Superbugs Unplugged

In this episode, co-hosts Lance Price and Jay Graham interview Erta Kalanxhi of the One Health Trust to discuss her new paper, The Value of Vaccines to Mitigate Antimicrobial Resistance -- Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Together, they discuss how vaccines can save lives while lowering the risk of antibiotic resistance.  A win-win for everyone! Read the report. Visit the One Health Trust's website and check out their blogs!

In this episode, we introduce our new co-host Dr. Jay Graham, Associate Professor in Residence of Environmental Health Sciences, at the University of California, Berkley  School of Public Health. Together, with Dr. Lance Price, they discuss a new study that suggests that Escherichia coli and other disease-causing microbes are passing easily between humans and animals in Cambodia, a country where clean water, sanitation and hygienic controls are lacking in many regions. The continuous exchange, along with unregulated antibiotic use, leads to the emergence and spread of drug-resistant E. coli.Our guest is Maya Nadimpalli who, along with colleagues, conducted the research in Phnom Penh, an urban area where humans and animals are often living in close proximity without clean water or other environmental controls that help prevent the spread of E. coli and other potentially dangerous microbes. Check our the paper here and ESPECIALLY look at the graphics.To learn more about our new co-host, check out his bio. To learn more about co-host, Lance Price, click here. 

We'll see you next month with a brand new episode and co-host. Enjoy listening to this episode from 2021 on the fascinating and terrifying world of fungal infections.We spend a lot of time talking about antibiotic resistance, but lately, something else has caught our attention -- antifungal resistance! Thanks to the changing climate and increased fungicide use, a couple of nasty fungi have begun developing resistance genes that could make fungal infections in people untreatable. When did this happen? How bad is the threat? What are the solutions? As always, co-hosts Matt and Lance have lots of questions. Fortunately, Dr. Tom Chiller, Chief of the Mycotic Diseases Branch for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has lots of answers.  Join us for an exciting conversation with the CDC about the wild world of fungi. 

This episode first aired in January 2021. We are taking the summer off as we search for a new podcast co-host. We’re re-airing some of our most listened to episodes. Enjoy! Consumption, the Captain of all these Men of Death, the White Plague, the King’s Evil -- all names for the bacterial infection known today as Tuberculosis or TB. In the early nineteenth century, TB was one of the most common killers American adults, but since entering the antibiotic era, this once deadly disease has faded into the background of American life. Unfortunately, our eagerness to forget our past has allowed TB to continue to affect low and middle income countries across the globe. Dr. Carole Mitnick, Sc.D, Professor of Global Health & Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School  reminds us that Tuberculosis, and super-resistant tuberculosis, kills around 1.4 million people globally each year.  Continuing to deprioritize this nasty bug will only come back to bite us. To our amateur historians out there, give us a shout in the comments if you can figure out what turned Lance’s Aunt Navis blue. 

This was a sad episode for our co-hosts Dr. Lance B. Price and Matt Wellington as well as our producer, Laura Rogers. In this episode we bade farewell to Matt who is leaving U.S. PIRG after 10 years to serve as the Associate Director for the Maine Public Health Association(his home state). In addition to saying goodbye, we reminisced about some of his favorite episodes including  “CDC on the Fungal Kingdom: Full of Friends and Enemies” and “Designing the Perfect Predator: Phage Therapy.” Fear not, Superbugs Unplugged will continue. We’re taking a summer hiatus, but will have a fresh episode for you in September. We’ll repost some of our most listened to episodes over the summer. We hope you will listen and encourage others to do the same!

In this episode, hosts Dr. Lance B. Price and Matthew Wellington discuss an op ed they co-authored that was published in STAT News.  The piece is titled "The window is closing to stop deadly drug-resistant fungi like Candida auris" and discusses just what you think it does. The co-hosts discuss other fungal and bacterial infections and the need for better surveillance systems in the US so we better prepared for the next public health emergency. Read the op ed. 

In our March 2023 episode, Matt Wellington interviews his co-host, Dr. Lance B. Price, about a new study he co-authored that establishes a link between E. coli in raw meat and urinary tract infections in people. First, we hear about how these infections occur in people and some steps we can take to mitigate our risk. Next, Dr. Price addresses the “shared responsibility” of reducing the spread of E. coli and other foodborne pathogens and describes how government agencies can do their part through enhanced surveillance and vaccination research. To wrap up the episode, Dr. Price offers his outlook on our whole food system and highlights other opportunities for improvement. 

For our February episode, you'll hear the recording of a recent PIRG webinar, "How States can Protect Life-saving Antibiotics". First, each panelist, listed below, shares his/her perspective on the antibiotic resistance crisis. Next, the group explores the connection between antibiotic resistance and animal agriculture through moderator and audience questions. Finally, the panel turns to state action, including the Transparent and Responsible Antibiotic Use Act, which has recently been introduced in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly. You'll hear from:Matt Wellington, Public Health Campaigns Director, PIRGRaya Carr, Shepherdess and Events & Project Coordinator, Mint Creek FarmMadeleine Kleven, Safe and Healthy Food Program Associate, FACTDr. Sameer Patel, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Director, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of ChicagoTune in here to listen to the discussion!

In our January episode of Superbugs Unplugged, co-hosts Matt Wellington and Louis Sokolow chat with Dr. Reshma Ramachandran, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and Director of the Yale Collaboration for Regulatory Rigor, Integrity, and Transparency (CRRIT). First, we hear about Dr. Ramanchandran’s work with CRRIT to ensure that FDA-approved medical products are sufficiently safe and accessible. Next, we do a deep dive into the PASTEUR Act, a piece of legislation that would incentivize antibiotic development through government contracts with companies that receive FDA approval for a new antibiotic. Dr. Ramachandran provides her perspective and walks us through the flaws she sees in the bill, and we wrap up with a discussion of alternatives to PASTEUR. Tune in here to listen to the conversation! 

In this episode of Superbugs Unplugged, our guest, Dr. Erin Duffy, discusses the global health threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and why and how her non-profit, CARB-X, is investing in diverse products to help overcome common challenges faced in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Dr. Duffy is the Chief of R&D at CARB-X, a global biopharmaceutical accelerator for the discovery and early development of products to prevent, diagnose and treat resistant bacterialinfections. Prior to CARB-X, Dr. Duffy served as Chief Scientific Officer of Melinta Therapeutics.

In this episode we talk with Kevin Outterson the Executive Director and Principal Investigator of CARB-X about our need for the development of antibiotics. He is Professor of Law and N. Neil Pike Scholar of Health and Disability Law at Boston University School of Law, where he leads multi-disciplinary teams to solve global health issues. 

Our guest this month is patient advocate Ella Balasa who was born with the rare and chronic lung disease cystic fibrosis (CF). She shares how important antibiotics are for people living with CF to be able to fight off dangerous lung infections. She also shares how she became a patient advocate. It’s a really great discussion that you won't want to miss.

In this month's episode, co-hosts Dr. Lance Price and Matthew Wellington interview award-winning chef, cookbook author, activist, and media personality Mary Sue Milliken. She's best known for her modern Mexican concept, Border Grill restaurants, trucks, and catering, which she runs with her business partner Susan Feniger. Mary Sue Milliken was one of the first chefs to join the Supermoms Against Superbugs movement, an advocacy program run by ARAC's deputy director, Laura Rogers, when she was at the Pew Charitable Trusts. In the episode, Mary Sue shares why she is passionate about antibiotic resistance and how after serving as a Supermom transformed her restaurants to ensure the meat she procures are from animals  raised with responsible antibiotic use. 

Our latest episode features distinguished Indian environmentalist, political activist, and writer Sunita Narain, who discusses antibiotic resistance as it relates to environmentalism and human health. She's based in New Delhi in India and is a force of nature. You won't want to miss this episode!

Tune into the latest episode of our podcast to hear public health researcher and advocate, Dr. Everly Macario, discuss her personal connection to antibiotic resistance, and its impact on the medical system as we know it.

Tune into the latest episode of our podcast to hear ARAC's deputy director, Laura Rogers, discuss the Center's new paper in Science Magazine that calls into question the integrity of the 'Raised without Antibiotics' label claim.

On this episode, Co-Host Matthew Wellington talks with experts from World Animal Protection. Topics addressed include antibiotic over use on industrial farms, animal welfare issues related to these huge farms and the need for a moratorium on additional factory farms in the United States and globally.

This month’s episode focuses on a recent AMR study published in the Lancet: Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. Our guest this month is co-author Dr. Kevin Ikuta, Infectious Disease Physician, Assistant Professor at UCLA in the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Hospital Epidemiologist at the Greater Los Angeles VA.We dive into the details and methods of the report, which areas are most impacted by AMR, and how to tackle this global health crisis.

Dr. Jesper Larsen and Anders R. Larsen, Ph.D. join us to discuss their exciting new report “Emergence of methicillin resistance predates the clinical use of antibiotics”. This study reveals that some strains of MRSA were around far before the era of human antibiotic use.  It was discovered in the most unlikely of places – on the backs of hedgehogs. Co-hosts Matt and Lance unpack this discovery and discuss how it relates to the importance of reducing antibiotic use in human and animal settings to slow resistance. 

Join Lance and Matt as they sit down with Dr. Laura Huber and Dr. Thomas Van Boeckle to discuss the findings of their recent paper, which looks at reductions in antibiotics in chickens in Canada and the impact on resistance in Salmonella, Campy and E coli.