Call from Friday May 1st, featuring Dr. Sumeska Thavarajah.

Dr. Sumeska Thavarajah is an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her areas of expertise include nephrology.

Dr. Thavarajah earned her M.D. at Wayne State University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the University of Connecticut Health Center and performed nephrology fellowships at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and the University of Connecticut Health Center.

She serves as chair of the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland's Medical Advisory Board. She was recognized by the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland with a Linda Cameron Award for Patient Services in 2015.

Call from Friday April 24th, featuring Dr. David Yaden.

David B. Yaden, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. A psychological scientist by training, Dr. Yaden studies how mental health and well-being are impacted by certain experiences and mental states. He is the Principal Investigator of the Yaden Lab within the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. He is the co-founder of the Hub at Oxford for Psychedelic Ethics (HOPE). He is a member of Medicine for the Greater Good and educates about scientific research and evidence-based practices.

Call from Friday April 17th, 2026 featuring Dr. Natalie Exum.

Dr. Natalie Exum is a water scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering. Her work focuses on linking health with water and sanitation infrastructure. She is currently working on community-engaged approaches to understand how drinking water exposures in Baltimore City are affecting the health of residents.

Call from Friday April 10th, 2026 featuring Dr. Otis Brawley.

Otis Brawley is a globally-recognized expert in cancer prevention and control. He has worked to reduce overscreening of medical conditions, which has revolutionized patient treatment by increasing quality of life and reducing health disparities.

Brawley's research focuses on developing cancer screening strategies and ensuring their effectiveness. He has championed efforts to decrease smoking and implement other lifestyle risk reduction programs, as well as to provide critical support to cancer patients and concentrate cancer control efforts in areas where they could be most effective. Brawley currently leads a broad interdisciplinary research effort on cancer health disparities at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, striving to close racial, economic, and social disparities in the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer in the United States and worldwide. He also directs community outreach programs for underserved populations throughout Maryland.

Call from Friday April 3rd, 2026 lead by our host Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos (Dr. G).

Dr. Galiatsatos is a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician. He is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive lung disease, tobacco cessation, and in the care of critically ill patients in the Medical ICU. He is a member of the Obstructive Lung Disease Group at Johns Hopkins, oversees the Tobacco Treatment Clinic and provides teaching to medical students and residents at Johns Hopkins.

A special episode featuring Dr. G in conversation with David M. Rubenstein.

David M. Rubenstein is an investor, philanthropist, interviewer, author, and historian. He is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest and most successful private investment firms. Established in 1987, Carlyle now manages $477 billion from 27 offices around the world.

Mr. Rubenstein is a Baltimore native and is the Chairman, CEO, and principal owner of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles.

A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Mr. Rubenstein is Chairman of the Boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Gallery of Art, the Economic Club of Washington, and the University of Chicago; a Trustee of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Brookings Institution, and the World Economic Forum; an Emeritus Trustee of Johns Hopkins Medicine; and a Director of Moderna, Inc. and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Mr. Rubenstein is a member of the American Philosophical Society, Business Council, Harvard Global Advisory Council (Chairman), Madison Council of the Library of Congress (Chairman), Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University (former Chairman), and Board of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community.

Call from Friday March 27th, 2026 featuring Dr. Errol Bush, MD.

Errol L. Bush, M.D., FACS, is a thoracic surgeon and surgical director of the Advanced Lung Disease and Lung Transplant Program for the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center. He also serves as director of the Ex vivo Lung Perfusion Program (EVLP).

Dr. Bush specializes in the surgical treatment of chronic and end stage lung diseases, as well as benign (non-cancerous) and malignant (cancerous) diseases and lesions of the chest. He is skilled in minimally invasive operations such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), a type of thoracic surgery performed using a small video camera that is introduced into the patient's chest via a scope to treat lung and esophageal cancers. Dr. Bush also has experience with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a technique of providing both cardiac and respiratory support oxygen to patients whose heart and lungs can no longer serve their function.

His research interests include investigations of outcomes and health disparities related to lung cancer, lung transplant and ECMO patients. Dr. Bush is currently leading several open clinical trials.

Call from Friday March 20th, 2026 featuring Carrie Cox, RN, Certified Burn Registered Nurse.

Carrie Cox is a master's prepared registered nurse with over 20 years of program development and management experience in complex medical education throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. She has over 10 years' experience as a Clinical Research Nurse and Coordinator with Clinical Research Management experience. She has worked with diverse multidisciplinary teams to complete over 60 HSR research projects, including Phase I through Phase III industry sponsored clinical trials, federally funded (NIH/DOD) multi-center trials, and investigator-initiated research.

Call from Friday March 13th, featuring Ms. Velma Henderson, RN & former NFL Pro-Bowl Linebacker Art Still!

Velma Henderson, RN, MS, CNAA, BC, is an accomplished Administrator, Consultant, Trainer and Presenter. She retired as Chief Nursing Officer at Howard University Hospital Washington, D.C. where in addition to her regular duties, she developed and implemented a comprehensive, organization-wide Customer Service Improvement Plan. She also served as a board member for WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, the Chi Eta Phi Education Foundation, the National Black Nurse Association and the Nursing Spectrum.

Art Still is one of the greatest defensive ends in University of Kentucky history, and built a remarkable 12-year NFL career, including an amazing run with the Kansas City Chiefs. Yet today, football is only part of his story.

In 2023 he was diagnosed with ATTR amyloidosis, a rare hereditary disease caused by the buildup of amyloid proteins that can impair major organs, often affecting the nerves, heart, and kidneys. Now Still is using his platform to raise awareness and advocate for early detection and treatment of this condition.

Call from Friday March 6th, 2026 featuring Shavini Fernando.

Shavini is a former parient of Dr. G, & is sharing her story about her Pulmonary Hypertension diagnosis.

Shavini is a VR /Video Game developer turned in to MedTech Developer; "to save lives of fellow PH patients and more to put a stop to preventable deaths that occur due to hypoxia!"