Public Health On Call

Why is it so important for African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, and other members of racial and ethnic minority groups to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials? Why is recruitment difficult? How can long standing mistrust of the medical community be mended? What needs to happen to battle myths and inconsistencies that undermine participation? Dr. Lisa Cooper , director of the Johns Hopkins Cent...

Halloween is approaching, followed by Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. What should parents and families be thinking about? Elizabeth Stuart and Keri Althoff return to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about how COVID-19 will impact the holidays and may move life indoors as the weather cools off. They discuss how to make celebrations special, how to think about travel and hosting, and...

In the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, safety and speed are critical for developing an effective vaccine which means finding lots of volunteers for clinical trials. Georgia Lewis signed up for the Pfizer clinical trial and has received two doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. Lewis, a pediatric nurse practitioner, talks with Stephanie Desmon about why she volunteered, her experience with th...

Back in April, Dr. Brendan Nyhan , an expert in the politics of misinformation about health, talked with guest host Dr. Colleen Barry , chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, about social media, scientific uncertainty, and COVID-19's misinformation storm. Today, he returns to the podcast to discuss what we've learned about misinformation since then, why—like the virus itself—it's...

Today, we're releasing a special bonus episode with what might be an opportunity for you or for someone you know—a chance for a full scholarship to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The program is called the Bloomberg Fellows Program and it's part of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. You may be eligible to apply if you work in the United States now on one of these issues...

October 12 is Indigenous People's Day, a movement that originated in the late 1980s to address the erasure of history of America's indigenous people. Dr. Melissa Walls , director of the Great Lakes Hub for the Center for American Indian Health at Johns Hopkins and a member of the Bois Forte and Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the holiday that shares a dat...

Election season has begun and voting options vary by state. In this special bonus episode, the Center for Health Security's Dr. Caitlin Rivers and Dr. Josh Sharfstein break down what you need to know about the risks and safety precautions for on-site voting.

This week we put the former principal deputy commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Josh Sharfstein , on the other side of the mic to answer questions about some of this week's remarkable list of COVID news. How damaging are conflicting messages from the White House about COVID-19? What happened between the FDA and the White House over COVID-19 vaccine safety? Is Regeneron, a coc...

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health professor Keshia Pollack Porter and colleagues recently penned a Health Affairs blog calling for nonpartisan, objective analysis of legislation by a Congressional Health Office. The Office would evaluate and score legislation for intended and unintended impacts on health and equity, help educate policymakers, and advocate for "health in all policies....

Molecular tests, antigen tests, antibody tests, nasopharyngeal, saliva, blood... When we talk about COVID-19 testing, what are we actually talking about? Dr. Yuka Manabe , a Johns Hopkins expert in infectious diseases and testing, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the various types and methods of COVID-19 testing, their pros and cons when it comes to convenience and accuracy, the type of testing u...

COVID-19 drew the curtain on live theater across the country, putting 90% of the industry out of work. Producer and publicist Matt Ross is part of a COVID Theatre Think Tank , a research group of actors, directors, musicians, and many other industry professionals. Ross talks with Stephanie Desmon about how the group works closely with public health experts and advisors to "interpret the science fo...

In a bonus episode recorded Sunday, October 4, Dr. Tom Inglesby , director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the origins and consequences of the White House COVID-19 outbreak. They discuss what's needed to get the situation under control, the implications for upcoming debates, and the threat of this major outbreak cutting across the corridors of...

Six months ago, Dr. Lisa Maragakis was one of the podcast's very first guests and she talked about how Johns Hopkins was preparing for an influx of COVID-19 patients. Things have calmed down a bit since then, but cases have plateaued at a concerning level at the same time we're entering respiratory virus season. Dr. Maragakis talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about ongoing challenges in the hospital...

The vacancy on the Supreme Court left by Justice Ginsburg could have an unprecedented impact on critical public health issues. In a special Friday episode, Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with three experts in public health law— Lainie Rutkow , Jon Vernick , and Joanne Rosen —about the ACA, the Second Amendment, and Roe v. Wade. They discuss the Court's precedents around these issues, how nominee Amy Co...

The University of Arizona recently tracked a potential COVID-19 outbreak in a dorm by testing sewage. Johns Hopkins chemist Dr. Carsten Prasse , who studies wastewater-based epidemiology, talks with Stephanie Desmon about what poop can tell us about the health of individuals and communities, privacy concerns, and how sewage surveillance could be part of the COVID-19 response in certain circumstanc...

We last heard from Matt Hornbeck —longtime principal of Hampstead Hill Academy , a K-8 school in Baltimore city—in the spring after schools abruptly closed. Hornbeck now returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the first few weeks of online learning and what a typical day looks like. They also discuss successes and setbacks, how to think about prioritizing ESOL students and th...

When the world first heard about a new respiratory virus, it was a surprise to learn that patients were suffering from blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks. Johns Hopkins hematologist Dr. Robert Brodsky talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about recent research exploring the role of complement, a part of the immune system, in COVID-related clotting. Brodksy talks about how COVID-19 may be similar to...

Research has shown that COVID-19 transmission is largely through airborne droplets and particles expelled during sneezing, coughing, talking, and singing. There's little evidence, though, that surfaces are making us sick. Microbiologist Dr. Emanuel Goldman talks with Stephanie Desmon about the science behind COVID transmission research, the strong evidence that infection comes from aerosols and no...

How can we deal with all of the unique stressors happening right now? How can families adjust to "back to school," in whatever form that may take? Is it helpful to have a broader perspective of what's going on in the world? What should we be doing to prepare for the winter months ahead in terms of our mental health and outlook? Dr. Laura Murray returns to the podcast this week with Stephanie Desmo...

Bestselling author Wes Moore remembers the feelings of heartache, anger, and complicity following Freddie Gray's funeral. Five years later, the Black Lives Matter movement has shown that the issue is much bigger than Baltimore and its policing. Moore talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how the police were the last in a long line of systems to fail Gray throughout his life, how Black Lives Matter...

At the beginning of the pandemic, many in the US seemed to view public health measures like lockdowns and social distancing and economic recovery as a tradeoff. But economist Dr. James Galbraith says this is an incorrect assumption, and that early failures to contain the virus mean the US now has uncontrolled spread and a less resilient economy. Galbraith talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the c...

As some schools and leagues resume play among youths, how can parents assess which activities are safer than others? Dr. Tara Kirk Sell —an expert from the Center for Health Security and an Olympic silver medalist in swimming—talks with Stephanie Desmon about how to think about levels of risk in different sports both on and off the field or court, how pro sports teams are thinking through safety,...

The University of Alabama saw some 2,000 cases of COVID-19 within the first few weeks of students returning to campus. Walt Maddox , mayor of Tuscaloosa and dad to an Alabama freshman, talks with Stephanie Desmon about how intertwined his city is with the university and how town and gown have had to work together to implement public policies to stem the spread. Maddox also talks about the economic...

Fire season in the western US is starting earlier and ending later each year and has seen larger, more intense fires in the last 10 years. How do these fires impact the health of people living nearby and, as smoke plumes spread across the US, can they impact the health of people further away? In this bonus episode, Dr. Kirsten Koehler , an expert in air pollution, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein ab...

What we are learning from universities that are opening their campuses for in-person schooling? Are rapid COVID tests as accurate as PCR tests? Can asymptomatic people experience heart and lung damage and other long-term health issues? If only some people are being tested, what does the positivity rate really tell us about community spread? If a student is symptomatic, should the entire class be q...