The area of land affected by wildfires has increased annually at a more rapid pace than the actual number of wildfires. With climate change comes an increase in seasonal conditions that support wildfires, such as warmer springs and longer dry s

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 41 – Eating Disorders

Sep 13th, 2023 49m 23s

Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating, are very common and some of the most complicated psychiatric disorders to address. It is estimated that almost 1 in 10 Americans will experience an eating disorder at

SER 2023 Live Podcast Recording: Busting Epi Myths

Jul 11th, 2023 1h 10m

The SER 2023 conference in Portland, Oregon was the site of the first ever live recording of the Epidemiology Counts podcast with an audience! Host Bryan James was joined by the hosts of the SERious Epi podcast, Matt Fox and Hailey Banack to le

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 40 – Disasters & Risk Assessment

Apr 5th, 2023 52m 34s

The recent train derailment in East Palestine (apologies for host Bryan James’ mispronunciation in the Intro), Ohio raised major concerns over the release of harmful chemicals such as vinyl chloride into the environment. The town was evacuated

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 39 – Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

Feb 9th, 2023 1h 5m

In this episode of Epi Counts, host Bryan James talks to Maria Glymour, the incoming chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, about their shared area of research: the epidemiology of Alzheimer’s dise

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 38 – Occupational Epidemiology

Jan 12th, 2023 49m 23s

Occupational Epidemiology is one of the oldest and most salient areas in Epidemiology. People need to work, so understanding the aspects of the work environment that contribute to health is vital to public health. Exposures are often not confin

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 37 – Epidemiology vs. Population Health: Two sides of the same coin?

Aug 11th, 2022 49m 22s

Population Health Sciences and Epidemiology are thought about as different from one another by some, and largely overlapping by others. Depending on who you talk to, either view might spark an argument. In this crossover episode, I get the chan

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 36 – Trans Health

Jul 7th, 2022 57m 44s

Trans health is a growing area in public health. This is largely due to the growing number of individuals who feel comfortable expressing gender identities that do not confirm to binary male and female categories. The 2015 summary of the US tra

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 35 – The Microbiome: our gut, our health

Jun 8th, 2022 56m 3s

Did you know trillions of microorganisms such as bacteria, virus, and fungi are living inside of your body right now? The microbiome can be described as the community of microbes that reside in a particular part the human body. The past two dec

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 34 – Omicron & transition to endemic COVID-19

Feb 25th, 2022 1h 16m

The most recent stage of the COVID-19 pandemic has been defined by the surge of the Omicron variant, a version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is highly contagious yet seemingly not as likely to result in severe infection. Cases are now declining

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 33 – Social Media, Youth Mental Health

Feb 1st, 2022 51m 58s

Social media is a major part of many people’s day to day lives, including children. Social media can connect young people to other people, groups, imagery, and ideas in a way that was never imaginable two decades ago. This can be exciting but a

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 32 – Built environment: Green Space

Dec 20th, 2021 56m 4s

In the second episode on how the built environment of our cities and towns affects our health, we discuss how living near green spaces and natural environments can provide health benefits. The feeling of serenity while immersed in nature and ve

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 31 – Sports Injury

Nov 28th, 2021 53m 1s

Sports is life. Fans have a deep devotion to their preferred teams from their alma maters or home towns. Fans spend shocking amounts of time discussing things like player stats and predictions of final game scores. The players are expected to b

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 30 – The Built Environment: walking and biking

Oct 26th, 2021 59m 23s

Our health is very much shaped by the structure of the spaces around us, what we often refer to as our built environment. The concept of the built environment was developed for fields of urban planning and architecture, and includes any aspects

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 29 – Residential Segregation & Redlining

Oct 5th, 2021 1h 2m

Health in America is closely tied to where we live. Higher rates of preventable health conditions are concentrated in high-poverty neighborhoods that are more likely to be home to a higher proportion of Americans of color. Despite modern anti-d

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 28 – Breakthrough COVID-19 & Delta

Sep 9th, 2021 1h 3m

The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines that are highly effective against infection and severe disease in late 2020 appeared to be the silver bullet that would end the pandemic and bring life back to the way it was in pre-pandemic times. But the emerg

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 27 – Perinatal Epidemiology

Jun 17th, 2021 58m 50s

What happens in pregnancy and the early stages of infancy can have a profound impact on child and adolescent development, and may even affect the health of individuals as adults. A growing understanding of which events may be most harmful for a

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 26 – Optimism

May 27th, 2021 49m 40s

Can a positive outlook on life actually have a direct effect on our health? Optimism appears to be linked to better health and the ability to cope with and bounce back from disease and surgery, while pessimistic people are more likely to develo

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 25 – Racialized Policing

Feb 24th, 2021 59m 37s

By nearly any metric, Black and brown Americans are disproportionately policed, arrested, convicted, and incarcerated compared to white Americans. One in 3 Black boys born in America in 2001 can expect to go to prison in their lifetime. Further

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 24 – “Epidemiology podcast crossover”

Dec 14th, 2020 52m 25s

In honor of the Society for Epidemiologic Research 2020 Meeting, the hosts of four epidemiology podcasts came together to record the first ever “crossover event” to talk about their experiences recording our shows and what podcasting can bring

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 23 – “Coronavirus – Testing”

Nov 7th, 2020 1h 16m

COVID-19 is surging as the United States heads into winter, with 100,000 new cases reported in a single day for the first time on the day of this podcast recording. The presence of this virus is a constant in our lives and our communities, and

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 22 – “Maternal Mortality”

Nov 3rd, 2020 57m 4s

Maternal mortality is a key indicator of population health. While the leading causes of maternal death vary from place to place, most of these deaths are preventable; accordingly, most wealthy countries have reported steady declines in mortalit

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 21 – “Climate Change”

Sep 28th, 2020 42m 18s

Hurricane and fire seasons are affecting communities across the US and globally. Over 5 million acres have burned in the Western US. Smoke from these fires reached all the way to New York and Washington DC. Natural disasters are made worse by c

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 20 – “Sleep”

Aug 26th, 2020 1h 1m

Sleep is essential for wellbeing and overall health. We spend up to a third of our lives asleep and the general state of “sleep health” is an important question throughout our lifespan. The CDC has estimated that 1 in 3 American Adults do not

Epidemiology Counts – Episode 19 – “Cell Phones”

Jul 30th, 2020 50m 21s

Cell phones outnumber people globally and they have become an important conduit through which we interact with our world, both personally and professionally. Day or night, it’s rare that our cell phone is not by our side, and yet it’s likely th