Mr. Yuk, the poster child for poisoning prevention, debuted in 1971. On the occasion of his 50th birthday, we caught up with Mr. Yuk’s creator, Dr. Richard Moriarty (MD ’66), a Pitt School of Medicine alumnus and longtime associate professor of pediatrics.   This episode was based on a 2003 Pitt Med magazine story, “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” written by Sally Ann Flecker, and adapted and produced by Elaine Vitone. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Pitt Med magazine is published by the University of Pittsburgh Office of University Communications and Marketing and the School of Medicine.

Pitt Medcast

Ep.20 – Mr. Yuk

Like Daughter, Like Mother Mothers harbor cells from their children decades after pregnancy—and throughout their bodies. These shared cells from pregnancy, do they help or harm women? In February 2020, we sat down with Dr. R. Swati Shree (Res ’14), a Pitt alum who is an expert in this fascinating yet little-known quirk of our biology, known as microchimerism. Our interview was recorded live from the Sci-Mic Podcast Stage at the annual meeting of the world's largest general scientific society, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science). The print version of this interview appears in Pitt Med magazine, which you can find on our website, pittmed.health.pitt.edu. This episode was written and produced by Elaine Vitone, with Maya Best. Our music is by Blue Dot Sessions. Pitt Med magazine is published by the University of Pittsburgh Office of University Communications and Marketing and the School of Medicine.

Ep.19 – Like Daughter, Like Mother

Episode Notes Evolutionary biology is at the center of some of the most vexing public health challenges of our time: cancer, antibiotic resistance and disease outbreaks. Pitt's Vaughn Cooper has been studying evolution in action for more than a decade. To his amazement, he’s beginning to think it may be possible to predict evolution. In Dec. 2020, we sat down with Cooper to discuss how the emerging field of evolutionary medicine is helping to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. This episode was inspired by these stories in our magazine, Pitt Med: “What Bug’s in You?,” Winter 2021 “Untangling Darwin,” Fall 2017  Written and produced by Elaine Vitone. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Ep.18 – Evolving Situation

Shekhar on what it takes to be a great teacher and a great leader, and what he’s learned about supporting flourishing partnerships. And then, in a second interview recorded remotely in May 2020, he shares his thoughts on the road ahead in the time of COVID-19.

Ep.17 – Part 3: Meet Anantha Shekhar

In Part 2 of our series on Dr. Anantha Shekhar, he talks of the hope and promise of the future of medicine.

Ep.16 – Part 2: Meet Anantha Shekhar

In this special three-part series, Pitt Medcast introduces Anantha Shekhar—Pitt’s new senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and the John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine. In February 2020, we sat down with him in Pitt Studios to get to know him and hear his insights on the future of medicine and Pitt’s place in it. Then, in May, we called him to talk again, remotely, about the road ahead for Pitt in the post-COVID-19 world. In this episode, Part 1, the MD/PhD and nationally recognized educator, researcher, entrepreneur and leader in medicine, shares his story, his inspiration for pursuing medicine in the first place, and his thoughts on medicine’s most transformative developments in recent years.

Ep.15 – Part 1: Meet Anantha Shekhar

Sunday, April 12, 2020, is the 65th anniversary of the announcement that the killed-virus polio vaccine--developed here at the University of Pittsburgh--was safe and effective. To mark the occasion, we bring you the perspective and advice of someone who has faced two frightening disease outbreaks up close. Meet David Harding, a Pitt instructor in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. VIDEO SLIDESHOW: https://vimeo.com/406209306

Ep.14 – BONUS: Perspective on two frightening outbreaks

TOUGH QUESTION | How can the medical community help women who are experiencing intimate partner violence? There’s a common assumption that domestic violence must involve broken bones or bruises. But much of intimate partner violence is in the emotionally controlling behaviors and psychological abuse. In this episode, women’s health experts discuss other ways they’re learning that abuse happens. For instance, a partner might trash his girlfriend’s medications, sabotage the car before a doctor’s appointment or use substances to control her. Our guest physicians discuss new strategies that are helping to prevent women from falling through the cracks. Warning: This episode discusses sexual assault and other violence that some listeners might find troubling. Our guests: The University of Pittsburgh’s Judy Chang is an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and of medicine. Elizabeth Miller is the division director of Adolescent-Young Adult Medicine at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. She is also a Pitt professor of pediatrics, of public health and of clinical and translational science. Read the story in our magazine, Pitt Med. Interview by Elaine Vitone. Produced by Maya Best and Elaine Vitone. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Ep.13 – Relationship Abuse

What was life like before childhood vaccines? In this episode, hear from people who grew up in the shadow of a crippling disease—among them, “polio pioneers,” schoolkids from the clinical trials of Jonas Salk’s killed-virus vaccine. Their accounts tell the story of how ordinary people helped win the struggle against one of the most crippling diseases in history. This Pitt Medcast was inspired by “Among My Souvenirs,” a story from the August 2005 issue of Pitt Med magazine. Written by Elaine Vitone. Production by Janine Faust, Margaret Palko, and Elaine Vitone with additional research by Elaina Zachos and Luisa Garbowit. Executive produced by Erica Lloyd. Sound effects by freesound.org. Special thanks to Pitt alumna Cassie Nespor, curator of the Melnick Medical Museum and University Archives at Youngstown State University, for firing up their refurbished Emerson iron lung for this podcast. Archival audio from Old Time Radio Downloads and Old Radio World. Contemporary news clips by NPR’s All Things Considered. Music by Chad Crouch, Chris Zabriskie, Borrtex, Podington Bear, and the Pitt Band. 

Polio Pioneers

Popular accounts of autism often portray people with the condition as emotionless automatons. Yet more than a decade of work has convinced Pitt psychologist Carla Mazefsky that emotional dysregulation—which is the inability to control emotional responses—plays a key role in autism. Mazefsky specializes in kids on the far end of the autism spectrum who are prone to aggression. This Pitt Medcast was inspired by Carrie Arnold’s story from the Fall 2018 issue of Pitt Med magazine, which was a finalist for a 2019 Golden Quill Award from the Press Club Of Western Pennsylvania. Read by Elaine Vitone and Luisa Garbowit. Produced by Luisa Garbowit, Janine Faust, and Elaine Vitone. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Music by Lee Rosevere, Sylvie Walder, and Poddington Bear from the Free Music Archive.

Autism and Emotional Regulation

How useful is a genetics report from a company like 23andMe to my health? How do we separate hype from reality as these companies ramp up direct-to-consumer ads, social media, and celebrity influence campaigns? Our guests, Jeremy Berg and Mylynda Massart, discuss how the heavy consumer pitch can cloud medical practice, science, and understanding and the road ahead for medical education as personal genomics becomes increasingly relevant in the clinic. You don’t want to miss Pitt Medcast’s first-ever live taping—from the 2019 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. Our guests: Pitt’s Jeremy Berg is associate senior vice chancellor for the health sciences, former director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and editor in chief of AAAS's Science family of journals. Mylynda Massart is an assistant professor of family medicine at Pitt. She practices primary care with a special interest in genetics. Interview by Elaine Vitone. Produced by Elaine Vitone and Luisa Garbowit. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Music by Lee Rosevere, from the Free music Archive.

Imperfect Pitch

Why are new mothers dying at an alarming rate in this country? We sat down with Jada Shirriel, the CEO of Healthy Start, which is charged with improving maternal and child health in Allegheny County, and three Pitt professors who’ve been appointed to Pennsylvania’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee. We wanted their perspectives on why the incidence of maternal deaths and morbidity is so bleak in this country compared to other industrialized nations and what can be done to spare families from these tragedies. The print version of this story (bit.ly/2w4SfQj) appeared in the Winter 2018/19 issue of Pitt Med magazine. This episode was produced by Elizabeth Martinson, Luisa Garbowit, and Elaine Vitone with production coordination from Gavin Jenkins. Reporting by Susan Wiedel. Interview by our executive producer and Pitt Med magazine editor in chief, Erica Lloyd. Our music was by Lee Rosevere, from the Free Music Archive.

Labors and Losses

In this episode, we revisited our Summer 2015 magazine story(bit.ly/sternglass_pittmedmag), featuring the University of Pittsburgh’s late, great Ernest Sternglass. His work made possible the first videos from the moon, and he pioneered digital radiology. His activism helped stop atomic bomb testing. His correspondence with Albert Einstein has been called one of the 20th century’s most important disregarded pieces of science. Sternglass led an extraordinary life. Written by Michael Fitzgerald. Produced by Elizabeth Martinson with Elaine Vitone. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Sound effects courtesy of NASA and freesound.org. And special thanks to Pittsburgh’s own Skyler Brimmeier, a.k.a Sleep Movies (bit.ly/2SCexT1), for our music. Image by NASA.

The High Resolution Life

In this episode, we revisited and remixed our Winter 2014 magazine story (http://bit.ly/Wnzy6c) featuring the University of Pittsburgh’s Margaret McFarland, Fred Rogers’s little known mentor who played a big role in shaping him and his show behind the scenes. Written by Sally Ann Flecker. Produced by Elaine Vitone. Our interns for the episode were Jessica Boddy and Ali Greenholt. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Sound effects courtesy of freesound.org. Special thanks to the Fred Rogers Company and also to the Beagle Brothers(http://bit.ly/2pr8gf8), Pittsburgh’s own country and eastern band, for our music. Image courtesy of Jim Judkis (http://bit.ly/2DHsyq5). We're gathering data on our podcast! To help us out, please complete a quick survey at http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=5VmBB36bqSzl&ver=short

When Fred Met Margaret

Every day, Hilary Zurbuch grappled with a nagging fear that if she didn’t look just right, something bad would happen. Zurbuch lives with obsessive compulsive disorder, a tug-of-war between intrusive, often fearful thoughts and repetitive rituals she’s devised to control them. Although the reasons for OCD are unknown, psychiatrist and researcher Susanne Ahmari at the University of Pittsburgh is using clinical observations and new neuroscience tools to extricate a deeper understanding of the disorder. This Pitt Medcast was inspired by Cara Masset’s award-winning cover story from the Fall 2015 issue of Pitt Med magazine (http://www.pittmed.health.pitt.edu/story/inside-world-ocd). Written by Cara Masset. Read by Elaina Zachos and produced by Elaina Zachos, with Elaine Vitone. Our executive producer is Erica Lloyd. Sound effects courtesy of freesound.org and CosmicEmbers. Special thanks to Brenna Evans, the Medfield High School Orchestra, and Cara Masset herself for acting as our musical neurons. Blød Maud (https://bldmd.bandcamp.com/) provided this episode’s theme music. We're gathering data on our podcast! To help us out, please complete a quick survey at survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.as…bqSzl&ver=short

Inside the World of OCD

An award-winning podcast from the editorial offices of Pitt Med exploring matters of life, death, and well-being.

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Pitt Medcast

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