The Accad and Koka Report

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 135. Avik Roy: The FREOPP plan for reopening schools Jul 27, 2020

Show notes

Reopening schools in the midst of a pandemic is a controversial topic. FREOPP, a non-partisan think tank founded by Avik Roy recently released a plan for reopening schools. We discuss some of the data from around the globe, as well as practical considerations related to opening schools.

GUEST:

Avik Roy: Twitter and Bio

LINK:

Reopening America’s Schools and Colleges During COVID-19

Iceland Study (NEJM): https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2006100?query=featured_home

Dutch National Institute Study: https://www.ntvg.nl/artikelen/de-rol-van-kinderen-de-transmissie-van-sars-cov-2/volledig

Supreme Court Decision on school funding

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RELATED EPISODES:

Ep. 73 Conservative Means to Progressive Ends? Avik Roy on Healthcare

Ep. 119 Avik Roy: A Practical Plan to Bring People Back to Work

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Ep 134. Edward Leamer: Is Econometrics a con? Jul 23, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Leamer is a Professor of Economics and Statistics at UCLA who comes on the show to discuss the recent arrival of econometric analyses in medicine. He is a longstanding skeptic of the robustness of conclusions derived from econometrics and has some advice for clinicians puzzling over what to do with these analyses.

GUEST:

Ed Leamer, PhD, Professor of Economics and Statistics

SHOW NOTES:

Let's take the Con out of Econometrics - Ed Leamer warns of the science of econometrics in 1983: https://www.international.ucla.edu/media/files/Leamer_article.pdf

The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design is Taking the Con out of Econometrics - Angrist and Pischke argue in 2010 that new econometric tools : pseudorandomization, instrumental variables, and natural experiments mark a credibility revolution for the field. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.24.2.3

Tantalus on the Road to Asymptopia- Ed Leamer responds to Angrist/Pischke : https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.24.2.31

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Ep. 133. Rohin Francis: Britain, COVID, and Race in Medicine Jul 12, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Rohin Francis, MD. Dr. Francis is a Cardiologist in London, who also hosts a popular YouTube channel. He recently discussed what COVID may tell us about racism in science and medicine (Video in show notes), and comes on the show for a wide ranging discussion on racism in medicine, COVID in Britain, and how minority groups have fared in Britain.

GUEST:

Rohin Francis MD: Twitter

SHOW NOTES:

Watch Rohin's video on Racism in Science and Medicine

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Ep. 132 Marilyn Singleton on the Hidden Story of Black Physicians in America Jun 22, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD. Dr. Singleton comes from a long line of American physicians. She shares with us her fascinating family history and her insights into the rich history of Black physicians in America. We also discuss the deleterious effects of race victimization manifest today.

GUEST:

Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD: Twitter and article archive at the AAPS website

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Ep. 131 Sunil Rao: An Editor’s Thoughts on the NEJM/LancetGate Jun 15, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Rao is an interventional cardiologist and researcher who has been at Duke University for over 10 years. He also works in the Veteran's hospital in Durhum, is a leader in the cardiology social media community with 16k followers on Twitter, and is also editor-in-chief of the journal Circulation Interventions. In this podcast he discusses his perspective on the recent retractions of papers involved in the Surgisphere scandal.

GUEST:

Sunil Rao, MD: twitter

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SHOW NOTES:

Article from the-scientist on Lancet/NEJM retractions

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https://accadandkoka.com/episodes/episode26/

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Ep. 130 David Howard MD, PhD. Race in America Jun 13, 2020

Show notes

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Dr. David Howard comes on the show to discuss his experiences in America, and more broadly racism in America.

Dr. David Howard was originally born in Jamaica and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of eighteen. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the Johns Hopkins University and then pursued his Md and PhD in Epidemiology through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He completed an internship at the New York Presbyterian Hospital followed by a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He is currently a Board Certified Obstetrics/Gynecology Specialist practicing in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is affiliated with several different hospitals in the area.

GUEST:

David Howard MD, PhD: twitter

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Ep. 129 Mary Davenport and George Delgado on Reversing Medical Abortion Jun 11, 2020

Show notes

Our guests have developed a treatment protocol that can reverse the effects of the abortifacient mifepristone and be given to women who change their mind after a medical abortion. They tell us the story of their pioneering work and of the international network of physicians that is now in place to provide the therapy. We discuss the challenges that remain when the medical establishment is ideologically resistant to supporting women in their second choice.

GUESTS:

Mary Davenport, MD: Practice website

George Delgado, MD: Practice website and STENO Institute

LINKS:

Abortion Pill Rescue website
Delgado, G, et. al. A Case Series Detailing the Successful Reversal of Mefiprestone Using Progesterone (In Issues in Law and Medicine)
Creinin, M, et al. Mifepristone Antagonization with Progesterone to Prevent Medical Abortion: A Randomized Clinical Trial (free access in Obstetrics and Gynecology)
Graham, R. A New Front in the War Over Reproductive Rights: "Abortion-Pill Reversal" (in The New York Times)
Grossman D and White K. Abortion "Reversal": Legislating Without Evidence (in New England Journal of Medicine)

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Ep. 128 Chen Wu : A functional neurosurgeon discusses Elon Musk’s Neuralink Jun 05, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Neurosurgeon Chengyuan Wu. Dr. Wu specializes in functional neurosurgery, a field that focuses on using brain surgery to restore function to patients. He discusses Elon Musk's initiative to create a new brain-human interface using implants in the brain that communicate with the environment.

GUEST:

Chengyuan Wu, MD: Twitter

SHOW NOTES:

Scientific American article on Neuralink

Joe Rogan Elon Musk podcast transcript

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

Ep. 127 A Florida Physician Runs for Congress May 25, 2020

Show notes

What does it mean to promote a politically conservative vision for health care? Our guest is Dr. Leo Valentin, a radiologist running as a Republican candidate for US Congress in Florida's District 7.

GUEST:

Leo Valentin, MD: Twitter and Website

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Ep. 126. What a Retracted JAMA Paper Tells Us About the Research Enterprise May 12, 2020

Show notes

Our guest is Eric Weinhandl, an epidemiologist whose investigation of a JAMA paper on dialysis patients lead to its retraction, and subsequent republication.

Eric discusses the steps leading to the paper's eventual retraction, and what this signals about the larger research enterprise. Eric also discusses the role of bias, conflicts of interest, big data and home dialysis, as well as some thoughts on the field of epidemiology during the COVID pandemic.

GUEST:

Eric is an epidemiologist with 14 years of research experience in kidney disease, mostly regarding dialysis and pharmaceuticals. Eric worked at the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) Coordinating Center between 2004 and 2015 and has conducted studies with Amgen, Baxter, DaVita, NxStage, Sigma Tau, and the Peer Kidney Care Initiative.

He recently worked for Fresenius Medical Care, one of the major dialysis companies in the United States, and currently works with the chronic disease research group as part of the Hennepin County Medical Center.

Twitter

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Watch the episode on our YouTube channel

SHOW NOTES:

JAMA retracted and republished paper

JAMA research letter

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