The Princeton Pulse Podcast

This episode spotlights health insurance in the U.S. – and why an estimated 15 million Medicaid enrollees are at risk of losing their health insurance coverage and access to care.

In 2020, Congress enacted legislation that gave states extra Medicaid funds to help address the raging pandemic, but they attached a condition that prevented states from disenrolling individuals during the public health emergency. On March 31, 2023, the requirement expired and states began to return to normal eligibility and enrollment operations. Referred to as “the Medicaid unwinding,” this represents the biggest health insurance coverage event since the Affordable Care Act.

Host Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, discusses the unprecedented transition with Kate McEvoy, Executive Director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, and Dr. Kemi Alli, a pediatrician and Chief Executive Officer of Henry J. Austin Health Center, a federally qualified health center in Trenton, New Jersey. They talk about strategies for maximizing continuity of coverage for consumers -- along with who is most likely to slip through the cracks, the role of state health officials and health care providers, and the potential impact on public health.

Read how Princeton University’s State Health & Value Strategies (SHVS) program, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is helping states navigate the transition by visiting the SHVS website.

Visit the Henry J. Austin Health Center website to learn more about its efforts to help patients “stay covered.”

Read Kate McEvoy’s discussion of Medicaid stability with Health Affairs here.

The Princeton Pulse Podcast is a production of Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW). The show is hosted by Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, produced by Aimee Bronfeld, and edited by Alex Brownstein. You can subscribe to The Princeton Pulse Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.

The Global Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance

This episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast takes on one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity: antimicrobial resistance, often called AMR. According to the World Health Organization, this concerning phenomenon directly or indirectly claims more than six million lives each year. That means that antimicrobial-resistant infections are more deadly than AIDS or malaria.

Host Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, is joined by two guests: Ramanan Laxminarayan, an environmental economist, epidemiologist, and lecturer at Princeton, as well as the founder and president of One Health Trust, a public health research organization; and Dr. Martin Blaser, a physician, microbiologist, and professor at Rutgers University, where he directs the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine.

Recognizing the intrinsic connection between human, animal, and environmental health, the panel addresses how AMR affects food security, the economy, health equity, and our ability to fight future pandemics. They also talk about the United Nations’ upcoming “High Level Meeting,” which will gather world leaders this September to create a coordinated action plan.

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Visit the One Health Trust website to learn more about the latest research, developments, and news on antimicrobial resistance.

This paper explains the need for global solutions to antibiotic resistance.

Dr. Blaser authored a book on the topic, “Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antiobiotics is Fueling our Modern Plagues,” 10 years ago, which was recently adapted into a movie, “The Invisible Extinction.”

The Princeton Pulse Podcast is a production of Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW). The show is hosted by Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, produced by Aimee Bronfeld, and edited by Alex Brownstein. You can subscribe to The Princeton Pulse Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.

On this episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast, we dig into the ongoing debate about banning menthol cigarettes in the United States.

We’ve known for decades that menthol cigarettes are more addictive and ultimately more harmful than tobacco-flavored cigarettes. Yet they’re still around, attracting young smokers, increasing health disparities, and causing preventable deaths. That is why the FDA has proposed policy to prohibit their sale. Research clearly suggests that a federal ban could save up to 650,000 lives over the course of 40 years, and that one third of them would be Black Americans. Despite those findings, however, the policy is stalled under the influence of a presidential election year and lobbying by Big Tobacco.

Host Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health, delves into the historical context and the costs of delayed policy intervention with two guests: Keith Wailoo, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton and author of the book "Pushing Cool: Big Tobacco, Racial Marketing, and the Untold Story of the Menthol Cigarette"; and Carol McGruder, founding member and co-chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC).
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Learn more about the AATCLC’s advocacy for the menthol cigarette ban at www.SavingBlackLives.org.

Visit www.keithwailoo.com to learn more about Keith Wailoo’s research, his latest book ("Pushing Cool: Big Tobacco, Racial Marketing, and the Untold Story of the Menthol Cigarette"), and other publications.

The Princeton Pulse Podcast is a production of Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW). The show is hosted by Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, produced by Aimee Bronfeld, and edited by Alex Brownstein. You can subscribe to The Princeton Pulse Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.

Today’s episode features a candid conversation with Dr. Ashish Jha, a globally renowned public health leader and Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

An accomplished physician and researcher, Dr. Jha is acclaimed for driving improvements in public health policy and practice. Most notably, his groundbreaking work on pandemic preparedness and response led to a role at the White House, where he served as Covid-19 Response Coordinator under President Joe Biden.

On the show, Host Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health, and Dr. Jha frankly discuss what’s working well and where we need to do better in public health. Dr. Jha highlights how U.S. investments during the pandemic improved vaccines, treatments, medical surveillance, and infrastructure to reduce Covid-related deaths while preparing us for the next public health crisis. He also exposes some of our biggest public health failures, including systemic inequities, vaccine hesitancy and disinformation, and declining trust in institutions, emphasizing the importance of listening to everyday people and focusing public health on what matters to them.

With an eye toward the future, the conversation addresses emerging challenges, such as climate change, the sustainability of funding for public health, and managing health care costs, and how to counter these challenges though evidence-informed policies, technological innovation, and sustained, collaborative engagement. Dr. Jha provides a hopeful perspective on ways to overcome political divides and chart a path forward for something we all care about -- helping people live longer, healthier, better lives.
Read more:
Dr. Jha. references the seminal work of the late Uwe E. Reinhardt, a Princeton University professor and respected health care economist: "It's the Prices, Stupid: Why the United States is So Different From Other Countries."
Heather Howard penned an article related to their discussion on Long Covid and post-viral syndromes: "Learning From Past Disasters to Help Covid Long Haulers."

The Princeton Pulse Podcast is a production of Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW). The show is hosted by Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, produced by Aimee Bronfeld, and edited by Alex Brownstein. You can subscribe to The Princeton Pulse Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.

This episode examines clinician burnout, a public health issue propelled into the spotlight by the Covid-19 pandemic. Up to 54 percent of nurses, physicians, and other clinicians experience prolonged, occupational stress. They suffer exhaustion, low job satisfaction, lack of achievement, and other consequences that not only compromise their personal wellbeing, but also the care they provide to their patients.

Host Heather Howard explores the drivers of clinician burnout along with the rising costs with Dr. Bryant Adibe, Sugarman Practitioner in Residence at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs, and Dr. Wayne Jonas, a practicing family physician and president of the Healing Works Foundation.

Their conversation addresses widespread dissatisfaction among health care workers, absenteeism, staffing shortages, and other repercussions that threaten access to safe, quality health care in the United States and beyond. They discuss strategies for reducing clinician burnout through a systems approach that leverages actionable data, as well as a recent summit that united scholars, health care providers, and policymakers in the collaborative pursuit of clinical wellbeing.

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Learn more about the “Systems Summit on Clinical Wellbeing,” co-sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA), Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), Healing Works Foundation, and Princeton University’s Center for Health and Wellbeing and the Kahneman-Treisman Center for Behavioral Science & Public Policy.

Read related articles authored by Dr. Bryant Adibe:

Clinician Wellness is an Operations Issue

Clinician Wellbeing: Challenges and Opportunities

Learn more about the Healing Works Foundation.

The Princeton Pulse Podcast is a production of Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW). The show is hosted by Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, produced by Aimee Bronfeld, and edited by Alex Brownstein. You can subscribe to The Princeton Pulse Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.