The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast

In this episode, Dr. Nzinga Harrison puts addiction and substance use disorder into context. She also explains how an evidence-based and compassionate harm-reduction approach can lead to better health outcomes. Dr. Harrison is the Co-Founder and CMO of Eleanor Health , which has raised $82M to help those affected by substance use disorders. Learn more abou t Eleanor Heal th. Foll ow Dr. Nzinga Har...

Host Halle Tecco talks with two of her favorite long-time colleagues in digital health: Chrissy Farr and Malay Gandhi. Chrissy started her career in this space as a digital health reporter for VentureBeat, FastCompany, and CNBC before becoming a venture capitalist at OMERS ventures. Malay started his career in management consulting before joining me at Rock Health where he served as Managing Direc...

Mark Cuban was horrified at how many Americans struggle to pay for their medications, which are 250% more expensive in the U.S. than in other OECD nations. In this episode, he shares the details of his online pharmacy for generic drugs that offers steep discounts. The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company cuts out the middle-man, charging customers a transparent price that is equal to the manufacturer...

In today's episode, you'll hear from the six incredible semi-finalists of the Heart of Healthcare Grant Challenge. Place your votes before the end of the month at https://www.heartofhealthcarepodcast.com/grants The episode transcript is available here at http://www.heartofhealthcarepodcast.com/episodes/grant-challenge-semi-finalists See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Pr...

Long waits for appointments, short time with the provider, cookie-cutter treatment, and infrequent support don’t work well for people suffering from anxiety and depression. This week's guest, Brad Kittredge, believes in a world where everyone suffering from mental health can get personalized care, and he knows technology can get us there. Learn how his company, Brightside, is working with the syst...

This episode was recorded with My Climate Journey to explore the intersection of climate change and human health. Dr. Darragh O'Carroll is a science communicator and emergency physician specializing in emergency, disaster, climate, and COVID-19 medicine. He's making a documentary series called "Infected planet" to illustrate how climate change is affecting global and public health, and highlight t...

The number of online companies offering mail-order invisible aligners is booming. But this orthodontist says some are ruining people's teeth and harming their overall health. In this episode, orthodontist and entrepreneur Dr. Ingrid Murra, talks about the state of venture-backed dentistry. Dr. Murra is the Founder & CEO of Two Front, a digital health startup bringing next-generation orthodonti...

It’s in our water, our food, and so many other products we use on a daily basis, from non-stick pans to popcorn bags. Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals”, have been linked to a variety of health conditions including cancer, infertility, birth defects, developmental delays, asthma, allergies, cardiovascular disease, obesity and more. In this epi...

In this episode, I sit down with epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera to discuss Monkeypox, Polio, COVID, and why pandemics are becoming more common. Jessica serves as the Science Communication Lead for The COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic, a Research Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital Innovation & Digital Health Accelerator, an Infection Preventionist at Netflix, and a Senior Advisor...

Caregiving is the work that makes all other work possible, but it doesn’t always get the respect it deserves -— whether it’s done by an employee or a family member. Ai Jen Poo believes that we should make care policies like family leave, child care, and child tax credits part of our public infrastructure. As investments in the future of the economy. Ai-Jen Poo is a next-generation labor leader, aw...

With a community of 2.8 million followers on TikTok, Dr. Jennifer Lincoln is using social media to educate and bust the (many) myths surrounding reproductive health and abortion. Dr. Lincoln is a board-certified OBGYN who is passionate about helping people understand their bodies and feel empowered to advocate for themselves. She is the author of Let's Talk About Down There: An OBGYN Answers All Y...

In this episode [Episode 1 revisited], Catherine Coleman Flowers (the “Erin Brockovich of Sewage”) explains how crumbling infrastructure causes toxic sewage spills in the backyards of poor, rural communities. Flowers also talks about how she discovered an outbreak of an intestinal, blood-feeding parasite we thought had been eradicated in the United States. Catherine Coleman Flowers is a MacArthur...

Ageism is the one ‘ism’ that affects all of us. We all age, if we're so lucky. So why are ageist messages in the media and workplace so pervasive? And what is the impact? In this episode, I talk with advocate Cindy Gallop who is helping build an aspirational culture around aging. After a successful career in advertising, she launched her company on the TED stage, with the goal to end ageism, incre...

Anne Wojcicki started 23andMe in 2006 to empower consumers with access to their own genetic information. In this episode, she shares the highs and lows of this journey including getting an FDA warning letter, going public, and genotyping over 12 million customers. Plus, she shares why she thinks our healthcare system is a communist system, their role in the discussion of race, and how genetic rela...

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month. And this year it hits different. We have faced a severe shortage of infant formula, with an out-of-stock rate surging to 70%. While it's easy to say "just breastfeed!" — not everyone can breastfeed for a variety of reasons, and we don’t exactly make it easy for working mothers. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Leila Strickland, a biologist, and co-founder of...

Nearly half of girls in the U.S. have lacked access to period products, and 1 in 5 have missed school because of it. With a tampon shortage and increasing costs, the problem is worsening and forcing girls to use unhygienic and unsafe alternatives. And it doesn’t help that most states tax period products like luxury goods. In this episode, we discuss the movement for menstrual equity with Lynette M...

Last week, the first-ever application to the FDA was submitted to turn Opill birth control from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC) status. Unintended pregnancies in the U.S. are at an all-time low, yet they still represent nearly half of all pregnancies, and each one costs taxpayers over $9,000. In this short episode, I advocate for OTC birth control and the reason we should make it free. Foll...

Patrick Brown, founder of Impossible Foods, doesn’t care about food. He just wants to stop climate change. And he knows the best way to halt global warming is to ditch meat from animals. A former Stanford Professor, Patrick Brown started Impossible Foods at age 60 and has helped grow it to a multi-billion dollar company and household name. In this episode, we talk about his journey to save the pla...

Quality, evidence-based sex education is more important than ever. In this episode [Ep 10 revisited], youth sex educator Nora Gelperin dives into sex education today and why abstinence-only education has been a failed experiment. She also touches upon contraceptive access for teens, and the #FreeThePill movement to make birth control available over the counter. Nora is the director of Sexuality Ed...

The recent Supreme Court ruling represents a major blow to the fight for reproductive justice in the United States, creating reproductive healthcare restrictions across the country. It spans far beyond a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. In this episode, we discuss evidence-backed public health for reducing unplanned pregnancies, and what the repeal could mean for families needing fertility treatm...

In this episode [Episode 3 revisited], emergency room physician Dr. Megan Ranney explains how gun violence is a public health crisis, and shares her non-partisan approach to help end it. Dr. Ranney is a respected researcher, emergency physician, and advocate in the field of injury prevention and digital health. She is a Professor at Brown University, and the co-founder of AFFIRM, the American Foun...

We love to hate on them, but right now teenagers need our help. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared the mental health crisis facing children and teens a national emergency. In this episode, Dr. Hina Talib discusses the challenges adolescents are facing today. Dr. Talib is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and an OBGYN at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is a spokesperso...

Ten years ago, Dr. B found himself with low self-esteem, anxiety, and 50 extra pounds of weight. He turned to his favorite tool from med school -- medical research -- to transform his life through gut health. Dr. B saw mind-blowing results by combining cutting-edge microbiome science with a newfound love of plant-based foods. In this episode, Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, board-certified gastroenterologist...

Every day, we’re bombarded with pressure to be positive. From “good vibes only” and “life is good” memes, to “look on the bright side,” we’re constantly told that the key to happiness is silencing negativity. Even when faced with illness, infertility, and other challenges, there’s little space for talking about our real feelings—and processing them so that we can feel better and move forward. In t...

May is Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Heritage Month. 8.5% of healthcare workers are AAPI, compared to 6.8% of the U.S. population. While Americans of Asian and Pacific Island descent have made many contributions to our healthcare system, they are facing increased discrimination at work and in their communities. In this episode, Dr. Esther Choo discusses the racism faced by AAPI healt...