The Princeton Pulse Podcast
The Princeton Pulse Podcast highlights the vital connections between health research and policy. Hosted by Heather Howard, professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, the show brings together scholars, policymakers, and other leaders to examine today’s most pressing health policy issues – domestically and globally. Guests discuss novel research at Princeton along with partnerships aimed at improving public health and reducing health disparities. We hope you’ll listen in, as we put our fingers on the pulse, and examine the power and possibilities of evidence-informed health policy.
The Princeton Pulse Podcast is a production of Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW). You can learn more about health-focused research led by Princeton faculty, students, and other CHW affiliates by visiting the CHW website at chw.princeton.edu and following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Search for "PrincetonCHW" to find us.
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Episodes
21 episodes
An Insider’s View on the Future of U.S. Health Policy
This special episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast features a conversation with Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, kno...
The Devastating Health Impacts of U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts
This episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast addresses the public health implications of U.S. foreign aid cuts, which have sent shock waves across the world. With the stroke of a pen, billions of dollars were abruptly pulled from projects dedica...
Innovations in Vaccine Development and Delivery
Imagine a tiny patch that could painlessly deliver life-saving vaccines without a trained medical professional. Or a malaria vaccine that doesn’t require refrigeration, making it easier to distribute in tropical countries where the disease is c...
Alarming Shifts in U.S. Vaccine Policy – And What We Can Do About It
In this episode, the Princeton Pulse Podcast explores recent developments in federal vaccine policy that have public officials deeply worried, along with strategies for reducing vaccine hesitancy and restoring public trust.Will Americans...
Why Medicaid Cuts Endanger Our Children – and Our Nation’s Future
As Congress considers $880 billion in Medicaid cuts, the health and wellbeing of our children, and our nation’s future, perilously hang in the balance. Today’s episode explores how the proposed cuts would put young lives at risk. De...
Climate Change: A Health Threat for Humanity
The World Health Organization is not mincing words when it comes to climate change, calling it one of the greatest health threats for humanity. On this episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast, we discuss the increasingly dire health ...
Health Policy Issues on the Ballot
The 2024 elections will be among the most consequential in American history, as voters grapple with profound policy differences on everything from the economy to foreign policy, climate change, and, of course, health care. This epis...
AI in Health Care: Promise or Peril?
This episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast takes on one of the hottest topics in health care – and in Washington: the use and regulation of artificial intelligence, or AI. Research suggests that AI could revolutionize the delivery ...
The State of Public Health with Dr. Ashish Jha
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 phy...
Digging Into the Debate About Banning Menthol Cigarettes
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 tha...
The Global Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance
The Global Fight Against Antimicrobial ResistanceThis 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 Wor...
Only in America: Easing the Burden of Medical Debt
This episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast takes on medical debt, a pervasive and uniquely American problem. Forty one percent of U.S. adults, or about 100 million people, are struggling to pay their medical or dental bills, which has delayed ...
Lessons from America’s Former Top Doctor – from Covid to the Opioid Crisis
This episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast takes us to the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic and other public health crises with Dr. Jerome Adams, former Surgeon General of the ...
Who’s Caring for the Caregiver? Strategies for Reducing Clinician Burnout
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...
A Public Health Approach to Gun Violence in America
This episode tackles gun violence in America, a serious and escalating public health crisis. According to the CDC, firearms kill nearly 50,000 Americans each year and are now the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens. The facts are...
Which Country Will Be the First to Wipe Out Cervical Cancer? (The Answer May Surprise You.)
This episode highlights a potential win in the fight against cervical cancer – one that comes from a place that you might not expect. Rwanda, a low-income country, could become the first country in the world to eradicate the disease. <...
Why Millions of Americans May Lose Their Health Insurance
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 sta...
Can We Tackle Vaccine Hesitancy and Climate Change With a Similar Playbook? Researchers Think So.
This episode takes on vaccine hesitancy and climate change. What do these seemingly diverse problems have in common? More than you might think. Although they are distinct challenges, both imperil global health, are perpetuated by social behavio...
Measuring "The Good Life" - Alternative Metrics for National Wellbeing
This episode is about measuring “The Good Life.” Gross domestic product, or GDP, has been the longstanding indicator for evaluating a country’s performance and prosperity. But there is a growing movement to look beyond GDP, which only accounts ...
Can Sugary Beverage Taxes Improve Public Health?
This episode of The Princeton Pulse explores the effectiveness of levies on sugar-sweetened beverages, comparing experiences from South Africa and Philadelphia. Sometimes called soda or sugar taxes, they are used as a policy tool to ad...
Closing the Racial Divide in Maternal-Infant Health
The inaugural episode of The Princeton Pulse Podcast addresses maternal and infant health disparities, a serious and often overlooked public health crisis. The facts are startling. In the United States, Black mothers are three to four times mor...
