Understanding Breast Cancer Screening: The Case of Dense Tissue

Howie and Harlan are joined by Deborah Rhodes, a Yale internist and the chief quality officer for Yale Medicine and Yale New Haven Health System. They discuss how she helped develop a better approach to scanning for breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue, and the obstacles to wide adoption. Harlan reports on the Trump administration’s plan to slash indirect support for research; Howie explains the potential consequences of cuts to Medicaid.

Links:

Flu and Research Cuts

“Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 5, ending February 1, 2025”

“This Is One of the Worst Flu Seasons in Decades”

“Court Pause on Trump Cuts to Medical Research Funds Is Expanded Nationwide”

“What National Institutes of Health funding cuts could mean for U.S. universities”

Harlan Krumholz: “The NIH’s drastic cut to indirect cost rates is a critical threat to U.S. research infrastructure"

Breast-Cancer Screening

TED Talk by Deborah Rhodes: “A test that finds 3x more breast tumors, and why it's not available to you”

Deborah Rhodes: “A Survey of Patient Experience During Molecular Breast Imaging”

Mayo Clinic Breast Clinic: “How To Decide What To Do If You Have Dense Breasts On Mammogram”

Deborah Rhodes: “Dedicated dual-head gamma imaging for breast cancer screening in women with mammographically dense breasts”

Cleveland Clinic: Fibroglandular Density

Are You Dense?

“Evaluation of a Clinical Decision Support System for Imaging Requests”

Medicaid

“House Republicans release budget plan, with trillions in tax and spending cuts”

“Trump's return puts Medicaid on the chopping block”

 “Red states likely to feel the pain of Medicaid cuts”

Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.

Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.