Fiftyfaces Focus Medicine and Science

Fiftyfaces Focus Medicine and Science

A podcast focused on profiling inspiring people in the fields of medicine and science.  You can't be what you can't see. Co-hosted by Aoifinn Devitt and Maeve McQuillan.

read less
Health & FitnessHealth & Fitness
MedicineMedicine

Episodes

Episode 17: Maternal Mortality in 2024 - The Story Continues: Tiffany McKever, Digital Healthcare Strategies
21-08-2024
Episode 17: Maternal Mortality in 2024 - The Story Continues: Tiffany McKever, Digital Healthcare Strategies
And now it is time to hear from one of the advocates whose work goes on, even when it is no longer news. Tiffany McKever is a digital healthcare strategist, whose work has included researching and developing a Population Health Initiative with a focus on environmental factors related to social determinants of health (SDOH) resulting in significant impacts to healthcare cost access and quality in large urban cities. We turn to her to update us on the state of maternal mortality across the US, as part of our ongoing coverage of this issue (see https://www.fiftyfaceshub.com/category/medicine-and-science/ for other podcasts relating to the topic). In the US, maternal and women’s health more broadly remains at the forefront of political discourse as states diverge in their approach and the US Supreme Court recently overturned Roe v. Wade.  While the Covid pandemic laid bare the disparate experiences of different communities relating to social determinants of health, ongoing news relating to maternal mortality and injury rates that are not evenly spread in the community indicate that this is clearly an issue that is no closer to resolution. Our conversation starts with some definitions, and updates us on the current state of maternal mortality statistics in the US.  We dive in to possible causes as well as solutions that are likely to contribute to alleviating the problem, in particular some spending earmarked by the Biden administration to address women’s health in particular. This is a conversation that sadly continues to run, with little obvious resolution.  Watch this space for ongoing coverage of this subject.
Episode 16: Maternal Mortality: A Modern Crisis: Part 3 - looking around the world to global solutions
05-01-2024
Episode 16: Maternal Mortality: A Modern Crisis: Part 3 - looking around the world to global solutions
In the US, every 12 hours a woman dies due to complications resulting from pregnancy. Additionally, 2 babies die each day. According to data from the national center for health statistics the maternal mortality rate for 2021 was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with a rate of 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019 In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times the rate for non-Hispanic White women (26.6) Rates for Black women were significantly higher than rates for White and Hispanic women. The increases from 2020 to 2021 for all race and Hispanic-origin groups were significant. In 2020 the U.S. remains among the most dangerous developed nations for a woman to give birth.The first part of this series explored the nature of the problem - hearing from Maneesha Ghiya, the founder of FemHealth Ventures about her own birth experience that prompted a career-long devotion to women's health issues, as well as Yele Aluko, EY Americas Chief Medical Officer, director of the EY Center for Health Equity, Adonica Shaw, CEO and Founder of My Wing Women, an online community and resource center for women relating to reproductive and other health issues. Maura Rosenfeld, founder of digital health innovator - MindUp, provides her insights on the innovations and technology that can move the needle in alleviating this problem. Part two built upon this to explore solutions to the problem, returning to our discussion with Yele Aluko to discuss some of the investments in alleviating inequity in the US medical landscape, and where disparities persist. Adonica Shaw then details the importance of community, shared experience, resources and education - all of which she is amplifying through My Wing Women.In this part three we look around the world to compare the nature of the problem  - hearing from Yele Aluko about his experience in Africa, while Noa Hirsch, an experienced health care director, nurse and business based in Israel shares not only her insights from the ground and from other kinds of disparities on the ground in a much more densely populated country as well as from technology solutions that are in development to chip away at persistent problems in this domain. This podcast is brought to you by Fiftyfaces Productions Limited.  Fiftyfaces Productions Limited was founded in 2020 as a media company committed to amplifying diverse voices across a wide range of professions starting with finance and investment.  Our mission is to highlight ideas and debate them, tear down stereotypes and ventilate a broad range of views. We believe that you can't be what you can't see and that you won't see what you don't support and amplify. In 2024 we are committed to ensuring progress towards the following UN SDGs:⛰️SDG 3 Good Health and Wellbeing⛰️SDG 4 Quality Education⛰️SDG 5 Gender Equality⛰️SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth⛰️SDG 9 Industry Innovation and Infrastructure⛰️SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities⛰️SDG 13 Climate ActionThis podcast series is part of our mission to spread awareness of women's health issues and to further SDG 3, 4, 5 and 10.
Episode 15: Maternal Mortality: A Modern Crisis: Part 2: Exploring Solutions
05-01-2024
Episode 15: Maternal Mortality: A Modern Crisis: Part 2: Exploring Solutions
In the US, every 12 hours a woman dies due to complications resulting from pregnancy. Additionally, 2 babies die each day. According to data from the national center for health statistics the maternal mortality rate for 2021 was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with a rate of 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019 In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times the rate for non-Hispanic White women (26.6) Rates for Black women were significantly higher than rates for White and Hispanic women. The increases from 2020 to 2021 for all race and Hispanic-origin groups were significant. In 2020 the U.S. remains among the most dangerous developed nations for a woman to give birth.The first part of this series explored the nature of the problem - hearing from Maneesha Ghiya, the founder of FemHealth Ventures about her own birth experience that prompted a career-long devotion to women's health issues, as well as Yele Aluko, EY Americas Chief Medical Officer, director of the EY Center for Health Equity, Adonica Shaw, CEO and Founder of My Wing Women, an online community and resource center for women relating to reproductive and other health issues. Maura Rosenfeld, founder of digital health innovator - MindUp, provides her insights on the innovations and technology that can move the needle in alleviating this problem.In part two we explore solutions to the problem, returning to our discussion with Yele Aluko to discuss some of the investments in alleviating inequity in the US medical landscape, and where disparities persist. Adonica Shaw then details the importance of community, shared experience, resources and education - all of which she is amplifying through My Wing Women.This podcast is brought to you by Fiftyfaces Productions Limited.  Fiftyfaces Productions Limited was founded in 2020 as a media company committed to amplifying diverse voices across a wide range of professions starting with finance and investment.  Our mission is to highlight ideas and debate them, tear down stereotypes and ventilate a broad range of views. We believe that you can't be what you can't see and that you won't see what you don't support and amplify. In 2024 we are committed to ensuring progress towards the following UN SDGs: ⛰️SDG 3 Good Health and Wellbeing⛰️SDG 4 Quality Education⛰️SDG 5 Gender Equality⛰️SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth⛰️SDG 9 Industry Innovation and Infrastructure⛰️SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities⛰️SDG 13 Climate ActionThis podcast series is part of our mission to spread awareness of women's health issues and to further SDG 3, 4, 5 and 10.
Episode 14: Maternal Mortality -  A Modern Crisis: Part 1 - Exploring the Problem
05-01-2024
Episode 14: Maternal Mortality - A Modern Crisis: Part 1 - Exploring the Problem
In the US, every 12 hours a woman dies due to complications resulting from pregnancy. Additionally, 2 babies die each day. According to data from the national center for health statistics the maternal mortality rate for 2021 was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with a rate of 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019 In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times the rate for non-Hispanic White women (26.6) Rates for Black women were significantly higher than rates for White and Hispanic women. The increases from 2020 to 2021 for all race and Hispanic-origin groups were significant. In 2020 the U.S. remains among the most dangerous developed nations for a woman to give birth.In this podcast series we are focusing on first expounding the problem of maternal mortality within the US and on stating the nature of the problem. We are speaking with experts throughout the country.  We are then going to ask why this remains such a persistent problem and look to how we can alleviate it.  We will ask what has been tried, where money has been spent.  We will see what has failed, and what continues to fail to serve women throughout the country. We will explore what has been proven to make a difference in alleviating this problem, and will ask what advances in digital health can bring. Finally, we will look around the world at solutions that have worked there to lead to a better outcome for mothers and babies.In this part 1 of the series we will explore the problem, through storytelling, on the ground insights and lived experience. We hear from Maneesha Ghiya, the founder of FemHealth Ventures about her own birth experience that prompted a career-long devotion to women's health issues, as well as Yele Aluko, EY Americas Chief Medical Officer, director of the EY Center for Health Equity, Adonica Shaw, CEO and Founder of My Wing Women, an online community and resource center for women relating to reproductive and other health issues. Maura Rosenfeld, founder of digital health innovator - MindUp, provides her insights on the innovations and technology that can move the needle in alleviating this problem. This podcast is brought to you by Fiftyfaces Productions Limited.  Fiftyfaces Productions Limited was founded in 2020 as a media company committed to amplifying diverse voices across a wide range of professions starting with finance and investment.  Our mission is to highlight ideas and debate them, tear down stereotypes and ventilate a broad range of views. We believe that you can't be what you can't see and that you won't see what you don't support and amplify. In 2024 we are committed to ensuring progress towards the following UN SDGs: ⛰️SDG 3 Good Health and Wellbeing⛰️SDG 4 Quality Education⛰️SDG 5 Gender Equality⛰️SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth⛰️SDG 9 Industry Innovation and Infrastructure⛰️SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities⛰️SDG 13 Climate ActionThis podcast series is part of our mission to spread awareness of women's health issues and to further SDG 3, 4, 5 and 10.
Episode 13: Amy Lehman of Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic: Power Dynamics in Medicine and a Development Journey
06-04-2023
Episode 13: Amy Lehman of Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic: Power Dynamics in Medicine and a Development Journey
Amy Lehman is Founder and CEO at Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic, an international organization, whose mission is to address the problem of healthcare access for millions of people who live in the isolated, but strategically critical lake, Tanganyika, great lakes region of central Africa. She received both an MD and MBA from the University of Chicago, and trained in general surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Additionally, she was a senior fellow with McLean center for Clinical Medical Ethics. She received the 2014 distinguished young alumni award from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She has been mentioned by Newsweek as one of “150 Women who Shake the World” and by a number of other publications. We start with discussing Amy's precociously early interest in medicine and brain surgeries and her path through both her medical and business degree.  We hear about the illness that sent her on a different path from surgery and the serendipity that brought her to Lake Tanganyika.  It was witnessing the impact of funding there that inspired her to return to the region to establish the Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic and we hear about the somewhat unorthodox marketing strategy that she uses to promote it and its location!We speak in some detail about the current state of development aid and how it is often well-intended but clumsily executed and suggest a different, more nuanced, and more targeted path.Finally we discuss high and low points of working in such a challenged area, the role of power dynamics in medicine and the impact that such work has. This series is being supported by an anonymous supporter and we are using our traditional sponsor slots to shine a light on organizations that promote diversity in medicine.  These includeThe Doctors Back to School Program through the American Medical Association which sends minority physicians and minority medical students into schools in underserved communities as a way to introduce children to minority medical role models.  Contact dbts@ama-assn.org for more information on the Doctors Back to School program. https://www.ama-assn.org/member-groups-sections/minority-affairs/doctors-back-school-program GLMA is a national organization committed to ensuring health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and all sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, and equality for LGBTQ/SGM health professionals in their work and learning environments.  To achieve this mission, GLMA utilizes the scientific expertise of its diverse multidisciplinary membership to inform and drive advocacy, education, and research. https://www.glma.org/index.cfm?nodeid=1The American Medical Women's Association is focused on supporting and retaining women in healthcare through promoting gender equity in medicine.    https://www.amwa-doc.org/our-work/initiatives/gender-equity-task-force/invest-in-her/The National Orthopaedic Alliance and international Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance. https://www.orthopaedicdiversity.org/
Episode 12: Nkem Egekeze of Stealth Start-ups: Waste Not/Want Not - a Mindset for Medicine
06-04-2023
Episode 12: Nkem Egekeze of Stealth Start-ups: Waste Not/Want Not - a Mindset for Medicine
Nkem Egekeze is chief innovation officer and Managing Director of Stealth Startup.  He previously worked as an orthopedic surgery resident and as a research scholar at the University of Georgia, and a strategy advisor at Harvard Innovation Labs. He obtained his medical degree from University of Michigan medical school. He focuses on providing value-based health research and innovation insights for investment executives and medical professionals focusing in particular on cost savings and customized insights. Our conversation track's Nkem's own career, which involved some stints in emerging markets and we discuss the insights that working in these more resource constrained communities provided in terms of what represents "value" in healthcare as well as waste.  Nkem has integrated these insights into his own approach to medicine now, where he is an advocate for value-based research and insights that can be gained through innovation and change.We speak about the potential for innovation in medicine as well as some of the shortcomings in the profession currently in terms of under-representation as well as waste. This series is being supported by an anonymous supporter and we are using our traditional sponsor slots to shine a light on organizations that promote diversity in medicine.  These includeThe Doctors Back to School Program through the American Medical Association which sends minority physicians and minority medical students into schools in underserved communities as a way to introduce children to minority medical role models.  Contact dbts@ama-assn.org for more information on the Doctors Back to School program. https://www.ama-assn.org/member-groups-sections/minority-affairs/doctors-back-school-program GLMA is a national organization committed to ensuring health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and all sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, and equality for LGBTQ/SGM health professionals in their work and learning environments.  To achieve this mission, GLMA utilizes the scientific expertise of its diverse multidisciplinary membership to inform and drive advocacy, education, and research. https://www.glma.org/index.cfm?nodeid=1The American Medical Women's Association is focused on supporting and retaining women in healthcare through promoting gender equity in medicine.    https://www.amwa-doc.org/our-work/initiatives/gender-equity-task-force/invest-in-her/The National Orthopaedic Alliance and international Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance. https://www.orthopaedicdiversity.org/
Episode 11: Veronica O'Keane: On the Making of Memories and the Promise of Modern Psychiatry
06-04-2023
Episode 11: Veronica O'Keane: On the Making of Memories and the Promise of Modern Psychiatry
Veronica O’Keane has recently retired from her position which was as a professor of psychiatry and consultant psychiatrist at Trinity College Dublin.  She has over 30 years of experience in the field and has published numerous research papers, especially on mood disorders and on perinatal depression. She is the author of the book A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are and  The Rag & Bone Shop, How We Make Memories and Memories Make Us.  She lives by the sea in north Dublin and is a passionate open sea swimmer.Our wide-ranging conversation starts with what drew Veronica to psychiatry and her path through medicine.  We speak about the evolution of psychiatry over her career, and the integration of it with our growing understanding of neuroscience and neuro-imaging.  We speak about an age of enlightment of sorts that the area is entering given the ability for neuroscience to further explain the mysteries of the brain.We dive in then to some of the specialist areas that Veronica focuses on, some of which are the subject of her books, such as the science of memory and how it evolves, as well as the way that studying the extreme expressions of an illness can help us to understand more mainstream versions of it. We speak about the development of the brain as we age and some of the abstraction that we can develop, which is, in effect an advantage.A lifelong advocate for women in medicine, Veronica speaks about her own experience as a practitioner and the position of women in the healthcare system and how much improvement still needs to occur. This series is being supported by an anonymous supporter and we are using our traditional sponsor slots to shine a light on organizations that promote diversity in medicine.  These includeThe Doctors Back to School Program through the American Medical Association which sends minority physicians and minority medical students into schools in underserved communities as a way to introduce children to minority medical role models.  Contact dbts@ama-assn.org for more information on the Doctors Back to School program. https://www.ama-assn.org/member-groups-sections/minority-affairs/doctors-back-school-program GLMA is a national organization committed to ensuring health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and all sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, and equality for LGBTQ/SGM health professionals in their work and learning environments.  To achieve this mission, GLMA utilizes the scientific expertise of its diverse multidisciplinary membership to inform and drive advocacy, education, and research. https://www.glma.org/index.cfm?nodeid=1The American Medical Women's Association is focused on supporting and retaining women in healthcare through promoting gender equity in medicine.    https://www.amwa-doc.org/our-work/initiatives/gender-equity-task-force/invest-in-her/The National Orthopaedic Alliance and international Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance. https://www.orthopaedicdiversity.org/
Episode 10: Maneesha Ghiya of FemHealth Ventures: Amplifying Women in Healthcare and Beyond
06-04-2023
Episode 10: Maneesha Ghiya of FemHealth Ventures: Amplifying Women in Healthcare and Beyond
Maneesha Ghiya is Managing Partner and Founder of FemHealth Ventures, a firm focused on providing investment capital to entrepreneurs focused on women’s health. Investing in healthcare since 2000, Maneesha has invested via public equities, private equities and as a hedge fund specialist.  She is a Senior Advisor to ExSight Ventures, an ophthalmology-focused venture capital fund and serves on multiple boards.Our conversation starts with Maneesha’s background and her early interest in the intersection of healthcare, engineering and business.  We then move to the personal experience when delivering her child that catalyzed her interest in FemHealth and the venture fund that she founded with this as its focus.  There is a startling disparity in funding, awareness and the profile attached to female health issues and we list some of these – the lack of participation by women in drug trials, the low level of research dollars applied to health conditions that traditionally affect women and the low level of knowledge regarding disparities in how certain illnesses – e.g. cardiac arrest – present.Maneesha lists some of the innovative solutions being sourced to solve some of these problems and what kind of commercial potential they could have.This series is being supported by an anonymous supporter and we are using our traditional sponsor slots to shine a light on organizations that promote diversity in medicine.  These includeThe Doctors Back to School Program through the American Medical Association which sends minority physicians and minority medical students into schools in underserved communities as a way to introduce children to minority medical role models.  Contact dbts@ama-assn.org for more information on the Doctors Back to School program. https://www.ama-assn.org/member-groups-sections/minority-affairs/doctors-back-school-program GLMA is a national organization committed to ensuring health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and all sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, and equality for LGBTQ/SGM health professionals in their work and learning environments.  To achieve this mission, GLMA utilizes the scientific expertise of its diverse multidisciplinary membership to inform and drive advocacy, education, and research. https://www.glma.org/index.cfm?nodeid=1The American Medical Women's Association is focused on supporting and retaining women in healthcare through promoting gender equity in medicine.    https://www.amwa-doc.org/our-work/initiatives/gender-equity-task-force/invest-in-her/The National Orthopaedic Alliance and international Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance. https://www.orthopaedicdiversity.org/
Episode 2: Series 1 - 2023 - Brains, Breadth and Heart - Inspiring People in Medicine and Science
05-04-2023
Episode 2: Series 1 - 2023 - Brains, Breadth and Heart - Inspiring People in Medicine and Science
In Series 2 of our Inspiring People in Medicine and Science we continue to source inspiring voices and to ventilate topics relevant to us, our loved ones and the societies we live in.  With topics as wide ranging as development aid, mental health, Femhealth and value – we dig deep into what these areas mean, why the conventional wisdom is not always “wise” and hear about exciting new frontiers. We are releasing all four of these episodes this week so that you can compare and contrast the experiences of these doctors and medical professionals and that have broken the mould and are pushing for change.  We hear from Nkem Egekeze about what developed markets can learn from those on the frontier and what it means to seek value in medicine, while Amy Lehman shares her unorthodox views on development and what led her to set up Lake Tanganyika's floating clinic in central Africa.  Veronica O'Keane, a published author on topics of psychiatry, neuroscience and memory offers insights into the evolution of the brain as we age, while Maneesha Ghiya shares her investment strategy in FemHealth and the opportunity set that excites her there.Amy Lehman is Founder and CEO at Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic, an international organization, whose mission is to address the problem of healthcare access for millions of people who live in the isolated, but strategically critical lake, Tanganyika, great lakes region of central Africa. She received both an MD and MBA from the University of Chicago, and trained in general surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Additionally, she was a senior fellow with McLean center for Clinical Medical Ethics. She received the 2014 distinguished young alumni award from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She has been mentioned by Newsweek as one of “150 Women who Shake the World” and by a number of other publications. Nkem Egekeze s chief innovation officer and Managing Director of Stealth Startup.  He previously worked as an orthopedic surgery resident and as a research scholar at the University of Georgia, and a strategy advisor at Harvard Innovation Labs. He obtained his medical degree from University of Michigan medical school. He focuses on providing value-based health research and innovation insights for investment executives and medical professionals focusing in particular on cost savings and customized insights. Veronica O’Keane is a professor of psychiatry and consultant psychiatrist at Trinity College Dublin, with over 30 years of experience in the field. She has published numerous research papers, especially on mood disorders and on perinatal depression. She is the author of the book A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are and  The Rag & Bone Shop, How We Make Memories and Memories Make Us.  She lives by the sea in north Dublin and is a passionate open sea swimmer.Maneesha Ghiya  is Managing Partner and Founder of FemHealth Ventures, a firm focused on providing investment capital to entrepreneurs focused on women’s health. Investing in healthcare since 2000, Maneesha has invested via public equities, private equities and as a hedge fund specialist.  She is a Senior Advisor to ExSight Ventures, an ophthalmology-focused venture capital fund and serves on multiple boards.   This series is being supported by an anonymous supporter and we are using our traditional sponsor slots to shine a light on organizations that promote diversity in medicine.  These includeThe Doctors Back to School Program through the American Medical Association which sends minority physicians and minority medical students into schools in underserved communities as a way to introduce children to minority medical role models.  Contact dbts@ama-assn.org for more information on the Doctors Back to School program. https://www.ama-assn.org/member-groups-sections/minority-affairs/doctors-back-school-program GLMA is a national organization committed to ensuring health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and all sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, and equality for LGBTQ/SGM health professionals in their work and learning environments.  To achieve this mission, GLMA utilizes the scientific expertise of its diverse multidisciplinary membership to inform and drive advocacy, education, and research. https://www.glma.org/index.cfm?nodeid=1The American Medical Women's Association is focused on supporting and retaining women in healthcare through promoting gender equity in medicine.    https://www.amwa-doc.org/our-work/initiatives/gender-equity-task-force/invest-in-her/The National Orthopaedic Alliance and international Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance. https://www.orthopaedicdiversity.org/
Episode 9: Shalom Lloyd of Emerging Markets Quality Trials: Transforming Healthcare through Research in Africa
03-02-2023
Episode 9: Shalom Lloyd of Emerging Markets Quality Trials: Transforming Healthcare through Research in Africa
Shalom Lloyd,  after a career of over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, went on to found two businesses. She is founder of Naturally Tribal skincare, a beauty line based on traditional remedies including shea butter, which she developed initially to cure her son’s eczema. She is also the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of eMQT, described as “the Bridge between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Africa” which facilitates clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies in Africa. She has been a keynote speaker on the topic of innovation and was a fellow of the Start-Up Leadership Program in London until 2020. This conversation builds on our earlier conversation with Shalom, which focused on her broad entrepreneurial portfolio, and updates us on the work of eMQT in Africa. We learn about its expansion, the effect of Covid and how it lead to an awakening of awareness of healthcare disparities as well as the importance of size in terms of potential population sample.  We hear about the shift in thinking around the potential for clinical trials in Africa, and how much of the reticence around conducting trials initially stemmed from lack of knowledge and even some fear of the unknown.  eMQT aims to tackle this lack of knowledge through education and outreach, and we hear about the programs are currently underway. The company's "why" include the following:Currently, 95% of cancer patients in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are diagnosed too late.The population offers drug naïve patients in multiple disease areas that are accessible through careful planning and engagement.  An important shift underway currently is the recognition that not only "communicable diseases" and other tropical diseases can be studied in this way. The ‘Rising Billion’ people in Africa are expected to reach 3-5 billion by 2050 representing half of the world’s population. The rising GDP and consumer power offers an attractive therapeutic market.Although the patients of African descent make up 17% of the world’s population (over 1Billion), Black People are underrepresented in clinical trials globally reported as less than 3% by the Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS).There is more information on eMQT on the website: https://emqt.org.uk/
Episode 8: Dr. Alan Carver - Neurologist and Palliative Care Expert - Treating the Individual Not the Disease
30-12-2022
Episode 8: Dr. Alan Carver - Neurologist and Palliative Care Expert - Treating the Individual Not the Disease
Dr. Alan Carver is a neurologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he treats patients with neurological complications of cancer.  Interviewed by Maeve McQuillan, the conversation starts with his journey into medicine and what attracted him to neurology.He describes his fascination with the brain, and how when the brain changes people change and how it gets to the essence of personality and function. The conversation then turns to palliative care and how active a role that doctors play in ensuring that the care is effective and meaningful. It touches on the human aspect of dealing with patients and reflects on the profession of medicine and whether he would recommend it to the next generation.Maeve McQuillan is an award winning Irish screenwriter whose shorts and features have screened in numerous international film festivals and have  been distributed theatrically in Europe and the US. After graduating from UCLA with a MFA in directing, Maeve worked as a story producer for the CBS Lookback Series and more recently as a consultant for Creative Media in Europe. Maeve currently has several projects  that are being supported by Screen Ireland and are in development with Irish production companies. Her TV show Hidden is being developed with the Irish national TV  broadcaster RTÉ and the Irish production company Fantastic Films. Maeve is also working on an  eight part podcast with Munck Studios Berlin and Audible US.
Episode 7: Dr. Patrick Devitt - Modern Psychiatry - Reflections on the Road to Here
20-12-2022
Episode 7: Dr. Patrick Devitt - Modern Psychiatry - Reflections on the Road to Here
Dr. Patrick Devitt is my father and co-host of the first series of Inspiring People in the Law.  He is a consultant psychiatrist in  in Dublin, Ireland, and formerly spent time as Mental Health Inspector. His area of specialty is community psychiatry and Medico-legal psychiatry. He also has degrees in law and science.Our conversation starts with his upbringing in Dublin in the 1950s, why he initially pursued a degree in science and some of the twists and turns that led him to go back to pursue an undergraduate degree in medicine.  We discuss his brief detour into a career in acting as an extra in TV advertisements – which, despite his promising good looks, was purely to pay the bills during medical school – and learn about his skillset in purposefully carrying a six pack of beer or preparing a cheese sandwich – all for the camera.We spend some time discussing what it was like to return to study medicine while at a later stage in life than some of his peers, and how the “embarrassment” method of teaching was such a bonding experience that age was no barrier.  We move then to his time in general practice and how that started to involve community mental health issues from the very beginning. This galvanized his interest in psychiatry, and we hear about his early years pursuing this profession.We indulge then in a reasonably detailed dissection of the state of modern psychiatry, trace its development from the era of widespread institutionalization and transition to a community based treatment scheme.  Dr. Devitt talks about the introduction of “game changing” anti-psychotic drugs which enabled better management and treatment and some of the failings of the transition to a community based treatment regime.  We discuss the use of drugs in modern psychiatry and the massive growth in awareness of mental health issues among the general population.Dr. Devitt then explains why he believes that mainstream psychiatry should focus on what he describes as the Big Five: Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Severe Depression, Severe Anxiety, and Severe Personality Disorders.  We talk about the more holistic approach being taken overall, and why communication to family members, management of expectations and treatment is so key to successful outcomes.Finally we examine diversity in medicine today, particularly in the field of psychiatry, and why medicine, as essentially a “problem solving” pursuit is so intellectually challenging and has such universal appeal.  We then examine the role that running has played in this psychiatrist’s life, how it is key to managing anxiety and promoting wellbeing.Dr. Devitt refers to the following article in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/opinion/us-mental-health-community-centers.html and the following book about the experience of young Medical Interns: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/60858767-the-night-interns.
Episode 6: Prof. Brian Devitt: Orthopaedic Surgeon - Mobility, Quality of Life, Sport and The Importance of EQ in Medicine
14-12-2022
Episode 6: Prof. Brian Devitt: Orthopaedic Surgeon - Mobility, Quality of Life, Sport and The Importance of EQ in Medicine
Professor Brian Devitt is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Professor of Orthopaedics and Surgical Biomechanics at Dublin City University.  He studied medicine at University College Dublin and has a particular focus on the knee. He is also my brother and given that he has spent that last 8 years in Melbourne, Australia and we have only seen eachother a handful of times in this period, I am excited to sit down with him and touch base on his medical career and outlook.We start with what motivated Brian to study medicine, which was a continuation of a family tradition, and how he came to orthopaedics as a speciality. We spend some time on what excites him most about this area today – the massive advances in surgical techniques, the integration of surgical interventions with other lifestyle changes and advances that are making a massive change to the quality of lives of a population that is living longer.We examine then the fusion of medicine and sport, given that sport, and rugby in particular, is another one of Brian’s passions and we ask what techniques in sports rehabilitation can be applied to the general population.  We move then to the issue of medical training and assess the four different jurisdictions in which Brian has practiced medicine – Canada, the USA, Australia and Ireland.  We look at how the approaches to training and practice compare and ask what is best practice in each place.Finally we turn to reflections – on the surprising fulfillment of blending academic work with surgery, on the importance of patient communication and on the need for restraint when intervening in a surgical way. We cite influential figures as well as words of wisdom and overall the importance of emotional intelligence as a way to “get on” and succeed in medicine.
Episode 5: Chidiebere Ibe: Medical Illustrator - Representation with a Difference
13-12-2022
Episode 5: Chidiebere Ibe: Medical Illustrator - Representation with a Difference
Chidiebere Ibe is a medical student and Forbes-Featured medical illustrator whose illustration of a black fetus in utero went viral in December 2021.  Many commentators said that this was the first time that they had seen a depiction of a dark-skinned fetus or pregnant woman and provoked a discussion about the lack of representation of such images in textbooks and journals. Chidiebere has a bachelors degree in chemistry from the University of Uyo in Nigeria, and is the Chief Medical Illustrator at the Journal of Global Neurosurgery.  He holds numerous roles on various committees relating to medical education.Our conversation starts with Chidiebere’s upbringing in Nigeria and some of the difficulties he encountered in getting even basic services – such as internet access.  He describes how he used to travel one hour each way to his church to get access to an internet connection. He then discusses his first attempt at medical illustrations and how he was essentially self-taught in this domain.We move then to talk about “that” iconic image of a black fetus in utero that caused such a profound reaction across medical circles, medical schools and the media at large.  We talked about how empowering representation of diversity can be and how important it is to demonstrate belonging, a right to be counted and to be recognized and how it can enable better access to healthcare and better equity.We finish with Chidiebere’s personal reflections as he embarks upon another quest to attend medical school.  About the importance for him of understanding where he has come from, where he is now and where he is going.See these links for more information on Chidiebere’s work: www.chidiebereibe.com and https://www.championingchange.africa/
Episode 4: Dr. Yele Aluko: A Journey in Medicine; An Examination of Diversity
05-12-2022
Episode 4: Dr. Yele Aluko: A Journey in Medicine; An Examination of Diversity
Yele Aluko is Chief Medical Officer at EY, a role he has held for close to 4 years. He is Co-Chair, Health Equity Advisory, at the international Well Building Institute, an Advisory Board Member at the Children’s National Hospital and a Board Member at the Wake Forest University School of Business. He has worked as a Cardiologist in hospital settings for over 30 years.Yele was born in Nigeria and we start with when he first realized his calling to be a doctor. We trace his journey to the US and how at the beginning he went through a difficult integration into life there – with little social capital locally and few relationships. We move to his journey to cardiology and his experience in hospital settings, and ultimately to what led him to move away from bedside medicine into matters of medical policy.True to the mission of this podcast series we examine the issue of diversity in medicine, and Yele discusses the concepts of “missing persons” in medicine – the gap in representation of people of color at every level of medicine and the trickle down effects that this causes in terms of access to health care, trust in medical professionals and healthcare equity. We discuss initiatives to eliminate bias, and whether they work, and why they often lack sufficient “buy in”.This rich discussion is part of our Fiftyfaces Nigerian Voices series which will be released later in July. We are releasing it now as a counter narrative to that espoused by the podcast by the JAMA of February 2021 that questioned whether systemic racism in medicine existed
Episode 3: Dr. Kate Baur - Busting Myths and Opening Doors in Medicine for LGBTQ+ patients
02-12-2022
Episode 3: Dr. Kate Baur - Busting Myths and Opening Doors in Medicine for LGBTQ+ patients
Kate Baur recently started her surgical residency in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She has a particular interest in colo-rectal surgery, in particular as anal cancer is a cancer that has a higher incidence in populations such as the LGBTQ+ population.  Since recording her podcast she has not only started her surgical residency but has got married.Our conversation starts with Kate’s upbringing which saw her live around the world in communities in Korea, India and China and what this taught her about different cultures as well as some of the grave inequities in services, particularly medicine.  We trace her path to medical school and her interest in surgery, and reflect on the presence of role models within medicine among women and gay women in particular and find that there are very few.  We speak then about the importance of medicine embracing the different needs of the LGBTQ+ community and how little of the curriculum addresses this.Kate is passionate about advocating for the relatively “invisible” LGBTQ+ community when it comes to medicine and this is what drew her to colorectal surgery in particular. We compare the approach to screening for anal cancer to screening for cervical cancer and find that the principles are the same but, again, the advocacy is lacking.  There is more information about the “Anchor Study” which is investigating screening and treatment for anal cancer in patients who are HIV+ on the following link.  https://anchorstudy.org/Kate mentions GLMA which is an organization of health professionals advancing LGBTQ equality (https://www.glma.org/) as a prominent affinity group that is raising awareness.
Episode 2: Miss (Dr.) Samantha Tross - Orthopaedic Surgeon - Bones, Boundaries and Self Belief
28-11-2022
Episode 2: Miss (Dr.) Samantha Tross - Orthopaedic Surgeon - Bones, Boundaries and Self Belief
Miss (Dr.) Samantha Tross is a consultant orthopaedic hip and knee surgeon, and she was the first black female orthopaedic surgeon in the UK. She is Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at the American University of the Caribbean, a role she has held since 2010, and is Associate Editor of the Journal of Medical Case Reports. She's a member of the Board of Trustees of the British Association of Black surgeons, and the Secretary of the International Othopaedic Diversity Alliance, which was set up to increase diversity within orthopaedics. She's been a member of the Black Power List 100 since 2010.Our sweeping conversation starts in the Caribbean, and her upbringing in Guyana, and the early seeds that were sown for her to become a surgeon. We follow her educational path through boarding school and medical school in the UK and discuss the diversity within her medical school class, which was very minimal. We trace then her path to become a surgeon and why she enjoys the field of orthopedics. We discuss how patients in this area are generally well other than the reason for the operation, the ready availability of feedback on the operation and the ability for these interventions to have massive impacts on the patients' quality of life. We move then to issues of diversity and first Miss Tross's own experience throughout her training.  We discuss how the issue of race is perhaps one of the last issues to be addressed within medicine in terms of taking steps towards better inclusion, and also address team dynamics and how to handle bullying within workplace settings.Finally we look at the importance of self-belief, having a plan and remaining true to oneself and one's ambitions.  This is an empowering discussion that hopefully will pave the way for many more such discussions. There is more information about BABS, the British Association of Black Surgeons here: https://babs-uk.orgThe British Hip Society website is here: https://britishhipsociety.comThere is more information about the International Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance here: https://www.orthopaedicdiversity.org
Episode 1: Dr. Brian Dooreck - Time for the Ultimate Gut Check: Gut Health, How Patients Should Advocate For Themselves, and Navigating the Healthcare System
18-11-2022
Episode 1: Dr. Brian Dooreck - Time for the Ultimate Gut Check: Gut Health, How Patients Should Advocate For Themselves, and Navigating the Healthcare System
Dr Brian Dooreck is a Board Certified Gastroenterologist with a particular focus on private healthcare advocacy, life balance, and gut health. We met on Linked In when I became aware of his frequent health tips and his work within the private wealth community to promote ways to optimally navigate healthcare. He lives in Florida.Our conversation starts with what led Dr. Dooreck to pursue a career in medicine and how gastroenterology appealed to him because he found it intuitive and understandable. He also found it relatable and noted how all of us relate to it.We move to talking about advance in that area, and what excites him most - in particular the screening tools that enable him to detect pre-cancerous growth in the colon, as well as the importance of taking a holistic approach to gut health.  We talk about fads in this area, what really works, and the importance of balance in one's daily diet.We turn then to another one of Dr. Dooreck's passions, which is helping people to navigate the healthcare system, and he noted how "broken" the healthcare system is and how people underestimate the importance of navigating it properly.  He also observed that patients themselves can greatly improve their access and experience of the healthcare system by learning how to properly advocate for themselves, by capturing their own health history, being responsible for logging it and communicating it and how important this can be in terms of getting the right care when it matters.Finally we look back at what have been the most significant highs and lows in Dr. Dooreck's career so far.
Episode 1: Fiftyfaces Focus Medicine and Science Podcast - Series 1 Trailer
11-11-2022
Episode 1: Fiftyfaces Focus Medicine and Science Podcast - Series 1 Trailer
In this inaugural Fiftyfaces Focus Medicine and Science podcast series we dive into disciplines that are rich and multi-layered, hold the power to transform lives and outcomes but also suffer from underrepresentation, neglect and bias.  We first ask our diverse range of guests what it was that drew them to medicine or science, and find out what role "problem solving" plays.  We examine what sacrifices were made in the determination to follow a dream and what it takes to succeed as a practitioner as well as a patient.  The role of EQ, curiosity, self-advocacy and drive is noted. We look at a variety of specialties from psychiatry, to gastroenterology, to orthopedic surgery, cardiology and colo-rectal surgery and ask what advances excite the experts most.  We look at gut health, mental health, the increased holistic nature of medicine and where it is broken, and compare geographic areas.We hear about pioneering drug trials from Shalom Lloyd, whose firm eMQT addresses the massive disparity in drug trials on populations in Africa, and why this presents an opportunity for data gathering and learning.We hear about underrepresentation in medicine - from black medical students and practitioners, to LGBT professionals to women, and ask what can be done to resolve this.  There is a bias in how medical images are presented and Chidiebere Ibe, a renowned medical illustrator from Nigeria, shares how he bucked the trend here and produced an image of a black fetus in utero which subsequently went viral. Our Guests in Series 1 are:Dr. Yele Aluko, who is Chief Medical Officer at EY, a role he has held for close to 4 years.  He is Co-Chair, Health Equity Advisory, at the international Well Building Institute, an Advisory Board Member at the Children’s National Hospital and a Board Member at the Wake Forest University School of Business.  He has worked as a Cardiologist in hospital settings for over 30 years. Dr. Kate Baur, who is a surgical resident in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  She has a particular interest in colo-rectal surgery, in particular as anal cancer is a cancer that has a higher incidence in populations such as the LGBTQ+ population. Dr. Alan Carver (interviewed by Maeve McQuillan), who is a neurologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City.  He has a particular interest in neurological complications of cancer and Its treatment; headache and pain medicine, end-of-life care and general neurology.Professor Brian Devitt, who is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Professor of Orthopaedics and Surgical Biomechanics at Dublin City University.  He studied medicine at University College Dublin and is a specialist in orthopedic sports medicine. He is also my brother and given that he has spent that last 8 years in Melbourne, Australia and we have only seen eachother a handful of times in this period, I was excited to sit down with him and touch base on his medical career and outlook.  Dr. Patrick Devitt, my father and co-host of the first series of Inspiring People in the Law.  He is a consultant psychiatrist in in Dublin, Ireland, and formerly spent time as Mental Health Inspector.  His area of specialty is Community psychiatry and Medico-legal psychiatry. He also has degrees in law and science.Dr. Brian Dooreck, who is a Board Certified Gastroenterologist with a particular focus on private healthcare advocacy, life balance, and gut health. We met on Linked In when I became aware of his frequent health tips and his work within the private wealth community to promote ways to optimally navigate healthcare. Chidiebere Ibe, who is a medical student and Forbes-Featured medical illustrator whose illustration of a black fetus in utero went viral in December 2021.  Many commentators said that this was the first time that they had seen a depiction of a dark-skinned fetus or pregnant woman and provoked a discussion about the lack of representation of such images in textbooks and journals. Chidiebere has a bachelors degree in chemistry from the University of Uyo in Nigeria, and is the Chief Medical Illustrator at the Journal of Global Neurosurgery.  He holds numerous roles on various committees relating to medical education. Shalom Lloyd, who after a career of over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry has gone on to found two businesses - she is the founder of Naturally Tribal skincare, a beauty line based on traditional remedies including shea butter, which she developed initially to cure her son’s eczema. She is also the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of eMQT, described as “the Bridge between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Africa” which facilitates clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies in Africa. She has been a keynote speaker on the topic of innovation and was a fellow of the Start-Up Leadership Program in London until 2020.Miss (Dr.) Samantha Tross who is a consultant orthopaedic hip and knee surgeon, and she was the first Black female orthopaedic surgeon in the UK.  She is associate professor of orthopaedics at the American University of the Caribbean, a role she has held since 2010, and is Associate Editor of the Journal of Medical Case Reports. She is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the British Association of Black Surgeons, and the Secretary of the International Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance, which was set up to increase diversity within Orthopaedics. She has been a member of the Black Powerlist 100 since 2010.