Episodes

One of the first steps in creating your “digital twin” is already taking place at innovative medical centers across the U.S. Boston Children’s Hospital and 20 other centers like it are using 3D cardiac models to improve pediatric heart surgery and help families better understand their child’s care.

The 3D visualization program creates patient-specific digital replicas of pediatric heart anatomy that surgeons use to plan complex procedures. The models have also become a powerful communication tool, helping parents see what is happening inside their child’s heart.

“We want the families to be part of the decision-making about what do we do and what [are] the next steps for their children,” says Dr. David Hoganson, director of the Computational 3D Visualization Program at Boston Children’s. “Without really a clear picture, often they’re just left to ‘Whatever you say, doc,’ and that’s not really the best option.”

Last year, the Boston Children’s program made 3D models for roughly 60% of patients going to the operating room. 

“We’re pooling our collective efforts … to help really be the rising tide that lifts all boats and really sort of do this together as a community,” Hoganson tells hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter. 

Noah Schulz, the program’s technical lead, highlights future opportunities. “If we can get to the point where … my colleagues can spend more time doing the complex surgical planning work and communications work that we know is really hard to replace with AI, I’d be happy with that,” Schulz says.

For Hoganson, the journey is personal. As a child, he had ventricular septal defects.

“It’s really gratifying as a person to take care of these children who are in the position I once was,” he says. “And it’s really been fun to help build solutions that address what I had and try to make that a more reliable outcome for these children.”

Dr. Zeke Emanuel, a renowned bioethicist who helped draft the Affordable Care Act, is turning his attention to a new goal: helping us live longer. His new best-selling book is “Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life.” 

He believes some of the recent federal changes to the food dietary guidelines are contrary to the goal of a longer life. “The negatives are this overwhelming emphasis on eating more beef and beef tallow. There’s a lot of data that that’s not a good idea and…leads to premature mortality. We already in this country….eat way too much beef. We also have to change the food production ecosystem away from ultra-processed foods….and you have to make that more expensive so people will eat less of them and shift over to healthier things.”

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter also ask Dr. Emanuel about his recent op-ed. The piece explains his view that anti-vaccine policymakers could undercut vaccine availability.

Renowned neurologist and researcher Dr. Ray Dorsey unequivocally writes that we’re “fueling the rise of Parkinson’s with continued and increased use of toxic chemicals that pollute our food, water, and air.” He co-authored the New York Times bestseller, “The Parkinson’s Plan: A New Path to Prevention and Treatment,” which explains that fewer than 15% of Parkinson’s disease cases are linked to genetics.

Parkinson’s disease is now the fastest-growing neurodegenerative condition in the world, affecting more than 1 million Americans.

Dr. Dorsey discusses evidence linking Parkinson’s risk to pesticides used on farms and golf courses, solvents used in dry cleaning, and long-term exposure to industrial chemicals. He also outlines why he believes Parkinson’s is not an inevitable consequence of aging and why prevention should be a national priority.

At the same time, this conversation addresses a key point of debate. Representatives from the chemical industry have pushed back on these conclusions, arguing there has been a rush to judgment and that some large studies do not support a causal link between specific chemicals and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Dorsey responds directly, pointing to decades of toxicology data, animal studies, and historical evidence that he says warrants action now rather than further delay.

“I don’t think we’re rushing to judgment at all. A century of evidence is long enough. The real question is why safer alternatives were not introduced years ago,” says Dr. Dorsey.

Join “Conversations on Health Care” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to learn why Dr. Dorsey believes cleaning up our environment may be one of the most powerful public health tools we have right now.

And, as we begin a new year, we have a new look. “Conversations on Health Care” is now part of the Moses/Weitzman Media Group. The show will continue to bring you top national thought leaders in public health, health policy, and innovation, and offer the same in-depth conversations that have been our hallmark for more than 15 years.

We’ve invited noted health care leader Dr. Sachin Jain back to “Conversations on Health Care” to share his predictions for the year after many came true last year.

👉 Click the interview to get his take on:

• Whether artificial intelligence’s growing influence in the health care sector could hit a road bump in 2026
• If the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative can build on its policy achievements to date
• Why the GLP-1 revolution could suffer setbacks in the next 12 months

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter also examine why his many fears about DOGE didn’t materialize and why he believes health equity efforts are bouncing back.

And, as we begin a new year, we have a new look! “Conversations on Health Care” is now part of the Moses/Weitzman Media Group. The show will continue to bring you top national thought leaders in public health, health policy and innovation and offer the same in-depth conversations that have been our hallmark for more than fifteen years.

 Let us know what you think!

The new Rural Health Transformation Program aims to improve “healthcare access, quality, and outcomes” with $50 billion aimed at making changes to the healthcare delivery ecosystem. Keeping an eye on the state applications, the federal money awarded and how it will be used is Sarah Jane Tribble, lead rural health reporter at KFF Health News.

On this episode of “Conversations on Health Care,” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Tribble as she offers a clear-eyed look at what this funding can and cannot do.

“This funding came as part of the big tax and spending bill, at a moment when rural America was facing deep Medicaid cuts,” Tribble explains. “The conversation in Congress was that this would help make up for those losses.”

But she warns that transparency and accountability will determine whether the program succeeds.

“I want to see the full applications posted publicly,” Tribble says. “We need to be able to hold officials accountable and make sure rural Americans are actually getting the benefit Congress intended.”

The conversation also surfaces some unexpected ideas tucked inside state proposals. From drones delivering prescriptions in Alaska to robotics improving maternity care in Alabama, states are experimenting with technology to reach communities where in-person care is scarce and broadband access remains unreliable.

At the heart of the discussion is a larger question about expectations.

“I don’t want anyone to hear ‘better than nothing’ when we talk about rural health care,” Tribble says. “I don’t want my grandmother or my mother to have better than nothing. I want them to have the best standard of care.”

New research. New technology. New possibilities.

On this special 2025 Rewind and Look Ahead episode of “Conversations on Health Care,” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter turn their focus to the breakthroughs, discoveries and innovators shaping what comes next. “Health innovations and breakthroughs that seemed impossible years ago became closer to reality in 2025,” says Mark.

We revisit pivotal conversations with leaders driving real-world change, including:

1. Samantha Hutten (Michael J. Fox Foundation) on accelerating Parkinson’s research
2. Dr. Nora Volkow (National Institute on Drug Abuse) on addiction science and policy
3. Drs. Robert Pearl and Brian Anderson on the promise and risks of AI in health care
4. Dr. Kenneth Cooper, whose prevention-first vision is influencing modern care models

We also learned about major developments in Long COVID research, including global studies and clinical investigations aimed at understanding its causes and long-term impact.