Addressing a multi-disciplined approach to pain treatment with Dr. Daniel Carr, Immediate Past President of the American Academy of Pain Medicine

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Daniel Carr, Immediate Past President of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and Founding Director of Tufts University School of Medicine's program in Pain Research, Education and Policy. Dr. Carr discusses the myriad origins of pain, and the multi-disciplined approach required to treat pain as well as reduce reliance on opioids.

US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Politics, Pandemic Fatigue and Keeping Kids Safe in School

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome US Education Secretary Dr. Miguel Cardona, who discusses the Biden administration’s efforts to contain the pandemic’s impact while keeping students and teachers safe in school. He laments the influence of politics on the proven public health practices to prevent spread of the disease which includes mask wearing and widespread vaccinations. He says this pandemic has revealed the importance of providing medical and behavioral care in school-based health clinics. He also applauds First Lady Jill Biden’s thoughtful advice on education policy as a veteran of the education system.

Congresswoman Lois Capps, U.S. Representative of California and founder of the House Nursing Caucus, discusses her commitment to quality health care for all.

Conversations on Health Care® speaks with Congresswoman Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, founder and co-chair of the House Nursing Caucus. Congresswoman Capps is a former nurse, public health advocate and since being elected to Congress in 1998, she has made it her legislative priority to help underserved populations gain access to quality health care.

Republican Congressman Anh Cao, U.S. Representive of Louisiana, Discusses Health-Care Reform

Conversations on Health Care® focuses today on the position of U.S. Rep. Anh Cao of Louisiana - the only Republican in the House of Representatives to vote for the health-care reform bill. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter will speak with Congressman Cao about the meaning and implication of his unique vote for health-care reform. A first-term Congressman, Cao fled Vietnam at the age of 8. He serves on the Committees on Homeland Security, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Oversight and Government Reform.

Ed Cantwell, Executive Director of the Center for Medical Interoperability

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Ed Cantwell, Executive Director of the Center for Medical Interoperability, whose purpose is to optimize patient care by providing a platform for supporting rapid and sustained interoperability of medical technology.

Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell, National Program Director, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell, Anna D. Wolf Chair of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and National Program Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars. She discusses the Danger Assessment and Lethality tools she developed to assist clinicians, patients and law enforcement dealing with domestic violence issues.

Leading Cancer Researcher Dr. Michael Caligiuri On Coming Breakthroughs in Cancer Therapies

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Michael Caligiuri, President of the American Association for Cancer Research representing 37 thousand cancer researchers worldwide. Dr. Caligiuri is also Director of the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center and discusses breakthroughs in genomics, immunotherapy and prevention that are powerful weapons in the war on cancer.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf Discusses the Top News Stories

Dr. Robert Califf, commissioner of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, discusses the promising research behind a new class of diabetes and obesity drugs that could improve tens of millions of lives in America impacted by the obesity epidemic.

He addresses the FDA's pending new tobacco control rules, as well as improvements to the infant formula pipeline in the wake of recent shortages. Dr. Califf also voices deep concerns that health misinformation is the 'leading cause of death in America now.'

Bad Blood in Silicon Valley: Wall Street Journal's John Carreyrou on the Rise and Spectacular Fall of Theranos

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Pulitzer Prize winning Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou, author of "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup", which figures prominently in the current HBO documentary on Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos. It's a riveting account of the scandal he uncovered at the health tech startup, which claimed it's technology would revolutionize diagnostic testing. He uncovered Holmes' widespread deception, detailing how she not only duped high level investors out of billions, but also put patients' lives at risk.

UCSF Computer Scientist Dr. Atul Butte, On Quest to Transform Health Care Through Big Data

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Atul Butte, the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, where he is Director of the Institute for Computational Sciences. Dr. Butte is spearheading new approaches to harnessing existing medical and research data to improve health care through more robust data analysis.

Addressing Toxic Childhood Stress with California’s First Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Dr. Nadine Burke Harris to the show. Governor Gavin Newsome chose Dr. Burke Harris to be California’s first official Surgeon General for her expertise on the impact of Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) and their role in future health problems. They discuss how ACEs affect brain development and DNA makeup. Dr Burke Harris also talks about how the newly-launched ACEs Aware program seeks to provide a framework for early primary care screening and intervention to mitigate the long term effects.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum Leverages Tech Career to Tackle Public Health and Opioid Crisis Issues

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter Speak with Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, philanthropist and former technology entrepreneur who served as Sr. VP at Microsoft. He discusses his tech-enabled approach to tackling public health challenges, uncertainty from Washington regarding health policy, and his personal commitment to confront the addiction and opioid crises.

2020 Democratic Presidential Contender Montana Governor Steve Bullock on Health Care, Climate Change and Gun Safety

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Montana Governor and 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Steve Bullock. They discuss his views on strengthening the Affordable Care Act, protecting women's health rights, taking action on climate change, enacting sensible gun laws, and reducing the influence of dark money on American politics.

Social Determinants and Health Outcomes, National Health Foundation CEO Kelly Bruno on Innovative Strategies that Work

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Kelly Bruno, President and CEO of the National Health Foundation, a California-based non-profit dedicated to addressing the social determinants that impact population health. She discusses their programs assisting homeless patients to find housing, efforts to address food deserts, and health literacy programs empowering young people seeking to improve their communities' health.

Dr. John Brownstein, Director of Innovation at Boston Children's Hospital on Disruptive Technologies in Health

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. John Brownstein, Director of Innovation at Boston Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatric Epidemiology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Brownstein discusses big data driven epidemiology tools he has developed, such as the global open source disease tracker HealthMap, and Circulation which provides on-demand health services through ride sharing platforms like Uber.

Chaquita Brooks-LaSure, Deputy Director of Insurance Oversight at HHS

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Deputy Director for Policy and Regulation at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Department of Health and Human Services. They discuss plans underway at HHS to facilitate access to the newly created health Insurance Exchanges, the online insurance marketplaces for Americans to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure Breaks Down President Biden’s Health Budget Goals

CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure discusses President Biden’s increased health budget proposal for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which is focused on health equity, mental health parity, and nursing home safety as key goals in the coming year. 

The Administrator says more resources are being allocated to address the nation’s mental health crisis, especially for the nation’s children still being impacted by the pandemic. Administrator Brooks-LaSure, the first African American woman to hold that office, says nursing home vaccine requirements and safety regulations should continue to inform that health sector. She says that all US government health agencies have been tasked with making health equity the centerpiece of their policies and programs moving forward. She says supports for insurance subsidies provided by the American Rescue Plan is vital to maintaining health coverage for millions of vulnerable Americans. 

Dr. Mollyann Brodie, Executive Director of Public Opinion Research, Kaiser Family Foundation

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Mollyann Brodie, Sr. Vice President of Executive Operations and Executive Director of Public Opinion Research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, where she oversees the non-profit's public polling efforts. Dr. Brodie conducts the Foundation's monthly tracking poll which charts the mood of the nation on a variety of health policies and provides unbiased polling data for policy makers.

He Helped Eradicate Smallpox - Listen to His Concerns About Monkeypox 

Renowned epidemiologist and innovator Dr. Larry Brilliant says we’ve entered an “age of pandemics” as the Biden administration declares the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency.

Dr. Brilliant is the chair of the advisory board of Ending Pandemics, a nonprofit working to find outbreaks faster around the world. His expertise is a result of his success in helping the World Health Organization eradicate smallpox in the 1970s.

He also discusses with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter the limits of the mRNA vaccines for COVID and why a nasal spray is needed.

Steven Brill, Author of "Bitter Pill: Why Health Care Costs Are Killing Us"

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with entrepreneur and investigative journalist Steven Brill, author of the recent TIME Magazine expose on health care pricing, "Bitter Pill: Why Health Care Costs Are Killing Us". Mr Brill, founder of the Yale Journalism Initiative as well as Court TV, explores the root causes of inflated health care prices Americans are forced to bear, how the Affordable Care Act will play a role, and what might be done to bring those costs down.