Dr. Keith Yamamoto, Vice Chancelor for Science Policy and Strategy at UC San Francisco

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Keith Yamamoto, Vice Chancellor for Science Policy and Strategy and Executive Vice Dean for Research at the School of Medicine at UC San Francisco. He discusses strategies for informing the incoming Trump administration - to ensure ongoing support for the nation's biomedical research community, the need to advance precision medicine protocols and goals, and improvements needed to advance medical training and academic research in the 21st century.

Telemedicine Champion Dr. Peter Yellowlees Discusses Impact of Telehealth on Access to Care

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Peter Yellowlees, President-elect of the American Telemedicine Association which seeks to improve health care delivery through better use of remote medicine technologies. Dr. Yellowlees discusses his decades of work at the University of California Davis advancing the use of telemedicine in clinical and behavioral care.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Explains Why “There Is No Way of Getting the Risk of Future Pandemics…Down to Zero”

The Atlantic staff writer Ed Yong says the threat of future pandemics requires society to aggressively face and fix racial, economic and health disparities.

The acclaimed journalist also explains how his reporting is showing big differences in how COVID is still affecting the U.S. — some communities are “cautiously optimistic” while others are “nearing…the height of the Omicron surge in terms of new admissions.”

Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter also talk with Yong about the need for the public health profession to have a strong politically- and socially-minded voice, as it did in its earlier days.

United States Preventive Services Task Force

Conversations on Health Care® focuses today on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and its recent recommendations for breast cancer screening. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter will speak with Dr. Kristen A. Zarfos, a surgeon and a national breast cancer expert. Dr. Zarfos has earned national praise for her advocacy for women’s health.

Dr. Robert Zarr, ParkRx Advisor, National Park Service

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Zarr, pediatrician at Unity Health in Washington, DC and founder of the ParkRx movement, which seeks to help patients achieve optimal health by prescribing the use local park spaces. Dr. Zarr discusses the science behind the movement and the development of a national data base for clinicians around the country to prescribe park time for improved mental health, physical wellbeing and reduced obesity rates among their patients.

Dr. Roni Zeiger, CEO of Smart Patients

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Roni Zeiger, CEO of Smart Patients, a clinical trials search engine and online community for cancer patients, their caregivers and clinicians to share information about best practices in cancer treatment.

"She Has Her Mother's Laugh" - New York Times Science Writer Carl Zimmer on Heredity and the Genomics Revolution

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with award-winning New York Times science writer and columnist Carl Zimmer on his critically acclaimed book, "She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions and Potentials of Heredity" on the dramatic scientific discovery underway fueled by genomics. He discusses the genome's role in understanding heredity and how personalized medicine will be advanced once the science and medical communities master their knowledge of how genomics impact health and disease.