Better Off

On February 14, 2018, a gunman opened fire inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 people and wounding 17 more. That shooting and the students who survived have reignited a national conversation about guns under the banner "Never Again." On March 24, people across the country will gather for the March for Our Lives to protest gun violence—and to call for changes in firearm policy. Ahead of the nationwide marches we spoke to David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, and one of America’s top firearms researchers. Hemenway discussed why these student-led protests may finally be the tipping point for gun legislation in America. Plus—he explained the public health approach to preventing gun violence and shared the changes to firearms policy that could have the biggest impact on saving lives.

A large new study of more than 1.3 million people finds high rates of diabetes and hypertension in India. We'll speak to experts about what could be driving this trend—and how health systems in India and around the world must adapt to address the growing threat from non-communicable diseases. You'll hear from Pascal Geldsetzer, a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Global Health and Population, Lindsay Jaacks, assistant professor of global health, and Rifat Atun, professor of global health systems.

A new series of polls from the Harvard Opinion Research Program is shedding light on how Americans experience discrimination on a day-to-day basis. While many surveys have explored Americans’ beliefs about discrimination, this series, "Discrimination in America," asks people about their own personal experiences with discrimination. In this week's episode we speak with the director of the polling series, Robert Blendon, Richard L. Menschel Professor of Public Health, about the key findings of the series and what they mean for a range of pressing issues in America—including the “Me Too” movement, health care, and policing.

February is Heart Month, so in this week's podcast we're revisiting one of our most popular episodes: an in-depth look at dietary fat. We'll share tips for including more beneficial fats in your diet, plus we'll give you the bottom line on butter and health. You'll hear from two experts: Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

People are living longer than ever before—and that is raising new questions and challenges. In this week's episode, we explore how public health researchers are grappling with issues surrounding aging and longevity. Lisa Berkman, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy, Epidemiology, and Global Health and Population and Director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, will explain how demographic shifts will force us to rethink work and retirement. And Albert Hofman, Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Stephen B. Kay Family Professor of Public Health and Clinical Epidemiology, explores how improved heart health may be behind an apparent decline in new cases of Alzheimer’s disease.

In this week's podcast we share an in-depth conversation with Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the 20th Surgeon General of the United States. During a recent interview with Voices in Leadership, Adams outlined his strategy for addressing America's opioid epidemic and shared how his family's own experiences with addiction have informed his work.

Researchers are now harnessing vast amounts of information to assess what works in medicine and public health. In this week's podcast, we explore why this approach holds promise—but why it also comes with potential risks. You'll hear from Miguel Hernan, Kolokotrones Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, who is a leading expert in the field of causal inference, which includes comparative effectiveness research to guide policy and clinical decisions. We discussed how researchers are using big data to answer important questions about health—and the safeguards that need to be in place to avoid misleading results.

In May 2018, the U.S. government will be rolling out broad new menu labeling regulations. As part of the Affordable Care Act, restaurants and other food outlets with more than 20 locations will be required to post calorie counts right on their menus. And new research shows those rules may already be having an impact before they even go into effect. A study led by Sara Bleich, professor of public health policy, shows that many large chain restaurants have started removing higher calorie items from their menus. In this week's episode, we speak with Bleich about what these changes could mean for America's fight against obesity—and how policy changes can be used to alter the country's unhealthy food environment.

Basic science is at the heart of many of our greatest health advances. And in this week's episode we speak with two scientists who are asking fundamental questions about how our bodies work. The answers could help crack the secrets of diseases ranging from diabetes to dementia.

For the past three-plus years those two scientists,  Robert Farese and Tobias Walther, have done something almost unheard of in public health: run a joint lab. Their work largely focuses on understanding how our cells store and then synthesize fat—a process known as lipid metabolism. It's work that has wide-ranging implications for a variety of diseases. During an in-depth conversation Farese and Walther shared insight on their work, the joys and challenges of running a lab together, and the importance of basic scientific research.

Each year in sub-Saharan African more than a million women and newborns die during childbirth—or shortly thereafter. One key to preventing these deaths is making sure women deliver in high-quality health care facilities. But in many areas—such as Nairobi, Kenya—women are faced with an overwhelming number of choices of where to give birth, with few high-quality options.

In this week's episode, we'll take a look at how researchers are using lessons from behavioral economics to see if they can influence women to give birth at the higher quality facilities—and in turn receive better care. We'll speak with Jessica Cohen, associate professor of global health, about her research, which draws on knowledge about human psychology to better understand how people make decisions. The key question at the center of her new study: Can behavioral "nudges" in the form of cash transfers lead to better maternity care?

Later in the episode, you'll hear from Roman Pabayo, research fellow in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, about his review of research on the effects of unconditional cash transfers.