Health & Veritas Podcast
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About the Hosts
- Professor Forman is a Professor of Diagnostic Radiology (and faculty director for Finance), Public Health (Health Policy), Economics, and Management. Professor Forman directs the Health Care Management program at the Yale School of Public Health and teaches healthcare economics in the Yale College Economics Department. He is the faculty founder and director of the MD/MBA program as well as the faculty director of the healthcare focus area in the School of Management’s MBA for Executives program. He is the co-founder and special advisor to the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership program. He co-hosts the Health & Veritas podcast with Dr. Harlan Krumholz.
Harlan M. Krumholz (Co-Host)
Harlan Krumholz is a cardiologist and scientist at Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital. He is the Harold H. Hines, Jr. Professor of Medicine, and Professor in the Institute of Social Policy Studies, of Investigative Medicine, and of Public Health (Health Policy), and the Director of the Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation. He is a leading expert in the science to improve the quality and efficiency of care, eliminate disparities and promote equity, improve integrity and transparency in medical research, engage patients in their care, and avoid wasteful practices. Recent efforts are focused on harnessing the digital transformation in healthcare to accelerate knowledge generation and facilitate the delivery of care aligned with each patient’s needs and preferences.
Featured Podcast Episodes
Albert Ko: A Journey in Public Health
Episode 82 - May 25, 2023
Howie and Harlan welcome Yale’s Albert Ko back to the podcast to discuss the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and his career as an infectious disease specialist and public health researcher. Harlan reports on a breakthrough in pacemaker technology; Howie reflects on the complex relationship between obesity, social media, and mental health for young people.
Links:
“A Dual-Chamber Leadless Pacemaker”
Health & Veritas, Ep. 14: Albert Ko: A Wider View of COVID-19
“What’s Going On With Covid Right Now?”
Weill Cornell Medical School: Warren Johnson
Berkeley Public Health: Lee Riley
WHO: Social Determinants of Health
“Surgeon General Issues New Advisory About Effects Social Media Use Has on Youth Mental Health”
Megan Ranney: What’s Next for Public Health?
Episode 77 - April 20, 2023
Howie and Harlan are joined by Megan Ranney, who will become the dean of the newly independent Yale School of Public Health later this year. Harlan reflects on the research that is helping us understand aging at a cellular level; Howie discusses a new study that he co-authored which examines the costs that make it harder for many mothers to breastfeed.
Links:
Outlive by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford
“Megan Ranney named dean of Yale School of Public Health”
“Yale School of Public Health to become self-supporting, independent school”
Megan Ranney: “To prevent gun injury, build better research”
Megan Ranney: “We need more research on guns. Here are 5 questions we can answer.”
Howard Forman: “No such thing as a free lunch: The direct marginal costs of breastfeeding”
Cary Gross: Effective Cancer Screening
Episode 76 - April 13, 2023
Howie and Harlan are joined by Cary Gross, professor of medicine and public health and director of the National Clinician Scholars Program at Yale, to discuss his creative approach to research and his sometimes contrarian stances on cancer screening and not holding medical conferences in states that ban abortion. Harlan explains the nuances of new research about mortality risks tied to weight loss in older adults; Howie discusses his concerns over courts interfering with FDA drug approval processes arising from two cases tied to the medical abortion pill mifepristone.
Links:
“The Relation between Funding by the National Institutes of Health and the Burden of Disease”
“Allocation of National Institutes of Health Funding by Disease Category in 2008 and 2019”
“Too Many Older Patients Get Cancer Screenings”
“Judge Invalidates F.D.A. Approval of the Abortion Pill Mifepristone”
“Democratic state attorneys general sue Biden administration over abortion pill rules”
Countering COVID Revisionism
Episode 66 - February 2, 2023
Howie and Harlan discuss Howie’s recent bout of COVID-19 and the takeaways from new research on adverse events in hospitals, and they consider claims from Tucker Carlson of Fox News about the pandemic response.
Links:
“5 COVID mistakes Biden’s new chief of staff must admit”
Harlan Krumholz: “A prescription for the US FDA for the regulation of health misinformation”
“What older Americans need to know about taking Paxlovid”
NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines | Molnupiravir
“Efficacy of Antiviral Agents against Omicron Subvariants BQ.1.1 and XBB”
“China Cautiously Takes to the Road for Lunar New Year”
“President Biden to end COVID-19 emergencies on May 11”
Donald Berwick: “Salve Lucrum: The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care”
“The Safety of Inpatient Health Care”
“Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. hospitalized patients experience harmful events, study finds”
“Trends in Adverse Event Rates in Hospitalized Patients, 2010-2019”
Healthcare Headlines
Episode 63 - January 12, 2023
Howie and Harlan check in on health issues that are in the news—or will be soon. Harlan discusses his work measuring patient outcomes and new avenues of research on long COVID; Howie reports on the perverse effects of private equity investment in specialty healthcare practices and the looming deadline facing state Medicaid programs.
Links:
"What we learned about the NFL in the aftermath of Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest"
Céline Gounder: "Grant Wahl Was a Loving Husband. I Will Always Protect His Legacy."
Harlan Krumholz: “Outcomes Research: Generating Evidence for Best Practice and Policies”
Harlan Krumholz: “Real-world Imperative of Outcomes Research”
Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy: Outcomes Research
"Families First Coronavirus Response Act Medicaid and CHIP Provisions Explained"
"Millions Could Lose Medicaid by April as Pandemic Rules Ease"
Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith: The Systemic Roots of Inequities in Health
Episode 55 - November 12, 2022
Harlan reports on three negative—but striking—trials presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting; Howie reflects on the victories for health in Tuesday’s election. And they’re joined by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale internist and nationally known expert on healthcare equity, to discuss her service in the Biden administration and the need for a broad approach to tackling racism in healthcare and systemic inequities in health.
Links:
“Another Fibrate Fails to Show Cardiovascular Benefit”
“DCP: HCTZ vs. Chlorthalidone in Improving CV Outcomes in Elderly Veterans With HTN”
“Nunez-Smith to lead Biden health equity task force”
Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership at Yale University
“Voters will have a say on abortion in 5 states with high-stakes ballot measures”
“South Dakota votes to expand Medicaid”
Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses—2021
Taking the Pulse
Episode 51 - October 13, 2022
Howie and Harlan check in on new research and health issues in the news, including studies on colonoscopies and the timing of hypertension medication, the state of the monkey pox and polio outbreaks, and the wave of legislation restricting treatment of trans youth.
Links:
“Effect of Colonoscopy Screening on Risks of Colorectal Cancer and Related Death”
“Monkeypox Cases Are Declining in New York City and Globally”
“WHO declares monkeypox a global health emergency as infections soar”
“Evening dosing of blood pressure medication not better than morning dosing”
“Arkansas cannot enforce ban on gender-affirming care for trans kids, court rules”
“Watch Jon Stewart Calmly Excoriate the Arkansas Attorney General on Anti-Trans Legislation”
“Yale’s Emily Wang and two alumni win MacArthur ‘genius’ awards”
Beating the Outbreaks
Episode 45 - August 4, 2022
Monkeypox, polio, and COVID-19 have all received the World Health Organization’s rarely used global health emergency designation. Howie and Harlan offer a needed sense of proportion alongside health information, updates on research, and policy developments for the grim trio of diseases.
Dr. James Hamblin: Should You Stop Washing?
Episode 44 - July 8, 2022
Howie and Harlan talk with Dr. James Hamblin, a journalist and a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health. They discuss his approach to communicating about public health, his prescient February 2020 article on COVID-19, and why he’s quit taking showers.
Links:
“You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus”
Teresa Chahine: The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Making Change
Episode 43 - July 21, 2022
Howie and Harlan are joined by Teresa Chahine, the Sheila and Ron ’92 B.A. Marcelo Senior Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at Yale SOM. They discuss how social entrepreneurs use an interdisciplinary, iterative, community-centric approach to innovation to create self-sustaining solutions to problems in public health and other areas.
Links:
“Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity”
Teresa Chahine: “Toward an Understanding of Public Health Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship”
Teresa Chahine: Social Entrepreneurship: Building Impact Step by Step, 2nd Edition (December 2022)
Gregg Gonsalves: An Inspiring Nonlinear Path to Impact
Episode 39 - June 23, 2022
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale epidemiologist and MacArthur ‘genius’ Gregg Gonsalves to discuss his non-traditional route to improving responses to global public health challenges.
Links:
Eric Topol on COVID reinfections
Harlan’s Twitter thread on insurance debt
The Best Little Boy in the World
Your Co-host’s Remarkable Career
Episode 38 - June 16, 2022
Harlan interviews Howie about his life as a doctor and teacher, including how a radiologist without a PhD got to teach economics at Yale, why he engages in the daily battles that come with speaking out on Twitter, and the extraordinary return on investment from time spent mentoring young people.
Links:
Arnold Schwarzenegger on deaths attributable to pollution
“Intravenous Vitamin C in Adults with Sepsis in the Intensive Care Unit”
“Climate Change, Fossil-Fuel Pollution, and Children’s Health“
Merriam-Webster on the origin of the word “doctor”
Dr. Amy Justice: Unlocking the Insights in Healthcare Data
Episode 35 - May 26, 2022
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Amy Justice, a Yale clinical epidemiologist. They discuss the influential long-running studies she has conducted using the electronic medical record from the Veterans Administration Healthcare System.
Links:
Basketball coach Steve Kerr on the shooting in Uvalde, Texas
The Veteran Aging Cohort Study
“At Yale, Arya Singh overcame her fears — and found a new side of herself”
Arya Singh's Class Day address
Jason Schwartz: Building a Better Vaccine Policy
Episode 34 - May 19, 2022
Howie and Harlan are joined by Jason Schwartz of the Yale School of Public Health. They discuss what went wrong with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and how Schwartz’s background in history and ethics informs his research on vaccine policy.
Links:
“Impact of sleep duration on executive function and brain structure”
“Mass General Brigham posts $867M quarterly net loss”
Howie's Twitter exchange with Elon Musk
Dr. Gail D’Onofrio: Grappling with the Opioid Epidemic
Episode 32 - May 5, 2022
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Gail D’Onofrio, Yale's Albert E. Kent Professor of Emergency Medicine. They discuss the medications available for opioid addiction and the policy changes needed to allow those treatments to save more lives.
Links:
“Sex-Specific Risk Factors Associated With First Acute Myocardial Infarction in Young Adults”
Melinda Irwin: Can Nutrition and Exercise Improve Cancer Outcomes?
Episode 31 - April 22, 2022
Howie and Harlan talk with Yale’s Melinda Irwin about her research investigating how lifestyle factors impact the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Links:
“Intramuscular AZD7442 (Tixagevimab–Cilgavimab) for Prevention of Covid-19”
“Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General”
Edward Kaplan: What Does Wastewater Reveal about COVID-19?
Episode 26 - March 24, 2022
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale operations expert Edward Kaplan, who uses mathematical models to understand a variety of processes. They discuss Kaplan’s ongoing research tracking COVID-19 infections through sewage, which bypasses the biases inherent in data from testing and even hospitalization.
Dr. Ijeoma Opara: Partnering with a Community
Episode 22 - February 24, 2022
Howie and Harlan talk with Dr. Ijeoma Opara of the Yale School of Public Health about the impact of persistent violence on mental health among urban youth and the power of community-based participatory research.
Dr. Emily Wang: Mass Incarceration and Health
Episode 20 - February 10, 2022
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Emily Wang, director of Yale's SEICHE Center for Health and Justice, to discuss the health effects of mass incarceration on the imprisoned and their families and communities.
Dr. Akiko Iwasaki: Is Long COVID One Disease or Many?
Episode 19 - February 3, 2022
Howie and Harlan talk with Dr. Akiko Iwasaki about her research trying to understand the cause or causes of long COVID, which has over 200 reported symptoms.
Nathan Grubaugh: Genomic Surveillance
Episode 17 - January 20, 2022
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale epidemiologist Nathan Grubaugh. They discuss the utility of rapid antigen tests and Grubaugh's work tracking the evolution of COVID-19 variants.
Dr. Albert Ko: A Wider View of COVID-19
Episode 14 - December 23, 2021
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Albert Ko, a Yale epidemiologist who has advised Connecticut governor Ned Lamont. They discuss the state of the pandemic, rebuilding global public health infrastructure, and what omicron tells us about future variants.
Health & Veritas Podcast Episodes
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021