Harvard Chan: This Week In Health

August 3, 2017 — More than half of the world's population lives in so-called emerging markets—countries such as China, India, Brazil, and Mexico. These are middle-income countries on the rise, experiencing rapid economic and population growth—and in many cases improvements in health. These nations wield enormous economic power, but experts say that has come with environmental consequences. In this week's podcast, we'll be speaking with two of the authors of a new report warning of the dangers of unchecked economic growth: Ian Scott, executive director of the Emerging Markets Symposium, and Ana Langer, director of the Women and Health Initiative at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Scott and Langer will explain how emerging markets can balance rapid economic growth with the need to protect the environment and natural resources. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Learn more Unregulated economic growth coul

July 27, 2017 — Cesarean delivery of a baby—or C-section—is the world's most commonly performed surgery. Rates have been rising across the globe, but there has been a particularly notable increase in the United States. The C-section rate in the U.S. has jumped 500 percent since the mid-1970s and 1 in 3 babies are now born via C-section. C-section is incredibly common, but the surgery comes with risks for mothers, including hemorrhage and infection. In this week's episode, we'll take a look at efforts to figure out what is driving rising C-section rates, and what can be done to prevent them. Neel Shah, director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs, will explain why the hospital where a woman gives birth may the single most important factor in whether or not she has a C-section. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Learn more Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs Hospital management practices

July 21, 2017 — In this week's episode we're revisiting two stories on important mental health issues. First, the importance of changing the language surrounding addiction. Howard Koh, Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, and Michael Botticelli, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, will explain how the words we use to describe addiction can affect the treatment people receive—and why changing language is critical to reducing the stigma surrounding substance use disorders. In the second part of the podcast, we speak with Morgan Shields, SM '16, who recently authored a paper raising concerns about the psychiatric care that veterans receive. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Learn more Words matter when describing addiction (Harvard Chan School news) An urgent call for a national surveillance system for inpatient psychiatric facilities (Heal

In a new advisory the American Heart Association (AHA) strongly urges people to swap out saturated fats in favor of healthier unsaturated fats. The AHA says doing so can lower a person’s heart disease risk as much as cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. In this week's episode we speak to one of the authors of the advisory, Frank Sacks, professor of cardiovascular disease prevention. Sacks and other researchers reviewed decades worth of evidence on saturated and unsaturated fats, and we spoke to him about the state of the science on dietary fats—and some simple swaps you can make to include more healthy fats in your diet. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Learn more Read the full American Heart Association advisory A guide to different types of fat (Harvard Chan Nutrition Source) Ask the expert: healthy fats (Harvard Chan Nutrition Source)

June 29, 2017 —A new study of 60 million Americans is strengthening the link between air pollution and premature death. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers found that long-term exposure to airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone increases the risk of premature death, even when that exposure is at levels below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) currently established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In this week's episode we speak with two of the study's authors, Francesca Dominici, professor of biostatistics at Harvard Chan School and co-director of the Harvard Data Science Initiative, and doctoral student Qian Di about why the U.S. needs stricter standards to keep the air clean. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

Dry cleaning is an industry that dates back to the 1600s—when turpentine was used to clean fabrics. But now it's an industry in transition amid growing demand for dry cleaning solvents that are less harmful to humans and the environment. At the center of this is a push to replace perchloroethylene (PERC), which is the most commonly used dry cleaning solvent. A range of new chemicals have come on the market, but there are risks because scientists are rarely able to assess a solvent's long-term health effects before it's used commercially. In this week's episode we speak with Diana Ceballos, research scientist at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We'll discuss why new dry cleaning solvents pose challenges for the industry and regulators, and what the U.S. can learn from Europe when it comes to chemical safety. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Resources

June 15, 2017 — In this week's podcast we explore a new discovery in the fight against tuberculosis (TB). It's a disease that infects more than 10 million people a year—killing nearly two million. And while TB is preventable and curable, treatment for the disease can take several months. In this episode we speak with Eric Rubin, Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, about new research that could one day open the door to much faster treatment of the disease. Read more about the findings from Rubin and his team. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

June 8, 2017 — It's now been more than a year since the Zika virus gained global attention, sickening a million people in dozens of countries. The epidemic began in early 2015 and was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2016. WHO declared an end to that emergency in November 2016, but concerns over Zika have lingered, even as new cases have waned. In this week's episode, we speak with Marcia Castro, associate professor of demography in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard Chan School. With Castro's help, we’ll take a look at the lingering impact of Zika, what we’ve learned about the virus, and the likelihood of new cases as we enter summer in the United States. For more information on Zika virus, including tips for prevention and mosquito control, check out resources from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the WHO. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the

June 1, 2017 — Health officials in Minnesota are now grappling with that state's largest measles outbreak in several decades. As of May 31, the Minnesota Department of Health had confirmed 70 cases of the disease. The outbreak is being blamed in part on anti-vaccine groups who targeted Somali-Americans, leading to a sharp drop in the number of children receiving the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. In this week's podcast, we get perspective on the outbreak from childhood vaccine expert Marie McCormick, Sumner and Esther Feldberg Professor of Maternal and Child Health, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We spoke with McCormick about the roots of the anti-vaccine movement, as well as communications strategies to ensure that children receive critical immunizations. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

May 25, 2017 — Deepali Ravel, PhD '17, studies the malaria parasite and believes biology can be a powerful tool for addressing global health problems. In this week's podcast we speak with Ravel about the challenges scientists face in eradicating malaria—and why she believes that teaching basic biology at an early age is so critical. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

May 18, 2017 — Pedro Lamothe-Molina, PhD ’17, is an HIV researcher, aspiring physician-scientist, and an accomplished triathlete. He's also one of the hundreds of future public health leaders who will graduate from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on May 25, 2017. In this week's podcast, we sit down with Lamothe-Molina to discuss his research, which focuses on a lingering question surrounding HIV: Why do some people with the virus never get sick? You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

In this week's podcast we share an in-depth interview with Gina McCarthy, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and currently a Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During her nearly four years at the helm of the EPA McCarthy helped spearhead the Obama Administration’s efforts to address climate change and increase use of renewable sources of energy. McCarthy has become a vocal advocate for the need to address climate change—and has called on scientists to be more outspoken on the issue. We spoke with McCarthy about the EPA’s critical role in protecting the public’s health, the challenges the agency faces in protecting our water and air—especially in the wake of Flint’s water crisis, and why we should view climate change as an opportunity for innovation. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

May 4, 2017 — Structural racism is often called an invisible evil because it's so pervasive, but also hidden in some ways. It involves interconnected institutions—housing, education, health care—that foster discrimination against racial groups. And this structural racism can play a role in health disparities across the United States. In this week's podcast we speak about structural racism and its health effects with Zinzi Bailey, ScD, '14, director of research and evaluation in the Center for Health Equity at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Bailey was recently co-author on a paper in the Lancet, that explored the history of structural racism and health inequities in the United States, and also ways to combat this discrimination moving forward. Read the Lancet paper, "Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: evidence and interventions." You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher

April 27, 2017 — In this week's podcast we bring you two stories of disturbing human rights abuses: one developing in real-time, and another that's been lingering for centuries. In the first half of the episode, we speak with Vasileia Digidiki, research fellow at the FXB Center for Health & Human Rights, and Jacqueline Bhabha, director of research at the center, about a disturbing report showing that refugee and migrant children in Greece are turning to prostitution to escape dangerous conditions. And in the second half of the podcast, Bhabha will tell us about a renewed push to address centuries of racism and discrimination targeting the Roma in Europe. Read the full report, "Emergency within an Emergency: The Growing Epidemic of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Children in Greece." Learn more about the new push to realize Roma rights. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

April 20, 2017 — We're now in the midst of a golden era of data. and scientists are constantly finding news ways to harness this information with applications across health care, the environment, commerce, urban planning, finance, and more. In this week's podcast we speak with  Francesca Dominici, professor of biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and David C. Parkes, George F. Colony Professor and area dean for computer science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Together they will lead Harvard's new Data Science Initiative, applying the theories and practices of statistics and computer science to extract useful knowledge from complex and often messy information sources. Dominici and Parkes will explain how the field of data science has grown, where it’s going, and how it will affect our lives in vast ways over the coming years. Read a Q&A with Dominici and Parkes about the new Data Science Initiative. You can subscribe to this podcast by visit

April 13, 2017 — In part two of our interview with chef and author Barton Seaver, director of the Sustainable Seafood and Health Initiative at the Center for Health and the Global Environment, we explore how the oceans can help feed a world feeling the effects of climate change and a rapidly expanding population. Listen to part one, Seafood is an "irrational" economy. Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program. Visit Barton Seaver's website. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

April 6, 2017 — Eating more seafood can be beneficial to human health, and the health of our environment. But increasing our production and consumption of seafood in a sustainable way poses challenges. In this week's podcast, chef and author Barton Seaver, director of the Sustainable Seafood and Health Initiative at the Center for Health and the Global Environment, explains why we need to change how we think about seafood—and the types of fish we're willing to eat. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

March 23, 2017 — In this week’s podcast we explore how doctors’ prescribing habits may be fueling the nation’s opioid epidemic—and what can be done to change that. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

March 16, 2017 — In this week's podcast we explore the growing use of nanotechnology in food. We speak with one scientist who is at the forefront of research on how these microscopic particles may affect our health, both positively and negatively. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

March 9, 2017 — In part four of our series on climate change and health we explore how environmental changes may have wide-ranging effects on mental health around the world. Listen to past episodes from our series on climate change and health. Watch the full recording of the Climate & Health Meeting. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.