Healthy Rounds With Dr. Anthony Alessi

You don’t have to be an athlete to benefit from the expertise of sports medicine physicians. While Dr. Allison Schafer and Dr. Katherine Coyner are team physicians for UConn athletics, they also run the Women’s Center for Motion and Performance at UConn Health, a collection of coordinated services to keep women of all ages active and healthy, athlete or not. They join Dr. Alessi to discuss the adv...

Already on the leading edge of electronic stimulation for new applications like stroke recovery, UConn Health's Dr. Christopher Conner, who specializes in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, is on the verge of another one! He joins Dr. Anthony Alessi to explain how Vivistim has been opening new doors to regaining function after stroke, who the best candidates are, and how a similar concept f...

In 1974, a 31-year-old pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers underwent a new procedure to repair the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his left elbow. His name was Tommy John, and so would become the name of the surgery. Today, it’s not unheard of for baseball players to get Tommy John surgery before they turn 20. One factor is, it’s become the norm for many child athletes to specialize, for exampl...

An outbreak of an uncommon but not unheard-of illness is responsible for the deaths of at least three people who were on an international cruise ship. With the rest of the passengers and crew under observation in their home countries — including 18 Americans who went to a quarantine facility at the University of Nebraska — how worried do we need to be about hantavirus? Dr. David Banach, UConn Heal...

Gone are the days of stroke having only two outcomes — death or disability — now that we have a window of time to treat what still is very much a medical emergency. For Stroke Awareness Month, Dr. Priya Narwal, medical director of UConn Health’s stroke program, joins to discuss how stroke care, recovery, and even prevention have evolved over the years, how the UConn Health Stroke Center harness th...

In between studio guests, Dr. Alessi brings new information to earlier conversations about messenger RNA and how it’s showing promise in treating pancreatic cancer, a study further debunking the Trump Administration’s assertions about the safety of Tylenol, and whether reasonable solutions to physician licensing challenges could improve access to care. Submit questions for Healthy Rounds: healthyr...

It’s impossible to definitively measure how many lives were saved or prolonged, or how much illness or disease prevented or made less severe, as a direct result of public health initiatives. Douglas Brugge, chair of the UConn School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences, explains the “invisible” benefits of things like policies that regulate toxins in our water or pollution in our air...

This week we revisit the conversation with Dr. Scott Allen, UConn Health’s chief medical officer. Dr. Alessi digs deeper into what we mean by the terms “quality” and “patient safety,” exploring the patient experience as well as how to measure quality and how the increasing complexity of medicine makes safety such a priority. He also differentiates between internists and family medicine practitione...

We hear a lot in health care about patient safety and quality. While those terms would seem like a given, when it comes to patient care, they in fact are very strategic and measured. As Dr. Scott Allen, UConn Health’s chief medical officer, explains, much has to do with acknowledging the possibility of human error and how to mitigate its impacts, with practices such as daily safety huddles, checkl...

Dr. Alessi goes more in-depth on the topic of dementia in follow-up to his earlier conversation with Dr. Kristina Zdanys, geriatric psychiatrist at UConn Health and co-director of the James E. C. Walker Memory Assessment Program in the UConn Center on Aging. He takes a closer look at the multifaceted nature of an effective memory assessment program, the role of imaging and monoclonal antibodies in...

There are many disorders that can cause memory problems, which fall under the category of “dementia” when those memory problems interfere with daily living. The most common dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which afflicts more than seven million people in the U.S. As Dr. Kristina Zdanys, geriatric psychiatrist at UConn Health, explains, we can’t cure dementia; our best bet is to try to slow its pro...

A glimpse into the future of surgery came last year, when a surgeon in Orlando operated on a patient 7,000 miles away! Yet diagnosing a painful disc still comes with a number of challenges. Could figuring that out lead to better decisions on surgery versus conservative management? Dr. Alessi revisits his conversation with Dr. Moss, chair of UConn Health’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, particu...

More than eight in 10 of us have had or will have back pain, but far fewer will have surgery for it. Those who do have surgery enter a realm of innovation like few other areas of medicine. That’s what drew Dr. Isaac Moss into the specialty, yet he says there’s still so much we don’t know. Dr. Moss, renowned spine surgeon and the chair of UConn Health’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, discusses...

Dr. Alessi drills down on a number of topics discussed with Connecticut's Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves, including Medicaid truths, social determinants of health, and how the ACEs survey fits into overall health. Submit questions for Healthy Rounds: HealthyRounds@uchc.edu DSS Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves: https://portal.ct.gov/dss/knowledge-base/articles/home/dss-commissio...

Recognizing and addressing social determinants of health can have a great impact on our overall well-being. That also goes for the people who are responsible for the care of others, be it their children or an aging or sick relative. Connecticut has a number of services and programs available to help, and Department of Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves joins Dr. Alessi to explain th...

Dr. Alessi revisits his American Heart Month conversation with UConn Health cardiologist Dr. Peter Schulman, drilling down on advances in prevention, treatment, and management of heart disease, heart attack, and heart failure, how they've changed over the years, and further changes potentially on the horizon. The Healthy Rounds Podcast at UConn Health: https://www.uconnhealth.org/healthyrounds Sub...

Heart disease and heart attack are much more treatable, manageable, and preventable today than they were 40 or 50 years ago. For American Heart Month, Dr. Alessi speaks with Dr. Peter Schulman, UConn Health cardiologist, about the evolution of care for and prevention of cardiovascular disease, from medications to procedures to lifestyle changes. Still, some things haven’t changed, including the cr...

Dr. Alessi dives further into the discussion he recently discussed with Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani. Topics include how Connecticut stacks up against other states in terms of citizens' health, confusion over health recommendations and waning confidence in the federal government, the continued importance of vaccines, and potential lost ground on research as a result of a...

Despite what’s coming out of Washington, Connecticut’s public health commissioner says the state has not changed its recommended vaccine schedule. Dr. Manisha Juthani joins Dr. Alessi to discuss the state of public health, beyond the confusion over current government recommendations. Topics include Connecticut’s standing among the most vaccinated states, the challenges of public health policy, acc...

In our first “bonus episode,” Dr. Alessi further explores some of the relevant topics from his conversation with Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, UConn Health CEO and executive VP for health affairs, such as patient safety, the per-capita cost of health care in the U.S. compared to other parts of the world, how aligned incentives might address that, and electronic medical records. Watch for periodic “deep div...

In our debut podcast, Dr. Alessi starts at the top, with “Dr. Andy” — Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, UConn Health CEO and executive VP for health affairs. Dr. Andy shares his thoughts on the state of health care delivery, what he learned from his experience in the private sector, and the big things on the verge of happening with the upcoming partnership between UConn Health and Waterbury HEALTH. Submit ques...

Coming January 2026 Healthy Rounds covers a range of topics, including new medical technologies and treatments, research, disease prevention. Its host, Dr. Anthony Alessi , also shares insights on current developments in health care policy, emphasizing the importance of being an informed patient, understanding preventive measures, and taking control of your health through proactive choices and awa...