Public Health On Call

Latest Episodes:

899 - Pediatric COVID Vaccines May 23, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

The approval of pediatric COVID vaccines during the height of the pandemic brought reassurance to many parents and pediatricians who were caring for children with severe infections and, sometimes, Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MISC)—a rare but extremely dangerous condition that could impact even the healthiest kids after a COVID infection. But what's the picture of pediatric COVID vaccination now? In this episode: a discussion about the risks and benefits of pediatric COVID vaccination in 2025.

Guest:

Dr. Erica Prochaska is a pediatric infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Host:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.

Show links and related content:

New FDA framework on Covid vaccines leaves pediatricians confused and concerned—STAT News
A Pediatric Cardiologist on What We Know—And Don't Know—About COVID-19-Related Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children—Public Health On Call (June 2020)

Transcript information:

Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

898 - The Measles Response in Lubbock, Texas May 22, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

A look inside the ongoing public health response to measles outbreaks in Lubbock, a city in West Texas.

Guest:

Katherine Wells is the director of Lubbock Public Health in West Texas.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Lubbock's public health director fights to stop measles and build public trust—The Texas Tribune
Texas Isn't Declaring a Measles Victory Yet—Bloomberg

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

897 - Interview With A Graduate: A Doctor of Health Policy Looks At AI and Health Insurance May 21, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

It's graduation time at the Bloomberg School! Doctoral candidate Jeff Marr joins the podcast to talk about how an economics major and an early internship at a health care system led to an interest in examining how health care markets and public policy work. Soon-to-be Dr. Marr discusses his dissertation looking at how predictive algorithms lead to decisions about care coverage.

Guest:

Jeffrey Marr is a healthcare economist and doctoral candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In July 2025, he will join Brown University as an Assistant Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Algorithmic Decision-Making in Health Care: Evidence from Post-Acute Care in Medicare Advantage

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

896 - World No Tobacco Day: Unmasking the Appeal of New Products May 19, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

While cigarette use has radically declined in the U.S., many still die from smoking here and around the world. World No Tobacco Day—celebrated annually on May 31 since the 1980s—has helped expose tobacco industry tactics and highlight progress in global tobacco control. This year, a look at how manufacturers are increasing efforts to hook younger users on new products like e-cigs with fun packaging, new flavors, fashionable designs, and gimmicks including video games and social media integration.

Guests:

Kevin Welding is an economist studying corporate influence on public health at the Institute for Global Tobacco Control.

Tuo-Yen Tseng is a health policy researcher who studies social and behavioral change at the Institute for Global Tobacco Control.

Host:

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

World No Tobacco Day 2025 Evidence and Resources—Institute for Global Tobacco Control
25 Years of Fighting Tobacco—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Quit Smoking—American Lung Association
The Inside Story of the 1964 Surgeon General's Report That Changed How Americans Viewed Smoking—Public Health On Call (July 2024)
An Update on Efforts to Prevent Tobacco-Caused Death and Disease—Public Health On Call (February 2024)

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

895 - The Executive Order on Prescription Drug Pricing May 16, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

This week, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at lowering prescription drug costs. In this episode: a look at why the U.S. spends three to four times more for drugs than many peer countries, its current approach to drug pricing policy, the directives laid out in the Executive Order, and how other countries negotiate their prices. Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

Guest:

Dr. Gerard Anderson is an expert in health policy and a professor in Health Policy and Management and International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Delivering Most-Favored Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients—Executive Order, The White House
The Potential Impacts of Cuts to Medicaid—Public Health On Call (March 2025)
What's Next For Prescription Drug Pricing?—Public Health On Call (February 2023)

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

894 - Is There an Autism Epidemic? May 15, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Diagnoses of autism are on the rise, but is this the result of more children being affected by the condition, or is more of a consequence of broader criteria and more screening? In this episode: a look at a new study about the number of children diagnosed with autism and what this research shows—and doesn't show.

Guest:

Dr. Christine Ladd-Acosta is an autism researcher and vice-director of the Wendy Klag Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. She is the lead Maryland investigator on a national study about the rate of autism.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Prevalence and Early Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 4 and 8 Years - Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 16 Sites, United States 2022—CDC's MMWR
RFK Jr.'s autism study to amass medical records of many Americans—CBS News
The NIH-Funded Autism Study Hoping to Pinpoint Gene-Environmental Interplay—Public Health On Call (March 2025)
Vaccines Don't Cause Autism. Why Do Some People Think They Do?—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health
Discovering How Environment Affects Autism—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine (2023)

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

893 - "On Going Backwards": A New HIV/AIDS Epidemic? May 14, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

In 2003, George W. Bush's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was the largest commitment to a single disease in U.S. history. Renewed under every subsequent presidency since, PEPFAR has saved more than 25 million lives and prevented some 5 million perinatal infections globally. But now, policy changes that effectively end PEPFAR have the potential to completely reverse course and the world could see HIV/AIDS infections on par with a time even before effective antivirals existed. In this episode: Dr. Chris Beyrer talks about his recent Lancet essay, "On Going Backwards," why any retreat now will make it harder to regain lost ground, and how this policy change has the potential to impact millions of lives.

Guest:

Dr. Chris Beyrer is the past president of the International AIDS Society and an expert in global health and human rights.

Host:

Show links and related content:

On Going Backwards—The Lancet (Perspectives)
By executive order: The likely deadly consequences associated with a 90-day pause in PEPFAR funding—Journal of the International AIDS Society

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

892 - Health Policy in Trump's First 100 Days May 12, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

A look back at health policy in the first 100 days of Trump's second presidential administration including global health, vaccines, and the Department of Health and Human Services restructuring—plus a few things to keep an eye on for the future. Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

Guest:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein served in a number of political roles in his career including as the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health, the Principal Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as Commissioner of Health for Baltimore City, and as a Congressional health policy advisor. He is currently a health policy distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Host:

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

The First Week's Executive Orders—Public Health On Call (January 2025)

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

891 - B'More For Healthy Babies: A Look Back at 15 Years of Infant Mortality Reduction in Baltimore May 07, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

In the early 2000s, babies in Baltimore were dying at an alarming rate. In this episode: a look at Baltimore's enormously successful health program to reduce infant mortality and close unacceptable disparities in infant death and how it has developed into a program that offers support and resources for individuals and families across the lifespan.

Guests:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is the vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a former Baltimore City Health Commissioner.

Rebecca Dineen is the assistant commissioner for Maternal and Child Health at the Baltimore City Health Department.

Stacey Stephens is the director and clinical instructor of B'More For Healthy Babies at Promise Heights.

Host:

Show links and related content:

B'More For Healthy Babies
B'More for Healthy Babies Turns 15—Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
The Public Health Strategy Behind Baltimore's Record-Low Infant Mortality Rate—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore City Youth Data Scorecard: Babies Born Healthy Indicator Details—Baltimore's Promise
Babies kept dying in Baltimore. People worked together to understand why.—Maryland Matters

Transcript information:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

890 - What's Happening to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)? May 05, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services with a mission to protect the nation's workforce from occupational hazards and illnesses. Their work includes setting policy and best practices around safety standards for things like exposure to toxic chemicals, firearms in the workplace, and even protecting workers' data. NIOSH is among the many Centers that suffered personnel and funding cuts under HHS's recent restructuring. In this episode: a look at NIOSH's work and how the cuts may impact worker safety—particularly at a time when there is great interest in leveling up the manufacturing industry in the U.S.

Guest:

Ram Ramachandran is the director of the Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health.

Cass Crifasi is the director of Occupational Injury Epidemiology and Prevention Program at the Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health.

Host:

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, the largest center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content: