"Health Voices" is the official bi-monthly podcast of the Public Health Coalition at Yale (an undergraduate organization). We bring forward the leading voices in health innovation and entrepreneurship, providing a platform for those addressing the leading public health challenges of our day.
Health Voices, launched in the 2023-2024 school year, began with conversations featuring Yale public health experts and now seeks to connect with a diverse global audience. In its second season, the platform showcases inspiring stories and actionable insights from students, CEOs, advocates, doctors, authors, and more, spanning Yale, New Haven, and beyond. Dedicated to breaking barriers in health literacy, Health Voices fosters understanding, empowers listeners, and highlights innovative solutions to critical health issues worldwide.
Whether you are part of the Yale and New Haven community or simply passionate about health and innovation, this is a space for you. Join us as we not only learn, share, and explore how others are contributing to solutions for a healthier world, but also how you can too.
Nothing About Us Without Us: The Power of NHP's Community Health Partnerships
Send us a text Ryan Sutherland, Community Outreach Director of the Neighborhood Health Project (NHP), shares how his journey—from aspiring ethnomusicologist to public health advocate—shaped his passion for community-centered care. Since 2003, NHP has redefined healthcare access by offering free diabetes and hypertension screenings every Saturday at Loaves and Fishes food pantry in New Haven. In this episode, Ryan explains how meeting patients where they are not only improves health outcomes b...
11 Apr 2025
Renourishing the Community: How Loaves and Fishes is Tackling New Haven's Food Insecurity
Send us a text Lorrice Grant, executive director of Loaves and Fishes, shares how her personal journey—losing her mother to diabetes at just 17—ignited a lifelong mission to make nutrition accessible and dignified for all. As New Haven’s largest food pantry, Loaves and Fishes distributes over 500,000 pounds of food annually, challenging the traditional charity model through client-choice shopping and culturally relevant food. In this episode, Loris breaks down how nutrition impacts not just ...
26 Mar 2025
Running out of Time: How Zero Hour is Addressing the Climate Change Crisis
Send us a text Zanajee Artis, co-founder and executive director of Zero Hour, shares how this youth-led climate justice organization evolved from organizing mass protests to fighting systemic environmental injustice. Inspired by the impact of Hurricane Sandy on his Conneticust coastal hometown, he co-founded the international organization Zero Hour in 2017. Through education, policy advocacy, and grassroots organizing, Zero Hour works to phase out fossil fuels while addressing the interconnec...
26 Feb 2025
Breaking Barriers: Journalism's Role in Healthcare Equity with Simar Bajaj
Send us a text Today's guest is Samar Bajaj, an award-winning journalist and science writer whose work bridges the worlds of medicine and storytelling. Inspired by his uncle, a radiologist in the U.S. Air Force, Samar learned early on that medicine is ultimately about humanity—a principle that guides his reporting today. In this episode, we explore Samar’s journey to becoming a leading voice in health journalism. Through compelling storytelling, he sheds light on stigmatized diseases, healthc...
23 Jan 2025
S2 E1: Bridging Healthier Futures: Health4US on Empowering Youth Through Health Literacy
Send us a textWelcome back to Health Voices! Tune in as we kick off Season 2 with an inspiring conversation about empowering youth through health literacy. Meet Reyhan Haider, a high school senior from Northern Virginia, whose passion for public health, sparked by personal experiences, led him to create Health4Us. Learn how early health education can prevent disease, enhance well-being, and navigate the U.S. healthcare system, especially during COVID-19.Discover Reyhan’s youth-led initiative ...
27 Nov 2024
S2 Health Voices Trailer
Public health innovators and changemakers spotlight the transformative power of creative solutions and inspiring initiatives in the new season of Health Voices.
12 Mar 2024
The Dangers of Driving
America has a driving problem.
Before COVID-19, the prevalence of crashes was decreasing as more Americans became more comfortable with driving behind the wheel. However, since 2020, driving has only increased as more than 30,000 Americans have died in car crashes; more specifically, more than 40,000 Americans died from car crashes in 2021. And the numbers seem to only be increasing even after the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to die down. So, despite drivers’ education, the many ads that tried to curb distractions during driving, and the policies put in place, do car crashes still happen? And what can the individual, organization, and government do to begin to effectively address this issue?
To help answer these questions, we talk with Dr. Kirsten Bechtel, professor of emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, and the Yale Traffic Safety Subcommittee chair.
[00:00-07:52] Introduction and the Role of the Yale Traffic Safety Subcommittee
[08:00-14:08]: Traffic Safety in Public Health
[14:09-18:40]: Distractions in Driving (Alcohol and Smoking)
(Look around 21st minute)
[18:41-26:13]: Road Infrastructure
[26:14-28:30]: Disparities in Traffic Safety
[28:31-33:20]: Traffic Safety and COVID-19
[33:21-35:00]: Automobile Industry
[35:00-37:23]: Conclusion
19 Feb 2024
The Mysteries of Vaping
How much do you think you know about vaping? Sure, you’ve heard it’s tasty, it’s better than smoking, and you may have tried it yourself. Vaping has become more common as people puff at hookah bars, take a sniff in between classes, etc. However, there’s still a gap in knowledge about the actual health associations of vaping. And based on the knowledge medical professionals already have, vaping is discouraged. But why do people do it anyway?
To help us fill the gap of knowledge we have on vaping, we will talk with Dr. Stephen Baldassarri, an associate professor of medicine at Yale whose research focuses on the mechanisms of addiction. We talk about marijuana vaping, mental health’s correlation with vaping, vaping economics, and so much more.
[00:00-01:36]: Introduction
[01:36-07:22]: The Basics of Addiction and Vaping
[07:22-12:59]: The Complexity of Vaping Culture and Vaping History
[13:00-21:09]: How to Discourage Vaping and Vaping Research
[21:08-23:21]: The Particulars of Vaping Instruments
[23:22-26:02]: The Socioeconomic Indicators of Vaping
[26:03-30:58]: Relationship between Smoking and Vaping & Vaping Risks
[30:59-39:08}: Government’s Role in Vaping and Vaping Treatment
[39:10-44:10]: Conclusion
Link to Dr. Baldassari's Profile: https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/stephen-baldassarri/?tab=bio (https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/stephen-baldassarri/?tab=bio)
Email us at yalephcpodnews@gmail.com (mailto:yalephcpodnews@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to be featured in an episode. Follow us on social media at https://www.instagram.com/yalephc/ (https://www.instagram.com/yalephc/) and https://www.instagram.com/yphcpodcast/ (https://www.instagram.com/yphcpodcast/). And please subscribe to our show.
15 Jan 2024
The Winter Blues
When friends or family feel down or worse at a particular time in the year, people wave them off and don’t recognize the actual health issue. However, seasonal depression is a legitimate mental health condition.
At least 5% of Americans face this depression every year, but the majority of Americans don’t take it seriously and stigmatize the condition.
With Dr. Paul Desan, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and head of the Winter Depression Clinic, we discuss the importance of legitimizing seasonal depression.
We specifically talk about the what and how of seasonal depression, seasonal depression’s relationship with pandemics, treatments of seasonal depression, and summer depression.
[00:00-02:02]: Intro
[02:02-07:03]: History of Seasonal Depression
[07:04-13:59]: Risk factors and symptoms of seasonal depression
[14:00-17:04]: Pandemics’ and Climate Relationship with seasonal depression
[17:04-27:50]: Treatments for seasonal depression and research about seasonal depression
[27:51-29:51]: Treatment and symptoms of summer depression
[29:51-32:39]: The future of seasonal depression
[32:40-34:02]: Government’s role in seasonal depression
[34:-03-37:42]: Conclusion
Link to Paul Desan Profile: https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/paul-desan/ (https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/paul-desan/)
Link to Article about Seasonal Depression that Desan is Featured in:
https://www.nytimes.com/article/seasonal-depression-what-to-know.html (https://www.nytimes.com/article/seasonal-depression-what-to-know.html)
Email us at yalephcpodnews@gmail.com (mailto:yalephcpodnews@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to be featured in an episode. Follow us on social media at https://www.instagram.com/yalephc/ (https://www.instagram.com/yalephc/) and https://www.instagram.com/yphcpodcast/ (https://www.instagram.com/yphcpodcast/). And please subscribe to our show.
19 Dec 2023
Wild, Wild Air Waves
What do you think environmental health means?
According to the American Public Health Association, most Americans can’t give an accurate answer for it’s one of those underrated yet complex fields of public health. With Yiqun Ma, a pre-doctoral fellow at the Yale School of Public Health concentrating in climate change and health, we discuss the importance of environmental health.
We specifically talk about how a particular aspect of public health, the air, correlates with adverse temperatures, wildfires, and racial disparities.
Link to Yiqun Ma Profile: https://ysph.yale.edu/profile/yiqun-ma/?tab=bio (https://ysph.yale.edu/profile/yiqun-ma/?tab=bio)
Link to Article about her Wildfire Research: https://ysph.yale.edu/news-article/canadian-wildfire-smoke-associated-with-increased-asthma-cases-in-nyc/ (https://ysph.yale.edu/news-article/canadian-wildfire-smoke-associated-with-increased-asthma-cases-in-nyc/)
Email us at yalephcpodnews@gmail.com (mailto:yalephcpodnews@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to be
featured in an episode. Follow us on social media at https://www.instagram.com/yalephc/ (https://www.instagram.com/yalephc/) and https://www.instagram.com/yphcpodcast/ (https://www.instagram.com/yphcpodcast/). And please subscribe to our show.
00:00: Intro
2:07: Definition of Environmental Health and Climate Change
5:55: Jiangsu Province Research on Adverse Temperatures
10:32: Wildfires
14:31: Racial Disparities and Air Pollution
22:32: Yale’s and Government’s Role in Bolstering Enviornmental Health
26:30: Conclusion
8 Dec 2023
Health Voices Trailer
Welcome to Health Voices
Instagram: Yale Public Health Coalition (@yalephc) • Instagram photos and videos (https://www.instagram.com/yalephc/)
Email: yalephcpodnews@gmail.com
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
41,124
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Podcast Authority Score: 42 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
24
Social presence
90
YouTube
76
Engagement
27
Contact Health Voices
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Health Voices?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
