Untangling Variants & Outbreaks: Can Vaccines & Natural Immunity Outrun Delta?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with author, surgeon, and public health expert Dr. Marty Makary about the COVID-19 Delta Variant, the durability of natural and vaccinated immunity, the benefits of booster shots, and the health risks for children as we move into the fall.

Guest:

Dr. Martin Makary is a surgical oncologist and chief of the Johns Hopkins Islet Transplant Center. He is a clinical lead for the Johns Hopkins Sibley Innovation Hub and serves as Executive Director of Improving Wisely, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation project to lower health care costs in the U.S. by creating measures of appropriateness in health care. Dr. Makary’s research focuses on the creation and evaluation of new health care innovations. He is the creator of the Surgery Checklist, publishing its first description and later served on the W.H.O. Safe Surgery Saves Lives committee. He led the W.H.O. workgroup to create global measures of surgical quality. Dr. Makary has published over 200 scientific articles, including the first description of “frailty” impacting surgical outcomes, the original studies on safety culture measurement in hospitals, and an evaluation of the Orphan Drug Act. He is a leading voice for physicians, writing in The Wall Street Journal, and is the author of The New York Times best-selling book, Unaccountable, about patient safety and physician-led transparency efforts in health care. Dr. Makary is the founder of the Johns Hopkins Center For Surgical Outcomes Research and Clinical Trials and is the recipient of numerous grants to evaluate the effectiveness of new surgical technology and new interventions in health care. He serves jointly as a professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a professor of health policy & management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has pioneered new pancreas operations at Johns Hopkins, including the laparoscopic Whipple procedure. He performed the first series of laparoscopic islet auto-transplantation and other laparoscopic operations in field of surgery. Dr. Makary is among the few highest-volume laparoscopic pancreas surgeons in the United States. He is the recipient of the National Pancreas Foundation Nobility in Science Award. Dr. Makary is a graduate of Bucknell, Thomas Jefferson and Harvard University. He completed his surgical training at Georgetown University and his fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Get new episodes of Hubwonk in your inbox!

Recent Episodes:

Pipelines Are Infrastructure: Colonial Incident Reveals Dark Side of Cyber Vulnerability

This week on Hubwonk, Host Joe Selvaggi talks with cyber security expert Dr. Brandon Valeriano about the Colonial Pipeline shutdown and our national exposure to cyberattack on vital infrastructure.

Fair Share Amendment: Weighing Costs & Benefits for Massachusetts’ Economy & Workers

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Executive Director Jim Stergios about HB86, the so-called Fair Share Amendment, to tax Massachusetts household income above $1 million. They discuss its promises, its costs, and the effects of similar legislation in other states.

Talking Out Of School: Supreme Court Considers Campus Boundaries Within Social Media Universe

This week on Hubwonk, host Joe Selvaggi talks with constitutional scholar and CATO Institute Research Fellow Thomas Berry about the recently heard U.S. Supreme Court case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., and its implications for free speech, school control, and the integration of social media into the rubric of first amendment protections.

Preparing For Disaster: Health Readiness Expert’s Performance Review

Hubwonk Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Emergency Preparedness expert Dr. Paul Biddinger about how experts plan for disasters, and what went right and wrong in this pandemic.

Post-Pandemic Possibilities: Writer Ramesh Ponnuru Offers Insight On What Comes Next

Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Bloomberg Opinion writer and National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru about the national zeitgeist in a post-Covid, post-President Trump future.

Grading Education in a Pandemic: Survey Finds Teachers Pass, Administrations Fail & Students Incomplete

This week on Hubwonk, Joe Selvaggi discusses a recently released survey from Pioneer Institute and Emerson Polling, "Massachusetts Residents’ Perceptions of K-12 Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic," with Emerson's lead analyst, Isabel Holloway, and Pioneer Institute’s Charlie Chieppo.

Doctor Heal Thyself: Insider’s Prescription For Healthcare Reform

Host Joe Selvaggi talks with surgeon and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Marty Makary about the healthcare reform themes in The Price We Pay, the 2020 Business Book of the Year.  The discussion covers the value of price transparency, provider accountability, and performance information to drive better medical outcomes and improve doctor and patient satisfaction.

Travesty of Justice: Massachusetts Drug War Collapses on Lab Scandal

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute senior legal fellow Jim McKenna about Massachusetts’ drug prosecution cases resting on evidence produced by badly mismanaged drug testing labs, and the implications for potentially hundreds of thousands convicted on erroneous, tainted, or fabricated evidence.

Struggling For Sunshine: Transparency’s Power To Keep Leaders Accountable

/
Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute's Mary Z. Connaughton about the value of transparency and Pioneer’s extensive work to provide greater access to legislative and policy information to hold elected officials accountable and build trust in our state government. Read Pioneer Institute's Sunshine Week Transparency Resolutions.

Traffic Strikes Back: New Transportation Strategies for Post-Pandemic Prosperity

Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Chris Dempsey, Director of Transportation for Massachusetts, about road and mass transit innovations that could address traffic challenges in a high-growth, post-pandemic economy.