Public Health On Call

Psychedelic drugs like psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, have been used throughout human history. But it's only in the last few decades that researchers have been examining them as a potential tool for treating an array of mental health issues. Albert Garcia-Romeu, a Johns Hopkins behavioral pharmacology researcher, talks with Stephanie Desmon about his research with psilocybin, the promising outcomes, and how approval and proper regulation could lead to a whole class of psychedelic drugs used responsibly as treatment for mental health disorders.

The pandemic phase of COVID-19 is officially over, but there's still work to be done. Virologist and podcast regular Dr. Andy Pekosz talks with Stephanie Desmon about transitioning to annual COVID vaccines (no longer referred to as boosters!); "Arcturus," or variant XBB.1.16; and the importance of investing in the development of antivirals and other treatments.

Xylazine is an animal tranquilizer that is showing up in illicit opioid supplies. In addition to contributing to the risk of overdose, xylazine causes horrific, necrotizing wounds when injected, smoked, or snorted. Lindsay Smith Rogers talks to two clinicians on the front lines of the overdose epidemic about their experiences with xylazine and their views on what this latest development means for the future: Rachel McFadden, a Bloomberg Fellow at the School of Public Health and a wound care nurse in the Emergency Department at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and Dr. Matthew Salzman, also a Fellow and assistant professor of medicine at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. Xylazine: The New Overdose Crisis | Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine

Concluding our 3-part series dedicated to addressing the Black maternal health crisis in the United States, co-hosts Dr. Rachel Bervell and Annalies Winny will explore the revolution in maternal health that's happening outside the policy space – but that also informs it. They'll investigate how Black moms, community advocates, and a new generation of medical trainees are taking this issue into their own hands—and how everyone can contribute to solutions. Access the resources and organizations mentioned in this episode, including suggested reading: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/solving-the-black-maternal-health-crisis

Continuing our 3-part series dedicated to addressing the Black maternal health crisis in the United States, co-hosts Dr. Rachel Bervell and Annalies Winny explore how government policy can help shape the solutions, from closing the "Medicaid gap" to passing the most ambitious federal effort yet on this issue: the Momnibus. Access the resources and organizations mentioned in this series, including suggested reading: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/solving-the-black-maternal-health-crisis

In the last year, more anti-trans legislation has been passed in the U.S. than at any other time in history. Dr. Helene Hedian, director of clinical education at the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender and Gender Expansive Health, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the dehumanizing aspects of these bills and how much they can impact her patients' daily lives and overall health. They also discuss what's going right, and how advocacy is helping to bring better and more protective health care coverage and human rights to trans- and gender-diverse people.

Jennifer Kates, senior vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at KFF, returns to the podcast to talk with Lindsay Smith Rogers about the looming expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency and what that means for things like access to tests, treatments, vaccines, and eligibility for Medicaid. They also discuss the differences between this and the national health emergency that Biden ended in April, and why both are significant symbolic gestures at a time when a new variant is emerging.

In a recent commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine, Johns Hopkins tobacco policy expert Joanna Cohen and colleagues call for the FDA to take steps to bring more smoking cessation therapies to the market. Cohen, director of the Institute for Global Tobacco Control, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about why new therapies are needed and where to find evidence to support their use. Read the full commentary here: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2301700. If you or someone you know needs help with quitting tobacco products, call 1-800-QUITNOW.

To understand what happens now that SCOTUS has stayed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's ruling on mifepristone, we first have to understand how the case got to the highest court in the land in the first place. Public health lawyer Joanne Rosen returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the unprecedented series of filings and rulings around mifepristone from Amarillo, Texas to Washington D.C., and what could happen next as litigation continues to play out.

World Immunization Week is the last week in April and this year's theme is The Big Catch Up. Vaccine expert Dr. Bill Moss returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how major setbacks in global vaccine coverage over the past few years are seeding the deadly threat of a measles resurgence. They discuss contributing factors and what needs to be done to get out in front of one of the world's most infectious viruses.