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PODCAST

Humans in Public Health

Brown University School of Public Health

How should we prepare for the next pandemic? How is noise pollution affecting my neighborhood? And how can we prevent opioid overdose from a public parking lot? From epidemiology to behavioral science, Megan Hall covers it all as she interviews public health researchers about their work and what brought them to the field of public health in this award-winning podcast.

science social sciences

All Episodes

18:42

Messy Data, Real Answers

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/11/11

In a world teeming with health data—from smart watch accelerometry to millions of hospital system electronic records—how do researchers find out which medical treatments truly work? Biostatistician Rebecca Hubbard discusses the messiness of real-world data, the limits of randomized control trials and how both of these powerful—but imperfect—methods are essential for building trustworthy evidence in public health.

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17:03

The Return of a Preventable Disease: Measles,...

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/10/14

Measles has been declared eliminated in the U.S. for 25 years, but a surge in cases is threatening that status. Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, joined Humans in Public Health to break down the outbreak, the chaotic federal response and how her team's tracker is stepping in to provide reliable, life-saving data.

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14:35

The power to transport

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/09/09

We all understand the power a song can have to recall vivid memories, seemingly sending us back in time. Professor Ellen McCreedy is a musician whose gerontology research harnesses music’s power to recall memories. She’s testing an intervention that brings personalized music playlists to nursing homes in order to help ease dementia symptoms for patients, without using medication. Driven to give dementia sufferers—and their caregivers—moments of having themselves back again, McCreedy joined Humans in

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14:30

A Revolutionary Approach to Health Care Pricing

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/07/08

Since the 1980s, the U.S. has experimented with various forms of managed health care. But none of them has managed to control costs or improve health outcomes, argues Senior Fellow Hayden Rooke-Ley. In this episode of Humans in Public Health, he explains a radical new idea from CAHPR researchers for delivering lower health care costs that is actually quite old-fashioned: a return to fee-for-service. Read the JAMA article here.

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37:04

LIVE RECORDING: How Do Urban Landscapes Shape Our...

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/06/10

A special live Commencement & Reunion Weekend episode of Humans in Public Health brings experts from epidemiology together with the director of Urban Studies at Brown for a discussion on cities: How they collect public health problems and the ways they might help us to address those same issues.

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11:55

Rhode Island's Response to the Overdose Crisis

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/05/13

This episode of Humans in Public Health features Professor Alex Macmadu, an epidemiologist who has spent her career studying the opioid and overdose crisis. She shares insights on Rhode Island’s bold step in opening the first state-approved overdose prevention center in the U.S. and what her research reveals about community attitudes toward harm reduction. Listen in to learn how evidence, advocacy and compassion are shaping the future of public health responses to drug use.

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15:42

Who Employs Your Doctor?

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/04/10

What happens when private equity firms buy hospitals and doctor’s offices? In this episode of Humans in Public Health, host Megan Hall sits down with health care economist Yashaswini Singh to unpack how private equity is reshaping the American health care system—often behind the scenes. From rising costs to shifting priorities in patient care, Singh explains why the recent collapse of Steward Health Care is just the tip of the iceberg. Whether you’ve heard the term “private equity” or not, this

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30:00

The Moment Everything Changed: Voices from the Start...

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/03/11

March 2020—life as we knew it changed overnight. In this special episode of Humans in Public Health, we take you back to the early days of the pandemic, when uncertainty loomed, fear spread and the world held its breath. Through personal stories and firsthand accounts from public health experts, we revisit the emotions, decisions and pivotal moments that shaped those first weeks. How did people react? And what have we learned since? Tune in for a compelling look at the moment everything

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13:36

Forever Chemicals: Hidden Dangers in Everyday Beauty

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/02/11

They’re not just in your nail polish. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals are everywhere—in our homes, clothing, the personal care products we use, and in our bodies. Postdoctoral researcher Amber Hall explains the dangers PFAS pose, especially to developing humans, and helps us learn how to avoid them. The burden of protecting our children’s health from toxic chemicals, she argues in the latest episode of Humans in Public Health, shouldn’t be borne by individuals. Regulation, Hall says, is needed to

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12:58

How Research Shapes Health Policy on Capitol Hill

Humans in Public Health ·

2025/01/14

Host Megan Hall sits down with Jared Perkins, director of health policy strategy at Brown University's Center for Advancing Health Policy through Research. They discuss how academic research makes its way from dense journals to policymakers on Capitol Hill, bridging the gap between science and legislation. Jared offers insights into the challenges of health policy under a shifting political landscape and explains how researchers can play a vital role in shaping decisions that impact healthcare

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13:24

Harnessing AI for Smarter Health Policy Research

Humans in Public Health ·

2024/12/10

Professor Alyssa Bilinski set out to answer a seemingly simple question: how often are pregnant people included in medical trials? Finding the answer, however, was anything but simple. With 90,000 records to analyze, she turned to AI for help—but ensuring the accuracy of the results required a creative approach. Discover how Bilinski tested and refined AI algorithms to deliver reliable insights and advance health policy research.Mentioned in this episode:Tell someone you know!And one last thing! If

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14:22

How Rwanda's Health System Stopped Marburg in Its Tracks

Humans in Public Health ·

2024/11/12

The East African country of Rwanda is currently in the midst of a Marburg virus disease outbreak, but the picture is far from bleak. Global health expert Dr. Craig Spencer, who survived Ebola in 2014, joined us to discuss the current situation in Rwanda, how the country has managed its “unprecedented” response, and what more developed nations can learn about global health security from their success.

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12:19

Counting Coal’s Casualties

Humans in Public Health ·

2024/10/15

Picture a coal power plant: a building with tall smoke stacks with big plumes of gasses coming out of them. By now, we know that those gasses aren’t great for our health or the environment. But how bad are they?That’s where Professor Cory Zigler comes in. He worked with a team of researchers to figure out where those gasses go and who they affect. Their approach was so specific, the team could point to a single power plant and say how many people it killed. Explore the ResearchScience: Mortality

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12:48

Guns, Ammo and Lead Exposure

Humans in Public Health ·

2024/09/10

The dangers of firearms are well understood, but their ammunition is the source of a little-known health threat: toxic lead. Brown doctoral student Christian Hoover studies the connection between guns and elevated blood lead levels in America’s children and adults. Host Megan Hall speaks with him about the results of the first national study of this problem, and his advice for gun owners on the healthiest way to minimize lead exposure.

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16:29

Unwinding Anxiety (Rerun)

Humans in Public Health ·

2024/08/13

In this summer replay of a previous episode, host Megan Hall speaks with Dr. Jud Brewer, associate professor of psychiatry at the Brown Medical School about anxiety. In uncertain times, how do we address fear and worry that grips us? How do we help our kids do the same?

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15 results

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