep. 836
About this episode: Conversations about fluoride in the water supply are revving up but a key factor in the debate is the legal framework. In this episode: a discussion about the relevant law for assessing fluoride added to drinking water known as the Toxic Substances Control Act—a law limited to a focus on risk, not benefit—and what that means for emerging science and policy discussions around fluoridating water. Guest: Dr. Lynn Goldman is a pediatrician, the dean of the Milken Institute School...
Jan 15, 2025•30 min•Season 11Ep. 835
About this episode: The U.S.’s first reported human death from bird flu is another sign that the virus is not going away anytime soon. In this episode: why it’s time to double down on efforts to limit H5N1 transmission among cattle and birds, concerns about cats and other mammals, and how response measures need to scale up quickly and more broadly to try and prevent the virus from gaining a foothold in humans. The experts also discuss why bird flu poses an existential threat to the dairy industr...
Jan 14, 2025•19 min•Season 11Ep. 834
About this episode: A new report from the Bloomberg American Health Initiative finds that the U.S. lags behind many other high-income countries in life expectancy. In this report, researchers found that babies born 40 years ago in the U.S. and U.K could expect to live to the same age. Today, however, life expectancy is nearly three years shorter for those on our side of the Atlantic Ocean. In this episode: a look at the four main causes of death driving this gap—all of which are preventable—and ...
Jan 13, 2025•16 min•Season 11Ep. 833
About this episode: Hearing declines for everyone as we get older, no matter what we do. As it declines, it can cause health problems like cognitive decline and brain atrophy, and is directly linked with Alzheimer’s. But there are ways to understand and reduce these impacts including over-the-counter hearing aids and a new app where people can test their hearing on their smartphone. In this episode: a conversation about a health issue that will impact all of us to some degree, and how technology...
Jan 08, 2025•20 min•Season 11Ep. 832
About this episode: Science communication is a vital skillset for public health practitioners. But what does it really take to cut through the noise? In today’s episode, Katelyn Jetelina, the publisher of Your Local Epidemiologist, talks about the art and science of science communication, and why it’s less about being right and more about a commitment to changing the way people think. Guest: Dr. Katelyn Jetelina is an epidemiologist and scientific communicator. She is the co-founder of Health Tr...
Jan 06, 2025•16 min•Season 11Ep. 831
About this episode: On December 3, the Bloomberg American Health Initiative held its annual summit. This year, the theme really marked the moment: Advancing Public Health in Uncertain Political Times. In today’s episode, you’ll hear three conversations from the Summit about how public health can provide a roadmap for making needed progress. First: how public health data and evidence provide context for judicial decisions. Then, how a public health lens is helping to address the issue of gun viol...
Dec 18, 2024•27 min•Season 10Ep. 830
About this episode: For decades, regular mammograms to detect breast cancer have been recommended for women ages 50-75. In 2024, the age range dropped to include women 40-49 as well. But what do we really know about mammography as a tool to save lives? Are all scans created equal? What is the risk/benefit analysis to upping the number of screenings a woman is recommended to receive in her lifetime? In today’s episode: a deep dive into the evidence around mammography, and a look at the new guidel...
Dec 16, 2024•21 min•Season 10Ep. 829
About this episode: The day after the 2024 presidential election, Joe Amon—the brand new director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights—was set to give a speech for a panel about health discrimination. But the one he’d prepared wasn’t going to cut it for a moment suddenly marked by uncertainty and change. He pivoted to a different message: one that acknowledges that public health doesn’t have everything figured out, and that it works best when it’s viewed as a social mov...
Dec 11, 2024•15 min•Season 10Ep. 828
About this episode: Well into the respiratory illness season, there’s been a rise in cases of walking pneumonia compared to recent years, particularly among children. In this episode: an overview of walking pneumonia; how it’s tested, treated, and prevented; and what parents and caregivers should look out for in children. Guests: Dr. Anna Sick-Samuels is an associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of medicine and a pediatric infectious disease epide...
Dec 09, 2024•18 min•Season 10Ep. 827
About this episode: Ten years ago, Flint, Michigan was in the headlines for its catastrophic water crisis. Now, it’s on the map for a very different public health story: the success of the country’s first unconditional cash program for expecting mothers and babies in their first year of life. The concept is not new, however—it’s rooted in decades of evidence that cash programs help address root causes of poverty and can truly give kids a better start in life. Note: This episode was recorded in l...
Dec 04, 2024•20 min•Season 10Ep. 826
About this episode: Lingering environmental policy legacies from Trump’s last administration may be harbingers for what’s to come in 2025. Concerns include widespread deregulation leading to increased use of fossil fuels and a lack of vigilance around protecting drinking water and air quality. But it isn’t just the EPA itself that’s in peril: Major shift towards the politicization of climate change, and the disempowering of scientists and agencies in the court system could create lasting—and eve...
Dec 02, 2024•15 min•Season 10Ep. 825
About this episode: Outbreaks of H5N1 continue to rise in dairy cattle and poultry, and human cases are also starting to creep up including a Canadian teen who was hospitalized in critical condition. In this episode: the latest on viral sequencing and patterns of spread, the potential for economic impacts and interruptions in the food supply, risks to the general public, and concerns about how an administration change in January may impact public health’s ability to mount a sufficient response. ...
Nov 26, 2024•18 min•Season 10Ep. 824
