Vitals Magazine asked three alumni to share their perspectives on the most urgent challenges to health and medicine today, and how their work is shaping a healthier future.
Not Just Surviving
By Pamela L. Kunz, MD, D ’94, MED ’01, Professor of Medicine (Oncology) Division Chief, GI Medical Oncology Yale School of Medicine and Smilow Cancer Hospital
As a practicing gastrointestinal (GI) oncologist and cancer researcher, I believe that one of the most urgent challenges in human health is addressing the increasing number of cancer survivors. Cancer survivors are people who have received treatment intended to cure their cancer and those who live with chronic cancers. There are over 18 million cancer survivors in the U.S., representing approximately 5% of the population.
In the last decade we’ve seen incredible advances in cancer diagnostics and treatments leading to increased rates of cure and longer survival. However, many patients experience long-term side effects from cancer treatments or chronic symptoms of their cancer. These side effects can be physical, emotional, and financial. In providing patient-centric cancer care, I hope that we can focus on issues of cancer survivorship.
As the division chief of GI medical oncology at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, I am working with my team to provide comprehensive survivorship care to patients with GI cancers to help them live better following a diagnosis of a GI cancer. Areas of focus include healthy lifestyle, fertility and sexuality, psychosocial needs, specialist care, and routine healthcare maintenance. Two groups of patients who warrant special attention in their survivorship journey are those who are diagnosed with early-onset cancers (diagnosed under the age of 50) and those who face barriers to social determinants of health.
Accelerating Diagnosis
By Cristiana Baloescu, MD, MPH, MED ’13, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine
The most urgent challenge to human health today is the gap in access to timely, high-quality diagnostic studies—for acute and chronic diseases that can be life-threatening if missed or delayed. Limited access to diagnostic tools and specialist expertise in many parts of the world can delay care and worsen outcomes. Even in well-resourced settings, societal barriers may prevent patients from receiving preventive care until the disease becomes critical.
From my perspective as an emergency physician and researcher, I see point-of-care ultrasound as a transformative solution. It allows clinicians to answer critical questions in real time, right at the bedside. But this requires skill, and training takes time, resources, and constant practice. That’s why I’m working on integrating artificial intelligence into point-of-care ultrasound. Artificial intelligence can help less experienced clinicians obtain high-quality ultrasound images and aid in making confident, life-saving decisions. I’m also exploring how ultrasound can help us detect chronic diseases during acute visits to allow early intervention and public health outreach.
Expanding the use of ultrasound can move us towards a future where faster and better care is available for everyone.
Building Bridges
By Aaron Briggs, MD, MPH, D ’15, MED ’19, Research Scientist I, Black Infant Health Program Perinatal Program Evaluation & Data Unit Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Division, California Department of Public Health
Ethnoracial health disparities represent a public health crisis in the United States. Gaps in life expectancy have increased over the past two decades, and Black mothers and infants have continued to die at more than twice the rate of their white counterparts—a devastating trend that has persisted for more than four decades.
As a former pediatrics resident and now a public health scientist, I’ve had an opportunity to examine these inequities across multiple viewpoints. Today, I provide scientific support for the California Black Infant Health Program (BIH), which is housed within the California Department of Public Health’s Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Division.
Established in 1989 to address disparities in birth outcomes, BIH has evolved to become an evidence-informed, group-based, social support and empowerment focused program helping participants navigate their pregnancies. My work consists of utilizing data to help inform several different aspects of the program, including its administration, development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. BIH has served countless Black birthing persons and families in California, with its most recent evaluation finding positive impacts across a range of health or health-related outcomes. California’s BIH Program represents a strong step in the right direction toward effectively addressing American ethnoracial health disparities.
-
20 Years On
The Road to $1MFrom scrappy beginnings, the CHaD HERO celebrates two decades of healing kids by breaking seven figures for the first time.
-
A First-of-Its-Kind
ClinicThis dermatology clinic models personalized, specialty care for patients with Down syndrome.
-
Battling the
Antibiotic ApocalypseHow Dartmouth researchers and doctors are leading the fight against antibiotic-resistant infections.