Better Off

Latest Episodes:

May 31, 2019: A new approach to fighting malaria May 31, 2019

Show notes

Each year, more than 200 million people around the world are infected with malaria and more than 400,000 die. For the past two decades, the most successful method of malaria prevention has involved treating bed nets with long-lasting insecticides that kill mosquitoes. But that progress is being threatened as mosquitoes increasingly grow resistant to the most commonly used insecticides.

Now, new Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health research offers a potential fresh approach to fighting malaria: directly target the parasite responsible for the disease. A recent study showed that mosquitoes that landed on surfaces coated with the antimalarial compound atovaquone were completely blocked from developing Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria. The study was led by Flaminia Catteruccia, professor of immunology and infectious diseases and Doug Paton , a research fellow at the Harvard Chan School. In this week's episode we sit down with Paton to discuss the findings—and how they could be used to make progress in the fight against malaria.

Full Transcript: hsph.me/malaria-pod

May 10, 2019: Transforming America's 'sick care' system May 10, 2019

Show notes

Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams has been caring for people since she was just a child. When Trent-Adams was just 12 she volunteered as a candy striper at Lynchburg General Hospital in Virginia. The Rear Admiral later served as a nurse in the U.S. Army before rising up the ranks of the U.S. Public Health Service to become Deputy Surgeon General. In 2017, she was named Acting Surgeon General for six months, becoming just the second nurse, and the first registered nurse to hold that position. Today, Trent-Adams is Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health.

Throughout her career, Trent-Adams has focused on improving access to care for under-served and marginalized groups. And during a visit to the Harvard Chan School, we took the opportunity to interview Trent-Adams about her career in public health. She spoke about the need to shift America’s health care system to a prevention model, strategies for addressing complex health challenges, and how being a nurse has shaped her career.

Full Transcript: hsph.me/trent-adams-pod

April 25, 2019: There are no 'low-hanging fruits' in science Apr 25, 2019

Show notes

Noncommunicable diseases—or NCDs—are the leading cause of death around the world. And of those NCDs, chronic cardiometabolic conditions—such as heart disease and diabetes—are particularly deadly. For more than two decades, Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, James Stevens Simmons Professor of Genetics and Metabolism and and director of the Sabri Ülker Center for Nutrient, Genetic and Metabolic Research, has been working to understand the root causes of these diseases—what goes wrong at the cellular and molecular level to make us sick. In this week’s episode we share a wide-ranging conversation with Hotamışlıgil, focusing on the burden of cardiometabolic diseases, the importance of basic scientific research in treating and preventing these conditions, and the unique challenges of running a lab like the Sabri Ülker Center.

Full Transcript: hsph.me/ncd-pod

April 18, 2019: The future of cancer prevention (part 2) Apr 18, 2019

Show notes

In 2018, colorectal cancer was the third-most common diagnosed cancer among both men and women in the U.S., and data indicate that younger adults are increasingly being diagnosed with it. A new research initiative will examine how the microbiome—a collection of trillions of microorganisms throughout the body—affects the development of colorectal cancer. Scientists on the team will also seek out ways to manipulate the microbiome to better prevent and treat colorectal cancer.

In this week's episode, part two of our miniseries on cancer prevention, we're speaking with one of the co-principal investigators of the team, Wendy Garrett, professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Garrett is also on the steering committee of the Zhu Family Center for Global Cancer Prevention. In part one of our miniseries, we spoke to Timothy Rebbeck, the center's director.

Full Transcript: https://hsph.me/microbiome-pod

April 4, 2019: The future of cancer prevention (part 1) Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

The statistics on cancer worldwide are staggering: In 2018, more than 18 million people worldwide were diagnosed with the disease, and nearly 10 million died from it. And the burden of cancer is only expected to grow in the coming decades, thanks to a combination of the world’s aging population, the adoption of unhealthy lifestyles, and environmental exposures linked to cancer.

The challenge of combating cancer may seem daunting, but research has shown that one-half to two-thirds of all cancer cases could be prevented if societies fully implemented currently available cancer-prevention strategies. At the same time, there is also a need to develop new strategies for prevention and screening. That's why we're devoting our next two episodes to the future of cancer prevention and diagnosis. In part one you'll hear from Timothy Rebbeck, director of the recently launched Zhu Family Center for Global Cancer Prevention. During a wide-ranging conversation Rebbeck explained the current landscape of cancer prevention and detection—and outlined his interdisciplinary approach to pushing the field forward.

Full Transcript: https://hsph.me/cancer-pod

March 22, 2019: What can design do for public health? Mar 22, 2019

Show notes

When many people think of design they’re probably picturing a product, like a new smartphone or car. But the design principles that lead to the creation of those products—such as the focus on human behavior or the use of prototyping—can also be harnessed to tackle complex public health challenges.

In this week’s episode you’ll learn how one of the world’s top public health researchers, Ashish Jha, dean for global strategy at Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health and director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, and one of the world’s foremost design experts, Patrick Whitney, professor in residence in the Department of Health Policy and Management, have teamed up to think about how design methods can be used to address issues ranging from the opioid epidemic to the future of hospitals.

Full Transcript: hsph.me/design-pod

This episode is a collaboration with Harvard Global Health Institute.

March 7, 2019: Many U.S. schools aren't testing drinking water for lead Mar 07, 2019

Show notes

The traditional public health mantra is that there is no safe level of lead for kids. But a new report from the Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity finds that many kids in the U.S. could be exposed to lead through the water they drink at school.

The team from the Harvard Prevention Research Center analyzed data from 24 states that have lead testing programs in schools, plus Washington, D.C. Only 12 of the states had useable results. Among those, 12% of all water samples tested had higher-than-recommended lead levels, and 44% of schools tested had one or more samples with higher-than-recommended levels. In this week’s episode we’re talking about the report and its findings with Angie Cradock, who is the deputy director of the Prevention Research Center.

Full Transcript: https://hsph.me/lead-pod

February 21, 2019: The connection between coral reefs and human health Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

Coral reefs aren’t just beautiful. They’re the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the oceans, and can provide food, jobs, and protection from storms for coastal communities. But reefs around the world are under threat from a variety of a factors including environmental changes, pollution, and overfishing. And that could have major implications for communities that rely on these reefs for the seafood that sustains their diet.

A new research project is trying to tackle that problem by taking an in-depth look at the health of coral reefs in the South Pacific island nation of Kiribati. In this week’s episode we’re speaking to Christopher Golden, the scientist leading this four-year project. Golden is an assistant professor of nutrition and planetary health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and associate director of the Planetary Health Alliance. Golden and other researchers will examine the factors affecting the health of reefs in Kiribati, identify fisheries management strategies that can promote healthier reefs, and gather nutritional data from residents to understand how changes in the health of reefs can affect the health of people living nearby.

Full Transcript: https://hsph.me/reef-pod

Feb. 5, 2019: The toll of gun violence in America Feb 05, 2019

Show notes

Each year in the U.S. more than 30,000 people are killed by guns—with two-thirds of those deaths being suicide. And there are tens of thousands non-fatal injuries. Yet research into preventing firearm violence remains limited and under-funded. In a special collaborative episode with Review of Systems we’re taking an in-depth look at gun violence in America: why we know so little about the toll of firearm injuries and deaths, what researchers want to know, and how they are engaging gun owners and enthusiasts as key stakeholders in advocating for more research.

Full Transcript: hsph.me/gun-violence-pod

You'll hear perspectives on gun violence from the emergency room, with Megan Ranney, and from public health, with David Hemenway. Ranney is an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital/Alpert Medical School of Brown University and also chief research officer for the American Foundation for Firearm Injury Reduction in Medicine, a non-partisan philanthropy focused on filling the funding gap for high-quality, medically-focused, firearm injury research. Hemenway is a professor of health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. He has written widely on injury prevention, on topics including firearms, violence, suicide, child abuse, motor vehicle crashes, fires, falls, and fractures.

January 24, 2019: Heat is a 'silent killer' Jan 24, 2019

Show notes

Climate change will mean more extreme weather, including heat waves. And it’s not a distant threat—we’re already seeing the effects now in the United States. In this week’s episode, we explore the health threat posed by severe heat and how our society needs to adapt in the decades ahead. You'll hear from Augusta Williams, a doctoral student at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who studies how extreme heat can affect our bodies and minds. She'll explain why heat is considered a "silent killer" and how we can combat the effects of our warming world.

Full Transcript: https://hsph.me/heat-pod

This episode was produced with assistance from Veritalk, a podcast from Harvard University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.