Welcome to Stanford Medicine’s Health Compass podcast, where we bring the latest medical research to life through compelling stories that connect with your everyday health experiences. Join Maya Adam, MD, a Stanford Medicine faculty member and health educator, as she interviews leading experts on crucial health topics featured in Stanford Medicine magazine — from breakthroughs in mental health treatment to the transformative role of artificial intelligence in medicine. Each episode breaks down complex science and highlights the personal journeys of the people behind the innovations, inspiring you to make informed choices for a healthier life.
S4 Ep1: How do we optimize sleep and what can it tell us about our health?
Stanford Medicine sleep scientist Jamie Zeitzer explains how light, timing, habits and aging shape our sleep, and shares science-backed ways to sleep better and protect our health.
25 Feb 2026
S3 Ep5: Can protecting neurons change the future of glaucoma care?
Glaucoma is known as the “silent thief of sight,” often causing vision loss before people realize anything is wrong. In this episode, Stanford physician-scientist Jeffrey Goldberg shares how his work aims not just to slow damage, but to protect and strengthen the neurons that make vision possible.
25 Feb 2026
S3 Ep4: What if we could stop kidney stones before they start?
Kidney stones may seem like a temporary problem, but for millions of people they are painful, recurring, and poorly understood. Stanford nephrologist Alan Pao studies how the kidneys regulate minerals and chemical balance, uncovering how a little-known molecule called citrate could help stop stones before they form.
25 Feb 2026
S3 Ep3: What can collaboration across disciplines unlock for the future of stroke care?
A stroke caused by a blocked artery is one of the most time-critical emergencies in medicine. In stroke care, minutes matter — and so does precision. The difference between paralysis and recovery often comes down to how quickly, and how completely, a blood clot can be removed. At Stanford, an engineer and a physician partnered up to rethink that problem entirely.
25 Feb 2026
S3 Ep2: How can curiosity — and a willingness to pivot — lead to life-saving breakthroughs?
From uncertainty to impact, Purvesh Khatri’s career path was anything but straight. In this episode, he shares how curiosity and a willingness to pivot led to a breakthrough blood test that helps doctors make faster, life-saving decisions for sepsis.
25 Feb 2026
S3 Ep1: How have researchers turned decades of work into real hope for families living with epidermolysis bullosa?
Epidermolysis bullosa, often called “butterfly skin,” makes even the smallest touch painful. In this episode, we explore the courage of patients and families living with EB, and how Stanford clinician-researchers are helping turn decades of research into the first gene therapies that offer real hope.
21 Oct 2025
S2 Ep5: How does food change the microbiome and our overall health?
Sean Spencer (https://profiles.stanford.edu/sean-spencer), MD, PhD, instructor of medicine, explores how he treats patients with challenging gastrointestinal issues, working with them to heal their guts and improve their microbiomes through a variety of tactics, including through introducing a variety of foods in small doses, adding more fiber and fermented foods to their diet, and giving “gut shots” of brine from fermented foods.
Read more in Stanford Medicine magazine: https://stanmed.stanford.edu/gi-conditions-gut-brain-connections/ (https://stanmed.stanford.edu/gi-conditions-gut-brain-connections/)
14 Oct 2025
S2 Ep4: What can we learn from a scientist living with sickle cell?
Laura Dassama (https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/laura-dassama), PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology and of chemistry, is developing new a new type of therapy for patients who, like her, live with sickle cell disease, which is caused by a mutation in the gene that codes for hemoglobin, the protein responsible for the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen. Dassama speaks to her experience with the illness and describes how her lab work takes inspiration from a form of hemoglobin active during fetal development, creating a new path of inquiry that she hopes will yield a new treatment for the condition.
Read more in Stanford Medicine magazine: https://stanmed.stanford.edu/innovations-help-chronically-ill-thrive/#sicklecell (https://stanmed.stanford.edu/innovations-help-chronically-ill-thrive/#sicklecell)
7 Oct 2025
S2 Ep3: The ethics of science: How do we balance progress with safety?
Drew Endy (https://profiles.stanford.edu/drew-endy), PhD, associate professor of bioengineering, is well-versed in a wide range of ethical quandaries in science today. He’ll discuss what science’s most pressing ethical concerns are, with a focus on misuse of AI and the pros and cons of harnessing synthetic biology to create new solutions for intractable problems in health and medicine.
Read more in Stanford Medicine magazine: https://stanmed.stanford.edu/ethical-genetic-engineering-benefit-society/ (https://stanmed.stanford.edu/ethical-genetic-engineering-benefit-society/)
30 Sept 2025
S2 Ep2: Is exercise the health hero we all need?
Euan Ashley (https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/euan-ashley), MB ChB, DPhil, chair of the department of medicine and professor of genetics and of biomedical data science, leads the MotrPac project, a research group that analyzes the effects of exercise on humans and animals. Ashley discusses what exercise does to the human body on a molecular level, why that matters, and how to incorporate exercise into daily life, including short bouts of “exercise snacks.” He also shares practical tips on how best to gain the benefits of exercise and how it can stave off disease.
19 Sept 2025
S2 Ep1: What do we know about Alzheimer's disease and what brings us hope?
In the first segment of a two-part episode, Michael Greicius (https://profiles.stanford.edu/michael-greicius), MD, MPH, professor of adult neurology, begins by discussing his research in understanding the genetic and molecular roots of Alzheimer’s disease and shares insights into the convoluted landscape of emerging treatments and whether they work.
2 Dec 2024
6: What can one doctor’s cancer journey teach us about being a patient and provider?
Bryant Lin, MD, shares his personal journey with stage 4 lung cancer, teaching valuable lessons on patient care and provider empathy through his Stanford Medicine class.
12 Nov 2024
5: What's giving us hope amid a global mental health crisis?
Maya Adam, MD, and her guests Victor Carrion, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, and Laura Roberts, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, shine a spotlight on the global mental health crisis and share how research at Stanford Medicine is giving new hope to patients seeking clearer diagnoses and better treatments. Carrion explores the impact of trauma on young people, discusses how to help build resilience, and shares practical tools that help youth support their own mental health. Later, Roberts speaks to the state of the world’s mental health, including how the pandemic left lingering impacts on us all, how to restore mental balance, and why digital health could be a boon to broader accessibility to mental health tools.
Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/mental-health-crisis.html (https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/mental-health-crisis.html)
12 Nov 2024
4: Why are women at a greater risk for autoimmune diseases?
While the immune system is normally the body’s sworn protector, it can sometimes turn against us. Maya Adam hosts Howard Chang, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology and of genetics, and Diana Dou, PhD, former Stanford Medicine postdoctoral scholar and current assistant professor of immunology at Duke University, to discuss autoimmune diseases and why women are at an increased risk. Chang and Dou share their respective journeys into medicine, what motivates them to research the autoimmunity imbalance between genders, and findings from their latest research that point to why women experience a sex bias.
Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/autoimmunity_women.html (https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/autoimmunity_women.html)
12 Nov 2024
3: How can we break the silence on mental health?
This episode discusses suicide and may be distressing for some listeners. If help is needed, the U.S. national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988 or by chatting at 988lifeline.org (http://988lifeline.org).
Maya Adam and Leanne Williams, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, talk about tackling the stigma surrounding mental health challenges, a burden that still too often prevents those who need help the most from reaching out. In this episode, Williams shares her own searingly personal story about the loss of her partner, an ER physician who died by suicide, and how it motivated her work to prevent more tragedies. She underscores the need to identify the root causes of mental illness in the brain and explores the potential for bio-typing to bring precision and personalization to the field. She also emphasizes the importance of lifestyle changes to improve outcomes, the need to make technological advances more widely available and how, together, we can all help erase the shame around getting treatment.
Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/mental-health-stigma.html (https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/mental-health-stigma.html)
12 Nov 2024
2: What can we learn from the world’s longest living senior citizens?
With life expectancy globally continuing to climb, Maya Adam, MD, and David Rehkopf, ScD, associate professor of epidemiology and population health and of medicine, talk about the lessons we might all draw from “blue zones,” the places where residents' enjoy extraordinarily long lifespans. Rehkopf discusses the importance of social connections, diet and everyday activity as keys to health aging. He emphasizes the role of the environment in shaping health behaviors, shares insights from his research on biological markers of aging, and gives practical advice on how to create healthier lifestyles that support longevity.
Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/longevity-blue-zones.html (https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/longevity-blue-zones.html)
12 Nov 2024
1: What does it mean to bring AI into health care?
Artificial intelligence is making waves in nearly every industry, but questions still abound. Maya Adam, MD, and guests Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and biomedical data sciences, and Michael Pfeffer, MD, chief information officer of Stanford Health Care and the Stanford School of Medicine, talk about how AI is being brought into the folds of medicine. From questions like, “How is AI impacting the doctor-patient relationship?” to “Can I trust medical information that comes from AI,” Chen and Pfeffer discuss their experiences with AI and other boons of the technology when it comes to diagnostics and access to health care.
Website: https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/ai-health-care.html (https://med.stanford.edu/health-compass-podcast/ai-health-care.html)
8 Nov 2024
This season on Health Compass from Stanford Medicine
Join Maya Adam, MD, as she navigates health’s biggest questions with leading experts featured in Stanford Medicine magazine
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