Sort By...
By date (oldest) By date (latest) By guest (A-Z) By guest (Z-A)
MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

Inflection Point: US House Majority Whip James Clyburn on Race, Police, and the Pandemic

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with House Majority Whip, US Congressman James Clyburn who says we have reached an inflection point in American history in addressing the high cost to communities of color from health disparities, policing injustices and economic inequality. Congressman Clyburn examines important legislation aimed at stemming racially motivated police brutality, as well as improving health care access for vulnerable Americans through expansion of community health centers and telehealth.

MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2020

COVID 19: We’re in the Second Inning - According to Noted Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Michael Osterholm, world-renowned epidemiologist, pandemic expert and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease, Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. The author of The Deadliest Enemy: Our War with Killer Germs, Dr Osterholm has warned for years of the likelihood of a pandemic such as COVID-19.He extols the need for ongoing measures to protect the public health and front line health care workers through mask use, social distancing and tests, and the herculean scientific efforts to produce treatments and a vaccine.

MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2020

NAACP Health Director Dr. Marjorie Innocent Talks About Racism in America

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Marjorie Innocent, Senior Director of Health Programs at the NAACP. Dr. Innocent speaks on the current climate of protest against entrenched racism in America, the NAACP’s call to action to address police brutality, economic and health disparities, and the need to foster a culture of collaboration to address racism’s toll on people of color in this country.

MONDAY, MAY 18, 2020

How the US Pandemic Preparedness Failed: Harvard’s Dr. Ashish Jha on the Best Way Forward Through Covid-19

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Ashish Jha, Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, who is advising state, federal and international governments on Covid-19. He laments the delayed and inadequate response by the federal government to the threat of Covid-19, how failure to deploy a cohesive testing strategy has cost lives, and how an aggressive national approach is needed to safely navigate the way through this pandemic. He predicts the coronavirus will change training of future health professionals, as well as the way the American health care system is run.

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Telehealth, Testing and Contact Tracing: Dr. John Halamka on COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. John Halamka, President of the Mayo Clinic Platform, a partnership with Google and multiple entities to improve healthcare through better data. He recently launched the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition, with more than 800 private sector and academic partners collaborating on multiple fronts to combat COVID-19. They discuss the “five phases” to a “new normal” including isolation, infection and antibody testing, contact tracing and vaccine development as precursors fully reopening society.
MONDAY, MAY 4, 2020

America’s Loneliness Epidemic Amid COVID-19: Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on the Toll of Isolation on America’s Health

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome US Surgeon General under President Obama, Dr. Vivek Murthy, whose new book “Together: The Healing Power of Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World” examines the causes and harmful effects of the epidemic of loneliness in America and its impact on health. Dr. Murthy examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is amplifying this crisis, and how we, as a society, must address this issue.

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

Testing, Contact Tracing, Quarantines and Physical Distancing: Tomas Pueyo on What U.S. and Others Must Do to Beat Coronavirus

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome engineer, data analyst and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tomas Pueyo, whose recent collection of articles in the online publication Medium outline what must be done to contain COVID-19, and minimize the harm to health and economies. He analyzes global data on actions taken by countries and their impact on outcomes, recommending that widespread testing, contract tracing, physical distancing, hand hygiene and widespread use of masks will help contain the pandemic.
MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020

Coronavirus Pandemic and Congressional Action: Representative Rosa DeLauro on Protecting Families and Businesses Through Crisis

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, on the passage of the Families First and the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Act, two bills passed in Congress to address the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Congresswoman Delauro discusses the need for more resources for testing and for health systems support, the need for paid sick leave and family leave, the rise of telehealth to meet demand and the need for the public to heed the warnings to stay home through the worst of the crisis.

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020

Pandemics and the Need for Telehealth: Dr. Joseph Kvedar of the American Telemedicine Association

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Joseph Kvedar, President-Elect of the American Telemedicine Association and Sr. Advisor for Virtual Care at Partners Health Care in Boston. A pioneer in the telehealth movement, he talks about the evolving role of telehealth and remote monitoring, especially against the backdrop of the current pandemic leading to quarantines, and the growing adoption of telemedicine throughout the American health system.

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020

Pandemic Expert Dr. Sheri Fink on Reducing Harm From Coronavirus in US

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Sheri Fink, Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times Correspondent and one of the Executive Producers of “Pandemic: How to Avoid an Outbreak” on Netflix. She has covered numerous catastrophes, epidemcis and war zones, and shares her insights into public health interventions that reduce harm from pandemics, and how institutions and individuals must prepare to protect themselves.
MONDAY, FEBRAURY 24, 2020

What You Need to Know About COVID-19 With Dr. Saad Omer of the Yale Institute for Global Health

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Saad Omer, Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, on the expanding COVID-19 outbreak. A renowned epidemiologist, Dr. Omer discusses the best protocols against spread of the Coronavirus epidemic, the need for evidence-based science to guide government responses, and how the global research community is working together to tackle this outbreak and create a vaccine in record time.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

COVID-19’s Global Spread: NIH's Lead on Coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Talks about the Growing Epidemic and Whether America is Safe

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Anthony Fauci, globally renowned epidemiologist and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Fauci shares the latest findings on COVID-19, a new Coronavirus strain that has spread to nearly 30 countries and left thousands dead. He discusses how travel restrictions and local quarantines in China may have averted a bigger global health catastrophe and looks at the rapid development of vaccines already in the pipeline.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

Pulitzer Prize Winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn Chronicle America’s ‘Deaths of Despair’ in Their Latest Book “Tightrope”

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Pulitzer Prize winners, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and journalist and consultant Sheryl WuDunn. The prolific husband-and-wife writing team discuss their latest book about a humanitarian crisis happening right here in America. In “Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope”, they explore the decline in life expectancy and the rise of ‘deaths of despair’ in the US. They also examine solutions to address this growing public health crisis.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2020

Guns are Killing American Children: University of Michigan Researcher Rebecca Cunningham is Seeking To Find Out Why

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Rebecca Cunningham, Director of the University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center. Dr. Cunningham is leading a national team of scientists in ground-breaking collaborative research to examine the myriad causes of the gun violence epidemic in this country, now the leading cause of death for America’s teens, and second leading cause of death for American children overall. Congress has recently allocated money for gun violence research after a two-decade drought. Her team is examining social causes, policy requirements and prevention interventions to address the crisis.

MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2020

Giving Kids Something to Smile About: ADA President Dr. Chad Gehani on National Children’s Dental Health Month

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Dr. Chad Gehani, President of the American Dental Association which is observing National Children’s Dental Health Month. Tooth decay is the largest unmet health need for children in America, and they discuss the ADA’s Give Kids A Smile program in which thousands of dentists and other dental health professionals provide free dental care to tens of thousands of kids around the country every year. They also discuss the impact of water fluoridation for prevention of tooth decay and the need for expanded access to care for all Americans.
MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2020

2020 Voters Call for Health Care Fix – Not Repeal or Replace

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Marilyn Serafini, Director of the Health Policy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center which recently conducted a poll of voters in early polling states in the 2020 Presidential Election. Results show voters are most concerned about the costs of health care, preferring to fix the existing system, rather than repeal the Affordable Care Act or replace it with a Medicare For All approach.

MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020

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.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2019

Vaping Crisis, Public Health Heroes and Open Notes: A Look Back at the Best of 2019

This week, Mark and Margaret take a look at some of the highlights from the shows of 2019, the year we celebrated ten years on the air. They revisit their conversations with Flint Michigan pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha on the water crisis, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids CEO Matthew Myers on the vaping crisis, and health care innovators like Dr.Tom Delbanco of Open Notes and primary care transformer Dr. Bodenheimer, and the show's 500th guest, House Majority Whip James Clyburn.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2019

Rolling Health Care to Where It's Needed Most: Harvard's Dr. Nancy Oriol on her Family Van Mobile Health Clinic

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Nancy Oriol, founder of the Family Van, a mobile health clinic on wheels that brings prevention and primary care interventions right into the neighborhoods who need it most. She talks about building a health care network based on trust, saving costs and improving outcomes, and how it’s gaining in popularity in a more user-friendly, prevention-focused health care system.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019

25-64 Year Olds Are Dying Earlier and Here’s Why: Our Conversations with VCU’s Dr. Steven Woolf

This week on Conversations on Health Care, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Steven Woolf, Distinguished Chair in Population Health at Virginia Commonwealth University - and Health Equity Director Emeritus and Senior Advisor at the V-C-U Center on Society and Health. He talks about their just-released report – showing a decline in life expectancy among working aged adults in the US – a result of the lingering effects of the recession, the opioid crisis and other so-called deaths of despair. The data show this trend has been underway since the 1980’s and has now hit critical mass.