The Accad and Koka Report

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 125 Testing and Contact Tracing: The Challenges Ahead May 12, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Gregg Gonsalves, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Yale University Medical School as well as Associate (Adjunct) Professor of Law and Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School. His research focuses on the use of quantitative models for improving the response to epidemic diseases and he will help us understand better what a strategy of testing and contract tracing might look like, and what the challenges ahead are.

GUEST:

Gregg Gonsalves, PhD: Twitter and professional website

WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

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Ep. 124 Fevers, Flus, and Viruses: Adam Rodman on the Nosological Challenges of COVID-19 May 09, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Adam Rodman, host of the podcast Bedside Rounds, a great show on the history of medicine. With his deep knowledge of the vagaries of medical thought, Dr. Rodman sheds light on the COVID-related challenges that clinicians are now confronting.

GUEST:

Adam Rodman, MD: Twitter and Bedside Rounds

WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Watch the episode on our YouTube channel

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Make a small donation on our Patreon page on and join our discussion group or receive a free book.

Ep. 123 Andrew Althouse on Clinical Trial Design and Remdesivir May 03, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Andrew Althouse, statistician at the Center for Clinical Trials and Data coordination in Pittsburgh. He holds an undergraduate degree in Statistics and a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh. His main area of interest is the design of randomized control trials. He discusses adaptive randomized control trials, and dissects the recent news of the positive Remdesivir trial.

GUEST:

Andrew Althouse: Twitter and professional page

WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Watch the episode on our YouTube channel

SUPPORT THE SHOW

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Ep. 122 Charged with Negligence? COVID-19 and the Law May 01, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Dorit Reiss, Professor at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, California. She holds an undergraduate degree in Law and Political Science from the Faculty of Law at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a PhD in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a legal authority on the question of vaccines and vaccine mandates. She has published numerous articles on this topic in a variety of law review journals and her expertise is recognized around the world.

GUEST:

Dorit Reiss: Twitter and professional page

RELATED EPISODES:

Ep, 77 A Debate on Vaccine Mandates

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Ep. 121 What to Make of J.P.A. Ioannidis? Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

Our guests are Dr. Swapnil Hiremath for the University of Ottawa and Saurabh Jha from the University of Pennsylvania. We discuss the controversies surrounding the COVID-related opinions and research findings of John. P.A. Ioannidis, the notorious Stanford data scientist and physician.

GUESTS:

Swapnil Hiremath, MD: Twitter and professional page

Saurabh Jha, MBBS: Twitter and professional page

LINKS:

"A fiasco in the making? As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data" (STATNews)
"Why Most Published Research Findings Are False" (PLOS)
"Scientists who express different views on Covid-19 should be heard, not demonized" (STATNews)

RELATED EPISODES:

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Ep. 120 COVID in India: Relative Peace Amidst Ongoing Challenges Apr 24, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Dr. Anupam Singh, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Santosh Medical College and Hospital, one of the designated COVID hospitals in Ghaziabad, Utter Pradesh, India. He returns to the show for a great conversation about the surprising aspects of the pandemic in the Indian subcontinent.

GUEST:

Anupam Singh, MD; Twitter

LINKS:

Mortality Rates Drop Sharply in Parts of India, Bucking Coronavirus Trend (Reuters)
The Open Air Treatment of Pandemic Influenza (American Journal of Public Health, Open Access)

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PRIOR GUEST APPEARANCE:

Ep. 14 EBM India-Style, with Dr. Anupam Singh

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Ep. 119 Avik Roy: A Practical Plan to Bring People Back to Work Apr 21, 2020

Show notes

Should we wait for COVID testing benchmarks to be met before we can reopen the economy? What if testing remains imperfect and uncertainty remains high? Our guest is Avik Roy, head of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. He returns to the show to discuss FREOPP's plan to bring people back to work.

GUEST:

Avik Roy: Twitter and Bio

LINK:

A New Strategy for Bringing People Back to Work During COVID-19

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Ep. 118 The Virus and the Money Printing Press: Socioeconomic Effects of the COVID Lockdowns Apr 18, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is economist Ryan McMaken, senior editor at the Mises Institute. He was the economist for the Colorado Division of Housing from 2009 to 2014. He is also the author of Commie Cowboys: The Bourgeoisie and the Nation-State in the Western Genre a book that reveals his aptitude for analyzing economic events in their broader cultural context.

GUEST:

Ryan McMaken: Twitter and Mises.org website

LINKS:

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Ep. 117 Pandemic Trade-Offs, with Jeff Deist Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Jeff Deist, President of the Mises Institute. We discuss the unprecedented governmental response to COVID, the trade-offs that are unaccounted for, and the inability of local communities to set their own course when, in fact, "all crises are local."

GUEST:

Jeff Deist: Twitter

LINKS:

"End the Shutdown" (Mises.org editorial board)
"What Governors Can Do"
"All Crises Are Local"

WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

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Ep. 116 Nicole Saphier: Make America Healthy Again Apr 14, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Dr. Nicole Saphier. She is a radiologist and a breast imaging specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Monmouth, New Jersey. She appears frequently as a medical contributor on Fox News, and comments on a variety of medical as well as health policy issues. She comes on today to discuss her new book - Make America Healthy Again.

GUEST:

Nicole Saphier, MD: Twitter and Website

LINKS:

Make America Healthy Again (Harper Collins)

WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Watch the episode on our YouTube channel

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Make a small donation on our Patreon page on and join our discussion group or receive a free book.