What happens when a life-changing bond with a dog reshapes your entire career?

In this intimate origin story episode of Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health, host Dr. Johnny Lieberman opens up about his transformation from a thriving infectious disease physician in Colorado to a law student in Oregon focused on animal welfare. Drawing from over two decades in medicine, Johnny recounts how adopting his first dog, Celeste, ignited a passion for animal rights, leading him to confront issues like puppy mills, factory farming, and systemic flaws in healthcare.

From navigating personal loss and depression to volunteering against animal exploitation and rebooting his life during the COVID-19 surge, Johnny reveals the tipping points that shifted his focus to One Health, a framework connecting animal welfare, human health, and the environment. He also exposes healthcare industry pitfalls, like profit-driven decisions that deny care to high-risk patients.

Whether you're a healthcare professional, animal lover, or someone contemplating a career pivot, this episode inspires reflection on identity, compassion, and making systemic change for a better world.

Top 3 Takeaways:

• The Power of the Human-Animal Bond: A deep connection with dogs like Celeste and Sienna can profoundly change your perspective, teaching presence, empathy, and the joys of rescue, while exposing hidden cruelties like puppy mills.
• Healthcare's Hidden Conflicts: Profit motives in medicine, such as value-based purchasing systems, often prioritize hospital scores over patient needs, leading to denied surgeries for high-risk individuals and a broken system driving early retirements.
• Embracing One Health for Systemic Change: Animal welfare, human health, and environmental management are interconnected; shifting careers to advocate in this space can leverage skills like medical expertise to reduce suffering and create a broader positive impact.

About the Show

Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health explores the intersection of animal welfare, public policy, and human health. Hosted by Dr. Johnny Lieberman, each episode invites changemakers, legal experts, and health advocates to shed light on what really impacts our communities—and what we can do about it.

About the Host

Dr. Johnny Lieberman is a physician, public health advocate, and lifelong animal lover with a passion for connecting the dots between animal welfare, human behavior, and the systems that shape our lives. With a background in both medicine and public health policy, Johnny brings a unique lens to conversations about how our treatment of animals impacts human health, the environment, and social justice.

In Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health, Johnny brings warmth, curiosity, and a dash of wit to tough conversations that matter. From exposing the realities of factory farming to uncovering the links between zoonotic diseases and our food systems, his goal is to empower listeners to be informed, compassionate, and engaged citizens—while still keeping it real (and sometimes bringing in puppies).

Whether he's discussing legislative loopholes or snuggling his rescue dog between recordings, Dr. Lieberman believes that creating a healthier world starts with how we treat its most vulnerable beings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if your daily food choices could prevent pandemics, protect the planet, and end unnecessary animal suffering?

In this eye-opening episode of Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health, host Dr. Johnny Lieberman chats with Dr. Faraz Harsini, a biomedical scientist and CEO of Allied Scholars for Animal Protection. With a background in cancer research, zoonotic diseases, and sustainable food systems, Dr. Harsini shares his journey from a meat-eating background to vegan advocacy, exposing the hidden costs of animal farming, from environmental destruction and public health risks to the ethical horrors of factory farming.

They dive into cognitive dissonance, the myth of "humane" animal products, and innovative solutions like cultivated meat that offer the same taste without the harm. Dr. Harsini emphasizes One Health: a way to live prosperously while respecting human, animal, and environmental well-being.

Whether you're a health enthusiast, environmentalist, or animal lover, this episode empowers you to make informed, compassionate choices that align with your values, and shows how small changes can create massive impact.

Top 3 Takeaways

• One Health Connects Us All Human health, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability are interconnected. We can thrive without harming animals or the planet by shifting to plant-based diets and sustainable alternatives.
• Cognitive Dissonance in Food Choices Many people love animals but consume products from industries that exploit them. Recognizing this hypocrisy, often rooted in marketing and habit, can lead to ethical, healthier decisions.
• Cultivated Meat: A Game-Changer Real meat grown from cells eliminates animal suffering, antibiotics, and environmental waste. It's a cruelty-free option that tastes the same, with massive potential for public health and sustainability.

About the Guest – Dr. Faraz Harsini, PhD

Dr. Faraz Harsini is a biomedical scientist and the Founder and CEO of Allied Scholars for Animal Protection (ASAP), a nonprofit that mentors students in animal advocacy, environmental protection, and public health. He also serves as a Senior Scientist in Bioprocessing at the Good Food Institute, focusing on cultivated meat. With a bachelor's in chemical engineering, a master's in biotechnology and cancer research, and a PhD in cell physiology and molecular biophysics, Dr. Harsini has worked on zoonotic diseases, pandemics, and sustainable food systems. A vegan for over a decade, he advocates for One Health and ethical living.

🔗 Read more about Dr. Harsini: https://farazharsini.com

About the Show

Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health explores the intersection of animal welfare, public policy, and human health. Hosted by Dr. Johnny Lieberman, each episode invites changemakers, legal experts, and health advocates to shed light on what really impacts our communities—and what we can do about it.

About the Host

Dr. Johnny Lieberman is a physician, public health advocate, and lifelong animal lover with a passion for connecting the dots between animal welfare, human behavior, and the systems that shape our lives. With a background in both medicine and public health policy, Johnny brings a unique lens to conversations about how our treatment of animals impacts human health, the environment, and social justice.

In Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health, Johnny brings warmth, curiosity, and a dash of wit to tough conversations that matter. From exposing the realities of factory farming to uncovering the links between zoonotic diseases and our food systems, his goal is to empower listeners to be informed, compassionate, and engaged citizens—while still keeping it real (and sometimes bringing in puppies).

Whether he's discussing legislative loopholes or snuggling his rescue dog between recordings, Dr. Lieberman believes that creating a healthier world starts with how we treat its most vulnerable beings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if the "necessary" animal research we rely on is breaking the people who conduct it?

In this episode of Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health, host Dr. Johnny Lieberman speaks with Madeline Krasno, Executive Director of Justify and a former primate lab caretaker at UW Madison. Drawing from her two years caring for over 500 monkeys, preparing minimal "enrichment," administering meds, and witnessing daily stress and injuries. Madeline exposes the moral injury and compassion fatigue that plague lab workers. She shares how her experiences led to free speech lawsuits against UW Madison and the NIH, sparking national conversations on transparency. The discussion dives into systemic issues: stressed animals yielding unreliable data (with ~100% failure rates in human translation), lack of enforcement for violations, and the urgent need to shift toward animal-free technologies. Madeline also explains Justify's mission to support lab workers through confidential spaces, resources, and community-building to heal and advocate for change. This episode challenges assumptions about animal experimentation's validity and ethics, highlighting its links to human health, worker well-being, and public policy.

Top 3 Takeaways

• Lab Workers Face Profound Psychological Harm: Caretakers in animal research endure moral injury and compassion fatigue from witnessing suffering, with little support, highlighting that humans, too, pay a heavy price in this system.
• Animal Suffering in Labs Undermines Scientific Validity: Monkeys and other animals live in tiny cages under constant stress, leading to unreliable data; nearly 100% of experiments fail to translate to humans, questioning the necessity of such research.
• Enforcement and Transparency Are Severely Lacking: Violations like injuries or poor conditions often go unpunished with just "slaps on the wrist," while whistleblowers face retaliation—calling for better oversight and a shift to ethical, non-animal methods.

About the Guest – Madeline Krasno

Madeline Krasno is a former primate lab worker turned advocate for compassion and transparency in science. Her successful free speech lawsuits against UW Madison and the NIH, featured in the Washington Post, sparked national dialogue about the hidden human and animal costs of experimentation.

Today, she is Executive Director and co-founder of Justify, a nonprofit creating space for current and former animal research professionals to process their experiences, reclaim their voices, and help build a more ethical, human-relevant future in science. Madeline holds a master's degree in Humane Education from Valparaiso University and a dual bachelor's degree in Zoology and Child Development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her background spans animal care, wildlife rehabilitation, curriculum development, public speaking, outreach, and community building.

🔗 Read more about Madeline Krasno:

• Website: https://whenwejustify.org
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelinekrasno
• Instagram: @justify.global

About the Show

Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health explores the intersection of animal welfare, public policy, and human health. Hosted by Dr. Johnny Lieberman, each episode invites changemakers, legal experts, and health advocates to shed light on what really impacts our communities—and what we can do about it.

About the Host:

Dr. Johnny Lieberman is a physician, public health advocate, and lifelong animal lover with a passion for connecting the dots between animal welfare, human behavior, and the systems that shape our lives. With a background in both medicine and public health policy, Johnny brings a unique lens to conversations about how our treatment of animals impacts human health, the environment, and social justice.

In Puppies, Pandemics, and Public Health, Johnny brings warmth, curiosity, and a dash of wit to tough conversations that matter. From exposing the realities of factory farming to uncovering the links between zoonotic diseases and our food systems, his goal is to empower listeners to be informed, compassionate, and engaged citizens—while still keeping it real (and sometimes bringing in puppies).

Whether he's discussing legislative loopholes or snuggling his rescue dog between recordings, Dr. Lieberman believes that creating a healthier world starts with how we treat its most vulnerable beings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.