Stanford Medicine Health Compass

When Bryant Lin, MD, physician and faculty member at Stanford Medicine, was diagnosed with stage 4 never-smoker lung cancer, he took it as an opportunity to do what he does best: teach. Lin launched a class diving into a variety of topics around cancer care, grappling with tough conversations, and the difficult choices that come with navigating drastic changes in one's health. In a conversation with Maya Adam, Lin shares his outlook and personal motivations to turn a daunting diagnosis into an opportunity to learn. Together they explore how, even amid a time of tumult, Lin finds meaning and hope through engaging young students in lessons of how to support and care for people facing similar diagnoses.

Maya Adam, MD, and her guests Victor Carrion, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, and Laura Roberts, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, shine a spotlight on the global mental health crisis and share how research at Stanford Medicine is giving new hope to patients seeking clearer diagnoses and better treatments. Carrion explores the impact of trauma on young people, discusses how to help build resilience, and shares practical tools that help youth support their own mental health. Later, Roberts speaks to the state of the world’s mental health, including how the pandemic left lingering impacts on us all, how to restore mental balance, and why digital health could be a boon to broader accessibility to mental health tools. Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/mental-health-crisis.html

While the immune system is normally the body’s sworn protector, it can sometimes turn against us. Maya Adam hosts Howard Chang, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology and of genetics, and Diana Dou, PhD, former Stanford Medicine postdoctoral scholar and current assistant professor of immunology at Duke University, to discuss autoimmune diseases and why women are at an increased risk. Chang and Dou share their respective journeys into medicine, what motivates them to research the autoimmunity imbalance between genders, and findings from their latest research that point to why women experience a sex bias. Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/autoimmunity_women.html

This episode discusses suicide and may be distressing for some listeners. If help is needed, the U.S. national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988 or by chatting at 988lifeline.org. Maya Adam and Leanne Williams, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, talk about tackling the stigma surrounding mental health challenges, a burden that still too often prevents those who need help the most from reaching out. In this episode, Williams shares her own searingly personal story about the loss of her partner, an ER physician who died by suicide, and how it motivated her work to prevent more tragedies. She underscores the need to identify the root causes of mental illness in the brain and explores the potential for bio-typing to bring precision and personalization to the field. She also emphasizes the importance of lifestyle changes to improve outcomes, the need to make technological advances more widely available and how, together, we can all help erase the shame around getting treatment. Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/mental-health-stigma.html

With life expectancy globally continuing to climb, Maya Adam, MD, and David Rehkopf, ScD, associate professor of epidemiology and population health and of medicine, talk about the lessons we might all draw from “blue zones,” the places where residents' enjoy extraordinarily long lifespans. Rehkopf discusses the importance of social connections, diet and everyday activity as keys to health aging. He emphasizes the role of the environment in shaping health behaviors, shares insights from his research on biological markers of aging, and gives practical advice on how to create healthier lifestyles that support longevity. Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/longevity-blue-zones.html

Artificial intelligence is making waves in nearly every industry, but questions still abound. Maya Adam, MD, and guests Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and biomedical data sciences, and Michael Pfeffer, MD, chief information officer of Stanford Health Care and the Stanford School of Medicine, talk about how AI is being brought into the folds of medicine. From questions like, “How is AI impacting the doctor-patient relationship?” to “Can I trust medical information that comes from AI,” Chen and Pfeffer discuss their experiences with AI and other boons of the technology when it comes to diagnostics and access to health care. Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/ai-health-care.html

Join Maya Adam, MD, as she navigates health’s biggest questions with leading experts featured in Stanford Medicine magazine