Epidemiology

How do social factors, the environment, and demographics affect a person's likelihood of developing a disease? Epidemiology is key in generating solutions to battle the world’s public health challenges, including answering these questions and creating interventions for preventative healthcare.

Free Associations Podcast | September 10th, 2019

A breakthrough for sickle cell disease?

Matt, Chris, and Don discuss a study on a new treatment for sickle cell disease, the gang discuss some advances in registered reports, and Matt figures out which celebrity he should publish a paper with.

Free Associations Podcast | August 13th, 2019

Smells like an associational study

Matt, Chris, and Don discuss the relationship between ability to smell and mortality, the gang discuss the role that journals have to play in combatting false medical claims, and Matt explains his concerns about the future of sandwiches.

Free Associations Podcast | July 30th, 2019

And I would walk 10,000 steps

Matt, Chris, and Don determine whether you really need to walk 10,000 steps per day, the gang discuss a paper that had two discussion sections which came to two different conclusions, and Don enlightens us on whether couples look alike.

Free Associations Podcast | June 18th, 2019

Undetectable = untransmissible

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study of the risk of HIV transmission when a person is successfully taking HIV treatment (spoiler: the risk is 0), the gang discuss what a “risk factor” is, and Matt channels his inner Harry Potter.

Free Associations Podcast | June 4th, 2019

Rebroadcast: A tough pill to swallow?

As we are nearing our 50th episode we wanted to take a look back at one of our favorites. Enjoy this rebroadcast of the poop pill episode.

Free Associations Podcast | May 21st, 2019

The social jetlag episode (it’s a thing)

Matt, Chris, and Don look at how living on the wrong side of a time zone affects your health, the gang discuss when it might be ok to conduct a trial without patient consent, and Matt wines.

Free Associations Podcast | April 9th, 2019

Complementary medicine and cancer

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study of whether complementary medicines during cancer treatment impact survival, the gang discuss when it is ok to self-plagiarize, and Don has some breaking news about cheese.

Free Associations Podcast | March 12th, 2019

What can we learn about asthma from the Amish?

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study among the Amish to look for causes of asthma, the gang discuss an update to Plan S, and Chris notices an interesting pattern around STI transmission.

Free Associations Podcast | February 26th, 2019

Can e-cigarettes help people quit smoking?

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study that tested whether e-cigarettes are better than traditional approaches for helping people quit smoking, the gang discuss the value of “null” findings, and Matt has a message for cheaters.

Free Associations Podcast | February 12th, 2019

Peanut allergy desensitization

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study of a desensitization treatment for those with peanut allergy, the gang discuss whether artificial intelligence will replace us, and Matt learns how quickly he can put us all to sleep with a boring conference talk.

Free Associations Podcast | January 29th, 2019

A breakthrough for Alzheimer’s treatment?

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study that used an antibody to treat Alzheimer’s disease, the gang goes back to the well to talk about conflicts of interest, and Matt tells us the secret to good course evaluations!