Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: Matthew A. Menza, MD Depression is present in as many as half of the one million people with Parkinson's disease in the United States. What evidence-based treatments should we be using? Host Dr. Leslie Lundt welcomes Dr. Matthew Menza, professor of psychiatry and neurology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, to talk about his work on diagnosing and treating depression in Parkinson's disease patients.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Keith Kelleher Why is healthcare been such a growing area for organized labor to expand? From home health care workers and registered nurses, and even doctors, organized labor is finding an important audience in the medical care field. Keith Kelleher, president of SEIU Healthcare of Illinois and Indiana tells host Bruce Japsen about the labor movement among health professionals.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Keith Kelleher Following the historic election of Barack Obama, one of the new president's longtime allies in organized labor now has a key voice in the nation's economic recovery and the healthcare debate. Keith Kelleher, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare of Illinois and Indiana, talks with host Bruce Japsen about the seat at the table SEIU will have when the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress push a stimulus package that could make strides to expand medical care for more Americans while benefiting doctors and other providers.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: Berish Rubin, PhD Host Dr. Bruce Bloom welcomes Dr. Berish Rubin, professor in the department of biological sciences and head of the Laboratory for Familial Dysautonomia research at Fordham University in Bronx, New York. A genetic condition, symptoms include inability to swallow, respiratory congestion, poor muscle tone, and delayed developmental milestones. Dr. Rubin reports on the latest research and how close we are to finding a cure.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: Berish Rubin, PhD In only three months' time, researchers Dr. Berish Rubin and Dr. Sylvia Anderson and their team uncovered the genetic cause of familial dysautonomia (FD). Dr. Rubin, professor in the department of biological sciences at Fordham University, joins host Dr. Bruce Bloom to share his story and the research that led them to identify the gene mutation responsible for FD, a variation most often found in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. They also discuss symptoms a clinician can use to diagnose FD, common treatments and the future direction of FD research.

Host: Mary Leuchars, MD Guest: Jeffrey D. Cirillo, PhD Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB) has been present in the human population since antiquity. Today over 2 billion people have been exposed. What can we learn form this remarkably resilient bacteria, and how do we address the formidable challenge of treating drug resistant strains? Dr. Jeffrey Cirillo, associate professor of microbial and molecular pathogenesis at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, examines tuberculosis from molecular to organ-specific levels and outlines the emergence of multidrug resistance across the world. Hosted by Dr. Mary Leuchars.

Host: Lee Freedman, MD Guest: William Hanson, MD Robotic appendages assisting in surgery that allow procedures to be performed on a patient by a physician on the opposite end of the globe, and machines that kill cancer cells on a molecular level--these are just two of the medical advances that are already beginning to revolutionize medicine. Dr. William Hanson, director of the surgical intensive care unit at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and author of the book The Edge of Medicine, surveys the technologies that will soon change the physician's landscape. Dr. Lee Freedman hosts. What ethical concerns will some of these new developments present?

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Jun Ye, PhD Diagnosing life threatening diseases and other medical conditions could soon be as easy as breathing. June Ye, a physics professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder and his graduate student, Michael Thorpe, discuss their research on a technique that uses lasers to detect specific chemical compounds in the breath of patients. They explain to host Dr. Larry Kaskel the underlying mechanisms of this technology, which is known as optical frequency comb, and how that it is able to derive health information from the patient's breath. Tune in to hear how this technology, once perfected, will improve the efficiency of diagnosing and monitoring diseases, as well as save patients thousands of dollars on diagnostic testing.

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Sandy Praeger Sandy Praeger, past-president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), joins host Dr. Larry Kaskel to discuss the NAIC's July 2008 survey that analyzed how consumers handle healthcare expenditures.

Host: Susan Dolan, RN, JD Guest: Barbara Rutt, MDiv, BCC, Chaplains are increasingly being recognized as a critical resource on a hospital medical team. Our guest today, Chaplain Barbara Rutt, manager of Pastoral Care at the Lehigh Valley Health Network talks with host Susan Dolan, RN about her role as a member of the of trauma team, the open heart team and as a collaborator for the medical rounds of the palliative team. Join us to learn about the day in the life of a hospital Chaplain and how you might incorporate their services into your medical team.