Public Health On Call

Kaiser Permanente, the largest not-for-profit health system in the US, has mobilized in response to COVID-19. Senior vice president and chief health officer Dr. Bechara Choucair  talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about coaching for patients who test positive, contact tracing partnerships with local health departments, and a focus on addressing patients' social needs like rent and food so they can iso...

This week, Pfizer reported some encouraging early results from Phase III of it's COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Stephanie Desmon about what might happen next, when we could see the first doses of vaccines available, and how we should continue vigilance with masks, distancing, and handwashing while waiting for widespread vaccination to bring the pandemic to a heel.

High profile instances show up in the news as "super spreader" events, but there's evidence that the phenomenon of "overdispersion" could be much more common. Infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Justin Lessler and doctoral student Kyra Grantz talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the biological and social contributors to overdispersion, and what it could mean for public health strategy. KEYWORDS:...

Pneumonia is the leading killer of children under 5 around the world with most deaths in low- and middle-income countries. But it's not just a problem of developing countries: pneumonia is also the most common reason for hospitalization of children in the US. In recognition of World Pneumonia Day, pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Anita Shet and Leith Greenslade , coordinator of the Ever...

We're closer to safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines, but what will the actual rollout look like? Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel , a bioethicist and health policy expert recently appointed to President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus task force, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the challenges in distributing a vaccine in the US. They discuss which groups might get access first, logistical challenges including co...

After the National Basketball Association shut down on March 11, the league was able to resume play and complete both its season and postseason without interruption from COVID-19 from the safety of "the bubble." Pete Meisel , the NBA's senior manager for player health and an alumnus of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what went into the bubb...

A disproportionate number of women in the U.S. appear to be "dropping out" of the workforce during the pandemic, presumably to care for children or because they are more likely to have jobs that cannot be done remotely. Stefania Albanesi , an economist at the University of Pittsburgh who studies women in the workforce, talks with Stephanie Desmon about this phenomenon and what it could mean long-t...

Before the pandemic, we didn't know as much about how infectious respiratory diseases spread. New knowledge about COVID-19 can help us make informed decisions about risks but it has also led to mixed messages. Hopkins environmental epidemiologist Dr. Tom Burke and dean of the University of Colorado School of Public Health Dr. Jon Samet talk with Stephanie Desmon about a panel they recently led on...

The pandemic has revealed major deficits in public health infrastructure and a lack of prioritization of prevention efforts: only 3% of all health dollars are spent on prevention. Dr. Ellen J. MacKenzie , dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Dr. Shelley Hearne , director of the School's Center for Public Health Advocacy, talk with guest host Dr. Colleen Barry about how disinvestment...

New York City's contact tracing program, officially launched on June 1, is one of the largest in the nation. Dr. Jay Varma , the mayor's senior adviser for public health, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the trained workforce of 4,000 people that is now reaching more than 90% of new cases in the city. The program also helps provide services like dog walking and grocery delivery so that people...

In the first of a periodic series on racism and health, Dr. Keshia Pollack Porter, vice dean for faculty and professor in Health Policy and Management, talks with Taylor Porter, a principal at Gamble Montessori High School in Cincinnati with a unique approach to learning that prioritizes the health and well-being of the whole child. Porter talks about COVID-19's impacts on students and families an...

In this episode, Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Hopkins researchers who break down three new COVID-19 research papers: Dr. Andrew Redd talks about COVID-19 vaccines and whether they will work in older adults; Dr. Sheree Schwartz talks the about the implications of COVID-19 for pregnancy; and Dr. Denali Boon discusses a preprint paper about the potential use of rapid COVID tests. All three Hopkins...

The pandemic has elevated many of the risk factors of suicide, including loneliness, grief, economic distress, and a record number of people requesting new access to firearms which are involved in 50% of suicides. Hopkins suicide prevention expert Dr. Holly Wilcox talks with Stephanie Desmon about these risks, what the data are showing so far, and potential solutions. They also discuss the particu...

COVID-19 mortality rates are falling and better treatments are one of the main reasons why. Dr. Arturo Casadevall returns to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about where we are with different treatments and their successes, ongoing clinical trials, why some treatments are harder than others to produce, and whether we'll continue to see investments in treatments when a vaccine is available...

How can we deal with election stress and uncertainty? How should we think about hard decisions like traveling for the holidays? How can we balance the health and safety risks of visiting with friends and family with concerns about mental health and loneliness if we stay home? What can we do to prepare for an overlap of COVID fatigue and seasonal affective disorder? How do we know if we're just fee...

As part of our election series, guest host Dr. Colleen Barry talks with Josh Horwitz , executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence about what's at stake for gun policy in this election. They also talk about how 2020 is shaping up to be a grim year for homicides and gun violence, the rise of gun sales and suicides, which gun policies garner majority support and which are more contentio...

As part of our election series, Stephanie Desmon talks with Dr. Gerry Anderson , an expert in health policy at Johns Hopkins. They discuss what the election could mean for the coverage of preexisting conditions, Medicaid expansion, and drug pricing. They also talk about a Supreme Court hearing in November that may determine the future of the Affordable Care Act, the similarities and differences be...

As part of our election series, Stephanie Desmon talks with Dr. Tom Burke , the EPA's science advisor during the Obama administration. They discuss this critical moment after huge reversals of environmental gains in the US, how the reputation of science has affected critical policy decisions, and what's at stake for everything from the quality of drinking water to the dangers of forest fires and h...

As part of a pre-election series, Stephanie Desmon talks with Dr. Paul Spiegel , director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, and Katherine Narvaez , a Hopkins student and researcher and DACA recipient from Guatemala. They talk about Narvaez's experience as a "Dreamer" and what's at stake for her and other families who are at risk of separation and deportation. They also discuss t...

What do we know about reinfection? Can adults get the rare inflammatory syndrome that was infecting some children? If guidelines say "close contact" is being within six feet of someone for 15 minutes, is it OK to be close to someone for less time? If someone quarantines for 14 days with no symptoms, do they need a test to be "clear"? If my child is sent home from school after possibly being expose...

With the possibility of a spike in COVID-19 cases this fall and winter, doctors, nurses, and medical staff may be coming in feeling already depleted from an uncontrolled pandemic. Guest host Dan Gorenstein of the Tradeoffs podcast talks with Dr. Albert Wu , co-director of RISE —Resilience in Stressful Events—which provides emotional support to health system staff. Gorenstein and Wu talk about why...

Today's episode is audio from a webcast recorded on October 15 with Dr. Anthony Fauci and Bloomberg School dean Dr. Ellen MacKenzie as part of the inaugural Johns Hopkins Health Policy Forum . They discuss Fauci's background with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and parallels to COVID-19, the state of the U.S. coronavirus response, and how implementing better controls doesn't necessarily mean brutal lockdown...

Early on, Israel surfaced as a pandemic success story when strict lockdowns kept case counts low. The country returned to something close to normal, reopening businesses and schools and resuming gatherings and activities. But the optimism was short-lived, and Israel had to go into a second lockdown when COVID-19 started spreading uncontrolled across the country. Dana Schleifer , director of the im...

This fall, Cornell University invited all students back to campus. Out of roughly 28,000 people on campus including students, faculty and staff, the school has seen only 100 positive tests. Provost Dr. Michael Kotlikoff talks with Stephanie Desmon about Cornell's success which includes robust testing in an on-site lab, contact tracing, and a strategy called "adaptive testing" where tracers work to...

This week, senior White House officials embraced the Great Barrington Declaration, a statement funded by a libertarian think tank that calls for an end to most COVID-19 response measures. In this two-part bonus episode, Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with epidemiologists Dr. David Dowdy and Dr. Amber D'Souza about the harm this strategy would cause. Part two is an excerpt from Sharfstein's conversation...