Outbreak News Radio

In this podcast, I pull out two interviews from the past couple years concerning organ donation.

The first interview, from June 2016, I am joined by President and Founder of the Living Kidney Donors Network (LKDN) and two-time kidney transplant recipient, Harvey Mysel to discuss kidney paired donations, or paired exchanges and how they work.

In the second interview, I speak to LifeLink Foundation's Sr. Public Affairs Coordinator, Betsy Edwards and donor family member, Carlos Ruiz during Donate Life Month 2017 to discuss the very important topic of organ donation.

In this January 2017 interview, Professor of Law at UC Hastings College of Law, Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, PhD joined me to discuss the types and issues of vaccine exemption, the role and purposes of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and the corresponding National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and other topics of vaccine law.

Outbreaks of previously unknown viral and other diseases have the potential to inflict serious and massive negative health and economic impact on the world. A new program, a really big idea, is set to start this year and looks to stay one step ahead of this situation identifying viruses in advance and provide timely data for public health interventions against future pandemics.

It's called the Global Virome Project and joining me to discuss this massive and important endeavor is Chief Scientific Officer with Metabiota, Eddy Rubin, MD, PhD.

13-year old Olivia Goodreau has been living with Lyme disease for half her life. She joined me today to tell her story from the tick bite to a myriad of symptoms to visiting 51 doctors before being diagnosed with the tick-borne disease.

Olivia also talked about her nonprofit organization, LivLyme Foundation, which supports the work of researchers and scientists who are dedicated to finding the effective treatment for Lyme disease and ultimately finding the cure.

We also talk about the TickTracker app, her idea which allows you to track & report ticks in real-time with geolocation.

Jeff Stauffer, Founder of The Plan also joined the discussion. Jeff led the design and strategy for the app.

NSF International, a global public health and safety organization, is hosting Legionella Conference 2018 – Managing Legionella and Other Pathogens in Building Water Systems on May 9-11, 2018, in Baltimore, Maryland.

The three-day conference is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and marks the first time experts from industry, academia, public health, medicine and government will meet to discuss Legionella and other pathogens found in water distribution systems, building water plumbing systems and cooling towers.

Legionella Conference attendees will discuss and learn the latest monitoring, treatment and management approaches for successfully preventing the spread of Legionella in buildings, hospitals and other at-risk facilities.

General Manager of Building Water Health Programs at NSF International, Chris Boyd, joined me to discuss Legionella and the upcoming conference.

Nigeria is currently experiencing what is described as an "unprecedented outbreak" of Lassa fever. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and partners like the World Health Organization (WHO)are intensifying the outbreak response.

So what is Lassa fever?

I was joined by infectious disease physician, Dr Judy Stone in this Mar. 2016 interview to learn the ins-and-outs of this serious viral disease.

On today's podcast, we ventured back into the world of trematodes, or flukes and discussed the sheep liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica.

Parasitology teacher and author of the book, Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests, Rosemary Drisdelle joined me to talk about this parasite.

According to the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS), Medical laboratory science professionals, often called medical laboratorians, are vital healthcare detectives, uncovering and providing laboratory information from laboratory analyses that assist physicians in patient diagnosis and treatment, as well as in disease monitoring or prevention (maintenance of health).

Professor and Program Chair for the Clinical Laboratory Science Program at Texas State University in San Marcos, Rodney Rohde, PhD joined me in this Dec. 2016 interview to discuss the profession, educational paths, shortages and other current issues and some thoughts on the future of medical laboratory science.