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PODCAST

A Shot in the Arm Podcast

Welcome to A Shot In The Arm Podcast, where we take a deep dive into the heart of global health. Since our launch in 2019, we"ve released over 150 episodes that illuminate the intersection of innovation and equity in healthcare. Join me, your host Ben Plumley—a global infectious disease strategist and passionate HIV advocate, along with our expert team of co-hosts, as we engage in compelling, character-driven conversations with a diverse array of guests from around the world. Together, we explore

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All Episodes

42:41

Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Chpt 6:...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/09/09

At the AIDS 2026 Global AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Ben interviews Dr. mike Reed about how global health technology succeeds or fails depending less on the tools than on governance, ownership, community co-design, and alignment with ministries of health and other relevant government authorities. Reed contrasts Rwanda’s scaled Zipline drone deliveries and a government-led “sovereign” AI large language model and real-time health dashboards with the many HIV AI pilots that never scale due to

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47:39

Beyond the Hype: Re-engineering HIV Diagnostics for a...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/09/01

Recorded at AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro at the Roche Diagnostics booth, host Ben Plumley speaks with Professor Pedro Cahn (Fundación Huésped, Argentina) and Dr. Rupa Patel (Whitman-Walker Health, Washington, DC) about why diagnostics—often overlooked in the HIV continuum—are the essential entry point to prevention and care, especially amid reduced funding. They discuss late diagnosis and loss to follow-up, structural barriers like clinic access and hours, and the need for community-led,

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37:14

Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Chapter...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/08/18

Recorded at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, Ben and Dr. mike Reid discuss how climate disruption will exacerbate existing infectious diseases, enable emerging threats, and worsen non-infectious conditions, arguing global health must anticipate and mitigate climate-health impacts. They note health was sidelined at COP Egypt 2025 and that few national climate plans include health adaptation budgets. Case studies contrast Pakistan’s 2022 floods—2.6 million new malaria cases, fivefold dengue

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66:17

Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Chpt 4:...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/08/05

In this episode of Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Ben chats with authors mike Reid and Eric Goosby about how funding shocks become life-and-death realities, starting with a case from Zambia after the January 2025 U.S. pause and cuts to PEPFAR that left many without antiretrovirals and destabilized HIV services in a system heavily dependent on U.S. support. They describe behind-the-scenes efforts to warn political leaders, on-the-ground resilience and improvisation, and the emotional

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19:42

Wrapping our Conversations with Youth Leadership at...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/08/01

This episode was made in partnership with the International AIDS Society (IAS), Young Leaders Programme. ---- Host Ben Plumley wraps up the A Shot in the Arm Podcast from AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro with Zarawu Adams, a medical scientist from Salama Clinic in Accra, Ghana, reflecting on an exhausting but valuable week balancing conference sessions with the IAS’ Young Leaders Programme. Adams highlights research linking antiretroviral treatment to metabolic crises such as type 2 diabetes,

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40:14

Communities & Treatment Access with ITPC at AIDS 2026

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/08/01

Host Ben Plumley speaks with Solange Baptiste Simon and Othoman Mellouk of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) about their packed treatment pre-conference and concerns that treatment is being sidelined amid heavy focus on PrEP and prevention. They argue the prevention-versus-treatment framing is false, emphasizing a continuum from testing to prevention to treatment, and describe on-the-ground chaos as HIV services are integrated into broader chronic care with overstretched

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35:01

Shuga Global discusses Creating HIV Prevention Media...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/08/01

At AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, host Ben Plumley speaks with Wame Jallow, Jerop Limo, and JulieBrenda Waweru about Shuga Global’s evolution from the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and why entertainment-education remains relevant for HIV prevention and youth health. They discuss how Shuga’s storytelling reflects young people’s lived realities, helps break taboos, builds agency, and connects audiences to services through a broader ecosystem that includes peer education, screenings, and chatbots. The

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39:04

Young Leaders, Big Ideas at AIDS 2026

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/30

This episode was made in partnership with the International AIDS Society (IAS), Young Leaders Programme. ---- Host Ben Plumley records from a windy Rio de Janeiro at AIDS 2026 with IAS Young Leaders guests Zarawu Adams (Ghana), Xandro Xu (USA), and returning guest Mengfei Li (Hong Kong). Adams discusses research on antiretroviral therapy–related metabolic complications and an app concept to monitor metabolic panels to prevent type 2 diabetes among patients on treatment. Xu presents research on

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36:21

Science, Funding, and Young Leaders at AIDS 2026

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/30

On the first full day of AIDS 2026 in Rio, the A Shot in the Arm podcast (with the International AIDS Societies Young Leaders Program) captures excitement about new HIV science alongside anxiety over PEPFAR-related funding cuts and debate about reliance on a single donor. Guests include Florence, a Botswana-Harvard lab research scientist studying HIV/HBV coinfection and occult hepatitis B, reporting mutation findings (notably in the HBx region) and urging more inclusive OBI screening and greater HBV

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28:48

Youth Leadership and Prevention Innovation at AIDS 2026

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/28

From AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, host Ben Plumley talks with International AIDS Society Young Leaders Edmond Soko (Zambia, Grassroots Soccer) and Noah Mancuso (Atlanta, Emory/RTI) about where the HIV epidemic is heading. Edmond describes using soccer-based, play-focused curricula to deliver HIV prevention education and reach rural adolescents who struggle to access services. Noah outlines three posters: a systematic review on barriers and facilitators to injectable PrEP for adolescent girls and

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24:38

U=U for the Masses at AIDS 2026

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/27

Ben launches the first of six daily A Shot in the Arm Podcast episodes from AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, produced with the International AIDS Society and its Young Leaders program. He interviews two young leaders: Mengfei, a Hong Kong–based PhD researcher in health communication who studies how to translate HIV science on social media and promotes U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable), and Maggie Duncan from Vancouver, a PhD researcher focused on characterizing and improving quantification of the HIV

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16:01

Humanity First at AIDS 2026, the 26th International...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/26

From AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, A Shot in the Arm Podcast hosts, Ben and Yvette, discuss why convening the global AIDS community still matters amid major financial challenges and shifts in U.S. aid. They emphasize “humanity first,” the need for African leadership, sovereignty in HIV financing, and learning how programs survived when aid decreased because “the community stayed.” They discuss remembering people lost due to changes in American aid and reject “America First” approaches in favor of

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54:32

AIDS 2060 Ep04: Climate Change as the Great Disruptor...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/22

In this episode of AIDS 2060, Ben explores how the climate crisis may disrupt the global HIV response with diplomat, author, and podcaster Arthur Snell, marking the U.S. launch of Snell’s book Elemental: The New Geography of Climate Change and How We Survive It. They discuss climate-driven population movements globally (from the Sahel to Central America and even within the U.S.), the political rise of hard-line migration policies, and how populism and disinformation can undermine science-based

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66:59

Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Chapter...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/21

In this episode of “Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century,” Ben speaks with authors Dr. mike Reed and Professor Eric Goosby about how COVID exposed the geopolitical ramifications of Global Health, using Serbia’s vaccine deals with China, Russia, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca as a case study. They argue the era of a single global health superpower is fading and discuss a multipolar future shaped by “middle powers,” alongside the consequences of the US stepping back from traditional global health

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61:16

AIDS 2060 Ep03: The Next Generation of Leaders in the...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/17

HIV prevention advocate Siviwe Gaika urges policymakers, governments, and donors to expand the HIV prevention “choice basket,” emphasizing long-acting injectable PrEP (cabotegravir) as WHO-recommended, safe, and highly effective, and calling for funding, youth-friendly delivery, streamlined national guidelines, and transparent accountability; she also acknowledges Glggobal Fund investment and South Africa’s commitment to long-acting innovation and local manufacturing. In the AIDS 2060 episode, host

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52:53

Entropy, Trust & Pattern Discovery: Heidi Larson and...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/08

Host Ben Plumley welcomes Professor Heidi Larson (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) and Dr. Mark Anderson (Pattern Computer/Strategic News Service) to discuss innovation and equity in global health through the lens of “entropy” as chaos in human and data systems. Larson reflects on vaccine confidence as a window into societal trust in government, science, technology, and information, and announces a new Lancet Commission on rethinking misinformation, health, and human security. Anderson

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71:53

Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Chapter...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/07/07

Ben Plumley speaks with Dr. mike Reid and Eric Goosby about their new book Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, focusing on epistemology—how global health defines knowledge, evidence, and success. They argue global health has overprioritized biomedical metrics and donor-driven targets, often sidelining local knowledge, community co-design, and broader measures like sustainability, equity, and trust. Using examples from HIV/TB programming, maternal health, differentiated service delivery,

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48:36

Undetectable, Then Detectable: Decoding the HIV...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/06/30

Why does an undetectable HIV viral load sometimes flip to “detectable” — and what does that actually mean for the patient? Host Ben Plumley talks with Ben LaBrot (Professor of Global Medicine, USC; Medical Affairs Lead, Roche Molecular Diagnostics) and Daniel Griffin, MD (Chief of Infectious Disease, Island Infectious Disease Medical, Instructor of Clinical Medicine, Columbia University, Host, This Week in Virology) about the “viral blip” — a brief, low-level detectable result that occurs even in

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53:20

AIDS 2060 Ep 02 - African-Led Research for an African...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/06/26

In this second episode of AIDS2060, Ben sits down with Dr Andrew Kambugu, Executive Director of the Infectious Disease Institute at Makere University in Kampala Uganda. They discuss the state of the clinical response to HIV in Africa, and Andrew sets out a research and implementation agenda that gives equal weight to HIV prevention, treatment and diagnosis. He compares it to floor cleaning: you have to switch the water off at its source and not rely exclusively on mopping water up on the floor. In

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60:20

Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Chapter...

A Shot in the Arm Podcast ·

2026/06/23

A Shot in the Arm Media in partnership with UCSF Institute for Global Health launched a nine-part series to explore the future of global health built around the book Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, co-authored by Dr. mike Reid (UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences) and Ambassador Eric Goosby (former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and former PEPFAR Chief Medical Officer). In this episode, what if the greatest threat to global health isn't a new virus — it's us? Our funding fatigue,

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