Help! Make it Make Sense with Dr. Toni and Dr. Aimee

Send a text We are checking back in to speak with the extraordinary Dr. Liz Marnik who discusses her journey into science communication coming from a background where skepticism for vaccines and medicine were the norm into evolving into a premier scientist and scientific communicator on platforms like Those Nerdy Girls on instagram, substack and facebook and founding Science Whiz Liz.  What a fun...

Send a text Great conversation with the one and only Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, AKA Your Local Epidemiologist, about the power of showing up, the experience with members of the Make America Healthy Again movement on the Why Should I Trust You podcast, the work of distinguishing public health from the industrial complexes of food and pharma and insurance and also acknowledging that the status quo of pub...

Send a text Today we chat with Edward Nirenberg, an immunology science communicator who found his calling working with vaccine hesitant parents on facebook and expanding his reach through a blog on substack called Deplatform Disease, and had a fun convo about what inspired him to get into science communication, the times we are currently in, figuring out new ways to reach those groups of folks who...

Send a text Today we sit down with Dr. James Alwine who is a virologist, a professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy for Microbiology and a member of the coordinating committee of the public health movement Defend Public Health.  We discuss his oped ed Trump is Killing Life Saving Health Resear...

Send a text Today we have a very special guest, Taryn Chapman also known as "The Vaccine Mom" on instagram, to talk about the power of social media as an advocacy tool.  She has a master’s in molecular medicine from the University of South Florida. Before becoming a mother, she worked in vaccines and virology for USF’s College of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. Currently, she’s a sc...

Send a text We sit down today with Dr. Torian Easterling to talk about the challenges of working in health equity and care delivery for the most vulnerable in these uncertain times, the importance of checking in, being steady and steadfast in our goals, understanding that while it is important to promote justice and preserve the progress, the status quo wasn't completely working for those tha...

Send a text We are here today with Dr. Gregg Gonsalves to discuss ways forward to defend public health.   Dr. Gonsalves is an epidemiologist focused on substance use and infectious diseases. He is also an expert in policy modeling on infectious disease and substance use, as well as the intersection of public policy and health equity.  In the past he worked in non-governmental organizations (NGOs)...

Send a text We are back to wrap up the year after an accidental hiatus!!  We wanted to stop by before the end of the year to discuss what our work looks like in the near future under leadership changes in the US, our worries about the increase in misinformation and confusion as we all just try and survive this life and do what is right for ourselves and our families, and valuing science education...

Send a text Dr. Toni and Dr. Aimee yuck it up about allergies after getting tons of questions that were really great!   We discuss why allergies exist, how annoying they are, why antibiotics dont work, why immunotherapy might or might now work, why pollen won't kill you but shellfish could, the peanut allergy saga,  how to be careful with that benadryl and so much more!   Send us your questio...

Send a text Yay we get a chance to talk to Dr. Aimee about her career journey!   She hilariously explains why she decided not to be a doctor, Dr. Toni is still laughing. She takes us through how she evolved into the amazing scientist-teacher that she is despite her high school biology teacher giving her some discouraging advice and how she fell in love, like literally fell in love with immunology....

Send a text Due to some requests, we are dedicating the next two podcasts to our career journeys and Dr. Toni goes first. Shout out to Dr. Toni's mom who got her a subscription to some animal cards as a child to influence her learning. Shout out to Dr. Toni's dad who believed she could do more than take care of animals, may he Rest in Peace. Shout out to the Minority Access to Research C...

Send a text Prompted by an advisory from a person in power in the south,  Dr. Aimee and Dr. Toni chat about how that is literally not possible while we catch up since we hadn't talked in awhile. We review some pearls on how to decipher scary information and again review your risk tolerance which is personal for everyone. To review risk tolerance check out our podcast episode on the topic here...

Send a text Spurred by an outbreak in Philadelphia December 2023 and continuing into 2024 with some pockets of infection in Colorado we wanted to re-release our previous podcast on measles for those of you who are concerned! Breaking news! Measles outbreak in Ohio has prompted us to talk a little bit about this. (November 2022) Measles is highly contagious and requires 95% of eligible human beings...

Send a text Today we have two amazing leaders in mental health discussing the issues of holiday anxiety after experiencing the collective trauma of Covid and other global and local tragedies.  Do we gather?  Do we stay in solitude? How can we be authentic and still preserve the relationships that matter the most to us?  How can we hold two things to be true at the same time? And how can we center...

Send a text We have the distinct pleasure of sitting down and chatting with the esteemed Dr. Pooja Mehta. Pooja K. Mehta, MD, MSHP, is a board-certified practicing obstetrician gynecologist, and head of women’s health at Cityblock Health, the first Medicaid-focused, value-based, tech-enabled provider for communities with complex health and social needs. In this episode we dive all the way in on Hu...

Send a text Kicking off season 3 with updates on covid vaccinations (we only need one now yay!!) and what to do with masks. What is your risk tolerance?  What is the timing of this new shot? Why did Dr. Aimee walk though a freshly coughed pocket of air???? There is no cookie cutter answer y'all.  We have tools now that we didn't have to keep us all safe and we discuss how to use them as...

Send a text We bring back these episodes originally released in April 2022 about extra doses and the confusion of using the word booster. We talk about getting certain terms in the graveyard of tearing down terminology and  making sure folks understand what these extra vaccine doses are all about.  How many do we need??  And why are scientists and medical doctors not agreeing??  How do we manage t...

Send a text Prompted by a question Dr. Aimee received this podcast tries to explain why we have so many colds and what the difference is between the mild symptoms of a cold and something more serious and why antibiotics don't work. We got profiled in Futurum Careers Magazine!  Check out our three page spread pages 34-37 https://futurumcareers.com/Issue-21.pdf Wash your hands!!  Wear your mask...

Send a text Meet Evan "the bioethicist" Thornburg, an expert on misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories, who has found notoriety on Tik Tok, sits down with us to talk about health literacy, scientism, the exclusionary elitism of the medical and scientific realms which gate-keeps information and contributes to the public's mistrust, and the difficulty of science to co...

Send a text Trigger warning: Discussion includes suicide and substance use Late mother's day edition! How can you tell if your child is depressed? Anxious?  How do we manage our fears about getting "it" wrong or sitting with silence? How do we deal with how covid exacerbated and continues to exacerbate how young people are unable to manage their emotions, attention and the unlimited...

Send a text Today we get the awesome opportunity to interview Dr. Ingrid Walker-Descartes, Pediatrician and Child Abuse expert, who works in almost all the spaces, clinical and direct patient care, medical education, administrative and leadership who talks to us today about how we define burnout and resiliency, how covid changed how we see ourselves and our work, discuss the importance of the soci...

Send a text In this episode, we define public health emergency and the end of the State of Emergency and what does that mean for the rest of us in the country.  We talk about what that means for vaccines, medications, masks, the Emergency Use Authorizations or EUA, mandates, keeping our children and other vulnerable family members safe, insurance and what will be available for managing infection w...

Send a text We are excited to be joined on the podcast today with Dr. NanEfua Baidoo Afoh-Manin in a University of Rochester reunion!!!  She is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician, with a masters in global public health and disaster medicine from Columbia University, public health advocate, and one of the founders of Shared Harvest Fund.   As an innovator and thought leader, she believe...

Send a text In this episode we talk about natural remedies, vitamins and immune boosters which should not be called that.  We answer questions from friends and families about Vitamin C, Zinc, honey, elderberry and Dr. Aimee and Dr. Toni battle it out about Vicks vapor rub!  Too much of anything is not good and none is a substitute for good nutrition, good sleep habits and regular exercise and vacc...

Send a text We are so excited to introduce you to Julissa Soto, an independent health equity and vaccine advocate advocate in Colorado who developed a program called Vaccine Sundays where she immunizes community members in various churches around the the state and how she finds the strength to not slow down any time soon!  She has been honored and recognized by government, academics and community...