Charged: Stories from the Women Leading Health Care

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have faced more than 6,000 hate incidents since the start of the pandemic, which is about a 149% rise since the last year. The racially motivated incidents range from verbal harassment virus to physical attacks.

In this special episode of Charged, a panel of guests discuss the history of racism against the AAPI community, how the pandemic has fueled it and why this group has been widely excluded from conversation and policy intended to foster racial equality.

The WHO reports that almost 1/3 of women have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. Eve Valera, PhD, neuroscientist, has spent more than 20 years researching the prevalence of TBI resulting from intimate partner violence and the impact these injuries can have.

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Valera explains the impairments that women endure due to TBIs resulting from intimate partner violence and the barriers she's faced.

Rachel Sisodia, MD, gynecologic oncologist and surgeon, believes that it is critical to strike a balance between doing what is needed to treat someone's cancer and honoring what is most important to them. She partners with each patient to fight cancer together as a team.

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Sisodia talks about her experience caring for women with cancer, her efforts to promote women into leadership positions, and her work leading the Mass General Brigham patient reported outcomes program.

Happy Mother’s Day from the Charged team at Massachusetts General Hospital! In honor of this special day, we are celebrating the many amazing mothers at Mass General.  

In this episode, we asked a few of our most recent guests to share their stories about parenting, the importance of having a community of support and how healthy habits can help to ensure that working parents (moms and dads!) do not miss the small moments of joy. 

We hope you enjoy this special episode with the mothers of Charged!

When Galit Alter, PhD, immunologist and virologist, began her career during the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis, there were few researchers who were studying the immune system in the context of infectious diseases. She quickly became curious about how the human immune system fights different viruses and how uncovering this knowledge could significantly impact the way vaccines are developed. 

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Alter, a self-described "virus hunter," talks about the mechanisms by which the immune system fights disease, how she and her team created a novel serology tool that profiles the body's antibody response to both viruses and vaccines, and how this tool was employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Dr. Leigh Anne Dageforde first realized her passion for transplantation surgery during a moment in her residency when she witnessed the immediate result a kidney transplant surgery provided to a patient. Over the course of her career, her dedication to the field has only grown. The field of transplant surgery is special to her because doctors can give their patients something new, and in turn, give them back their life.  

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Dageforde shares her experience working in a what is still considered a young field and learning from role models who have forged the path ahead for transplant surgeons like herself. She discusses the unique nature of the field, the personal connections she has with patient and donor communities and the collaborative nature of transplantation. 

Migraine is a leading cause of disability worldwide and women make up 85% of migraine sufferers. Despite its prevalence and known associations with an increased risk of other health complications, there are many questions still unknown.

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Andrea Harriott, discusses the associations between migraine and other health complications, the significant gender disparity amongst migraine sufferers, and her work in the lab and at the bedside of patients with migraine disorders.

As our world becomes increasingly virtual, the field of medicine has also followed suit. Today, more than 40% of health care consumers use social media as a source for important health care information—and this number is only expected to grow. 

In this special episode of Charged, some of our past guests share their perspectives on social media’s place in medicine, its impact on patient care and how they use it personally and professionally. 

Infertility is more common than many people might think. And yet, many people are hesitant to discuss their struggles. This is exactly why Irene Souter, MD, has dedicated her career to helping couples facing infertility find the best way to grow their family.

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Souter discusses the various options for how to have a healthy baby as well as her participation in a 20-year study that investigates the impact of environmental, nutritional and lifestyle factors on fertility.

Dr. Uma Naidoo, developed a passion for food and cooking at a young age—a deep interest that persisted throughout her career as a practicing psychiatrist. Eventually, it led her to wonder if food and diet can somehow be used in mental health medicine. Dr. Uma is a leading expert and pioneer in the field of nutritional psychiatry, a new area of research and clinical practice that looks at how food influences brain function. 

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Uma talks to us about how she built her career in this niche, how she helps patients foster healthy diets to improve their mental health and her experience implementing this knowledge in her own life.