About this episode:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is responsible for reviewing the safety and effectiveness of vaccines—a job that requires deep scientific understanding as well as thoughtful regulatory judgment. In this episode: Dr. Jesse Goodman, a former top vaccine regulator and chief scientist at the FDA, explains how the agency came to lead the world in vaccine oversight—and shares his concerns for the future.

Guests:

Dr. Jesse Goodman, MPH, is a professor and the director of Georgetown University's Center on Medical Product Access, Safety and Stewardship. He worked at the FDA from 1998 until 2014, including as chief scientist.

Host:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.

Show links and related content:

• How HHS, FDA, and CDC Can Influence U.S. Vaccine Policy—KFF

• Vaccines 101—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

• Recent "Expert Panels" Could Undermine the FDA's Credibility—Public Health On Call (September 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

• @‌PublicHealthPod 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.