Superbugs Unplugged

In this episode, co-hosts Lance Price and Jay Graham interview Erta Kalanxhi of the One Health Trust to discuss her new paper, The Value of Vaccines to Mitigate Antimicrobial Resistance -- Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Together, they discuss how vaccines can save lives while lowering the risk of antibiotic resistance.  A win-win for everyone! Read the report. Visit the One Health Trust's website and check out their blogs!

In this episode, we introduce our new co-host Dr. Jay Graham, Associate Professor in Residence of Environmental Health Sciences, at the University of California, Berkley  School of Public Health. Together, with Dr. Lance Price, they discuss a new study that suggests that Escherichia coli and other disease-causing microbes are passing easily between humans and animals in Cambodia, a country where clean water, sanitation and hygienic controls are lacking in many regions. The continuous exchange, along with unregulated antibiotic use, leads to the emergence and spread of drug-resistant E. coli.

Our guest is Maya Nadimpalli who, along with colleagues, conducted the research in Phnom Penh, an urban area where humans and animals are often living in close proximity without clean water or other environmental controls that help prevent the spread of E. coli and other potentially dangerous microbes. Check our the paper here and ESPECIALLY look at the graphics.

To learn more about our new co-host, check out his bio. To learn more about co-host, Lance Price, click here. 

We'll see you next month with a brand new episode and co-host. Enjoy listening to this episode from 2021 on the fascinating and terrifying world of fungal infections.

We spend a lot of time talking about antibiotic resistance, but lately, something else has caught our attention -- antifungal resistance! 

Thanks to the changing climate and increased fungicide use, a couple of nasty fungi have begun developing resistance genes that could make fungal infections in people untreatable. 

When did this happen? How bad is the threat? What are the solutions? As always, co-hosts Matt and Lance have lots of questions. Fortunately, Dr. Tom Chiller, Chief of the Mycotic Diseases Branch for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has lots of answers.  

Join us for an exciting conversation with the CDC about the wild world of fungi. 

This episode first aired on March 25, 2020. We are re-airing it during our summer hiatus. We hope you enjoy listening. In this episode, co-host, Dr. Lance B. Price interviews longtime friend, colleague, and microbiologist, Jay Graham, who is an assistant professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Dr. Graham is an expert in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and has been working to improve WASH in underdeveloped communities for more than 20 years. Today, you'll learn about Dr. Graham's recent research on antibiotic use in animals and the importance of WASH in addressing the challenge of antibiotic-resistant diseases.

This episode first aired in January 2021. We are taking the summer off as we search for a new podcast co-host. We’re re-airing some of our most listened to episodes. Enjoy!

Consumption, the Captain of all these Men of Death, the White Plague, the King’s Evil -- all names for the bacterial infection known today as Tuberculosis or TB. 

In the early nineteenth century, TB was one of the most common killers American adults, but since entering the antibiotic era, this once deadly disease has faded into the background of American life. Unfortunately, our eagerness to forget our past has allowed TB to continue to affect low and middle income countries across the globe. 

Dr. Carole Mitnick, Sc.D, Professor of Global Health & Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School  reminds us that Tuberculosis, and super-resistant tuberculosis, kills around 1.4 million people globally each year.  Continuing to deprioritize this nasty bug will only come back to bite us. 

To our amateur historians out there, give us a shout in the comments if you can figure out what turned Lance’s Aunt Navis blue. 

This was a sad episode for our co-hosts Dr. Lance B. Price and Matt Wellington as well as our producer, Laura Rogers. In this episode we bade farewell to Matt who is leaving U.S. PIRG after 10 years to serve as the Associate Director for the Maine Public Health Association(his home state). In addition to saying goodbye, we reminisced about some of his favorite episodes including  “CDC on the Fungal Kingdom: Full of Friends and Enemies” and “Designing the Perfect Predator: Phage Therapy.” Fear not, Superbugs Unplugged will continue. We’re taking a summer hiatus, but will have a fresh episode for you in September. We’ll repost some of our most listened to episodes over the summer. We hope you will listen and encourage others to do the same!

In this episode, hosts Dr. Lance B. Price and Matthew Wellington discuss an op ed they co-authored that was published in STAT News.  The piece is titled "The window is closing to stop deadly drug-resistant fungi like Candida auris" and discusses just what you think it does. The co-hosts discuss other fungal and bacterial infections and the need for better surveillance systems in the US so we better prepared for the next public health emergency. Read the op ed. 

In our March 2023 episode, Matt Wellington interviews his co-host, Dr. Lance B. Price, about a new study he co-authored that establishes a link between E. coli in raw meat and urinary tract infections in people. First, we hear about how these infections occur in people and some steps we can take to mitigate our risk. Next, Dr. Price addresses the “shared responsibility” of reducing the spread of E. coli and other foodborne pathogens and describes how government agencies can do their part through enhanced surveillance and vaccination research. To wrap up the episode, Dr. Price offers his outlook on our whole food system and highlights other opportunities for improvement. 

For our February episode, you'll hear the recording of a recent PIRG webinar, "How States can Protect Life-saving Antibiotics". First, each panelist, listed below, shares his/her perspective on the antibiotic resistance crisis. Next, the group explores the connection between antibiotic resistance and animal agriculture through moderator and audience questions. Finally, the panel turns to state action, including the Transparent and Responsible Antibiotic Use Act, which has recently been introduced in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly. 

You'll hear from:

• Matt Wellington, Public Health Campaigns Director, PIRG
• Raya Carr, Shepherdess and Events & Project Coordinator, Mint Creek Farm
• Madeleine Kleven, Safe and Healthy Food Program Associate, FACT
• Dr. Sameer Patel, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Director, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Tune in here to listen to the discussion!

In our January episode of Superbugs Unplugged, co-hosts Matt Wellington and Louis Sokolow chat with Dr. Reshma Ramachandran, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and Director of the Yale Collaboration for Regulatory Rigor, Integrity, and Transparency (CRRIT). First, we hear about Dr. Ramanchandran’s work with CRRIT to ensure that FDA-approved medical products are sufficiently safe and accessible. Next, we do a deep dive into the PASTEUR Act, a piece of legislation that would incentivize antibiotic development through government contracts with companies that receive FDA approval for a new antibiotic. Dr. Ramachandran provides her perspective and walks us through the flaws she sees in the bill, and we wrap up with a discussion of alternatives to PASTEUR. Tune in here to listen to the conversation!