Conversations on Health Care
297 episodes - English - Latest episode: 19 days ago - ★★★★ - 23 ratingsConversations On Health Care features in-depth discussions on health policy and innovation with industry newsmakers from around the globe. The podcast is produced by Community Health Center, Inc., Connecticut’s largest provider of medical, dental and behavioral healthcare to the underserved, and hosted by Founder, President and CEO Mark Masselli and Vice President and Clinical Director Margaret Flinter.
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Episodes
A Teacher From Parkland H.S. Reflects on the Uvalde & Buffalo Mass Shootings
May 26, 2022 13:19 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MBParkland, Florida, teacher Sarah Lerner shares her poignant thoughts as the nation reacts to the latest deadly school shooting. Lerner was teaching the day a former student killed 17 at her high school; she has gone on to help lead Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence. Lerner discusses with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter how public health must continue its focus on stopping gun violence and what lawmakers can do. The post A Teacher From Parkland H.S. Reflects on the Uvalde & Buffalo...
Harm Reduction in U.S. Substance Use Disorder Efforts: Top Official Explains How It Works
May 18, 2022 13:50 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBThis week “Conversations on Health Care” discusses the Biden administration’s National Drug Control Strategy. Tom Coderre, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), explains what harm reduction is and how it’s helping. Join us as Coderre answers questions from hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter about SAMHSA’s mission to reduce the impact of substance use disorder and mental illness o...
Why the Path to Mental Health Goes Beyond Science: America’s Former Top Mental Health Leader Explains
May 11, 2022 17:14 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBFormer National Institute of Mental Health director Dr. Thomas Insel discusses how he’s combining his long-standing neuroscience and genetics studies with advocacy for better patient services, which is a topic in his new book, “Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health.” Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter ask him about efforts to build public awareness and support for those with mental health issues. He says, “The real tragedy here isn’t that w...
Pulitzer Prize Winner Explains Why “There Is No Way of Getting the Risk of Future Pandemics…Down to Zero”
May 06, 2022 12:48 - 28 minutes - 39.8 MBThe Atlantic staff writer Ed Yong says the threat of future pandemics requires society to aggressively face and fix racial, economic and health disparities. The acclaimed journalist also explains how his reporting is showing big differences in how COVID is still affecting the U.S. — some communities are “cautiously optimistic” while others are “nearing…the height of the Omicron surge in terms of new admissions.” Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter also talk ...
Dr. Deborah Birx Reacts to Vice President Testing Positive for COVID; Criticizes Trump White House Pandemic Communications
April 26, 2022 23:08 - 38 minutes - 53 MBFormer White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx shared her perspective about Vice President Kamala Harris testing positive for COVID with “Conversations on Health Care.” Birx says, “I think [the vice president’s diagnosis] illustrates our very dilemma right now. She was vaccinated, boostered and then reboosted just a month ago and I’m sure she will do incredibly well. She has access to all of the really critical therapeutics…people get infected despite full vaccinations ...
TV’s Jane Pauley’s Personal Story: Why Community Health Centers Matter to Her
April 21, 2022 13:10 - 28 minutes - 39.8 MBJane Pauley has been a familiar face on America’s TV screens since she started on NBC’s “Today” and continues as anchor of CBS “Sunday Morning.” Her interest in mental health has grown through the years as she faced her own challenges and as she became connected to behavioral health leaders in her home state of Indiana. Now her name graces the front doors of the Jane Pauley Community Health Center and she’s a powerful advocate for the services they, and... Read More Read More The post TV...
Reaction to Philadelphia’s New Mask Orders: “A Little Premature”
April 13, 2022 14:45 - 31 minutes - 43.6 MB“It feels a little premature…I might have waited a little longer to see what happens.” That’s the reaction from COVID expert Dr. Robert Wachter to Philadelphia’s decision to again require people to wear masks indoors, including in schools and daycares. It’s the first major American city to take this step. Wachter is chair of the Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco and a popular voice on Twitter. He also shares that policymakers, including those looking at renewing ...
APHA Executive Director: $10B in New COVID Funding Needed, Being Spent Responsibly
April 06, 2022 15:30 - 28 minutes - 39.8 MBDr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, says the legislative agreement for $10 billion in new federal COVID funding is “really a drop in the bucket.” He says more dollars are needed to build up public health in all parts of the U.S. He responded to some political complaints by assuring taxpayers that public health officials are indeed financially accountable. Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter also asked Dr. Benja...
CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure Breaks Down President Biden’s Health Budget Goals
March 30, 2022 22:39 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBCMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure discusses President Biden’s increased health budget proposal for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which is focused on health equity, mental health parity, and nursing home safety as key goals in the coming year. The Administrator says more resources are being allocated to address the nation’s mental health crisis, especially for the nation’s children still being impacted by...
Ukraine Doctor’s War Dispatch: Horrific Criminal Acts
March 24, 2022 13:07 - 30 minutes - 42.5 MBDr. Iryna Voloshyna, a primary care medical professor in Ukraine, shares a harrowing account of how she and others have tried to deliver urgently needed oncology medication to patients but “can’t give them to our people…because there is no road, there are only Russian military soldiers who try to kill everyone who tries to bring boxes.” Dr. Voloshyna tells Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that she and her daughter had to sleep on the subway... Read More...
From the Front Line in Romania to Washington, DC: Project HOPE Supporting the Refugee Crisis
March 15, 2022 13:19 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBConversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Project HOPE’s CEO Rabih Torbay and Director of Emergency Response and Preparedness Tom Cotter, who joined the show from the field in Bucharest, Romania. They share the daunting task of providing extensive support and local training to the existing medical infrastructure in handling both the destruction of medical facilities within Ukraine and the millions of refugees in need of medical and behavioral health servic...
Building on the Legacy of Global Health Leader Dr. Paul Farmer
March 09, 2022 21:42 - 28 minutes - 38.8 MBAs the world faces enormous challenges, in Ukraine and from COVID, it’s doing so without one of its global health champions. Dr. Paul Farmer, the co-founder and chief strategist of Partners In Health, unexpectedly passed away in February. This week Dr. Joia Mukherjee, the Chief Medical Officer of Partners in Health, shares memories with Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter. She explains how the nonprofit’s focus will remain on community health in the countrie...
Ukraine: Live Interview with Physician at Her Clinic
March 03, 2022 15:12 - 18 minutes - 25.4 MBThe whole world is watching as Russian troops advance in Ukraine and brave medical professionals are on duty throughout the crisis. One of them is Dr. Kateryna Pochtar, who shares her chilling description of how she and her colleagues are trying to help patients in their clinic. Dr. Pochtar explains how patients are crying in her arms as her life consists of just work, hiding and sleep. She tells Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that... Read More Read ...
Omicron’s Health Inequities: N.Y. State Health Commissioner Vows to Close Gap
February 23, 2022 18:49 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBDr. Mary Bassett, New York State Commissioner of Health, says the COVID Omicron variant is still exposing health inequities — African Americans in New York have been hospitalized twice as much as the majority population during this latest wave. Bassett says achieving health equity “will be the North Star of my working life as a physician committed to public health.” Bassett also tells Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that the state has four times as... ...
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Childhood Vaccine Delay & Political Divisiveness: ‘We Are at War With a Common Enemy’, Not the Time to Fight With Each Other
February 16, 2022 14:47 - 27 minutes - 38.1 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Dr. Anthony Fauci back to the show, two years after his first appearance discussing the novel coronavirus spreading around the world. The Chief Medical Advisor to the Biden White House and long-time Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH expressed concern over the ongoing political divisiveness impacting our ability to contain COVID outbreaks leading to almost 1 million deaths in this count...
Biden COVID Equity Advisor Faces Dilemma as His Employer Drops Vaccine Mandate
February 10, 2022 14:07 - 29 minutes - 39.9 MBDr. Cameron Webb, White House Senior Policy Adviser for COVID-19 Equity, is navigating a tricky situation — as he advocates for vaccines, the university where he works just dropped its student vaccine mandate. Webb tells Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that he realizes the University of Virginia has some new dynamics to navigate. “There’s this rush to roll back a lot of the strategies that have gotten us to a point where we’re seeing less... Read More ...
House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro: More Money for Hospitals, Vaccines Forthcoming?
January 31, 2022 13:57 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, on her expectations for building consensus on revised Build Back Better legislation, as well as the possibility for more relief money for hospitals and other entities in the wake of the ongoing pandemic. She says the expanded Child Tax Credit has lifted millions of American children out of poverty, significantly easing economic pressures on working fam...
US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Politics, Pandemic Fatigue and Keeping Kids Safe in School
January 25, 2022 15:17 - 24 minutes - 34.2 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome US Education Secretary Dr. Miguel Cardona, who discusses the Biden administration’s efforts to contain the pandemic’s impact while keeping students and teachers safe in school. He laments the influence of politics on the proven public health practices to prevent spread of the disease which includes mask wearing and widespread vaccinations. He says this pandemic has revealed the importance of providing medical and behavioral care in s...
Dr. Michael Osterholm: COVID is Not Done with Us ,Omicron Surge, Future Variants and Building Better Vaccines
January 20, 2022 14:07 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome renowned epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, who has served 5 presidential administrations in preparing for pandemics and bio-terror threats. Dr. Osterholm says the highly infectious omicron variant will continue to threaten hospital systems, schools and supply chains, warning the threat of future variants that may evade immu...
A Candid Conversation with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Politics of the Office, Masking Guidelines, COVID Testing and Pandemic Frustration
January 13, 2022 21:26 - 28 minutes - 39.1 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, addressing confusion and frustration around lack of rapid COVID tests and need for more N95 masks for the public. She talks about the shifting plan of action from the Biden Administration in response to the dramatic surge in omicron-driven COVID cases, and the scaled up efforts to make rapid tests and high quality masks available to all Americans. The post A Candid Conversation with CDC Director ...
New Pandemic Strategy Needed: Dr. Zeke Emanuel & Former Biden COVID Team Members Calling For New Approach
January 11, 2022 15:58 - 28 minutes - 39.1 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Zeke Emanuel, Vice Provost at the University of Pennsylvania and former member of the Biden administration’s COVID Transition Team. He and other former Biden advisors have called for a dramatic new approach to addressing COVID-19 saying we will not eradicate the virus, so we need new strategies to live with it. They’re calling for a radical re-tooling of our public health data system to capture real-time data, and for... Re...
Pediatrician Dr. Peter Hotez Creates New Vaccine: Gives Advice for Families With Young Children Staying Safe During Surge
January 05, 2022 15:00 - 26 minutes - 36.6 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, and co-creator of a new, low-cost vaccine for COVID-19. Dr. Hotez discusses plans for Corbevax, a recombinant protein vaccine shown to be highly protective against COVID-19, which has just been given Emergency Use Authorization by the Indian government. Dr. Hotez’s plan is to make the formula available to poor and developing count...
What a Year! A Look Back At COVID’s Grip on 2021
December 27, 2021 17:00 - 28 minutes - 38.8 MBThis week, Mark and Margaret take a look back at COVID’s hold on 2021, the early promise of vaccines, the relentless march of mutations and the vicious rise of new variants leading to pandemic surges around the world. They revisit conversations with memorable guests from famed virologists and epidemiologists like Paul Offit and Michael Osterholm, to President Biden’s COVID team leaders Rochelle Walensky, Anthony Fauci and Rachel Levine. They revisited guests focused on other health news: Bil...
Omicron Could Be as Deadly as Delta, Boosters’ Short Protection &‘Dangerous’ Oral COVID Pill from Merck: A Talk With William Haseltine
December 20, 2021 14:10 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with renowned virus expert Dr. William Haseltine who has ‘grave concerns’ about Merck’s oral COVID drug Malnupiravir, which recently won narrow approval from the FDA advisory panel. He says the drug unleashes ‘dangerous’ mutations that could evolve the virus beyond control. He’s also urging extreme caution as the highly infectious omicron variant is sweeping across the US, saying it could be as deadly as the delta variant and that boos...
Robert Gallo, Scientist Who Co-Discovered HIV Offers Guidance to Patients as Omicron Increases
December 15, 2021 18:13 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome famed AIDS Researcher Dr. Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of the HIV virus, which led to the first tests and treatments for AIDS. He is Director of the Institute for Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Co-founder of the Global Virus Network, a consortium of research centers of excellence in 66 countries around the world, a nongovernmental agency collaborating on emerging virus research. Dr. Gallo says the...
“Not the Doomsday Variant”: Dr. Eric Topol’s Concerns Around Omicron and America’s Low Fully Vaccinated Rate
December 08, 2021 00:20 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Dr. Eric Topol, Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, for his perspective on the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. He says early data shows that it is highly transmissible, but apparently not more deadly. His greater concern is around the current Delta surge leading to more infections, low vaccination rates in developing countries leading to more variants, and the “abysmal” vaccination performance in the U.S. H...
Health News This Week: Omicron Makes Gains Around the World as U.S. Supreme Court Justices Hear Mississippi Abortion Case
December 03, 2021 16:47 - 27 minutes - 38 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter examine the latest details about the omicron COVID variant, including the important role community health centers continue to play in the pandemic. In addition, we revisit their recent conversation with Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson on the Supreme Court hearing on the Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks, posing the greatest threat to Roe v. Wade in half a century. She also talks...
UN Climate Summit Fell Short, But Gary Cohen Says President Biden’s Build Back Better Act Holds Great Promise
November 22, 2021 14:04 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Gary Cohen, Founder of Health Care Without Harm, an award-winning global non-profit seeking to create an environmentally-responsible health system. Winner of the MacArthur Foundation’s ‘Genius Grant’ for his work reducing the health industry’s pollution footprint, he says the COP26 UN Climate summit in Glasgow didn’t go far enough to hold global warming to 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, which means a billion people will be exposed to da...
Rode With Captain Kirk To New Frontier: Astronaut Glen de Vries on Space Race Innovation Fueling Precision Medicine
November 10, 2021 19:56 - 29 minutes - 39.9 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Glen de Vries, Vice Chair for Health and Life Sciences at Dessault Systemes, and Founder and former CEO of Medidata, the first cloud based system supporting global clinical trials research. An astronaut aboard Jeff Bezos’ recent Blue Origins rocket launch to space with William Shatner of Star Trek fame, de Vries points to the scientific advances from the nation’s space program fueling the technologies that now support telehealth a...
Rocketing with Captain Kirk To A New Frontier: Astronaut Glen de Vries on New Era of Innovation In Space Travel and Health Care
November 10, 2021 19:56 - 29 minutes - 39.9 MBUpdate (11/12/2021): We are devastated to learn of the sudden passing of Glen de Vries. He was a thoughtful, brilliant guest whose innovative ideas we were lucky enough to hear firsthand on the show. Our deepest condolences to his family. He will be missed. This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Glen de Vries, Vice Chair for Health and Life Sciences at Dassault Systèmes and Founder and former CEO of Medidata, the first cloud based system supporting... Read More Read...
Lies and Misinformation Led to Hundreds of Thousands of US Deaths: Yale’s Dr. Nicholas Christakis on Enduring Impact of COVID-19
November 04, 2021 12:49 - 31 minutes - 42.8 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Nicholas Christakis, Director of Yale’s Human Nature Lab and expert on the influence of social networks on health and behavior. In his recent book, Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live” he examines the history of pandemics throughout human history, and says the ‘appalling” US response, driven by denial from the White House and amplified by social media channels led to hundreds... ...
“Roe Hanging On By A Thread”: Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson on Imminent Threat To Reproductive Rights
October 27, 2021 18:51 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Planned Parenthood Federation of America CEO Alexis McGill Johnson, on upcoming Supreme Court hearing on S.B.8., the Texas law banning abortion after 6 weeks. She discusses the record number of restrictive abortion laws across the country causing harm to patients and clinicians committed to providing family planning services, and the former administration’s Title X abortion ‘gag’ rule, which greatly hampered access to legally-gua...
Mandates ‘Turbocharging’ Vaccination Rates: US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Vaccine Requirements, Boosters and Vaccinating Kids
October 22, 2021 12:43 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome “the Nation’s Doctor,” US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Co-chair of President Biden’s White House COVID Task Force. Dr. Murthy explains the FDA’s latest approval for mixing vaccine brands for booster shots. He also addresses White House plans to roll out COVID vaccine support for the nation’s 5-11-year-olds pending FDA approval, and how vaccine requirements are ‘turbocharging’ vaccination rates. Dr. Murthy examines the growing cr...
“Safety Comes First”: FDA Vaccine Advisory Panel’s Dr. Ofer Levy on Rigorous Process Around Vaccine Approval For Kids
October 13, 2021 20:01 - 29 minutes - 39.9 MBThis week we speak with Dr. Ofer Levy, Director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and member of the FDA COVID Vaccine Advisory Panel. He talks about the recent decision to reject boosters for all recipients 16 and older, saying they didn’t have enough data for younger populations to make that recommendation. He says the review process for emergency authorization for young children aged 5-to-11 will be thorough, ...
Why COVID Crushed Us: Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb Details America’s Botched Pandemic Response
October 05, 2021 15:07 - 31 minutes - 42.6 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb whose new book outlines America’s epic failure in our response to the pandemic, leading to more than 700,000 deaths. “Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic” examines the inherent flaws at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public agencies that left us vulnerable to the raging pandemic. Dr. Gottlieb says the CDC and othe...
US COVID Response Has Failed By Not Scaling Up Home Testing: Harvard’s Michael Mina on Rapid Tests as Best Chance to Contain Outbreaks
September 30, 2021 16:03 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Michael Mina, Epidemiologist and member of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard, where they are taking a multi-disciplinary approach to tackling the ongoing pandemic. Dr. Mina has long been a proponent of making cheap, rapid, at-home COVID tests available to all Americans as a much more effective way to curtail the pandemic’s spread, especially as tens of millions of children have returned to the classroom. ...
“We Won’t Get Another Chance” Climate Activist Bill McKibben on Urgency of Climate Action in Biden Administration’s Reconciliation Bill
September 16, 2021 15:25 - 29 minutes - 41.1 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with renowned writer, environmentalist and climate activist Bill McKibben, whose seminal 1989 book “The End of Nature” was among the first to warn of the coming climate crisis. McKibben points to the dangerous rise in the earth’s temperature spawning droughts, destructive storms and other environmental catastrophes spurred by fossil fuel burning and deforestation. He says if we don’t pass President Biden’s reconciliation bill, which ha...
“Culture Wars Are Killing People”: NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins on Politics and Harm to Pandemic Science
September 08, 2021 20:42 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, who also mapped the human genome. Dr. Collins laments the politicization of the pandemic, noting that ‘culture wars are killing people’. He urges patience on vaccine approval for families of younger children heading back to school, confident that scientific rigor will ensure vaccine safety. Dr. Collins, an avowed person of faith, urges faith-based resisters to trust...
“We Are On Fire”: Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear on Pandemic Surge Pushing Hospital Capacity to Brink by the Unvaccinated
August 26, 2021 15:37 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D), on the dire situation in the Commonwealth as the delta-driven pandemic pushes the state’s hospitals to ‘disaster’ mode. He laments the recent State Supreme Court decision limiting his executive order powers, for initiating universal masking for all Kentucky children returning to day care and school, calling it ‘the right thing to do’ for vulnerable kids. He discusses efforts to battle the crisis...
Masks, Mental Health and Missed Appointments: AAP President Lee Beers on Pandemic’s Impact on Childhood Health
August 19, 2021 18:42 - 28 minutes - 39.8 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Lee Beers, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics on their science-based recommendation that all kids aged 2 and older should be masked in school and daycare in the face of the Delta Variant. They discuss their efforts to communicate the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines to patients and their families, and the AAP’s efforts to increase access to mental health services within the pediatric care setting. The p...
Dr. Leana Wen on the Pandemic and the ‘Fight for Public Health’
August 02, 2021 20:13 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Leana Wen, emergency physician, former Baltimore Health Commissioner, and medical analyst for CNN. Dr. Wen’s new book, “Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health” addresses the dramatic failings of the public health system to adequately address the pandemic, the need to create a more coordinated national and international public health system and the way forward through the pandemic. The post Dr. Leana Wen...
Health Misinformation on the Internet: Google/YouTube’s Garth Graham on Their Efforts to Stem the Tide
August 02, 2021 16:03 - 29 minutes - 39.9 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Garth Graham, Director, and Global Head of Healthcare and Public Health Partnerships at Google/YouTube overseeing the creation of credible health content – in partnership with multiple health institutions. They discuss their efforts to disrupt and remove health misinformation from their platform which receives 2 billion visitors per month. They talk about the partnership with the Biden Administration, the CDC, Harvard and Eng...
“A New Era of Vaccinology”: Dr. Paul Offit on mRNA Technology’s role in Vaccine Development
July 07, 2021 19:16 - 29 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with renowned vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit, Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. A member of the FDA COVID Vaccine Advisory Panel and co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, Dr. Offit points to the growing body of data around the safety and efficacy of the mRNA-based COVID vaccines, that it’s safe for all populations, including children and pregnant ...
First Transgender Presidential Appointee: HHS Assistant Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine on Biden Administration’s Commitment to Health Equity
June 30, 2021 12:55 - 29 minutes - 39.9 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Dr. Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services, the first transgender presidential appointee approved by the Senate. A pediatrician with a focus on child and adolescent behavioral health, and former Pennsylvania Health Secretary, Dr. Levine focuses on the dramatic toll exacted on the nation’s children by the pandemic, the need to advance health equity for the LGBTQ and all vulnerab...
White House COVID Advisor Andy Slavitt on “Preventable”: His Book Chronicling America’s Failed Coronavirus Response
June 21, 2021 18:13 - 28 minutes - 39.8 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome recent Senior Advisor to the Biden White House COVID Response Team, Andy Slavitt, discussing his new book: “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”. He outlines the ‘sins’ that led to the previous administration’s failed response to the pandemic, and talks about President Biden’s approach to correct course, by taking full responsibility for outcomes and...
Dr. Anthony Fauci: A Conversation on Where We Are and What’s Coming Next
June 15, 2021 12:54 - 27 minutes - 38.4 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 Team. They discuss the decades of science behind the ‘remarkable’ vaccines, the decision by the US and G7 members to scale up global vaccine donations, and the virulent variants that pose a greater risk to the unvaccinated. He also predicts the dramatic discovery around COVID-19 will pave the way for a vaccine for HIV/AIDS within the decade. The post ...
Congressman Patrick Kennedy on Pandemic’s Impact on Increased Awareness of America’s Mental Health and Addiction Crisis
June 07, 2021 13:59 - 29 minutes - 39.8 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with former US Congressman Patrick Kennedy, founder and CEO of The Kennedy Forum, an organization dedicated to advancing policies and best practices to improve access to mental health and addiction services. Congressman Kennedy, who co-sponsored the 2008 Mental Health Parity Act, addresses the devastating toll the pandemic has had on mental health and addiction, and talks about Biden Administration efforts to address the mental health...
Latino Community’s Pandemic Toll: National Hispanic Medical Association’s Dr. Elena Rios on Quest for Equity
May 27, 2021 14:22 - 28 minutes - 38.7 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Elena Rios, President and CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association, representing the interests of the nation’s 50,000 Latino Physicians. She discusses the devastating toll the pandemic has taken on the nation’s Hispanic population who have suffered a greater death toll and significant economic as well as mental health burdens. Dr. Rios NHMA’s efforts to improve pipelines for young Latinos to enter the medical field, a...
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Talks Boosters, Masks and Health Equity
May 19, 2021 20:22 - 30 minutes - 42.5 MBThis week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Walensky defends the science behind lifting mask restrictions for vaccinated Americans, examines the ongoing research on vaccine efficacy against emerging COVID variants and possibility of a need for booster shots. She also outlines efforts underway by the CDC and the Biden Administration to leverage provisions in the American Recovery Act to ad...
World Health Organization’s Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove Speaks About the Global Pandemic
May 13, 2021 14:24 - 33 minutes - 46 MBThis week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 Technical Lead at the WHO. They discuss the world’s lack of readiness and supply chain infrastructure to confront the pandemic. She says the lessons learned from this collective ‘trauma’ is sparking new efforts to build more robust surveillance and response systems for emerging pathogens, the concerning new variant out of India, and the need to accelerate global vaccinations to stop the continued ...