Public Health On Call

About this episode: In the 1980s, Colombian neurologist Francisco Lopera discovered a rare genetic mutation afflicting residents of a village outside Medellín that could hold the key to understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease. In this episode: Author Jennie Erin Smith talks about her new book Valley of Forgetting: Alzheimer's Families and the Search for a Cure and how families in the Paisa region of Colombia have forever changed the study of neurodegenerative diseases. Guest: Jennie Erin Smith is an author and a regular contributor for The New York Times, whose work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Times Literary Supplement, The New Yorker, and more. Host: Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Show links and related content: Valley of Forgetting: Alzheimer's Families and the Search for a Cure—Penguin Random House A Different Way to Think About Medicine's Most Stubborn Enigma—The Atlantic The 'Country Doctor' Who Upended Our Understanding of Dementia—New York Times Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode: In early July, the CDC deactivated the United States' H5N1 emergency response, citing lowered rates of infection among animals and humans. But fewer cases might not indicate an end to the years-long emergency. In this episode: Dr. Erin Sorrell of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security details the timeline of the virus, its impacts on American farmers, and how to prepare for the return of migratory birds later this year. Guest: Dr. Erin Sorrell, PhD, MSc, is an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Department of Environmental Health and Engineering and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. Show links and related content: As bird flu evolves, keeping it out of farm flocks is getting harder—ScienceNews RFK's proposal to let bird flu spread through poultry could set us up for a pandemic, experts warn—Live Science Bird Flu Is Escalating—Public Health On Call (January 2025) Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode: The recent dismissal of all members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has stirred questions about vaccine safety and immunization protocols. In this episode: Dr. Grace Lee—a former ACIP chair—shares insights on the committee's crucial role in recommending vaccines uses, the importance of transparent decision-making, and dangers of abandoning strong processes. Guest: Dr. Grace Lee, MPH, is the Chief Quality Officer and the Christopher G. Dawes Endowed Director of Quality at Stanford Medicine Children's Health and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, and Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health (Quality and Safety) and Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. She previously served as the Chair of ACIP. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. Show links and related content: Former chairs of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on the panel's role—STAT Who Decides Which Vaccines Americans Should Get and When?—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode: The deadly Fourth of July floods in Kerr County, TX are raising urgent concerns about flash flooding risks and the future of storm response. In this episode: Hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry discusses what causes increasingly intense storms, details the significant strides made in forecasting, and outlines what's at stake with potential cuts to NOAA. Guest: Michael Lowry is a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert for WPLG-TV in Miami, FL. He previously served as a senior scientist at the National Hurricane Center and as disaster planning chief at FEMA. Host: Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Show links and related content: Trying to Make Sense of the Unspeakable Texas Tragedy—Eye on the Tropics The Trump Administration Has Blinded Hurricane Forecasters—Intelligencer Critical Hurricane Monitoring Data Is Going Offline—New York Times Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode: Artificial intelligence is changing everything about how we work, live, and study—and, now, AI therapy chatbots are poised to transform mental health care. In this episode: Stanford researcher Nick Haber details recent data that suggests that therapeutic AI has a long way to go in addressing biases and recognizing safety-critical situations in order to provide adequate care. Guest: Nick Haber, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and by courtesy, Computer Science, where he researches AI implementation for learning and therapeutic tools. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, the largest center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Show links and related content: Expressing stigma and inappropriate responses prevents LLMs from safely replacing mental health providers—FAccT '25: The 2025 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?—New York Times Exploring the Dangers of AI in Mental Health Care—Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode: For mothers questioning whether or not to vaccinate their children, the decision can be complicated by an overwhelming and, at times, conflicting information environment. In this episode: Health communication researcher Melissa Carrion explores how an onslaught of messaging is informing how mothers decide to vaccinate their kids and how public health experts can better communicate on these key decisions. Guest: Melissa Carrion, PhD, is an assistant professor of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she researches rhetoric and health communication. Host: Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Show links and related content: How one mom is navigating vaccines' uncertain future—ScienceNews New Research: Childhood Vaccination Rates Drop Across 1,600 U.S. Counties—The 74 "I Don't Understand How These Two Things Go Together": Toward a Theory of Risk Ecologies—Health Communication "You need to do your research": Vaccines, contestable science, and maternal epistemology—Public Understanding of Science Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode: Asthma can cause sometimes debilitating symptoms for children who have it, and some—particularly Black and Hispanic children—can experience higher rates of diagnoses, hospitalizations and emergency department visits. In this episode: pediatrician and immunology researcher Dr. Elizabeth Matsui talks about the known causes behind childhood asthma and how it impacts youths, and how factors like poor housing conditions and barriers to care and medication worsen conditions and undermine long-term lung development. Guest: Dr. Elizabeth Matsui is a pediatric allergist-immunologist and epidemiologist and a leading researcher on the connection between asthma and environmental conditions. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Show links and related content: The Role of Neighborhood Air Pollution in Disparate Racial and Ethnic Asthma Acute Care Use—American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Association of a Housing Mobility Program With Childhood Asthma Symptoms and Exacerbations—JAMA Do upper respiratory viruses contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in emergency department visits for asthma?—The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Tackling Housing Injustice—and Improving Childhood Asthma—Public Health On Call (June 2023) Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University

About this episode: Caregivers—both paid and unpaid—are the silent backbone of the nation's workforce, providing crucial support to America's young, aging, and disabled populations. But 24 states stand on the precipice of crisis with looming threats to caregiver stipends, salaries, and other resources. In this episode: what led to this tipping point, how proposed cuts to Medicaid could make it worse, and how to build a more supportive system for caregivers, patients, and loved ones. Guest: Stacey B. Lee, JD is a professor of Law and Ethics at Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business School, with a joint appointment at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she specializes in business law, health law, and negotiations. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Show links and related content: Despite Political Divisions, U.S. Adults Across Parties Back Affordable Care, Support for Caregivers—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management These Are The States On The Brink Of A Caregiver Crisis — And Trump Medicaid Cuts Could Make It Worse—HuffPost America's Unseen Workforce: The State of Family Caregiving—Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health The Forgotten Youths Who Are Caregivers For Their Families—Public Health On Call (April 2024) Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode: American farms, restaurants, retailers, and households throw out nearly 30% of the food in our system, landfilling millions of tons of food each year and draining resources like land and energy. Households generate the most waste, with everyday cooks overbuying at grocery stores and throwing away a substantial portion of their purchases—but getting ahead of those scraps can make a big difference. In this episode: ReFED's Dana Gunders covers the environmental costs of food waste and shares immediate action items to better manage it. Guest: Dana Gunders is a national food systems expert and the president of ReFED—an organization that researches and promotes evidence-based action to end food waste. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Show links and related content: From Surplus to Solutions: 2025 ReFED U.S. Food Waste Report—ReFED Marylanders toss out more than 1 million tons of food each year. How do we reduce waste?—WYPR From Farm to Kitchen: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System—Public Health on Call (June 2025) Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode: Since the 1950s, companies have been using PFAS—or "forever chemicals"—to manufacture everyday household items from waterproof mascara to shaving cream to Bandaids. Research and advocacy have not only linked these chemicals to certain cancers, liver disease, and fertility issues, but they have also posited that 97% of Americans have traces of PFAS in their blood. In this episode: guest host Tom Burke talks with writer Rachel Frazin about her new book outlining the dark history of PFAS in American manufacturing, the communities across the country demanding accountability and regulation, and the near future of regulation of drinking water. Guest: Rachel Frazin covers energy and environmental policy for The Hill and is the co-author of the book Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America. Host: Dr. Tom Burke is an emeritus professor at Johns Hopkins and a former top official with the Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama administration. Show links and related content: Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America (book)—Island Press Exposure to "forever chemicals" before birth may raise blood pressure during teen years–American Heart Association Trump Administration to Uphold Some PFAS Limits but Eliminate Others—The New York Times What You Need to Know About PFAS, Or "Forever Chemicals"—Public Health On Call (April 2024) Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.