Medspectives

Today we're joined by one of my past professors, Dr. Jamie Dewitt, a toxicologist who has a focus on a particular group of environmental contaminants called PFAS. Consisting of more than 5,000 substances, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are found in all kinds of commercial products, including nonstick cookware, waterproof jackets, firefighting foams, food packaging, and more. However, studies have shown that PFAS is considered a "forever chemical" meaning it can take thousands of years to breakdown. This can cause it to buildup in the body, and there are studies that show that these substances are associated with reproductive harm, developmental effects, increased risk of certain cancers, and decreased immune function. Dr. DeWitt's research focuses on studying the effects of PFAS on the immune system. Dr. DeWitt also has extensive experience in increasing public awareness about PFAS. She's testified to Congress multiple times, and she even provided guidance in the creation of the PFAS episode of the John Oliver's Last Week Tonight. Dr. DeWitt truly is an expert in the field, and she talks about the fascinating history of PFAS, what it's like to testify in front of Congress as a scientist, and what we can do on an individual level to address PFAS contamination.

You can find more information about PFAS and what you can do to stay safe here: https://pfas-exchange.org/

I know it's been about a month since our last episode, but we're back with a super interesting talk about one of the biggest problems in medicine right now: the opioid crisis. Opioids, like hydrocodone and oxycodone, are used to treat patients with severe pain, whether it be post-surgery, cancer-related pain, and other similar instances. However, they trigger the release of endorphins, the brain's way of making you feel good, and this sensation can be highly addictive, leading to abuse of these drugs. Opioid abuse affects countless people across the world and costs the US hundreds of billions of dollars in costs associated with healthcare, criminal justice, and the foster system. One particularly dangerous type of abuse is consuming alcohol with opioids, which can cause respiratory distress, and ultimately death relatively quickly. While patients are advised not to take alcohol with opioids, 30-80 percent of them still do, and it is this issue that our guest Dr. Mike Presti hopes to address. Dr. Presti is a Mayo-clinic trained neurologist and CEO of SafeRx, a company using its unique alcohol-resistant opioids platform to reduce the risk of prescription opioid overdose. I don't want to give away too much in this intro, but I think this simple drug concept has the potential to revolutionize the field and prevent alcohol-related opioid abuse. It is currently in its early stages, and if you'd like to learn more or potentially  be a part of the company, check it out at investinsaferx.com

In today's podcast, Tyler and I share stories from our short yet eventful time in medicine over the last couple of years.

Today we're joined by Dr. Luke Shapiro, an Orthodontist in New York. Dr. Luke has always been fascinated by languages, and this led him to major in Spanish in college. He shares insight into how his skill in Spanish and other languages has enabled him to form deeper connections with his patients. Additionally Dr. Luke talks about some awesome innovations in dental technology, such as the smart mirror. We close out with some questions from you guys, and all in all, this was a great conversation. I hope you enjoy!

Today we switch it up a bit and I have a casual conversation with my friend Tyler about how the premed life is going right now for the both of us. We're both in the middle of applying to medical school, and we talk about how that's going, as well as reflect and give tips that we wish we knew in the past couple of years on our journeys.

Today we're joined by Dr. Dheeban, a general surgeon in India. This conversation means a lot to me, as Dr. Dheeban is the physician who really sparked my passion for medicine. About 4 years ago, I shadowed him in his rural clinic in India for a couple of months. I watched him perform all kinds of different procedures including endoscopies, Cesarian sections, diabetic foot debridements, cyst removals, and even more. I was fascinated by the problem-solving aspect and uniqueness of each case and how each required its own strategy for treatment. I remember I was dead set on becoming a surgeon after shadowing him because of how much he impacted me, and while I'm not so sure about that resolve now, I know that there is nothing else I would want to pursue other than medicine. In this conversation, we talk about his journey through medicine, how he used to play with syringes in stethoscopes in his grandfather's hospital as a kid, and how he became a general surgeon. We also talk about diabetes, and the widespread complications he sees in his patient populations. We close out talking about some of his most impactful cases, and all in all, I really enjoyed having this conversation to catch up with one of my mentors. I hope you enjoy it too.

Today we're joined by Dr. Sarma Velamuri, the CEO and co-founder of Luminaire, a medical software company shedding light on dark data. During his time as a physician, he remembers seeing multiple inefficiencies in hospitals, primarily in sepsis. He describes sepsis through an interesting metaphor during our talk: think of a bull in a china shop. Now poke that bull with a stick, and watch the bull blow this tiny stimulus out of proportion and destroy everything in the China shop. Essentially that's what happens in the body - a compromised immune system enables even a small infection to be fatal. He wanted to make a solution to this issue and turned to software to develop a program that can predict when patients are at risk for sepsis, effectively preventing the issue from even happening. Sarma and I also talk about the increased digitization of medicine, and how much potential technology has in revolutionizing how healthcare can be provided. I learned a lot from Sarma during our talk, and I hope you enjoy.

Dr. Parisis talks about just how many subspecialties there are in radiology. We also talked about one of my greatest fascinations: tech in healthcare! Dr. Parisis talks about his experience as a premed working with a medical scribing startup that used Google Glass - the smart glasses with a camera and microphone built in - to enable physicians to focus more on the patient and allow remote scribes to take care of the documentation. He also discusses how radiology enables him to integrate tech into patient care. Going into the future, he shares how artificial intelligence will develop in radiology, but that misconceptions that AI will take over the field are unwarranted. I honestly didn't know much about radiology before this, and this was a really eye-opening conversation! I hope you enjoy!

Today we're joined by Josh Morrison, the co-founder and President of 1DaySooner. 1DaySooner is an organization that advocates for people who want to participate in high-impact medical trials, and their work with COVID-19 challenge trials really came into the limelight this past year. In essence, a challenge trial is a clinical trial in which the participant is not only exposed to a treatment ie vaccine or placebo but is also directly exposed to the condition that is being tested - in this case, COVID-19. To some, the idea of voluntarily being exposed to COVID can sound absolutely insane, but about 40,000 people, myself included, volunteered to be participants in these challenge trials before we had our initial vaccines. The truth is, albeit risky, this kind of study can greatly speed up the time required for a clinical trial, and ultimately save countless lives. Josh talks about his reasons for founding the organization, as well as the amazing progress they've made in pushing the frontier of challenge trials. With challenge trials already taking place in the UK, the future of them is exciting, and as Josh says, if they can speed up the development of future vaccines even 1 day sooner, it would all be worth it.

Today we're joined by Dr. Mittal, a family medicine physician in Southern California. I talked with Dr. Mittal about diabetes - and being a family medicine doc it is a condition he knows all too well. A diabetes diagnosis is never happy news, and Dr. Mittal runs us through how exactly he explains diabetes to his patients, to not only ensure they understand it but also to ensure that they will follow through with a treatment plan. He talks about how nuanced this process can be - and how important it is to be aware of a person's background and culture when making a treatment plan for them. I think diabetes is a truly fascinating disease, and I hope you enjoy.