The Scholars Table with Dr. Banda

What does it take to build a career in global health, and is the field still worth entering in 2026?

In this episode of The Scholars Table, Dr Banda Khalifa speaks with Professor Judd Walson, Chair of the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Professor Walson reflects on his unconventional path from anthropology and street performance to clinical medicine, research, and academic leadership. He shares the experiences that shaped his career, including his work in Nepal, Kenya, and the United States.

The conversation examines his research on childhood mortality and parasitic infections, the consequences of US foreign assistance cuts, and the future of international health at a time of considerable institutional change.

For prospective graduate students, Professor Walson also offers a candid account of PhD admissions at Johns Hopkins. He explains what distinguishes successful applicants, why mentorship is critical, and how privilege and unequal opportunities can influence academic selection.

The episode closes with his perspective on whether global health remains a worthwhile career, what young professionals should consider before entering the field, and why the next generation has an opportunity to help redefine its future.

The Scholars Table with Dr Banda. Conversations on health, ideas, and public life.

Available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

An MPH is a major investment of time and money. What should you weigh before applying, and where can the degree take you?

Dr. Banda welcomes Dr. Meghan Frost Davis, chair of the Master of Public Health program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, for a conversation about public health training, leadership, and career choices.

From her path through veterinary medicine to her work in One Health, Dr. Davis explores the connections between human, animal, and environmental health. The conversation also covers MPH program formats, applications, financial support, and the questions facing students entering public health during funding cuts and job uncertainty.

For Dr. Banda, a Hopkins MPH graduate, this conversation is also a return to the program that helped shape his own career.

Dr. Monica Swahn is Dean of the VCU School of Public Health, director of Global Women's Health for the VCU Institute for Women's Health, and holder of the Charles W. and Evelyn F. Thomas Endowed Professorship of Epidemiology.

She came to the role in July 2025 after serving as dean of the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services at Kennesaw State University, and before academia she spent nearly a decade at the CDC as a health scientist and epidemiologist.

In this conversation with Dr Banda Khalifa, she traces the route from a psychology degree to a PhD in epidemiology, through a decade inside government science, a Fulbright year building an alcohol research center at Makerere University in Uganda, and into academic leadership.

We cover:

• What a decade at the CDC taught her about how evidence moves into decisions, and when it does not
• Why she left government science for the university
• Building research capacity in a partner institution so it survives after the funding ends
• Presenting research to the WHO, UNDP, and PAHO
• What a dean does all day, and what surprised her most
• Her strategic vision for the VCU School of Public Health
• What strong graduate applicants get right, and the mistake she sees most often
• Advice for early-career professionals choosing between government, academia, and global work

The Scholars Table with Dr Banda brings scholars, leaders, practitioners, and emerging voices to the table for thoughtful conversations about health, science, academia, leadership, and public life.

Can AI and stronger readiness systems help us respond faster to the next pandemic, or just expose how fragile our systems are?

Dr. Prativa Baral, Deputy Director of the Pandemic and Emergency Readiness Lab (PERL) and Assistant Professor at McGill University, joins The Scholars Table with Dr Banda on AI, misinformation, and global health security.

The conversation covers where AI genuinely helps in emergencies, preparing for misinformation before a crisis, and what recent outbreaks reveal about global readiness. Hosted by Dr Banda Khalifa.

In this episode of The Scholars Table, Dr. Banda Khalifa sits down with Prof. Tiffany Gary-Webb to discuss what it means to build a career in public health with purpose, clarity, and service.

Prof. Gary-Webb reflects on her journey through epidemiology, health equity, mentorship, leadership, and community-centered research. The conversation explores how public health careers are shaped by more than titles or publications. They are shaped by the problems we choose to work on, the communities we remain accountable to, and the people we help bring along the way.

Together, they discuss the importance of staying grounded, building meaningful collaborations, mentoring the next generation, and using research to address inequities that affect real lives.

This episode is for students, early-career researchers, public health professionals, and anyone thinking deeply about how to build a career that is both excellent and useful.

Who gets to lead in African health? Dr Catherine Kyobutungi, Executive Director of APHRC, joins The Scholars Table with Dr Banda on African voices and African leadership in global health: who sets the agenda, where credibility comes from, and what changes when African institutions lead.

A Ugandan physician and epidemiologist, she co-directs CARTA and has spent her career arguing for African leadership in health and research. Hosted by Dr Banda Khalifa.

Who actually governs global health: WHO, powerful countries, donors, private industry, or law itself? Professor Lawrence O. Gostin, Founding Director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and Distinguished University Professor at Georgetown University, joins The Scholars Table with Dr Banda for a conversation on law, power, and the next pandemic.One of the most influential voices in global health law, public health ethics, human rights, and pandemic governance, Professor Gostin examines where real power sits in global health decision-making, what the WHO Pandemic Agreement adopted in May 2025 can and cannot do, and the unresolved fight over pathogen access and benefit-sharing heading into 2026.

In this episode of Global Health Uncensored, Dr. Banda Khalifa speaks with Professor Jennifer Nuzzo, Director of the Pandemic Center and Professor of Epidemiology at Brown University School of Public Health. Professor Nuzzo is a globally recognized leader in global health security, public health preparedness and response, and health systems resilience. Her work includes co-leading the Global Health Security Index and advising governments and organizations on how to measure and improve readiness for infectious disease threats.

The conversation examines whether the world has truly learned from COVID-19 or is still reacting too late, funding too slowly, and hoping fragile systems hold. Drawing on current events, including a hantavirus cluster and an Ebola outbreak in Central and East Africa, Dr. Khalifa and Professor Nuzzo discuss how outbreaks are detected, how risk is communicated, and whether preparedness is treated as a permanent public good or only remembered after lives are lost.

What does it actually take to lead emergency response across an entire continent? Dr. Marie Roseline Belizaire, Emergency Director at WHO Africa, joins Dr. Banda Khalifa for an honest, no-headlines conversation about pandemic preparedness, AI, funding cuts, and the future of health security in Africa. 

From outbreak fieldwork in the DRC to regional emergency leadership at WHO AFRO, Dr. Belizaire has spent her career where success depends not just on technical guidance, but on trust, logistics, diplomacy, and coordination under pressure. In this episode, she breaks down where emergency-response delays really come from, the three highest-leverage fixes for Africa, what the Pandemic Agreement still needs to deliver, how global health survives the era of "America First" funding cuts, and where AI genuinely helps and where it risks widening inequity.

In this episode of The Scholars Table, Dr. Banda Khalifa sits down with Dean Adnan Hyder, Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health, for a thoughtful conversation on public health leadership, global health, graduate education, and building a meaningful career with purpose.

Dean Hyder reflects on his journey from medicine to public health, his training at Johns Hopkins, his leadership vision for Boston University School of Public Health, and the skills future public health professionals need in a rapidly changing world.

The conversation also explores what makes a strong public health applicant, how students can think about choosing the right graduate program, the challenges of funding and access for international students, and why passion, strategy, opportunity, and accountability matter in leadership.

Dean Hyder also shares a powerful message for emerging public health leaders: public health is not just a career path; it is a commitment to impact, equity, and improving people’s lives.