Talking About Blood

In this podcast, Pratna Kem and Dr. Erica Esrick talk with Helen Osborne about:

• What thalassemia is, how it is inherited, and the challenges of managing a lifelong blood disorder through regular transfusions and iron chelation therapy.
• Pratna’s experience growing up with thalassemia, including the role of his Cambodian refugee parents and the family, cultural, and personal dimensions of navigating his care.
• Advances in thalassemia treatment, including gene therapy, and how Pratna’s decision to pursue this option reflects the importance of community support and shared decision-making.

In this podcast, Dr. Michael Zirulnik talks with Helen Osborne about:

• How a lifelong “North Star” and an unconventional career path shaped Michael’s approach to service, education, and the medical humanities.
• How art and storytelling can make complex or difficult health topics more accessible while creating opportunities for empathy, compassion, and connection.
• Why people in medicine and science can benefit from looking beyond traditional professional boundaries, drawing on their broader experiences, and giving themselves permission to think bigger.

In this podcast, Mital Sanariya and Dr. Ishan Tatake talk with Helen Osborne bout:

•  What Factor X deficiency is, how this rare inherited bleeding disorder can present, and how it is diagnosed and treated. 
•  Mital’s experience of living with Factor X deficiency, from her diagnosis at age 13 to recognizing bleeding symptoms and learning to manage the condition in daily life. 
•  The importance of patient-clinician partnership, individualized treatment plans, and helping patients advocate for themselves and prepare for bleeding emergencies.

In this episode, Kristin LaFollette talks with Helen Osborne about:

• Why the humanities are an essential part of medicine and how they help clinicians see the whole person behind the diagnosis. 
• How stories, poetry, art, and patient narratives strengthen observation, listening, empathy, and clinical decision-making. 
• Simple ways healthcare professionals and trainees can bring a more human approach to patient care.

In this podcast, Megan Conboy and Dr. Paula James talk with Helen Osborne about:

• A patient's (Megan) personal experience with being diagnosed and living with vWD
• A physician's perspective of diagnosing, treating vWD, and explaining how it affects patients

We're taking a short break from recording new episodes for TAB while we work on other initiatives for The Blood Project. Stay tuned and we will be back in May with exciting new topics and guests!

In this podcast, Dr. Adir Shaolov discusses the role of palliative care in patients with hematological diseases.  

In this episode, Dr. Toby Richards talks with Helen Osborne about:

• The important distinction between iron deficiency and anemia, explaining why iron deficiency is the underlying disease process and anemia is often just one of its manifestations, and why this changes how clinicians should evaluate and treat patients.
• How identifying and correcting iron deficiency before major surgery can improve patient fitness, reduce complications, and decrease the need for blood transfusions, particularly with the use of modern intravenous iron therapy.
• The underrecognized impact of heavy menstrual bleeding on women’s health, including fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog, anxiety, and restless legs, and why checking serum ferritin rather than relying only on a complete blood count is essential.

In this episode, Dr. John Chilton talks with Helen Osborne about:

• How visual storytelling, cartoons, and humor can be used to communicate complex concepts in hematology and biomedical science without trivializing the underlying science, and why communication is central to teaching and research.
• His transdisciplinary journey from laboratory research to teaching, illustration, and digital modeling, and how blending art, science, and narrative helps learners better understand blood cells, disease processes, and three-dimensional biological structures.
• The role of the humanities in science and medicine, including how creativity supports learning, empathy, and professional identity, and why embracing artistic passions can enrich medical education, clinical understanding, and personal well-being.