Dr. Fernandez talks to us about behavioral health, integrated behavioral health care models, and how those are related to his other specialty, cultural psychiatry.

Pedro José Fernandez, M.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center. He serves as CO- Chief of Psychiatry at Parkland Health. Dr. Fernandez earned his medical degree at Boston University School of Medicine and holds board certification in Addiction Medicine and Consultation Liaison Psychiatry.

“​​Depression is one of those things that becomes this insurmountable beast at times where even the simplest tasks are very challenging. So, if you have diabetes and depression, you could see how that could then really severely impact your overall course and diabetes. And then that ends up being this vicious cycle where the more uncontrolled your diabetes is, the more could contribute to depression, then vice versa, the more you're depressed, the less likely you might adhere to diabetes treatments.”

Question of the Day: What is one thing you could do or are doing to improve your behavioral health?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

Behavioral Health

Cultural Health

Cultural Psychiatry

Integrated Behavioral Health Care

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Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:13 - Can you talk to us about why you decided to move into the field of psychiatry and how you became focused on behavioral health and cultural psychiatry?

04:51 - What is the correlation between diabetes and depression?

07:00 - Can you speak to the stigma associated with mental health and what is being done to overcome it?

09:46 - What can health systems do to address mental health?

17:00 - Your most recent publication is about integrated behavioral health care (IBHC) models and the benefits of implementing them in existing health care systems. Can you tell us integrated behavioral health care models are and how implementing them can meet needs in today’s health care systems?

19:24 - How could IBHC models potentially help patients from a cultural psychiatry perspective?

21:56 - What are some challenges predicted in the implementation of IBHC models? How could those be addressed most effectively?

24:05 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

25:03 - Outro with Shireen!

Dr. Vivian talks to us about her research focus in diabetes treatment for African American and Latino populations and her recently funded project which focuses on African American grandmothers as role models to their grandchildren.

Eva Marie Vivian is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy. Dr. Vivian has been referred to as “the researcher with a servant’s heart” because of her service to underserved communities in Madison, WI.  Her research interests focus on identifying disparities in the treatment of hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic diseases among ethnic minorities, particularly African American and Latino American patients and developing and implementing strategies to reduce and eliminate them.

“While this particular study that I proposed focuses on diabetes prevention, it provides a sense of empowerment to an underserved community that has limited resources and helps these residents to recognize that they still have the power to implement change within their communities.”

Question of the Day: Name a way to decrease risk of diabetes for children?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

Healthy Outcomes through Peer Educators (HOPE)

Health Disparities Among Ethnic Minorities

Treatments of Hypertension

Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities

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Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:11 - Can you talk to us a bit about how you found your way to specializing in research and treatment of diabetes as a doctor of pharmacy?

02:25 - Your research focus is on identifying disparities in treatment of diabetes in African American and Latino patients. Why did you take a special interest in this area?

03:24 - What have you concluded so far in your research?

05:00 - Recently, you received funding from the American Diabetes Association for your research on your novel peer support program for diabetes, Healthy Outcomes through Peer Educators (HOPE). Can you tell us about how you saw the need for this kind of research and how you developed this program?

06:40 - Why did you choose to focus on African American grandmothers in particular as role models for this project?

12:50 - What results do you hope to see from this research and what do you hope to see in the community in general as diabetes research advances?

16:22 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

18:31 - Outro with Shireen!

Dr. Gunasekaran talks to us about her specialty in treating low income diabetes patients and the importance of building a relationship with the patient to help them successfully manage their disease.

Dr. Gunasekaran is an endocrinologist who specializes in diabetes care. She provides care mainly at Parkland Health, a safety net health system, for persons with diabetes.

“I feel like people who are from a low-income background or a disadvantaged background, often find barriers to accessing healthcare in general… And so, the changes that I can enact, or the help that I can give them, allows them to spread that beyond themselves, to potentially even their family and even as far as even their community.”

Question of the Day: Have you ever had to compromise caring for your health due to a lack of income, food, or housing?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

Endocrinology

Diabetes Treatments

Low Income Patients

Community Resources

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Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:10 - Can you give us some insight on how you found your way to medicine as a profession and how you decided to specialize in endocrinology and diabetes treatment?

01:40 - Why did you decide to focus on low income diabetes patients in your clinical practice?

02:26 - What is one of the most common challenges you hear from your low income patients? How do you tend to address this?

06:23 - What are your priorities when treating a patient who has insufficient or intermittent access to money, food, and housing?

14:35 - How are you viewing diabetes overall and the impact that diabetes having, especially given COVID-19? What are some of the things that you've observed there?Can you walk us through what you saw over the past couple of years?

22:25 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

23:27 - Outro with Shireen!

Dr. Tamara Kear talks to us about ANNA’s recent research into the mental health and wellbeing of nephrology nurses and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on this issue, as well as what workplaces and the nursing industry can do to alleviate this common yet serious problem.

Dr. Tamara Kear is the Executive Director for the American Nephrology Nurses Association (ANNA) and a tenured Associate Professor at Villanova University. She was the 2019 National President for the American Nephrology Nurses Association during which time she directed ANNA’s response and actions related to the Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative.

“Workload was the main driver for the anxiety and the feelings of burnout that the nurses were experiencing.”

Question of the Day: What do you do to combat burnout, anxiety and depression in your life?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

American Nephrology Nurses Association (ANNA)

Mental Health and Wellbeing of Nephrology Nurses

COVID- 19 Pandemic Effects

Burnout, Anxiety, and Depression

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Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:28 - Can you talk to us about why you were drawn to work in the field of nephrology nursing and your career journey toward becoming a professor, researcher, and nurse executive?

06:18 - You were involved in ANNA’s recent study about the mental health and wellbeing of nephrology nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. How did the team realize that this was an important area to research at this time?

08:54 - What were the results of this study concerning the general mental health and wellbeing of nurses?

12:23 - What results did you see when factoring in the additional psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic?

13:48 - What did respondents report about the effects of these issues on their work with patients?

15:43 - What can be done in the nursing industry and by workplaces to help alleviate the burnout, anxiety and depression that many nurses are feeling?

19:46 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

21:50 - Outro with Shireen!

Dr. Alison Brown talks to us about her research in cultural nutrition and racial and ethnic health disparities.

Alison Brown, MS, PhD, RDN is a public health nutrition researcher committed to addressing diet-related health disparities through research, community engagement and empowerment, and systems change.  Dr. Brown serves as a Program Director at the National Heart Lung Blood Institute where her work centers on the social determinants of health and nutrition health disparities.  She is the Past Chair of the National Organization of Blacks in Dietetic and Nutrition, a former AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Diversity Leader, and American Society of Nutrition Science Policy Fellow.

“I think it's really important to look at when working in diverse communities of different cultural backgrounds to really look at the participants' needs and what they really need to really adapt their diets.”

Question of the Day: What role does community play in your nutrition choices?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

Cultural Nutrition

Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

DASH Diet

Cardiovascular Disease

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Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:18 - Can you talk to us about how you realized your passion for nutrition and specifically your work in culturally informed nutrition?

06:01 - How much of your work is focused on communities of color?

09:58 - What is the role of community and social determinants of health in the creation and success of cultural nutrition programs?

14:24 - Can you speak to research related CVD and culturally appropriateness of diets?

16:46 - Your recent research focuses on the root causes of racial and ethnic health disparities. How did you uncover the need for this kind of research? What solutions do you hope to see as a result of yours and others’ research in this area?

18:02 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

18:50 - Outro with Shireen!

Dr. Goode talks about social justice in health, her past research on treating binge eating in Black women, and her current research on the interaction between binge eating and Type 2 diabetes in African Americans.

Dr. Rachel Goode is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work and in the Center for Eating Disorder Excellence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to address health disparities in obesity and disordered eating outcomes.

“African-Americans have six times the odds of struggling with binge eating when it comes to type two diabetes.”

Question of the Day: How important are your eating habits to you when you think about your health?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

Racial Health Disparities

Eating Disorders

Binge Eating

Type 2 Diabetes in African Americans

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Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:20 - Can you talk a bit about your path toward the psychiatry field and your specialty in eating disorder and obesity research?

02:40 - How did you develop your professional interest in social justice and investigating racial health disparities?

03:44 - You just received funding from the American Diabetes Association for a project investigating the interaction between binge eating and Type 2 diabetes in African Americans. How did you come to realize the need for this specific approach?

05:50 - Do your hypotheses for this research connect or build on the results of your past research into obesity and eating disorders among Black women?

10:50 - What contribution do you hope to make to the understanding of diabetes and eating disorders among African Americans?

13:39 - What improvements do you hope to see made in the treatment and education about diabetes and eating disorders in the future?

19:58 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

20:49 - Outro with Shireen!

In this episode, Dr. Candice Price talks about her research on the effects of sugary drinks on type 2 diabetes and heart disease and her recent focus on this topic in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Candice Price is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis with seven years of experience as a cardiometabolic research scientist focused on understanding the physiological and molecular mechanisms of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease development.  Her primary research investigates the impact of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption on cardiometabolic health in Black women.

“We can use sugar sweetened beverages sort of as a tool to really understand the mechanisms that are specific to added sugar consumption, but also because sugar sweetened beverage consumption is so disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic communities in the United States.”

Question of the Day: Have you considered cutting out soda and/or other sugary beverages in your personal health journey?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

Type 2 Diabetes

Heart Disease Prevalence

Sugar Sweetened Beverages

Black Women’s Health

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Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

1:30 - Can you talk a bit about how you became interested in researching Type 2 diabetes and heart disease in Black women?

04:04 - How did you pinpoint sugar-sweetened beverages as a factor to investigate in type 2 diabetes and heart disease prevalence?

05:00 - What have been your most important conclusions so far in your research in this area?

08:52 - You recently began work on the role of sugar-sweetened beverages on the increasing rates of Type 2 diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa. What was your process in deciding to study this area?

13:30 - You seem to have a very diverse research portfolio.  Can you briefly tell us about some of your other research projects related to sugar-sweetened beverages and Black women’s health?

17:51 - What do you think the direction of future research and public health policy should be concerning sugary beverages?

20:08 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

21:12 - Outro with Shireen!

In this episode, Lori Hartwell talks about her story of surviving and thriving with chronic kidney disease, her work founding the Renal Support Network with the goal of helping kidney patients become their own best advocates, and her work developing public policy to advocate for individuals with chronic kidney disease.

Lori Hartwell’s mission is to help people living with chronic kidney disease. Hartwell suffered kidney failure at the age of two, survived 50+ surgeries and 13 years of dialysis, and is now living with her fourth kidney transplant. Hartwell founded Renal Support Network in 1993 to instill “health, happiness, and hope” into the lives of fellow patients; she serves as President to this day and has inspired patients, family members and healthcare professionals. She has built a national network of people who she refers to as her “kidney kin” to help let them know they are not alone in this journey and help them find the tools needed to navigate this illness.

“When you're diagnosed with a chronic illness, if it's diabetes or kidney disease, whatever it is, it really, you know, adversity introduces you to yourself.”

Question of the Day:  What does patient advocacy mean to you?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

Causes of Kidney Failure

Renal Support Network

Patient Advocacy Groups

Kidney Care Partners

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Key Points:

00: 00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:39 - Can you tell us a bit about your story surviving and thriving with kidney disease and how you got into your wide range of roles in the areas of kidney patient advocacy, support, and policy?

04:31 - What is the cause of kidney failure? The two main reasons.

06:00 - What is the mission of your organization, the Renal Support Network (RSN), one of the leading patient advocacy groups in the country? Can you talk about RSN support groups and how they help?

07:36 - How does RSN help kidney patients become their own best advocates?

09:06 - Can you tell us about a favorite success story of a person living with kidney disease who benefited through RSN support groups?

10:27 - You are also involved in public policy concerning kidney patients and recently you worked with Kidney Care Partners to develop their 2022 policy priorities. What is the importance of a legislative agenda to advocate for kidney patients and what are the KCP’s 2022 policy priorities?

16:20 - What is the most important thing for individuals with chronic diseases to know?

17:27 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

20:14 - Outro with Shireen!

In this episode, Dr. Heung talks about his research focus in acute kidney injury (AKI), the effects of COVID-19 on the population of dialysis patients, and how we can keep our kidneys healthy.

Dr. Heung is a nephrologist (kidney specialist) at the University of Michigan where he has practiced since 2005.  While he is a general nephrologist and sees patients with a wide variety of kidney diseases, his particular research focus area is acute kidney injury.

“So again, especially early in the pandemic, we saw very high rates of severe acute kidney injury in patients in the ICU with uh, COVID and in some studies, this was as high as 30, 35% of patients developing acute kidney injury, many of whom needed dialysis.”

Question of the Day: What’s something you want to do or have been doing to improve your kidney health?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)

Treatments and Prevention of AKI

Covid 19 and Mortality Toll Dialysis Patients

Maintaining Healthy Kidneys

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Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:11 - Welcome, Dr. Heung. Can you talk a bit about how you gravitated toward your specialty in nephrology and your career journey to becoming Clinical Chief of Nephrology at the University of Michigan?

03:10 - Your main area of research is in Acute Kidney Injury (AKI). What is the definition of AKI and what are the risk factors for this condition?

05:20 - What are the current available treatments and what is the direction of research toward new and better treatments or prevention?

10:28 - You were quoted in a recent ProPublica article about the effects of COVID-19 on dialysis patients, discussing the unprecedented mortality toll on dialysis patients. What are some of the reasons for this population’s unique vulnerabilities?

13:30 - What are your thoughts on the interaction between AKI and COVID-19?

15:26 - What do you do to keep your kidneys healthy?

20: 15 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

21:24 - Outro with Shireen!

In this episode, Dr. Buscemi talks about her research in diabetes mortality by race. We talk about the United States cities with the worst health disparities, how inequality affects diabetes mortality, and how health policy can be changed to fix this.

Dr. Joanna Buscemi is a Clinical Health Psychologist and Assistant Professor at DePaul University specializing in health inequities. She also serves as the Health Policy Council Chair at the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

“​​Black Americans with diabetes are more likely to die than white Americans with diabetes across the country and across every single one of the largest 30 cities in the country.”

Question of the Day: What could your city be doing better to help all individuals with diabetes access better care?

On This Episode You Will Learn:

Diabetes Mortality and Racial Inequalities

Build Back Better Act

Health Inequities

Social Determinants of Health

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Connect with Joanna!

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Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:18 - Welcome, can you talk a bit about your background as a clinical psychologist and your role as the Chair of the Health Policy Council for the Society of Behavioral Medicine?

03:08 - In your study on diabetes mortality and racial inequalities published last January, you and your team focused on the biggest cities in the US. Why did you choose to structure the study this way, and what insight did you gain from this choice?

04:01 - What are the biggest takeaways from the study about diabetes in the United States?

05:20 - What needs to be done to alleviate this problem, on both a city and national level?

09:46 - What are your thoughts on the recent death of the Build Back Better Act?

12:33 - What directions could further research into this topic take?

16:25 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

17:15 - Outro with Shireen!