Vinay Prasad, MD MPH

Plenary Session

Science EN ↓ 399 episodes

A podcast on medicine, oncology, & health policy. Host: Vinay Prasad, MD MPH from University of California, San Francisco. Tweet your feedback to @Plenary_Session or e-mail plenarysessionpodcast@gmail.com.

Author

Vinay Prasad, MD MPH

Category

Science

Podcast website

soundcloud.com

Latest episode

May 20, 2026

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Episodes

3.45 USMLE Steps, Residency Match, & M.D. vs D.O. with Dr. Bryan Carmody 24.02.2021

On today's episode we interview Dr. Bryan Carmody, commonly known as the Sheriff of Sodium. He's a pediatric nephrologist at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Virginia. We talk with him about the USMLE Steps (Step 1, Step 2, and Step 2 CS), their usefulness, their origins, and how to reform them. We also break down and discuss the inner workings of residency matching and the M.D. and...

3.44 The Role of Philosophy, COVID-19 Policy, and COVID-19 Exceptionalism with Dr. Alex John London 17.02.2021

Today we sit down with Dr. Alex John London, the Clara L. West Professor of Ethics and Philosophy and Director of the Center for Ethics and Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, to discuss the role of philosophy, COVID-19 exceptionalism, and various aspects of COVID-19 health policy including masking, vaccination, and schools. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check out our YouTub...

3.43 Reviewing the Beat AML Master Trial 15.02.2021

On today’s episode we review the findings of the Beat AML study as published in Nature Medicine in an article titled “Precision medicine treatment in acute myeloid leukemia using prospective genomic profiling: feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the Beat AML Master Trial”. Beat AML: doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1089-8 Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check out our YouTube chann...

3.42 Overdiagnosis and Cutaneous Melanoma Diagnoses with Dr. Adewole Adamson and Dr. Benjamin Mazer 10.02.2021

For today's episode, we sit down with Drs. Ade Adamson of the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School and Ben Mazer of Johns Hopkins Hospital to discuss their new paper out now in the New England Journal of Medicine titled "The Rapid Rise in Cutaneous Melanoma Diagnoses". It's one of the best papers you'll read all year. Melanoma Diagnoses: doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsb2019760 Back us on Patreo...

3.41 Building a Meta-Research Career and Constructing COVID-19 Health Policy with Dr. John Ioannidis 07.02.2021

For today's special episode, we sat down with Dr. John Ioannidis of Stanford University for an outdoor in-person interview. We take a deep dive into his work from 2000 all the way up to present day: his career from 2000 to 2010, his move to Stanford, and his work on COVID-19. We take a deep dive into his work on COVID-19: IFR, shielding ratio, the question of whether lockdown works, opening school...

3.40 COVID-19 Vaccines, Origin of SARS-CoV-2, and Pandemic Mitigation with Prof Francois Balloux 05.02.2021

On today's episode we're joined by geneticist Dr. Francois Balloux, the Director of the University College London Genetics Institute and professor of computational systems biology, on pandemic mitigation, SARS-CoV-2 variants, how news and social media amplify fear over fact, opening schools, lethality and risk, the origin of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and vaccine escape, and more! Back...

3.39 Public Health Messaging on COVID-19 with Drs. Julia Marcus and Stefan Baral 04.02.2021

On today's episode we feature an in-depth interview with Dr. Julia Marcus (Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School) and Dr. Stefan Baral (Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), two infectious disease epidemiologists, on public health messaging around COVID-19 -- what we're getting right and where we're going terribly wrong. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.co...

3.38 Oncology During COVID-19 & RCTs from Low- vs High-Income Countries with Dr. Christopher Booth 29.01.2021

On today's episode we sit down with Dr. Chris Booth of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada to discuss his new paper out now in JAMA Oncology titled "An Analysis of Contemporary Oncology Randomized Clinical Trials From Low/Middle-Income vs High-Income Countries". We also talk about how COVID-19 has affected oncology research. We touch, too, on the topic of evaluating how you spend your...

3.37 Skepticism, COVID-19, and Debating Science in the Era of Trade-Offs with Jacob Hale Russell 27.01.2021

On today's episode we are joined by Jacob Hale Russell, an Associate Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School. We discuss his forthcoming book on skepticism, elites, and expertise, as well as his article out now on StatNews about the myth of COVID-19 denial. We talk about anti-intellectualism and how science ought to be debated in the era of trade-offs and COVID-19. Straw Man of Pandemic Denial: www...

3.36 Sustainable Ex-Vivo Seafood with Dr. Arye Elfenbein 22.01.2021

On today's episode we sit down with Dr. Arye Elfenbein, a cardiologist and "doctorpreneur " to interview him on the bio-tech company he recently co-founded: Wildtype. Wildtype manufactures ex-vivo fish meat for human consumption in fulfillment of their mission to create the cleanest, most sustainable seafood. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check out our YouTube channel: www.you...

3.35 The Secrets of Vermont in Taming the COVID-19 Pandemic with Anne Sosin 20.01.2021

Today we interview Anne Sosin of Dartmouth College on public health policy in Vermont and how the state has uniquely tamed the COVID-19 pandemic. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check out our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCUibd0E2kdF9N9e-EmIbUew

3.34 COVID-19 From a Philosopher's Point of View with Dr. Matthew Smith 15.01.2021

Today we sit down with Dr. Matthew Smith, an associate professor in the Northeastern University Department of Philosophy and Religion, for a far-ranging discussion on COVID-19 from a philosopher's point of view. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check out our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCUibd0E2kdF9N9e-EmIbUew

3.33 Hematologic Malignancies and Transplantation with Dr. Aaron Goodman 12.01.2021

Today we are joined by Dr. Aaron Goodman, an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California San Diego, who talks with us about hematologic malignancies, transplantation, and our new paper out now in Blood titled "Persistent Challenges with Treating Multiple Myeloma Early". Persistent Challenges: doi.org/10.1182/blood.2020009752 Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check...

3.32 Publishing Original Thought in Medical Journals with Dr. Stephen Bradley 08.01.2021

Today we talk with Dr. Stephen Bradley, a General Practitioner and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, on publishing in medical journals -- peer review, editorial practices, anti-intellectualism, and more! Notes on Nationalism: www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/notes-on-nationalism/ Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check...

3.31 Random Thoughts on Visiting Hospital Patients During COVID-19 and Norman Wang's Lawsuit 06.01.2021

Today we have for you an episode of random thoughts. We talk over the ramifications of the strict COVID-19 policy that prevents people from visiting their dying loved ones in the hospital. We also talk more about Norman Wang and his surrounding controversy given the recent lawsuit the Center for Individual Rights has filed against the University of Pittsburgh on his behalf. Back us on Patreon! www...

3.30 Benefit and Risk of SpaceOAR with Dr. William Hall 05.01.2021

On today's episode we interview Dr. Bill Hall, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Surgery at Medical College of Wisconsin, on our new paper out now in The Lancet Oncology titled "Considering benefit and risk before routinely recommending SpaceOAR". SpaceOAR: doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30639-2 Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check out our YouTube channel: www.youtub...

3.29 Censorship in Medicine with Jonathan Darrow 31.12.2020

On today's episode we discuss censorship in medicine in all its forms with legal expert Jonathan Darrow, an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check out our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCUibd0E2kdF9N9e-EmIbUew

3.28 Exploring the History of Medicine with Dr. Adam Rodman, host of Bedside Rounds 21.12.2020

On today's episode we talk podcasting and the history of medicine with Dr. Adam Rodman, the creator and host of the wildly popular podcast Bedside Rounds, and a hospitalist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check out our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCUibd0E2kdF9N9e-EmIbUew

3.27 All Recent Acute Myeloid Leukemia Drugs with Dr. Bernard Marini 16.12.2020

On today's episode we discuss all the new drugs for acute myeloid leukemia with Dr. Bernie Marini, a Clinical Pharmacist Specialist in Hematology at University of Michigan Medicine. Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenarysession Check out our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCUibd0E2kdF9N9e-EmIbUew

3.26 The Importance of Debate and Dialogue with Dr. Saurabh Jha 15.12.2020

Today's episode is an interview with Dr. Saurabh Jha, an Associate Professor of Radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, on the importance of debate and dialogue both historically and in today's modern context. This is the second episode in our experiment in breaking our content up into bite-sized, single-topic episodes. What do you think? Do you prefer a shorter, single-focus...

3.25 Public Health Policy on the Risk of COVID-19 in Children with Dr. Alasdair Munro 12.12.2020

Now that we are nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, we invite Dr. Alasdair Munro, a pediatrics infectious disease expert, back on to the show to discuss recent developments in public health policy concerning the spread of COVID-19, the risk of it, and children. We also talk about the rigorously policed echo chamber of Twitter, specifically #medtwitter, and finding an audie...

3.24 KEYNOTE-177 & Mathematic Models for Fighting COVID-19 with Dr. Wesley Pegden 04.12.2020

This week we return to our roots of oncology and dissect the recent results from KEYNOTE-177. We also have an in-depth interview with mathematician Dr. Wes Pegden of Carnegie Mellon University on a mathematical approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. KEYNOTE-177: doi.org/0.1056/NEJMoa2017699 COVID-19 Mathematical Model: https://math.cmu.edu/~wes/covid.html Back us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/plenaryses...

3.23 Capturing Your Audience with Dr. Zubin "ZDoggMD" Damania & JAVELIN 100 with Dr. Karine Tawagi 26.11.2020

We have a short and sweet episode for you this week -- no monologue, just two deep-dives with two stellar guests. Our first interview is with Dr. Zubin Damania (known as ZDoggMD) and we cover everything from making original music to the artistry of professional oratory to the pain of electronic health records. Our second interview is a return to our popular segment Journal Club with a Fellow: We i...

3.22 New Podcast, Opening Schools with Dr. Vladimir Kogan, Virtual Learning with Dr. Carycruz Bueno 21.11.2020

Our first guests this week are Drs. Adam Cifu and Scott Stern and are on to discuss their new podcast Symptom to Diagnosis -- based on their book of the same name -- about clinical reasoning. Next we bring back political scientist Dr. Vlad Kogan (from episode 3.13) to discuss the need to re-open schools in the context of rising COVID-19 cases and a changing political landscape. Finally we intervie...

3.21 Affirmative Action with Leah Litman, Cost Implications with Dr. DeMartino, & Dr. John Mandrola 13.11.2020

First up this week we interview constitutional law scholar Leah Litman, an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, on Dr. Norman Wang and the intricacies of the laws on affirmative action. Next, we talk with Dr. Patrick DeMartino, a pediatric hematology/oncology fellow at Oregon Health & Science University, on his new paper out now in JAMA Internal Medicine: "Potential Cost Impli...

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