The Power of Data Driven Narrative in Public Health | David Agus, MD

Sep 18, 2025

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Editorial Note:

This episode was recorded in December 2024, after the nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr as Secretary of Health and Human Services had been announced but prior to his confirmation. Some comments by the podcast hosts and our guest will reflect this timing.

Elephants rarely get cancer, ants quarantine when sick, and altruistic pigs have a higher pain tolerance. In this episode, we discuss insights from the animal world that shed light on human health and wellness, as well as the power of data driven narratives in effective public health education.

Our guest is Dr. David Agus, founding CEO of the Ellison Medical Institute and professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California. As a CBS news contributor and author of three New York Times best selling books on health, Dr. Agus emphasizes the need for experts who are willing to explain rather than tell.

Having experienced the politicization of public health during the pandemic, he highlights the importance of data transparency and the urgency for more physician leaders. With technological advances making data collection and analysis ever more accessible, Dr. Agus shares a vision for the future of medicine, where patients bring their own health data to the clinic and physicians act as educators guided by the values of their patients.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

2:30 - Dr. Agus’s journey to medicine and how he found his way to focusing on preventative health and public education

6:50 - Navigating the politicized nature of public health as a public health educator

14:17 - Dr. Agus’s viewpoint on the controversial nominations of RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz

19:51 - How the education of doctor needs to change to adapt to our newly data driven world

24:20 - The current state of nutrition science and how people can make the best choices with the current data available on the topic

32:12 - The potential benefits of making big data in electronic medical records available to physicians

32:48 - The inspiration behind Dr. Agus’s new book, The Book of Animal Secrets, and what the animal kingdom can teach us as humans about living a more fulfilling and healthy life

52:11 - A vision for empowering patients with their personal medical data in the age of AI

54:31 - Dr. Agus’s advice to clinicians on supporting patients with their preventative health

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