Dr. Paul Spiegel, a physician, epidemiologist and the director of the Center for Humanitarian Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has worked in humanitarian emergencies for the last 30 years. In a bonus episode, Dr. Spiegel talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about his recent deployment to Cairo, Egypt as a strategic advisor to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the health response in Gaza.

Since 2020, New Yorkers have lost around 4.6 years of overall life expectancy—and up to 5.5 years for Black and 6 for Latino residents. NYC’s Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about Healthy NYC, an initiative building on the momentum of the pandemic to claw back these losses and improve the overall health of the population. They discuss the goals of the initiative, how success is measured, and specific tactics to address some of the greatest threats to health and life in the metropolis. Learn more: https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/about-doh/healthynyc.page

In the last episode of 2023, Lindsay Smith Rogers talks with co-hosts Dr. Josh Sharfstein and Stephanie Desmon about 2023. This year saw a rise in non-COVID topics, including Supreme Court cases, malaria, RSV, antitrans health legislation, climate emergencies, artificial intelligence, and more. They also talk about what topics they’re thinking about for 2024. Learn more about another one of our projects, the Expert Insights newsletter: http://publichealth.jhu.edu/subscribe

In September of this year, routine testing turned up the presence of a microscopic parasite called cryptosporidium in Baltimore’s water supply. Johns Hopkins environmental health scientist Natalie Exum returns to the podcast to speak with Lindsay Smith Rogers about what the parasite’s presence means for the larger water system, and why it’s critical to repair and replace aging infrastructure throughout the US. Note: This podcast was recorded in November. Since then, President Biden has proposed a new plan to remove all lead water pipes across the country. Learn more about another one of our projects, the Expert Insights newsletter: http://publichealth.jhu.edu/subscribe

The Geneva Convention sets out specific protections of health care in war dating back to the 1860s. Len Rubenstein, interim director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights and author of the book Perilous Medicine: The Struggle to Protect Health Care from the Violence of War talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the core elements of these laws and how they apply in the current conflict.

Medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro show lots of promise for treating obesity but scientists still don’t understand exactly how they work. There’s also a lack of data to show whether these medications are safe to take long term. Dr. Sameer Khan, a Johns Hopkins fellow in gasteroenterology, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what these medicines are and what they can do, the questions that remain, and why it’s a challenge for clinicians to prescribe them and for patients to actually obtain them. Learn more about another one of our projects, the Expert Insights newsletter: publichealth.jhu.edu/subscribe

The CDC’s newest center, a “national weather service for public health threats,” is up and running! Dylan George, director of the center, returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the center’s mission, what they’re working on, and how this year’s viral respiratory season might stack up against last year’s tripledemic.

Tuberculosis is one of the oldest diseases on earth—taking more than 1 billion lives throughout history. Dr. Richard Chaisson, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how TB continues to be a significant threat to global public health, what progress is being made in treatment and prevention, and why research will be needed until the day the last case is treated.

After two World Wars and the Holocaust, the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 was a milestone for humanity. But 75 years later, the document remains both an inspiration and a measure of failure. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the origins of the document, its role in "stating the obvious," and why the world has fallen woefully behind in upholding it. Learn more: https://research.un.org/en/udhr75

Peacebuilders work to help solve violent conflicts and rebuild societies through nonviolent means. Michael Shipler, vice president of Search for Common Ground, an international peacebuilding NGO, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the remarkable work the organization has done amidst some of the most intractable conflicts around the world. They discuss what factors drive violent conflict, the goals and processes of peacebuilding as a practice, and how everyone can adopt a peacebuilding mindset.