Public Health On Call

Latest Episodes:

335 - Investing in Health Equity Jun 18, 2021

Show notes

Maryland's new Health Equity Resource Act will provide more than $50 million to support community-led plans that advance health equity. What might these plans include? Where did this idea come from? Dr. Josh Sharfstein interviews Michelle Spencer, a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who previously led the development of a similar program to establish "Health Enterprise Zones" across the state. They discuss the concept of place-based programs, share examples of community investments in health, and talk through what to look for as this new law is implemented.

BONUS: Inside a COVID-19 Field Hospital Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

The Baltimore Convention Field Hospital was established in the spring of 2020 by the state of Maryland, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Maryland to fight COVID. A few weeks ago, Dr. Josh Sharfstein was invited inside the 100,000 square foot field hospital's command center to meet with Director Dr. Jim Ficke and Deputy Director Dr. Chuck Callahan. He also speaks with Dr. Mindy Kantsiper, Dr. Sophia Purekal, Dr. Zishan Siddiqui, John Fickel, and Laura Wortman. They talk about what the last year has been like, how lessons from the military-inspired design and logistics, and how this field hospital now responds to COVID on four fronts: testing, patient care, monoclonal antibody treatment center, and vaccinations.

334 - COVID-19 Vaccines and Immunocompromised People: Fully Vaccinated And Not Protected Jun 15, 2021

Show notes

After being fully vaccinated, only 50% of people who are immunocompromised show an antibody response against COVID-19, compared with 100% of those with a typical immune system. Hopkins transplant surgeon Dr. Dorry Segev talks with Stephanie Desmon about how the immune response is blunted in individuals taking medications for organ transplants or who have overactive immune systems, what antibody tests can and can't tell us, and whether a third dose of vaccines could help the millions of Americans who remain unprotected from COVID despite being fully vaccinated.

333 - Gun Violence Prevention: Interrupting Gun Violence in Urban Neighborhoods Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

While gun violence has increased in most cities, Richmond, California, has seen a marked decrease in the last decade thanks to an organization that works with the people most likely to be the victims of gun violence: the shooters themselves. Guest host Dr. Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy, talks with DeVone Boggan, founder, and CEO of Advance Peace. They discuss how the organization's fellowship system engages young people involved in lethal firearm offenses, approaches to violence that center wellbeing, and how investment in programs like these translates not only to saving millions of public dollars, but truly disrupting cycles of violence. Learn more here: https://www.advancepeace.org/

332 - COVID-19 Research Update: How Well COVID-19 Vaccines Work Against Variants Jun 11, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Hopkins researchers who break down three papers looking at the effectiveness of different COVID-19 vaccines against variants of concern. Carli Jones, a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, talks about some good news from a study looking at the effectiveness of Pfizer's vaccine against the variants found in the UK and South Africa. Greg Rosen, a PhD candidate, discusses a preprint study that assesses the effectiveness of the Chinese CoronaVac vaccine against the variant identified in Brazil. Dr. Nikolas Wada talks about a lab-based study assessing the potential effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against the B.1.617 variant discovered in India. These researchers are part of the Hopkins novel coronavirus research consortium, with many summaries of new studies available at http://ncrc.jhsph.edu.

BONUS - The American Health Podcast: Nearly Expired Meat and Understocked Produce—Differences in Food Retail Quality Between High- and Low-Income Communities in the South Jun 11, 2021

Show notes

The Bloomberg American Health Initiative offers full scholarships for MPH and DrPH degrees to people working on the front lines of key challenges to health in the United States. This special episode of the Initiative's American Health Podcast features an interview with host Shane Bryan and "Bloomberg fellow" Ashley Hickson, a senior policy associate at the Center for Science in Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group that advocates for safer and healthier foods. They discuss Hickson's work examining the difference in food retail quality between high and low-income communities in the South. To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

331 - COVID-19 Variants and Young People Jun 09, 2021

Show notes

At the beginning of the pandemic, it seemed like COVID-19 didn't really affect young people. But a recent uptick in cases and hospitalizations among younger adults could point to the transmissibility of newer variants. Dr. Emily Martin, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how the variants may be changing the risks for young people and why a virus that moves faster underscores the importance of vaccinations.

BONUS - The American Health Podcast: The Public Health Response to Human Trafficking Jun 04, 2021

Show notes

The Bloomberg American Health Initiative offers full scholarship for MPH and DrPH degrees to people working on the front lines of key challenges to health in the United States. This special episode of the Initiative's American Health Podcast features an interview with host Shane Bryan and scholarship recipient and "Bloomberg fellow" Katherine Chon, the Director of the Office on Trafficking in Persons for the Administration for Children and Families at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They discuss the public health response to human trafficking and hear how healthcare providers act as first responders for those experiencing human trafficking. To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

329 - Will There Be a Fall 2021 Resurgence of COVID-19 in the US? Jun 04, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Justin Lessler, an infectious disease epidemiologist, returns to the podcast to talk to Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the Scenario Modeling Hub's models for the fall of 2021. Researchers projected what could happen under four scenarios of vaccination rates and viral control measures. The upshot? As has been the case since the beginning, what happens next is up to us.

330 - Gun Violence Prevention: A Focus on Police Violence Jun 04, 2021

Show notes

Police violence is one of the most observable manifestations of structural racism in the US, but is addressing this a matter of finding the "bad actors" or rethinking the system altogether? Guest host Dr. Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy, talks with Tracey Meares, professor of law and founding director of The Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law. They discuss why America's approach to public safety must be examined, how some jurisdictions are implementing change, and suicide prevention.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected