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In this episode, Drs Aideen Daly and Julia Fuchs join us to discuss the clinical trials for a new 'artificial pancreas' system. This system is designed to manage a type 1 diabetics blood sugar, by integrating a continuous glucose monitor, an app, as well as an insulin pump.

We discuss:
1) Some of the history of type 1 diabetics, and why diabetics need to inject insulin to regulate their blood glucose.
2) Insights gained on from the trials about the system's efficacy
3) The difference between a single hormone vs two hormone system

Aideen and Julia are clinical researchers in the Hovorka group at the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science in Cambridge, which is focused on developing the artificial pancreas technology.

In this episode, Dr Neel Aluru joins us to discuss how toxicants in the ocean affect human health. 

Dr Aluru is an associate scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, where his research group investigates epigenetic and RNA mechanisms linking chemicals to human health.

Topics include:
The concept of a 'Developmental Origins of Health and  Disease'
How scientists investigate chemicals in the Ocean
Polychlorinated biphenyls, and their effects on genes in the brain
Model systems
Gene editing tools, and the future directions of the lab's work

Dr Zoë Fritz  joins us for a discussion of the importance of advance care planning,  patient-centred conversations surrounding  resuscitation and future wishes and her work  in developing the ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment) process  which seeks to improve approaches and outcomes in this setting. 

We also take a deep dive into medical ethics, touching upon best interest decisions, when discussions surrounding future care may not be appropriate and the role of family members in these conversations. 

Dr Fritz is a consultant  in  acute medicine at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge, UK, 
and  a Wellcome fellow in Society and Ethics. 

You can find out more about the ReSPECT process here: https://www.resus.org.uk/respect

In this episode Dr Arabella Simpkin, a paediatrician and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School,  joins us to discuss medicine’s relationship with uncertainty and how it can be embraced to improve the lives of patients and clinicians alike. We touch upon the sources of uncertainty in medicine, how we communicate and acknowledge it, its relationship with expertise and medical education, the future of research into uncertainty and more!

Dr Alasdair Munro joins us for a deep dive into all things relating to COVID-19 and children, from the role of children in transmission to ethical dilemmas over school closures, science communication in the pandemic and more. 

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease characterised by the destruction of the insulin producing cells in the pancreas, the beta cells. The disease affects millions of people around the world, but what exactly is driving the disease's progression? Is it an overactive immune system, or are the beta cells initiating their own destruction?

In this episode, Dr Stephan Kissler joins us to discuss how genetic tools, such as CRISPR, are deepening our understanding of type 1 diabetes pathophysiology. We also discuss diagnostic and therapeutic approaches which might slow or prevent disease progression, as well as stem cell-derived beta cells as a potential cure.

Stephan completed his Ph.D. in Immunology at the University of Bristol, before moving to Boston for post-doctoral work at both the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and MIT. He was made a group leader at the Virchow Center in Germany, in 2007, before returning to Boston in 2012 to start the group he leads at the Joslin Centre for Diabetes.

Professor Neena Modi discusses the vital importance of promoting and protecting child and maternal health; its role in a post-COVID recovery and challenges associated with utilising and measuring the value of preventative health interventions. We also touch upon some common misconceptions in health economics and how to manage a long-term research agenda surrounding child and maternal health. 

Further reading: 

https://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2021/01/26/archdischild-2020-320898?rss=1

 https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2018/03/20/neena-modi-a-bigger-vision-for-child-health/

 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30200-0/fulltext

 https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/506865

In this episode, Dr Emma Rawlins joins us to discuss how our understanding of lung development has changed, and how this might allow us to regenerate lung damage therapeutically.

How do our lungs develop from progenitor cells? How can stem cell populations respond to damage and disease in adults? How can these insights be leveraged to regenerate the lung following damage or disease?

Some of the topics we cover include:
Rare lung cell types important in regeneration
Human lung organoids and modeling SARS-CoV-2 infection 
The strengths and limitations of single-cell RNA sequencing in the field
Cell therapies and endogenous strategies for repairing the lung

Emma is a Senior Group Leader at Cambridge University's Gurdon Institute. Her lab investigates stem and progenitor cells in the lung. 

Dr Margaret McCartney, a practising GP in Glasgow, discusses communication of science, particularly during the pandemic, the nature of 'expertise',  investigating the efficacy and potential harms of non-drug interventions, the nuances of screening and more. 

Professor Paul Fletcher joins us for an episode which dives into the intricacies of psychosis. We discuss common misconceptions, the diversity of psychosis, our understanding of what causes it and more. Paul is both a psychiatrist and a professor of neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the nature of perception and learning in psychiatric diseases, in particular those which can involve psychosis.