Dr Seema Yasmin and Dr Shelly Batra talk about how we fight diseases as activists and overcoming social and economic challenges using her own experience and what it can teach us for the future as we see an increase in disease outbreaks and challenges in vaccination rates worldwide.

This is an inspiring conversation for listeners worldwide on how to work within communities to impact change and save lives, especially those of children.

Dr Shelly Batra is a gynaecologist and obstrician and best selling author located in New Delhi. She is the MD of “Every Infant Matters”, a not for profit that has a mission of providing last-mile health and nutrition to disadvantaged populations. Through her work with “Operation Asha” she worked treating the tuberculosis epidemic in India by providing accessible healthcare to people earning less than a dollar a day in urban slums using both logistical solutions and working with communities.

With the current worldwide political landscape at the forefront of our minds, continued misinformation and divisive rhetoric. We talk to Lee McIntyre about why it is important to have conversations with those that disagree with you - and why he has made it his personal mission.

What can those of us who love science and have hope for the future do to bring people on the fence over to spread information and truth?

Lee McIntyre is an American Author, researcher and academic, currently a fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University, instructor in ethics at Harvard and has written “How to talk to a Science Denier”, “On Disinformation: How to fight for Truth and Protect Democracy” and “Post-Truth”.

Thanks for listening to Our Big Shot. We have some exciting new episodes on the way shortly but in the meantime, we thought you'd like to fill your time with this fantastic episode from our friends at When Science Finds a Way. It's all about vaccination trials and pregnancy and so it should be right up your street.

You can find the rest of the series by searching for When Science Finds a Way wherever you're reading this.

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Over the years, the reluctance to include pregnant participants in vaccine trials has been increasingly challenged. That’s because their inclusion can make vital medications available during pregnancy and provide data that could improve survival rates for both parent and baby. Alisha is joined by Dr Flor M Munoz, a global expert in maternal immunisation to discuss a new vaccine trial, safety considerations and the future.

When Science Finds a Way is brought to you by Wellcome, an independent global foundation that supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. For more information and podcast transcripts visit wellcome.org/podcast

In the final episode of this series, we revisit where we are now. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to work together, and this was eye-opening in showing how much can be achieved with co-ordination and collaboration. We examine how we can replicate this without the need for a global crisis with Dr Chikwe Iheweazu Assistant Director General of WHO.

We finish with the story that started Seema’s journey to become a doctor - her mother, Yasmin Halima, with her work as an AIDS activist in 90s and 2000s. Yasmin talks about making science and politics meet to combat HIV and how that gives us hope for the future in our fight against disease.

Guests featured:

- Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu - WHO Assistant Director-General of WHO for Health Emergency Intelligence and Surveillance Systems.

https://www.who.int/director-general/who-headquarters-leadership-team

- Yasmin Halima - award winning activist.

https://dci.stanford.edu/fellow/yasmin-halima/

In this episode we track the spread of Mpox and ask, how does the pandemic alarm system work? Does the global alarm system work?

We have powerful vaccine technologies and we are making incredible strides in understanding pathogens that threaten the health of our populations, but how we move vaccines and resources to people in need is still a major challenge for global health organisations and governments.

Seema explores mpox and it’s recent global spread and talked to Dr Mark Ecclestone-Turner about global health systems, and asks difficult questions about the effectiveness and fairness of what we have in place.

Finally we hear a report from Dr Nicaise Ndembi, from the frontline of the fight against Mpox where things are improving.

Featured Guests

- Dr. Mark Ecclestone-Turner on how the global health system reacts to emerging pandemics https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/mark-eccleston-turner

- Dr. Nicaise Ndembi on the emergence of the Mpox Clade 1b virus and sounding the alarm. https://africacdc.org/people/dr-nicaise-ndembi/

Smallpox is a pathogen specific to our species and it has wreaked havoc with human populations over the centuries. Ultimately it gave rise to what we now think of as immunisation and vaccine technology and is the only disease we have ever eradicated.

In this episode we explore this epic history of the Variola virus with Professor Gareth Williams, hear from Dr Celine Gounder, who sought out and interviewed the last survivor of smallpox in the wild, and confront a still controversial predicament: should all remaining live samples of the smallpox virus be destroyed? with Professor David Heymann.

Featured guests:

Prof. Gareth Williams, author of ‘Angel of Death: The Story of Smallpox’ - on the history of smallpox https://thesohoagency.co.uk/authors/gareth-williams/

Dr. Celine Gounder on Rahima Braha the last survivor of smallpox in the wild https://www.celinegounder.com/

Professor David Heymann on the eradication of wild smallpox and the argument for retaining live virus samples for research https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/heymann.david

African nations have a painful and particular relationship with HIV, they have also been at the forefront of the fight against the disease. In this episode, we explore the battle against HIV from their perspective, how a post-colonial legacy combined with complex societal factors provided fertile ground for the spread of the disease. We then follow how Africa dealt with the spread of HIV through the 20th century, to the eventual global escalation that forced international coordinated efforts to battle the epidemic.

Dr. Quarraisha Abdool Karim and Professor Salim Abdool Karim tell us about their groundbreaking work examining the impact of sociological behaviours on transmission and world renowned HIV expert, Linda-Gail Bekker, explores the latest developments in treatment options.

Guests featured:

- Dr. Quarraisha Abdool Karim and Professor Salim Abdool Karim on their celebrated research on vulnerable populations and critical interventions https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/09/30/g-s1-25433/hiv-prevention-lasker-prize-aids

Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker on African researchers' role in the development of Lenacapavir and its promise for the Africans moving forward https://idm.uct.ac.za/contacts/linda-gail-bekker

Tuberculosis is often assumed to be a disease of the past, but it kills over 1 million people a year - a higher rate than malaria and HIV combined.

In this episode we visit a forgotten and critical turning point in vaccine development. 'The Black Angels' were a group of black nurses who faced almost certain death to perform the world’s very first clinical trials using the drug that would become the gold standard for TB treatment today. They helped cure tuberculosis in New York City's Sea View Hospital during the mid-20th century.

We talk to New Yorker Maria Smilios about how she happened upon the tale of this incredible group of nurses in 2016. Astounded by the story from the City’s Sea View Hospital, and the incredible pioneers that changed the trajectory of the fight against tuberculosis, she knew she had to tell it to the world.

When the pandemic hit half way through writing her book, Maria realised that many of the themes in her book around inequity and disease were alive and well in present day New York. She decided she needed to write a book about it before it was too late. Maria tells us the story of these incredible pioneers who faced racial adversity, braving almost certain death to perform the world’s very first clinical trials using the drug that would become the gold standard for TB treatment today.

Seema and Maria discuss the future, the challenges of distributing and treating TB worldwide and the hope there is for the future with gains already made in campaigning and the triumphant power of people working together.

Feature guest:

- Maria Smilios - Science writer and author on her book ‘The Black Angels’ revisiting a forgotten passage in the fight against TB and what this story can teach us today.

https://www.mariasmilios.com/