Pitt Medcast

In this episode, we revisited and remixed our Winter 2014 magazine story (http://bit.ly/Wnzy6c) featuring the University of Pittsburgh’s Margaret McFarland, Fred Rogers’s little known mentor who played a big role in shaping him and his show behind the scenes. Written by Sally Ann Flecker. Produced by Elaine Vitone. Our interns for the episode were Jessica Boddy and Ali Greenholt. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Sound effects courtesy of freesound.org. Special thanks to the Fred Rogers Company and also to the Beagle Brothers(http://bit.ly/2pr8gf8), Pittsburgh’s own country and eastern band, for our music. Image courtesy of Jim Judkis (http://bit.ly/2DHsyq5). We're gathering data on our podcast! To help us out, please complete a quick survey at http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=5VmBB36bqSzl&ver=short

Every day, Hilary Zurbuch grappled with a nagging fear that if she didn’t look just right, something bad would happen. Zurbuch lives with obsessive compulsive disorder, a tug-of-war between intrusive, often fearful thoughts and repetitive rituals she’s devised to control them. Although the reasons for OCD are unknown, psychiatrist and researcher Susanne Ahmari at the University of Pittsburgh is using clinical observations and new neuroscience tools to extricate a deeper understanding of the disorder. This Pitt Medcast was inspired by Cara Masset’s award-winning cover story from the Fall 2015 issue of Pitt Med magazine (http://www.pittmed.health.pitt.edu/story/inside-world-ocd). Written by Cara Masset. Read by Elaina Zachos and produced by Elaina Zachos, with Elaine Vitone. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Sound effects courtesy of freesound.org and CosmicEmbers. Special thanks to Brenna Evans, the Medfield High School Orchestra, and Cara Masset herself for acting as our musical neurons. Blød Maud (https://bldmd.bandcamp.com/) provided this episode’s theme music. We're gathering data on our podcast! To help us out, please complete a quick survey at survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.as…bqSzl&ver=short

With funding from the National Science Foundation, a multi-institutional team uses blind scent-tracing tests and other experiments to better understand how animals are able to localize odors. Pitt’s Nathan Urban and Bard Ermentrout are part of this olfaction faction. They’re hoping the investigation will inform new technologies; it may even provide insight into neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s, autism, and Parkinson’s. This Pitt Medcast was inspired by a story (bit.ly/pittmed_smell) from the Summer 2016 issue of Pitt Med magazine (bit.ly/pittmedmag). Written and read by Elaine Vitone. Produced by Elaina Zachos with Elaine Vitone. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Sound effects courtesy of freesound.org. Mosquito sound effect by djfroyd. Special thanks to Jennifer Baron, a.k.a. The Garment District (bit.ly/2lDyFlW), for our music. We're gathering data on our podcast! To help us out, please complete a quick survey at http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=5VmBB36bqSzl&ver=short

“My doctors all knew about it. ... Strangers, like people who just happened to be in the office when I was there, knew more about me than I did.” In this episode, the first in our new Read Aloud series, we delve into biology that isn’t binary, and the challenges it brings. This Pitt Medcast was adapted from our Spring 2015 issue story about the family of Pitt med alumni Arlene and Mark Baratz, who went to medical school and trained at Pitt in the 1980s. Written by Micaela Corn with Erica Lloyd. Read by Micaela Corn. Produced by Elaine Vitone and Micaela Corn. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Special thanks to Hovland for our music. We're gathering data on our podcast! To help us out, please complete a quick survey at http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=5VmBB36bqSzl&ver=short

Corneal blindness affects millions worldwide. To date, the only treatment available is a corneal transplant. But potential new cures are coming from unexpected places—including wisdom teeth! A husband-and-wife team at the University of Pittsburgh has been working toward the dream of regrowing new corneal tissue for years—that’s Jim Funderburgh, a professor of ophthalmology, and Martha Funderburgh, a research assistant in his lab and a corneal transplant recipient herself. Working with Sayan Basu, a physician-scientist in Hyderabad, India, and Fatima Syed-Picard, a Pitt postdoc-turned NIH award recipient, the Funderburghs are now developing ways to repair corneal damage—and even prevent corneal scarring from happening in the first place. It turns out that adult stem cells taken from our own eyes and teeth are capable of regenerating this tissue so vital to our focusing power. This Pitt Medcast was inspired by a story from the Spring 2015 issue of Pitt Med magazine (bit.ly/corneacopia_print). Special thanks to Pittsburgh musician Corey Layman, a.k.a. Developer, for the music (http://developer.bandcamp.com/). Science image reprinted with permission from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (bit.ly/1R4G4Wv). We're gathering data on our podcast! To help us out, please complete a quick survey at http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=5VmBB36bqSzl&ver=short

Pain and itch have an interesting relationship. If you are bitten by a mosquito, you can ease the itch by scratching your skin. And if you take a dose of a powerful painkiller like morphine, you're likely to itch. The interrelatedness of these two experiences has made deciphering their neurobiology a real puzzler. In this multilayered soundscape, Sarah Ross, a PhD assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh, discusses her recent breakthroughs with this head scratcher. The team is now beginning to trace the circuit for itch, the least understood of our somatic senses. This Pitt Medcast was inspired by "Scratching the Surface," a story from the Summer 2013 issue of Pitt Med magazine. Special thanks to Pittsburgh musician Will Simmons for the music. We're gathering data on our podcast! To help us out, please complete a quick survey at http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=5VmBB36bqSzl&ver=short

As recently as 20 years ago, tinnitus—a ringing, buzzing, hissing, or other noise that afflicts people who’ve been exposed to loud sounds—was thought to be an affliction of the ear, but imaging studies eventually proved its source is in the brain. Recently, University of Pittsburgh investigator Thanos Tzounopoulos, an expert in brain plasticity, uncovered the molecular mechanisms of this long-misunderstood condition, now the most common service-associated disability for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: When hearing is lost, the central nervous system tries to adapt and maintain a certain level of activity, filling the void with these phantom sounds. This Pitt Medcast was inspired by "Static," a feature story from the Winter 2011 issue of Pitt Med magazine. Special thanks to the Pittsburgh-based band Onodrim for the music. We're gathering data on our podcast! To help us out, please complete a quick survey at http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=5VmBB36bqSzl&ver=short