Healthy Communities Online

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with award-winning New York Times science writer and columnist Carl Zimmer on his critically acclaimed book, “She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions and Potentials of Heredity” on the dramatic scientific discovery underway fueled by genomics. He discusses the genome’s role in understanding heredity and how personalized medicine will be advanced once the science and medical communities master their knowledge of how genomics impact health and disease.

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Linda Rosenberg, CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health on their recent report done with the Cohen Veterans Network confirming that America’s mental health crisis is a result of lack of access to care. She discusses the need to remove barriers to behavioral care, the need to embed behavioral health in primary care and for much better mental health and addiction training for providers and social workers.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter revisit their conversation with Dr. Maria Neira, Director of Public Health and the Environment at the World Health Organization who addresses the rising threat to human health from climate change and pollution – now the 4th leading cause of death worldwide. She discusses global strategies that are required to reduce the harm being done to populations around the world, especially those most vulnerable, in the wake of advancing climate change and unmitigated…

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Don Berwick, President Emeritus of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and former CMS Administrator who oversaw the launch of the Affordable Care Act. He talks about inherent political challenges in American health care, the need for providers to get active politically, and the promise of real innovations in the health system coming from outside the industry.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with renowned addiction expert Dr. Tom McLellan, Founder and CEO of the Treatment Research Institute, committed to promoting evidence-based approaches to drug treatment and drug policy. He discusses addiction as a chronic disorder, the effectiveness of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid and alcohol addiction, and the need to improve addiction medicine training for clinicians and health care providers.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with David Pogue, long-time personal tech critic and founder of Yahoo Tech. He discusses the great promise in the growth of consumer technology innovations – Apple Watch, Fitbit and voice recognition platforms like Alexa – to transform health care by informing and empowering consumers and providers.