April is the Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. She shares her insights of providing care to the uninsured population in North Carolina and the challenges of providing care in the 65 clinics across North Carolina. Read more about April and the NCAFCC at https://ncafcc.org/

Amol Joshi, researcher, educator, engineer, technology innovator, joins the podcast for a far ranging conversation about technology, innovation, education, artificial intelligence, and dreaming big. He shares his experience working with students, founders, executive, and venture capital and discusses ethical concerns, the importance of trust and confidence. Read more about Amol here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amolmjoshi/

Heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Dr. Shapiro joins us to discuss the increase in cardiovascular disease mortality, the primary causes and risk factors associated with CVD, common treatment approaches, and advances in screenings for risk and new treatments. Read more about Dr. Shapiro at https://school.wakehealth.edu/faculty/s/michael-d-shapiro

Summer McGee, President of Salem Academy and College, returns to the podcast to give an update of progress since her arrival as President of the institution. Summer shares her insights and experience on a variety of topics including:

- How Salem is preparing young leaders for healthier communities

- Infusing health and wellness across the curricula and developing new health-related programs and leadership development

- The current state of women in leadership roles

- Developing the next generation of women leaders and the path to leadership

- Building confidence and keeping interest high in non-traditional pursuits in a single sex environment

- Updates on the Academy college prep experience

- Growth in size and geographical reach

- The role of athletics and growth in the athletics programs

- Cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit and partnerships in the innovation community

- Recruiting and retaining faculty in a competitive landscape

- Changes in the approach from Janterm to Maymester

- The importance of student mental and physical health

- Growth around Old Salem and South Broad Street and creating bridges to and partnerships with surrounding communities

- The use of artificial intelligence at the college

- Balancing protection of women only spaces and inclusion with regards to transgenderism

- Future direction of the Health Leadership Forum

- Collaboration and support from other women leaders in the community

Learn more about Summer and Salem at https://www.salem.edu

Katie joins the podcast to discuss the effects of social media on adolescents' mental health, including issues such as anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia, and discuss strategies to mitigate these effects. We talk about various coping mechanisms and resilience-building strategies that can help adolescents and young adults navigate the challenges of modern life. And she offers several tactics to manage social media and device usage effectively. Read more about Katie at https://www.ksempowers.com

Luka is the CEO of Grapevine, a company with a mission to transform healthcare procurement. From college dorm to medical supply chain optimization, Luka describes how he helped transform the medical supply procurement supply chain to make it easier and more cost effective to purchase medical supplies from multiple vendors and why it became his mission to start a company that helps practices spend less time and money on procurement and more time on patient care. More about Grapevine here https://www.go-grapevine.com/

Dr. Diamantidis, a research clinician in nephrology and the interim director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity (MACHE) at Wake Forest University School of Medicine - delves into the significant disparities in nephrology and discusses the inequities in diagnosis and treatment, particularly among Black and Hispanic populations, and explores the causes of these disparities. She also highlights importance of community partnerships in mitigating health disparities, the higher costs associated with delayed care, and innovative treatments like mRNA-based therapies and transplants. Additionally, she addresses the barriers to kidney transplants and informs us about the kidney donation process, scientific advancements- in the quest for cures for kidney disease, and the current state of dialysis treatments for kidney disease.

More about Dr. Diamantidis here: https://school.wakehealth.edu/faculty/d/clarissa-jonas-diamantidis

More about MACHE here: https://school.wakehealth.edu/research/institutes-and-centers/clinical-and-translational-science-institute/maya-angelou-center-for-health-equity

Northwest AHEC began in 1974. In this special episode we take a moment to connect with colleagues, faculty, and partners to reflect on the many ways in which Northwest AHEC has impacted the health of the region over the past 50 years.

Angela Sharkey, MD, FAAP, is a professor of pediatrics and special advisor to the Dean for Education Innovation at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Dr. Sharkey shares her passion for teaching and learning and shares the vision of the next generation virtual immersive teaching and learning environments using cutting edge technology to potentially transform and accelerate healthcare education. Read more about Dr. Sharkey here: https://school.wakehealth.edu/faculty/s/angela-sharkey

David Zaas, MD, MBA is a lung transplant pulmonologist, clinician, researcher, and professor in Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Immunologic Diseases. He is also the President of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. Dr. Zaas shares many insights into talent recruitment, working as a physician scientist in an academic medical center, his exposure to science and medicine as a young volunteer, challenges in the business of delivering quality care, advances in lung transplantation and medical education, AI and the pace of discovery and innovation, and much more.

Learn more about Dr. Zaas here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidzaasmd/