Redefining HIV
Join medical students Anudeeta Gautam (she/her) and Anshul Puli (he/him) on their journey to amplify
04/01/2022
Happy 2022 from the podcast team! Thank you for listening and we are excited to release more episodes soon. Until then, recap our first year with us!
In this week’s episode we talk to Dr. Olivia Nathan, a pharmacist at Equitas Health, who has a focus on community health. Her work centers equitable healthcare access for black women. She’s given a TEDx talk on the disproportionate allotment of PrEP to black women (‘PrEPare Black Women: Health Inequity in PrEP Access’) and currently works on disseminating vaccine information in her local community in Columbus, Ohio. As a fierce advocate both in the pharmacy and on the ground with the people she serves, she models what it looks like to integrate community voices and perspectives into health advocacy. On our show we discuss her journey into pharmaceutical medicine and how her identity as a black woman has shaped her future ambitions in advancing health literacy and equity.
25/09/2021
Weekend slump? Catch up on our most recent episodes with us! On Spotify and Apple Podcasts 🎙
🎙EPISODE 4 TEASER🎙Up next, we talk to Theresa, a nurse manager at a large academic hospital in Boston, about her work applying principles of community health to a hospital setting. She started exploring her interest in community health while a student at Northeastern, where she eventually took up the opportunity to support people in Guatemala. Eventually returning back to Boston, she brought her passion for community health work to a community health van. While working at an academic hospital was a much different speed, she’s now committed herself to applying important lessons in comprehensive, holistic care to every part of her clinical work at the HIV clinic.
05/08/2021
🎙RECAP with us!🎙Our last recap on Dr.Tedaldi’s episode touches on The Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, and we discuss using health programs to support and provide care services to those with health issues. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
03/08/2021
🎙RECAP Dr. Tedaldi’s episode with us!🎙Today we touch upon compassionate use, and ask you your thoughts on its ethical implications. Let us know in the comments!
29/07/2021
🎙RECAP our 2-part conversation with Dr. Tedaldi! Today, we focus on redlining. Swipe through and comment your thoughts 🎙
28/07/2021
🎙EPISODE 3 OUT NOW! Join Dr. Tedaldi on Part 2 of our conversation, as we uncover the current shortcomings of HIV therapeutics for women, how to best support the health of populations marginalized by society, lessons we can learn from the HIV epidemic in the light of the current COVID pandemic, and more.
🎙EPISODE 3 TEASER: Dr. Tedaldi’s wealth of knowledge couldn’t have been restricted to one episode, so be sure to catch Part 2 of our discussion with her in tomorrow’s episode!
16/07/2021
Catch our second episode OUT NOW on Spotify and Apple Podcasts! Leave us a review and a rating ⭐️ Feel free to DM 💬 us with what you think, or which topics you’d like us to touch on in a future episode!
🎨: ._
🎙EPISODE 2 TEASER: Our second episode brings the spotlight to the provider side of HIV care. We've invited on Dr. Ellen Tedaldi MD MACP (she/hers), the Director of Temple University Hospital's HIV Program. We were first connected with her through Michael Vitez, a Pulitzer Prize winning writer for his exploratory journalism work on stories from people who are terminally ill. When Anu introduced our project to Mr. Vitez after one of his narrative medicine workshops, he immediately pointed her to Dr. Tedaldi.
She has fought on the frontlines of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, since its beginnings in the 70's as GRID (gay-related immunodeficiency disorder). Dr. Tedaldi brings a multifaceted approach to patient advocacy, one that integrates community, hospital, and federal resources to support the diverse patient population that she cares for. Furthermore, her work on various clinical trials focuses on researching health disparities, how to structure culturally appropriate care, and more. Her commitment to patient-centered care, health equity, and community service remains an inspiration to anyone pursuing a career in medicine.
We learned so much from our conversation with her, that we decided to split it into two parts. Be sure to tune in on Thursday, July 15th for part 1!
14/07/2021
Hoping everyone took away as much as we did (or even more!) from our conversation with Mx. Thurston. We decided to write up some of the interesting ideas and reflections that came up for us. What were your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
🎙Listen in to a teaser of our first episode! 🎙Full episode releasing this Monday, June 28th!
22/06/2021
Our first spotlight is on our first guest, Johnathan W. Thurston (they/them)!
After their HIV diagnosis, Johnathan faced challenges in accessing the legal and medical supports they needed to manage their care. Their activism rose out of a desire to empower others who lacked access to appropriate resources through education and writing.
They highlight the sociological impact of HIV through their work over the past decade, including: a TEDx talk at Michigan State University titled 'Being Positive: A Glance at HIV in 21st Century America', a talk on 'cultural HIV' at their alma Vanderbilt University, and speaking to a group of physicians on the non-medical aspects of living with HIV. Their most recent book, Blood Criminals, follows the lives of six HIV positive people and their interactions with healthcare, the legal and education systems, and the social climate surrounding HIV. The book is available to purchase through Amazon or Barnes and Noble - be sure to check it out! Currently, they are branching out of their typical journalism to compile a book of poems, with each highlighting specific narratives from the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic based on mode of transmission and personal identity. As a journalist and editor-in-chief at Thurston Howl Publications, they and their team consistently publish progressive, LGBTQIA+ and feminist-friendly material spanning many different genres.
Be sure to tune in on June 28th to hear our conversation with Mx. Thurston!
🎨: ._
21/06/2021
A few basics about HIV and AIDS (Part 2) 🔴
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks your body’s immune system by killing T cells.
An HIV infection happens when the number of HIV copies per mL of blood, or the viral load, are in dangerously high levels, which weakens your immune system.
A person living with HIV does NOT always have an HIV infection. With appropriate medication, antiretroviral therapy (ART), the viral load can be kept under control at a low enough level where your T cell count and immune system operate normally with a low risk of disease.
U=U (Undetectable=Untransmittable): A low enough viral load is considered 'undetectable', where the virus is 'untransmittable.' In other words, the individual cannot pass the virus on to others.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome: This is the final, most severe stage of an HIV infection, where your immune system is so badly weakened that it cannot protect you from other foreign particles. If left untreated, AIDS can be fatal.
🎨: ._
21/06/2021
Before we launch our first episode, let’s define a few basics about immunology and HIV!
(Part 1: Immunology) 🔬🦠
A virus is a nonliving particle that enters your body’s cells and hijacks your cell’s replication machinery to replicate more copies of itself.
Your immune system protects your body from foreign particles like a virus, that could harm your cells to cause disease. T cells are like the soldiers of your immune system that fight against these particles by breaking them down and removing them.
🎨: ._
Exciting things are happening on June 28th…. 👀
Videography: Anudeeta Gautam
Graphic design: Ritisha Ghosh
17/06/2021
MEET YOUR SECOND CO-HOST!
Anshul (he/his) is from Troy, Michigan, and has been born and bred in Michigan for most of his life. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2020, and is an incoming medical student (M1) at Harvard University.
Anshul has been involved in different community support initiatives, like digitizing the language materials at the Anishinaabe Native American community in Mt. Pleasant, volunteering as a crisis interventionist for a resource/crisis helpline and the National Su***de Prevention Line. He is currently working through the Americorps in Boston as a City Year teaching assistant. His drive to learn about and support vulnerable and marginalized communities led him to pursue this podcast project.
Anshul is passionate about preventative and community health, health policy and health justice. His hobbies include basketball, embroidery (as of recent) and being a cat dad.
Graphic Design: Ritisha Ghosh
17/06/2021
MEET YOUR FIRST CO-HOST!
Anu (she/her) is a Grand Rapids native, born in Nepal. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 2020, and is an incoming medical student (M1) at Temple University.
For the past several years, she worked on a self-management app/tool for adolescents, teens, and young adults in Uganda who are HIV positive. Over the course of 2 summers, she traveled to Uganda to pilot test the app, and formed strong relationships with HIV positive patients - inspiring her for this podcast project.
She is passionate about community outreach and education, health policy and global health; and loves to dance, work out, make videos, and bullet journal in her down time.
Graphic Design: Ritisha Ghosh
17/06/2021
Over the last 40 years, we have seen huge improvements in life expectancy, therapeutics, and preventative care for people living with HIV. Yet, compared to other chronic illnesses, HIV is still plagued with stigma and misinformation, which can distort how an individual perceives themselves and how the general public understands the realities of living with this virus.
Redefining HIV is a social awareness podcast aimed at exploring the journeys of individuals from diverse communities involved with and affected by HIV. We aim to discuss the major social, political, scientific, and medical issues faced by those in the positive (HIV) community. As medical students, we hope to learn about the social determinants of health and roots of health inequity. In HIV care, we see some of these disparities realized as a result of institutional, interpersonal, and internalized stigma. Throughout the seasons, we will delve into these themes, as well as the importance of preventative medicine, health literacy, patient-centered care, and community health advocacy in structuring a more equitable healthcare system.
We’ve been working hard for the past year to make this podcast a reality and are ecstatic to finally share stories from the frontline of the HIV care fight. We are continually learning from and inspired by our guests’ journeys and hope they leave a similar impact on you!
Graphic Design: Ritisha Ghosh
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