Public Health On Call

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794 - Does A Really Cause B? How a Biostatistician Thinks About Causality Aug 23, 2024

Show notes

About this episode:

When evaluating programs, policies, and interventions, how do you know if they're working? In today's episode: The science (and art!) of biostatistics, and an exploration of the question: How can we design studies to find out if there really is a relationship between A and B?

Guest:

Elizabeth Stuart is the chair of the department of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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:

Better Debates, Better Decisions: Causality Assessment in Population Health—The Milbank Quarterly

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793 - What It's Like To Be America's Chief Health Diplomat Aug 21, 2024

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About this episode:

Health diplomacy is how countries work together to advance global health. What does health diplomacy look like in 2024—a post-pandemic time marked by multiple violent crises and zoonotic disease outbreaks? Loyce Pace is America's top health diplomat within the Department of Health and Human Services. In today's episode: a conversation about the agenda for US and global health.

Guest:

Loyce Pace is the Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Pace is an alum of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Loyce Pace: U.S. Priorities at the 77th World Health Assembly—Global Health NOW
Assistant Secretary Loyce Pace on X

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792 - World Mosquito Day: Gene Drives and CRISPR Technology Aug 19, 2024

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About this episode:

World Mosquito Day, observed annually on August 20th, commemorates British doctor Sir Ronald Ross's discovery in 1897 that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria to humans. More than a century later, major advancements like genetically modifying mosquitoes—AKA gene drives—have the potential to reduce malaria cases and deaths dramatically, but not without hurdles. This special episode is an extended version of Malaria Minute, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute.

Host:

Thomas Locke is the host of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute's podcast, Malaria Minute.

Show links and related content:

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.

791 - Tradeoffs —The Fifth Branch: Transforming The Way Communities Respond to People in Crisis Aug 16, 2024

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About this episode:

Since 2015, 1,939 individuals experiencing mental health crises have been killed during encounters with police in America, accounting for 20% of all police killings. The first episode of "The Fifth Branch"— a three-part special series by Tradeoffs and The Marshall Project— examines what it looks like when one community dramatically changes how it responds to people in crisis. Episodes 2 and 3 can be found on the Tradeoffs website.

Host:

Dan Gorenstein is the founder and executive editor of the Tradeoffs podcast.

Show links and related content:

Contact us: 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.

790 - How Violence Reduction Councils Can Prevent Homicides and Shootings Aug 14, 2024

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About this episode:

Violence Reduction Councils review huge quantities of data to pinpoint how homicides and shootings can be prevented. They include diverse stakeholders from a city or community including first responders, community-based organizations, and elected officials—all of whom come together to review cases and identify policies or interventions to prevent future violence. A new toolkit supported by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative can help groups get started, sort and store data, form cross-divisional partnerships, and more.

Guest:

Mallory O'Brien is an associate scientist with the Center For Gun Violence Solutions.

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:

Violence Reduction Councils Toolkit—Bloomberg American Health Initiative
Violence Reduction Councils Can Help Communities Identify and Implement Long-Term Solutions—Bloomberg American Health Initiative

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.

789 - Why The Mpox Crisis Spreading Across Africa Is A Global Concern Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

About this episode:

A concerning and deadly outbreak of mpox is spreading across central Africa and the world's response has been lackluster. In this episode: an overview of the virus and a brief history of mpox outbreaks, a breakdown of the different clades, and why this particular epidemic is so concerning—not just for the regions impacted but for the rest of the world.

Guest:

Dr. Chris Beyrer is the director of the Duke Global Health Institute and an epidemiologist who has worked on the front lines of infectious diseases like HIV and human rights issues across Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe for more than 30 years.

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:

How the hard lessons of the AIDS crisis are reshaping the response to the monkeypox outbreak—STAT News
Bonus Episode: A Conversation With an Mpox Patient—Public Health On Call Archive
Ep 500: How Did Mpox Become a Public Health Crisis?—Public Health On Call Archive

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.

788 - SCOTUS—Not The EPA—Is Now Regulating Environmental Protection Aug 09, 2024

Show notes

About this episode:

Environmental protection has a long history of entanglement with the court system. But the supermajority conservative Supreme Court could now become the primary influence in how water, air, and chemicals are regulated, displacing evidence and recommendations from scientists. From the Good Neighbor Rule to the Chevron case, SCOTUS is disempowering environmental protection at a time when the U.S. desperately needs better and more informed regulation for things like air quality, forever chemicals, and major impacts on climate change.

Guests:

Dr. Tom Burke is an emeritus professor at Johns Hopkins and a former top official with the Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama administration.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency (pdf)—Supreme Court of the United States
Why The Supreme Court Ruling on The EPA Isn't The End of Fighting Climate Change (2022)—Public Health On Call archives

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.

Interested in learning more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellowship mentioned in this episode's promo? Learn more here.

787 - Open Air Care Connections: Mental Health Care in Brooklyn's Iconic Prospect Park Aug 07, 2024

Show notes

About this episode:

Open Air Care Connections is a pilot project between Prospect Park Alliance, various community organizations, and the New York City Health Department. Born from the COVID-19 pandemic and built with basic public health principles like equity, access, and dignity, the program connects Brooklynites with much-needed services like mental health care, housing, and food access—all through casual conversations in Brooklyn's iconic Prospect Park.

Guests:

Jared Grant is a community health worker and program assistant with NHS Brooklyn.

Morgan Monaco is the president of Prospect Park Alliance.

Jonathan Timal is a community health worker and program assistant with NHS Brooklyn.

Dr. Ashwin Vasan is the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Host:

Show links and related content:

An Open-Air Approach to Mental Health Treatment—New York Times
Alliance Launchs Open Air Care Connections—Prospect Park Alliance

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.

Interested in learning more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellowship mentioned in this episode's promo? Click here to learn more.

786 - A Psychologist's Review of The Film "Inside Out 2" Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

About this episode:

This "Inside Out 2" has quickly become the highest-grossing animated film of all time with parents and their kids alike praising the movie for its wit, storyline, and—for some—very realistic depictions of complex themes like puberty, anxiety, and emotional intelligence. But how accurate are these depictions and how helpful are they in helping parents and teens relate to a time of incredible, and often chaotic, change? Note: You do not have to have seen the film to enjoy this conversation.

Guests:

Dr. Laura Murray is a clinical psychologist and senior scientist in mental health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Host:

Show links and related content:

Inside Out 2: Everything We Know About the Upcoming Pixar Movie—http://IGN.com

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.

Interested in learning more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellowship mentioned in this episode's promo? Learn more.

785 - Tradeoffs—Hope, Hype or Harm? What We Know About New Cancer-Screening Tools Aug 02, 2024

Show notes

About this episode:

New screening tools like full-body MRI scans and blood tests claiming to detect over 50 kinds of cancer are generating excitement with their potential to catch diseases early. But is more knowledge about our bodies always beneficial?

Host:

Dan Gorenstein is the founder and executive editor of the Tradeoffs podcast.

Show links and related content:

Hope, Hype or Harm? What We Know About New Cancer-Screening Tools—Podcast
Does Cancer Screening Save Lives?—Podcast
Bringing Informed Decision-Making to Cancer Screening—Johns Hopkins

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.

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