INTERVIEWS

City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, conducted a study  showing that chemicals called parabens, which are found in widely used hair and personal care products, causes more harmful effects on breast cancer cells originating from Black women compared to cell lines from white women.  Dr. Lindsey Treviño, Ph.D., assistant professor in City of Hope’s Division of Health Equities, will discuss the study and talk about  the importance of educating women on the potential harm some common personal care products that contain parabens or other endocrine-disrupting chemicals.  Find out more about City of Hope at  www.cityofhope.org

Dr. Susan E. Quaggin, MD, FASN, President of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) discusses the recently launched “We’re United 4 Kidney Health,” a new initiative that shines a light on what needs to be addressed in order to create a world without kidney diseases. She shares four key priorities ASN has identified for the kidney community. 

Richard Woodman, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, Oncology Business Group at Eisai, discusses notable presentations on the antibody-drug conjugate co-developed by Eisai and Bristol Myers Squibb, farletuzumab ecteribulin (MORAb-202), at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.  

Dr. Chris Scuderi, Vice President for the Florida Academy of Family Physicians discusses how childhood vaccination rates have been on the decline, and nationwide, the number of children with required shots is falling below herd immunity – compromising children’s health and concerning doctors. He talks about how children are still developing their immune systems and the importance of following immunization schedules to prevent disease or boost immunity that may fade over time; how vaccines keep kids in school; how immunizations have successfully eradicated diseases and the importance of herd immunity; the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness against the virus and its variants for children and teens; and how the vaccine dosage and series timeline differ from the adult dosage. 

Alexis Rodriguez, a Myasthenia Gravis (MG) patient shares his personal story to help raise awareness for this disease and give advice to others in the community living with or caring for someone with a rare condition. MG is a chronic, autoimmune, neuromuscular condition where the body’s immune system mistakenly targets the connection between the nerves and the muscles. It is rare – affecting about 10 of every 100,000 people. Learn more at Rare Disease Information. 

Keri Cooper, LCSW, owner of Keri Cooper Holistic Therapy discusses her new book “Mental Health Uncensored:   10 Foundations Every Parent Needs  to Know”.    The book is designed to give parents steps on how to improve their child’s mental health. 

For kids on the autism spectrum, water can be extremely dangerous, because drowning is the number one cause of accidental death among children with autism. Dr. Erika Kemp, a pediatric occupational therapist at The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center discusses an adaptive swim program specifically designed to teach the essential skills of swimming to young swimmers on the autism spectrum. The classes have been shown to not only improve swim skills and safety but also build competency that goes beyond the water.

For the first time ever in the United States, a 40-year-old transgender woman who was on gender-affirming estrogen therapy for 18 years has just had sperm identified and frozen using a specialized technique called Extended Sperm Search & Microfreeze (ESSM). The patient had previously undergone a monthly semen analysis for 10 months in an attempt to identify and retrieve her sperm, with no success. But just a week before her vaginoplasty, in late April, she underwent the ESSM procedure in anticipation of having IVF in the next few years.   Fortunately, over 250 moving sperm were found and successfully frozen.  Here to discuss the technique is Dr. Michael Werner, MD, FACS, a board-certified  urologist, Medical Director and Founder of Maze Men’s Sexual & Reproductive Health.  ESSM is bringing noteworthy results to couples dealing with severe male infertility (azoospermia or cryptospermia).  

Dr. Thomas Marcotte, Professor of Psychiatry, Co-Director, Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego talks about his study on the Perceived Impact of Cannabis on Public Health, which was part of a larger conversation on cannabis presented at Preventive Medicine 2022.

Dr. Akua Woolbright, PhD, National Nutrition Program Director at Whole Cities Foundation, a nonprofit of Whole Foods, discusses the recent controversy surrounding the Food and Drug Administration testing designs of a label that food manufacturers could voluntarily put on the front of packages indicating that a product is healthy and what this will mean for consumers, especially in underserved communities.