Charged: Stories from the Women Leading Health Care

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have faced more than 6,000 hate incidents since the start of the pandemic, which is about a 149% rise since the last year. The racially motivated incidents range from verbal harassment virus to physical attacks. In this special episode of Charged, a panel of guests discuss the history of racism against the AAPI community, how the pandemic has fueled it and why this group has been widely excluded from conversation and policy intended to foster racial equality.

The WHO reports that almost 1/3 of women have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. Eve Valera, PhD, neuroscientist, has spent more than 20 years researching the prevalence of TBI resulting from intimate partner violence and the impact these injuries can have. In this episode of Charged, Dr. Valera explains the impairments that women endure due to TBIs resulting from intimate partner violence and the barriers she's faced.

Rachel Sisodia, MD, gynecologic oncologist and surgeon, believes that it is critical to strike a balance between doing what is needed to treat someone's cancer and honoring what is most important to them. She partners with each patient to fight cancer together as a team. In this episode of Charged, Dr. Sisodia talks about her experience caring for women with cancer, her efforts to promote women into leadership positions, and her work leading the Mass General Brigham patient reported outcomes program.

Happy Mother’s Day from the Charged team at Massachusetts General Hospital! In honor of this special day, we are celebrating the many amazing mothers at Mass General.   In this episode, we asked a few of our most recent guests to share their stories about parenting, the importance of having a community of support and how healthy habits can help to ensure that working parents (moms and dads!) do not miss the small moments of joy.  We hope you enjoy this special episode with the mothers of Charged!

When Galit Alter, PhD, immunologist and virologist, began her career during the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis, there were few researchers who were studying the immune system in the context of infectious diseases. She quickly became curious about how the human immune system fights different viruses and how uncovering this knowledge could significantly impact the way vaccines are developed.  In this episode of Charged, Dr. Alter, a self-described "virus hunter," talks about the mechanisms by which the immune system fights disease, how she and her team created a novel serology tool that profiles the body's antibody response to both viruses and vaccines, and how this tool was employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Dr. Leigh Anne Dageforde first realized her passion for transplantation surgery during a moment in her residency when she witnessed the immediate result a kidney transplant surgery provided to a patient. Over the course of her career, her dedication to the field has only grown. The field of transplant surgery is special to her because doctors can give their patients something new, and in turn, give them back their life.   In this episode of Charged, Dr. Dageforde shares her experience working in a what is still considered a young field and learning from role models who have forged the path ahead for transplant surgeons like herself. She discusses the unique nature of the field, the personal connections she has with patient and donor communities and the collaborative nature of transplantation. 

Migraine is a leading cause of disability worldwide and women make up 85% of migraine sufferers. Despite its prevalence and known associations with an increased risk of other health complications, there are many questions still unknown. In this episode of Charged, Dr. Andrea Harriott, discusses the associations between migraine and other health complications, the significant gender disparity amongst migraine sufferers, and her work in the lab and at the bedside of patients with migraine disorders.

As our world becomes increasingly virtual, the field of medicine has also followed suit. Today, more than 40% of health care consumers use social media as a source for important health care information—and this number is only expected to grow.  In this special episode of Charged, some of our past guests share their perspectives on social media’s place in medicine, its impact on patient care and how they use it personally and professionally. 

Infertility is more common than many people might think. And yet, many people are hesitant to discuss their struggles. This is exactly why Irene Souter, MD, has dedicated her career to helping couples facing infertility find the best way to grow their family. In this episode of Charged, Dr. Souter discusses the various options for how to have a healthy baby as well as her participation in a 20-year study that investigates the impact of environmental, nutritional and lifestyle factors on fertility.

Dr. Uma Naidoo, developed a passion for food and cooking at a young age—a deep interest that persisted throughout her career as a practicing psychiatrist. Eventually, it led her to wonder if food and diet can somehow be used in mental health medicine. Dr. Uma is a leading expert and pioneer in the field of nutritional psychiatry, a new area of research and clinical practice that looks at how food influences brain function.  In this episode of Charged, Dr. Uma talks to us about how she built her career in this niche, how she helps patients foster healthy diets to improve their mental health and her experience implementing this knowledge in her own life. 

When Dr. Inga Lennes was in medical school, she aspired to be a physician that strives to listen to patients’ voices. A practicing thoracic medical oncologist, Dr. Lennes has become a leader in the management of lung and esophageal cancer, enhancing quality and safety measures, and improving the patient experience. In this episode of Charged, Dr. Lennes explains her approach to caring for patients with a serious prognosis and her passions for practicing medicine and evoking change as an administrator.

According to the NIMH, nearly one in five adults in the US lives with mental illness. As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Luana Marques, believes that everyone should be equipped with the skills to help them manage and overcome mental health challenges. In this episode of Charged, Dr. Marques shares the anxiety-management skills she learned while growing up in Brazil, what drove her to pursue a career in psychology and how cognitive behavioral therapy can be used to treat many mental health disorders.

Happy New Year from the Charged team at Massachusetts General Hospital!   In honor of the new year, we are listening back to last year's bonus episode when we asked some of our past guests about their New Year's resolutions. We hope this inspires you as you think about your own plans for the new year.

Dr. T. Salewa Oseni, breast surgical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, knows that when a team caring for patients of all backgrounds does not also reflect the same inclusivity amongst its members, the quality of care suffers. As the co-director of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee in the Mass General Department of Surgery, much of Dr. Oseni’s work is dedicated to changing the face of medicine, to become more reflective of the diverse patient population it serves.  On this episode of Charged, Dr. Oseni talks to us about her 13-year background as a surgeon in the Navy, her work to change the face of medicine and how to eliminate health care disparities. 

Miho Tanaka, MD, a sports medicine surgeon, was 11 years old when she knew that she wanted to become a doctor who treats athletes. As a former athlete herself, Dr. Tanaka routinely felt there was one thing lacking in her health care experience: a shared passion and motivation for a speedy return to the sports she loved. In this episode of Charged, Dr. Tanaka talks about why she chose sports medicine, pursuing a career in a male-dominated field and the importance of research and education for athletes.

As chief of the Mass General Infectious Diseases Division and one of five members on the Boston COVID-19 Advisory Board, Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, has witnessed the transformation of the landscape for viral diseases. Recently, Dr. Walensky was nominated by President-elect, Joe Biden, to serve as the next director of the CDC. In this episode of Charged, Dr. Walensky discusses how she has worked to help expand access to care for HIV patients and her willingness to understand patients’ struggles.

As an emergency medicine physician and associate chief quality, officer at Mass General, Emily Aaronson, MD, works to ensure that patient safety and clinical quality are implemented across all operations.    In this episode of Charged, Dr. Aaronson discusses how she helped lead Mass General’s efforts to improve patient safety, her role integrating palliative care in the emergency department during COVID-19 and how communication makes all the difference in caring for patients with serious illnesses.

As associate chief of the Infection Control Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, Erica Shenoy, MD, PhD, focuses on infection prevention and control, with a special interest in preparedness and response to emerging infectious diseases.  In this episode of Charged, Dr. Shenoy talks about what drove her to pursue a career in infection control, her unique experience of being a key leader and advisor in the hospital’s planning and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, what she and her team have learned since the first surge and how they are preparing for the future.  

Christine Ritchie, MD, MSPH, a geriatrician and palliative care specialist, has worked throughout her career to strengthen the quality of care for patients with serious illnesses and expand the breadth of research on aging and chronic illness in an effort to close the current gaps in care of older adults.  In this episode of Charged, Dr. Ritchie discusses how her upbringing in South Korea ignited her passion for geriatric medicine and research, her experience as a personal caregiver and the impact of COVID-19 on the older population. 

Joan Quinlan, MPA, has dedicated her entire career to advocating for the underserved. As the current vice president for community health at Massachusetts General Hospital and founding director of the Center for Community Health Improvement, Joan has strived to improve the health status of disadvantaged communities and their access to health care.   In this episode of Charged, Joan shares the unexpected way in which she developed her career in community health, the initiatives that she helped Mass General develop and the thread of social justice that has run throughout her career. 

Dr. Nasrien Ibrahim has experienced the important role that mentorship plays in a person’s life and career. Her approach to mentorship is built on transparency and a belief in sharing her own challenges in order to help other young woman and men of color who are considering careers in medicine.     In this episode of Charged, Dr. Ibrahim talks about her mission to eradicate disparities in medicine, Imposter Syndrome and the story of what she describes as her “lowest point” in her career and life. 

In the United States, people of color have long experienced inequalities in health care. And, throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, these disparities in health care, and the systemic racism that prevents underserved and underrepresented communities from accessing equal care, have been brought to light even more. In this special episode, the new Charged host, Kelsey Damrad, and three previous Charged guests—Dr. Gaurdia Banister, Dr. Allison Bryant and Dr. Marcela del Carmen—discuss inequalities and racism in health care. 

Doctors have struggled for years to find an effective treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in part because the it varies greatly from patient to patient in terms of how quickly it progresses and the age of onset. But for neurologist Merit E. Cudkowicz, MD, those challenges are opportunities for scientific collaboration. She spends her days leading clinical trials aimed at better understanding ALS and working with patients to find better treatments for this debilitating disease. Today, new therapies are in rapid development. Her work has inspired hope for a disease that seemed incurable a decade ago. In this episode, she discusses her drive to find a cure for ALS and why she’s so passionate about her ALS patients. 

Happy Mother’s Day from the Charged team at Massachusetts General Hospital! In honor of this special day, we are celebrating the many amazing mothers at Mass General and the incredible way they manage their work and personal lives.   In this special episode, we asked our second season guests to share stories about balancing motherhood and their careers, the challenges of building a career in medicine while raising a family and their parenting inspirations and role models.   We hope you enjoy this bonus episode with the mothers of Charged!  

Throughout her career Angela Fitch, MD, has watched obesity treatment transform from an area of medicine rarely discussed to a dynamic, rapidly evolving practice. Dr. Fitch wants to transform the way we approach obesity by building patient-focused treatment programs and communities of support to help patients succeed in losing weight and living healthier lives.  In this episode of Charged, Dr. Fitch discusses the importance of re-educating patients and providers to recognize obesity as a chronic disease in order to eradicate the stigma and misinformation surrounding obesity, as well as how developments in personalized medicine and a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach are shaping the field of obesity medicine. 

Physicians put in a tremendous amount of work into providing quality care for their patients, but sometimes the challenges that physicians face go unnoticed. Many physicians experience burnout, which leaves them feeling stress, exhaustion and less enjoyment in their work. More women than men report feelings of burnout. In this episode, we hope to spark discussion about the challenges that the women at Mass General face. 

As a practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Jacqueline Olds has spent decades working with patients of all ages and life stages, helping them through life’s challenges. And while no two people are the same, Dr. Olds has identified one common theme among her patients—loneliness. And while that feeling may not be permanent, it can have a serious impact on our lives.    Over the past 25 years, she and her psychiatrist husband, Dr. Richard Schwartz, have worked to bring loneliness out of the closet and help all of us build stronger, long-lasting relationships. She discusses ways to combat loneliness, the importance of building positive, supportive relationships, both romantic and platonic, and elements that help a relationship last. 

Since beginning her career in the mid-1990s, infectious disease chief Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky has witnessed the transformation of the landscape for HIV and AIDS. Though new drugs have improved the outlook, the challenges of accessing and maintaining care persist. Dr. Walensky discusses how she works to expand access to care for HIV patients through research and a willingness to understand patients' struggles.

Dr. Leigh Anne Dageforde first realized her passion for transplantation surgery during a moment in her residency when she witnessed the immediate result a kidney transplant surgery provided to a patient. Over the course of her career, her dedication to the field has only grown. The field of transplant surgery is special to her because doctors can give their patients something new, and in turn, give them back their life.   In this episode of Charged, Dr. Dageforde shares her experience working in a what is still considered a young field and learning from role models who have forged the path ahead for transplant surgeons like herself. She discusses the unique nature of the field, the personal connections she has with patient and donor communities and the collaborative nature of transplantation. 

During her graduate studies in molecular biology, an over-training injury derailed Dr. Sara Lazar’s aspirations to run the Boston Marathon. During her recovery, she discovered yoga and, after a few classes, was surprised to find that she felt calmer, more compassionate and less reactive. She wanted tounderstand why, and that quest ultimately altered the course of her career. For over 15 years, she and her team in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital have investigated how meditation affects the brain and were the first to show the connection between meditation and cortical thickening in the brain. In this episode, she discusses her work and how to integrate meditation into a busy life. 

When Dr. Yolonda Colson passed her thoracic surgery boards in the early 2000s, just over 100 women had joined the field ahead of her, and she was the only woman in her department in her first attending role. But over the course of her career, she’s watched the number of women in the field grow steadily. Now, as the chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Mass General, Dr. Colson recognizes the value of diversity in the field. Dr. Colson talks about how she’s improving care for lung cancer patients, her career path and the important role that fostering community, seizing opportunities and breaking down perceived barriers have played along the way. 

As a practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Jacqueline Olds has spent decades working with patients of all ages and life stages, helping them through life’s challenges. And while no two people are the same, Dr. Olds has identified one common theme among her patients—loneliness. And while that feeling may not be permanent, it can have a serious impact on our lives.   Over the past 25 years, she and her psychiatrist husband, Dr. Richard Schwartz, have worked to bring loneliness out of the closet and help all of us build stronger, long-lasting relationships. She discusses ways to combat loneliness, the importance of building positive, supportive relationships, both romantic and platonic, and elements that help a relationship last. 

As the opioid epidemic has increased in severity, so has the number of patients diagnosed with cancer who are also facing substance use disorders. As a radiation oncologist specializing in brain tumors, Dr. Helen Shih is accustomed to treating patients with very serious prognoses. However, her experience treating two young patients with brain tumors who were also facing addictions tied to opioid use, shifted her perspective on this work and inspired her to learn more about the challenges for these patients. In this episode, Dr. Shih discusses how these patients motivated her to think more about specialized care for patients with this dual diagnosis. 

Most of us know from experience that a good night’s sleep can make all the difference in our health and well being. Tips and props to improve sleep have been promoted more and more in recent years. Despite all the attention that sleep gets these days, the biology of sleep and its function is still not well understood. Sleep researcher Dr. Richa Saxena is working to change that by studying all of the genetic information that makes up a person. Her team has identified dozens of genes related to sleep and their connections to other health problems like cancer, psychiatric disorders and diabetes. Dr. Saxena discusses her research and how she hopes it will change our relationship with sleep. 

Physicians put in a tremendous amount of work into providing quality care for their patients, but sometimes the challenges that physicians face go unnoticed. Many physicians experience burnout, which leaves them feeling stress, exhaustion and less enjoyment in their work. More women than men report feelings of burnout. In this episode, we hope to spark discussion about the challenges that the women at Mass General face. 

Happy New Year from the Charged team at Mass General!   In honor of the new year, we’ve asked some of our past and future guests about their resolutions for 2020. We hope this inspires you as you think about your own plans for the new year.  

In the United States, one out of eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime which, for many patients, can be a devastating thought. In the past two decades, treatment for breast cancer has come a long way, and Dr. Barbara Smith has been at the forefront of the movement of improving care for patients as well as being a pioneer in nipple-sparring mastectomies.  In this episode, find out how Dr. Smith broke the mold to give new hope and better outcomes to breast cancer patients.

Since 1990, the number of people in Massachusetts experiencing homelessness has more than doubled. One of the medical barriers to patients who experience homelessness is the lack of dermatological care. In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Tan discusses the dermatological challenges that someone facing homelessness may experience and her work with Boston’s Healthcare for the Homeless program to make this care available. 

The holidays can be stressful, not matter what. But if you or a loved one is facing a serious illness, this time of year can be even more difficult. Our team has been thinking a lot about an episode from our first season with Dr. Vicki Jackson, a palliative care specialist at Mass General. Her work focuses on helping her patients live well, no matter their diagnosis or circumstances, and this advice can be especially helpful in the midst of holiday stress.  As we head into Thanksgiving, we are re-sharing this episode. Happy Thanksgiving from the Charged team at Mass General in Boston!  

Pregnant women have historically been excluded from clinical research due to an abundance of caution for the safety of them and their babies. But consequently, these women are often left out of medical advances. Endocrinologist Dr. Camille Powe is passionate about changing that for women with maternal diabetes. In this episode, she discusses her work to better understand diabetes and pregnancy, as well as how she hopes to develop more personalized treatments for these patients.

Human activity is changing the planet at a rate “unprecedented in human history.” For many of us, the massive scale of this problem makes finding solutions feel daunting—if not impossible. But for pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Tina Duhaime, it’s not hard to explain our struggle with climate change when you consider how the human brain works. In this episode, Dr. Duhaime discusses her work studying how the brain’s reward system might relate to our drive toward increasing consumption.

As a medical student, the last thing Dr. Cristina Ferrone thought she would ever become was a surgeon, as the male-dominated specialty forced the few women in it to make hard lifestyle choices. However, when she entered her surgical rotation, she was surprised to discover how much she loved it. She is now a leader in pancreatic cancer and bile duct cancer. By focusing on work that excites her and honing in on a unique niche, she has found her identity and built a balanced career in a field that is still largely male.

September is National Recovery Month. This month has two goals: to increase awareness and understanding of mental and substance use disorders. And to celebrate the people in recovery.  In honor of the month, we are bringing back this episode from season one with Dr. Sarah Wakeman, an addiction medicine specialist and the medical director of the Substance Use Disorders Initiative at Mass General. She discusses her commitment to changing both how addiction is treated and how it is understood by the public. 

Physicians put in a tremendous amount of work into providing quality care for their patients, but sometimes the challenges that physicians face go unnoticed. Many physicians experience burnout, which leaves them feeling stress, exhaustion and less enjoyment in their work. More women than men report feelings of burnout. In this episode, we hope to spark discussion about the challenges that the women at Mass General face.

For transgender people, finding health care providers knowledgeable about their unique needs can be challenging. One essential component of care for many is hormone replacement therapy which helps the body align more closely with their gender identity. Endocrinologist Dr. Frances Hayes has provided this care to transgender patients for many years, and today she is helping helm the Transgender Health Program at Mass General. In this episode, she discusses the importance of providing multidisciplinary care for transgender patients in a supportive and affirming environment.

Kelly McInnis, DO, is a lifelong sports lover. After residency, the former Division 1 soccer player launched a new sports medicine training pathway that allowed her to spend time with orthopedic surgeons and non-operative sports specialists. At Mass General's Sports Medicine Center, she has demonstrated how her background in non-surgical care can complement the work of orthopedic surgeons. She discusses her passion for helping athletes recover and return to doing what they love.

Traditional treatments don't always help people who struggle with the most severe depression. Cristina Cusin, MD, has dedicated her career to working with patients with the most severe forms of depression. She is interested in ketamine, a drug traditionally used as an anesthetic that has shown promise for treatment-resistant depression. Dr. Cusin talks about what first drew her to this field, how she hopes to provide relief for her patients and why it’s important to support them in rebuilding their lives when they find a depression treatment that works.

True innovation comes from seeing the world differently. In nursing, something as simple as using tape to modify equipment can drives innovation in patient care. Hiyam Nadel, MBA, RN, BSN, a mentor for nurse-entrepreneurs at Massachusetts General Hospital, wants to solve problems, improve patient care and advance new ideas. She discusses the pursuit of innovation within nursing and how it’s creating exciting opportunities to improve the quality of patient care.

In 2005 Noopur Raje, MD, came to the Mass General Cancer Center with a plan to establish a new type of lab dedicated to the study of multiple myeloma, a cancer that affects the plasma cells and weakens bones. Like any uncharted territory, establishing this narrowly-focused lab required some tenacity. Noopur was up to the task, working hard to build a successful research program that has expanded our understanding of this cancer. Today, Dr. Raje directs the Center for Multiple Myeloma at the Mass General Cancer Center. In this episode, she discusses why she thinks risk-taking is important to success and how she draws inspiration from her patients to keep pressing forward.

While completing her master’s in criminal justice at Northeastern University, Bonnie Michelman, MBA, CPP, CHPA, became fascinated by the security industry. Over the years, she has worked hard within the industry, earning her extensive leadership experience, particularly within healthcare. In this episode, Bonnie discusses the importance of increasing diversity to enrich the functionality of the security industry.

When Dr. Vicki Jackson was an internal medicine resident, one particular patient showed her the transformative role that empathy can play in a patient’s life and care. This experience sparked her interest in palliative care and providing specialized support for people with serious illness. In this episode, she discusses her passion for the field and her experience helping patients navigate the uncertainty inherent infacing serious illness.