Public Health On Call

About this episode:  
Data from 2025 shows that over 300,000 children are living in foster care in the United States. The Administration for Children and Families—the federal agency that oversees child welfare programs—aims to keep more children out of the system and with their families. In this episode: a conversation with Assistant Secretary Alex Adams about recent changes to grants and policies that seek to support families affected by substance use and reform practices around survivor benefits for children who have lost their parents. 
Guest: 
Alex Adams, PharmD, MPH, is the Assistant Secretary for Family Support, leading the Administration for Children and Families.
Host: 
Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. He served as the Baltimore City Commissioner of Health from 2005 to 2009. 
Show links and related content: 
Rolling Out the Welcome Mat for Prevention—The Imprint

Former Idaho official ended state taking foster kid's Social Security money. Are other states next?—Idaho Capital Sun

A Home for Every Child—Administration for Children and Families

The AFCARS Dashboard—Administration for Children and Families

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Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode:  
Juneteenth is a holiday that asks Americans to balance celebration with the continued pursuit of freedom and equality. In this classic episode from 2022: Professor Janice Bowie talks about the meaning of Juneteenth and issues a call to reflect and recommit to championing progress within our own communities.  
Guest: 
Janice Bowie, PhD, MPH, is professor emeritus in Health, Behavior, and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  
Host: 
Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. He served as the Baltimore City Commissioner of Health from 2005 to 2009. 
Show links and related content: 
Juneteeth: Sun, Sounds and the Spirit of Freedom—Smithsonian Institution 

Juneteenth National Independence Day Act—Congress.gov 

Where Research Meets the Street—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine 

The Concepts Behind the Language of Equity—Public Health On Call (February 2025) 

Transcript information:
Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.
Contact us:
Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.
Follow us:
@‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky

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@‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook

@‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube

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Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode:  
A group of students from suburban Atlanta has developed a new method for detecting Lyme disease using the gene-editing tool CRISPR. In this episode: why there's such a desperate need for a new diagnostic, how the students' model works, and why it's so promising for the treatment of Lyme and other diseases. 
Guest: 
Nicole Baumgarth, PhD, DVM, is Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and the director of the Lyme and Tickborne Disease Research and Education Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 
Sankalp Yeleti is a recent graduate of Lambert High School and a rising freshman at New York University, where he plans to study biomolecular science. 
Host: 
Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 
Show links and related content: 
Teens may have come up with a new way to detect, treat Lyme disease using CRISPR gene editing—CBS News 

Lancet—Lambert iGEM 2025

Transcript information:
Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.
Contact us:
Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.
Follow us:
@‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky

@‌PublicHealthPod on Instagram

@‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook

@‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube

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Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode:  
The wellness industry covers everything from fitness to biohacking, yoga to peptides, and it's backed by culturally and financially powerful players. In this episode: a new paper in the Milbank Quarterly covers how social media fuels the industry's proliferation, the growing skepticism of traditional medicine that allows it to thrive, and the tension between the concepts of wellness and public health.
Guest: 
Nancy Karreman, PhD, is a researcher of public health interventions at the University of Cambridge. 
Nason Maani, PhD, MPH, is a senior lecturer in inequalities and global health policy at the University of Edinburgh. 
Host: 
Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. He served as the Baltimore City Commissioner of Health from 2005 to 2009. 
Show links and related content: 
The Political Economy of Wellness: Commercial Determinants of a Burgeoning Industry—Millbank Quarterly 

The Outlook on Direct-to-Consumer Health Care—Public Health On Call (February 2026) 

Dietitian Influencers On Social Media Are Being Paid By the Food Industry to Promote Products and Messages—Public Health On Call (October 2023) 

Transcript information:
Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.
Contact us:
Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.
Follow us:
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Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

About this episode:  
Vaccines for the Zaire ebolavirus have been licensed since 2019, but no such treatment exists for the current outbreak of Bundibugyo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this episode: Anna Durbin, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Immunization Research, introduces listeners to three candidate vaccines and discusses the hurdles to deploying new treatments. 
Guest: 
Dr. Anna Durbin is a professor of International Health and the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Immunization Research. 
Host: 
Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. 
Show links and related content: 
Three Ebola vaccines in development amid growing outbreak fears—BBC 

USAID's closure led to 'entirely preventable' deaths, latest Ebola outbreak: House Dem report—The Hill 

HHS confirms Americans with high-risk Ebola exposures will have access to experimental therapy—STAT 

Regeneron's Ebola Antibody Recommended by World Health Organization for Investigational Use in Response to Current Bundibugyo Ebolavirus Outbreak—Regeneron 

What Will It Take to Contain the Central Africa Ebola Outbreak?—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 

The Use of Investigational Drugs in an Outbreak: Separating Science and Politics With Hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19—Public Health On Call (May 2020)

Transcript information:
Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.
Contact us:
Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.
Follow us:
@‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky

@‌PublicHealthPod on Instagram

@‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook

@‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube

Here's our RSS feed

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.