Public Health On Call

Latest Episodes:

889 - Zyn Nicotine Pouches Apr 30, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Zyn nicotine pouches are suddenly everywhere. What are they and how can they impact health? In this episode: A look at the popular products, what they are and how they work, how they're marketed, and what we know—and don't yet know—about their long-term health impacts or whether they could be a tool to help people quit tobacco products.

Guest:

Meghan Moran is an associate professor in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a researcher who studies how communications from advertising to misinformation shape public health issues such as vaccine promotion, cancer screening, and tobacco control.

Johannes Thrul is an associate professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a substance use disorder researcher.

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:

A Cross-Sectional Survey on Oral Nicotine Pouches; Characterizing Use—Motives, Topography, Dependence Levels, and Adverse Events—Nicotine & Tobacco Research
What's That in Your Mouth, Bro?—The New York Times
What We Know (and Don't) About Nicotine Pouches—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Electronic Cigarettes Part 1: Do E-cigs Help People Quit Smoking?—Public Health On Call (May 2024)
Electronic Cigarettes Part 2: How Serious are the Health Risks Associated with E-cigs?—Public Health On Call (May 2024)

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.

888 - A Conversation With Alabama's State Health Officer Apr 29, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Dr. Scott Harris has worked as a leader in Alabama's public health department for eight years and recently became that national president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. In this episode: A conversation with Dr. Harris about lessons learned from the pandemic and how the current moment is presenting new challenges with measles outbreaks and plenty of unknowns. He also talks about keeping his staff motivated and on task to meet their bottom line: protecting the health and safety of Alabamians.

Guest:

Dr. Scott Harris is the State Health Officer of the Alabama Department of Public Health and the President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

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:

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)

887 - It's Tick Season! Apr 28, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

May is Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Awareness Month. In this episode: Dr. Nicole Baumgarth talks all things ticks including how climate change is increasing their territory, the diseases they spread such as Lyme and Heartland virus, disease prevention, and the latest on vaccines and treatments.

Guest:

Dr. Nicole Baumgarth is the director of the Johns Hopkins Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Research and Education Institute.

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:

Lyme Disease: Diagnosis, Prevention, and How Long COVID is Helping to Advance Awareness and Research for Chronic Lyme—Public Health On Call (June 2022)
Tick Talk—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine (2022)
Healthy Ecosystems, Healthy Humans—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine (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.

886 - An Accord For A Global Pandemic Treaty Apr 24, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Since 2021, countries have been drafting a treaty to help the world better prevent and respond to pandemics. On April 16, the WHO announced an agreement for the world's first pandemic treaty. In this episode: a look at what it took to get here, what provisions were included and excluded, and what it means that the U.S. was not at the table for negotiations and will not be a signer.

Guest:

Alexandra Phelan is an expert in global health law and an associate professor and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Why We Desperately Need—and Still Don't Have—A Global Pandemic Treaty—Public Health On Call (June 2024)
Center for Health Security Urges the Inclusion of Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) in Pandemic Agreement—The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
Countries Agree on Treaty Aimed at Preventing Global Health Crises—The New York Times
Global pandemic treaty finalized, without U.S., in 'a victory for multilateralism'—http://Science.org

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.

885 - World Malaria Day: Advocacy on Capitol Hill—Funding, Research, and Global Impact Apr 23, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

World Malaria Day is April 25. In this episode: guest host Thomas Locke takes us to Capitol Hill where we meet malaria champions, scientists, and leaders who gather in Washington, DC, as part of the 'United to Beat Malaria' campaign urging Congress to continue supporting global malaria efforts.

Show links and related content:

The Malaria Minute Podcast—The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
United to Beat Malaria

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.

BONUS - The Case For Planetary Health—Can We Change? Apr 22, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

In honor of Earth Day, we bring you a special episode of Public Health On Call: an essay read by Sam Myers, director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health. In his essay, he explores the incredible human evolution and technological innovation that has brought us to a moment in time where our own ascendance is threatening our future well-being on this planet. It's time to face a crucial question: Can we change?

Guest:

Sam Myers is the founding director of the Planetary Health Alliance and the faculty director at the brand new Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health.

Show links and related content:

The Case for Planetary Health (essay)—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine
The Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health

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.

884 - Why Biosafety Standards Vary Around The World Apr 21, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

News about HKU5, a new bat coronavirus with the ability to spread to humans, was met with concerns in the scientific community—mostly because of how the research was done. In this episode: Johns Hopkins virologist Andy Pekosz talks about the different levels of biosecurity in laboratories where scientists study some of the world's most dangerous viruses, how these standards vary worldwide, and what that could mean for studying future viruses with pandemic potential.

Guest:

Dr. Andy Pekosz is a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with appointments in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and Environmental Health and Engineering.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Recent Virus Research Should Raise the Alarm—The New York Times (Opinion)
Chinese researchers find bat virus enters human cells via same pathway as COVID—Reuters
The virus hunters who search bat caves to predict the next pandemic—CNN Health (2020)

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.

883 - How An Advocate is Thinking About Family Planning Apr 16, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Innocent Grant is a family planning advocate from Tanzania. In this episode: How Grant's experiences approaching mis- and disinformation about sexual and reproductive health at home are now helping him to frame this work as the U.S. threatens to cut a portion of its global funding of family planning. He also discusses the threats to major progress in outcomes like maternal mortality and the economic empowerment of young families—and how advocates can find common ground rooted in evidence.

Guest:

Innocent Grant is a family planning advocate and an MSPH student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Host:

Show links and related content:

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.

882 - Personnel Cuts at the CDC Apr 14, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

In the early months of the new administration, several thousand CDC employees were dismissed, were asked to leave, or resigned. In this episode: what we know about these personnel losses, a look at some critical programs that may no longer exist, and concerns about what this means for America's health.

Guest:

Dr. David Fleming served as Deputy Director for Science and Public Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2000-2003 and has had a long career in global and public health strategies.

Host:

Show links and related content:

'No guidance and no leadership': chaos and confusion at CDC after mass firings—The Guardian
Fact Sheet: HHS' Transformation to Make America Healthy Again—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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.

881 - The Building H Index: Ranking Consumer Products By Their Impacts On Our Health Apr 09, 2025

Show notes

About this episode:

Consumer products from auto makers to housing developers to streaming and food delivery services all have impacts on our health. In this episode: A look at the Building H Index, which calculates a health score for these products and services and makes recommendations to companies about how to make their products healthier. Note: Building H is a program of the nonprofit Public Health Institute and the Index does not receive any funds from the companies that are rated.

Guest:

Steve Downs is a cofounder of the Building H Index.

Host:

Show links and related content:

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.