About this episode:

The U.S. Coast Guard is charged with safeguarding Americans through missions including maritime law enforcement, antiterrorism operations, and search and rescue. Members of the Coast Guard carry out these missions at sea and in the air in all sorts of extreme conditions requiring specialized medical care to ensure their health and safety. In this episode, we hear from a flight surgeon who talks about his work caring for military aviators, as well as some of the most challenging moments of his career, including Hurricane Katrina and being the medical director for the Coast Guard Academy during COVID.

Dr. Esan Simon is the medical director for the Coast Guard Academy. Previously, he was a flight surgeon for the Coast Guard since 2004.

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland’s Health Department.

• Steadfast: How one Coast Guard captain navigates the uncharted seas of life

• Back to School? Reopening a University During the COVID-19 Pandemic—Public Health On Call

• University of Michigan’s Chief Health Officer Dr. Preeti Malani Returns to Talk About COVID-19 Safety on Campus This Fall—Public Health On Call

• The State of COVID On Campus at The University of Michigan—Public Health On Call

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What is the relationship between food industry giants like General Mills and a social media movement aimed at pushing back on diet culture and unrealistic body images? An investigation by health journalists at The Examination found that food companies and dieticians appear to be co-opting the hashtag “antidiet” to promote their products.

Sasha Chavkin is a senior reporter with The Examination

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland’s Health Department.

• As obesity rises, Big Food and dieticians push “anti-diet” advice—The Examination

• The food industry pays “influencer’ dieticians to shape your eating habits—The Washington Post

• Dietician Influencers On Social Media Are Being Paid By The Food Industry to Promote Products and Messages—Public Health On Call

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Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, has been the gold standard for buying time in a medical emergency. But it’s not very effective, especially for the majority of cardiac arrest cases. What is much more effective: employing advanced machinery like ECMO, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, that can keep people alive for hours or even days and weeks while physicians address the medical emergency and the body heals. But can emergency medicine shift to get more patients on ECMO faster?

Dr. Demetris Yannopoulous is a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School where he is the director of resuscitation medicine.

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, the largest center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

• The Race to Reinvent CPR—The New York Times

• ECPR Could Prevent Many More Cardiac Deaths—Scientific American

•  Get the transcript for this episode (PDF)

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June 8 would mark the 80th birthday of Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr., a cardiothoracic surgeon at Johns Hopkins known for being part of the first team to implant an automatic defibrillator in a human patient. But Dr. Watkins was so much more: a civil rights and political activist, a champion of Black and other people who are underrepresented in medicine, and a snappy dresser with a great sense of humor. Today, two people who knew and worked with Dr. Watkins share their memories as we celebrate his legacy.

Dr. Lisa Cooper is a public health physician, a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, and a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine.

Steven Ragsdale is a former senior administrator at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a faculty member in Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland’s Health Department.

• Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Levi Watkins Jr.—YouTube

• Levi Watkins, 70, Dies; Pioneering Heart Surgeon Pushed Civil Rights—New York Times

• Levi Watkins Jr., pioneering Hopkins cardiac surgeon and civil rights activist, dies at 70—Johns Hopkins Hub

• Get the transcript for this episode (PDF)

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Colorectal cancers are rising among people under age 50. There are a number of theories as to why and also promising data around early detection. In today’s episode: A deep dive into the epidemiology of colorectal cancers including who is most at risk, a look at the screening tools currently available, and why blood tests may be even more valuable than costly and invasive colonoscopies.

Dr. Otis Brawley is a globally-recognized expert in cancer prevention and control whose work focuses on developing cancer screening strategies and ensuring their effectiveness. He is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor and faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in epidemiology with a joint appointment in oncology at Johns Hopkins Medicine. He was the former Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society.

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, the largest center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

• Effect of Colonoscopy Screening on Risks of Colorectal Cancer and Related Death—The New England Journal of Medicine

• A Cell-free DNA Blood-Based Test for Colorectal Cancer Screening—The New England Journal of Medicine

• The Minnesota Colon Cancer Control Study

• Get the transcript for this episode (PDF)

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One in five U.S. adults is taking five or more prescription drugs at a time, often for years without reassessment of need, dosage, or possible interactions. Today, a look at polypharmacy and why it’s important for physicians to periodically check in with patients about all the prescription—and nonprescription—drugs they’re taking. The guests also discuss the importance of considering non-pharmaceutical treatments like physical or talk therapy, and empowering patients and their care partners to ask questions about what they’re being prescribed.

Dr. Cynthia Boyd is a geriatrician and faculty at Johns Hopkins Medicine. She is also a senior associate with the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health.

Dr. Ariel Green is a geriatrician and faculty at Johns Hopkins Medicine. She is also a core faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness.

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, the largest center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

• Taking Multiple Medications? You May Need to Scale Back.—The New York Times

• Taking more than 5 pills in a day? ‘Deprescribing’ can prevent harm—especially for older people—The Conversation

• Get the transcript for this episode (PDF)

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Cruise ships are congregate settings where infectious diseases can quickly spread. But, there’s a lot that the industry and individuals can do to stay healthy and avoid, shall we say, explosive outbreaks. In today’s episode, learn about the most common culprits—including norovirus, food-borne illness, and COVID-19—and how people can think about safety from initial booking to final disembarkment and all the ports of call in between.

Guest: Dr. Tara Palmore is an infectious disease physician at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland’s Health Department.

Show links:

• The CDC’s Cruise Ship Travel Information
• Get the transcript for this episode (PDF)

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It’s graduation time at the Bloomberg School! Doctoral candidate Francesca Marino joins the podcast to talk about how her interest in neuroscience led her to pursue a degree in epidemiology, and about her research looking into whether and how daily patterns of physical activity tracked through a wearable device could indicate cognitive health or decline.

Guest: Dr. Francesca Marino is a recent graduate of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health whose research focuses on the epidemiology of aging.

Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland’s Health Department.

Show links:

• Associations of Physical Activity and Heart Rate Variability from a Two-Week ECG Monitor with Cognitive Function and Dementia: the ARIC Neurocognitive Study—PubMed
• Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Activity, Sleep & Dementia—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine
• Get the transcript for this episode (PDF)

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Armed internal conflict  in Sudan has created a humanitarian crisis with millions of people displaced both internally and to neighboring countries. Dr. Salim Mohamednour, a medical epidemiologist with expertise in emergency response and the national health coordinator at the WHO country office in Sudan, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the unfolding catastrophe and what needs to be done. Special thanks to Aseel Salih, Hassan Salih, and Laila Zomorodian, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health students who assisted with the production of this podcast. A note that Dr. Mohamednour is not representing the WHO on the podcast. Content warning: this episode contains depictions of violence. Listeners interested in contributing can consider supporting the World Food Program, the  Sudanese American Physicians Association, and Sadagaat.

Get the transcript for this episode (PDF)

The planetary health crisis can’t be ignored in hospitals where patients are sick from climate-driven things like asthma from air quality emergencies, COVID-19 from a zoonotic spillover event, and cardiovascular complications from heat waves. Chris Lemon, an ER doctor and Bloomberg Health Initiative fellow who focuses on the intersection of climate change and health, talks with Stephanie Desmon about his work bringing planetary health dialogue to hospital staff while also looking at ways health systems can lower their massive carbon footprints.

Get the transcript for this episode (PDF)