Webinar Series

Health in the Headlines

About the Series

Health in the Headlines investigates high-profile health and health policy issues from a scientific viewpoint, while creating space for respectful debate among a diverse set of experts. Each discussion explores what is known, what is unknown, and why disagreements can occur, even among scientists. 

The series takes a unique approach by encouraging panelists to distinguish clearly between empirical evidence and personal, cultural, or policy values that may shape their interpretation of the science. This approach is designed to illuminate how scientific consensus is built, how uncertainty is communicated, and how values inevitably influence the interpretation and application of science and evidence. 

Events take place the second Wednesday of every month, from 3:00 to 4:30 pm Eastern.

Advisory Group

Co-chaired by Alex Azar and Megan Ranney, the advisory group provides strategic direction for the series, helps to select topics and speakers, and ensures balance and quality across events.

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Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Dean

Yale School of Public Health

Senior Fellow Emeritus

American Enterprise Institute

Executive Director

American Public Health Association

Georges Benjamin, MD, is known as one of the nation’s most influential physician leaders because he speaks passionately and eloquently about the health issues having the most impact on our nation today. From his firsthand experience as a physician, he knows what happens when preventive care is not available and when the healthy choice is not the easy choice. As executive director of APHA since 2002, he is leading the Association’s push to make America the healthiest nation in one generation. He came to APHA from his position as secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Benjamin became secretary of health in Maryland in April 1999, following four years as its deputy secretary for public health services. As secretary, Benjamin oversaw the expansion and improvement of the state’s Medicaid program.

Benjamin, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He is board-certified in internal medicine and a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a fellow emeritus of the American College of Emergency Physicians and an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health.

An established administrator, author and orator, Benjamin started his medical career in 1981 in Tacoma, Washington, where he managed a 72,000-patient visit ambulatory care service as chief of the Acute Illness Clinic at the Madigan Army Medical Center and was an attending physician within the Department of Emergency Medicine. A few years later, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he served as chief of emergency medicine at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. After leaving the Army, he chaired the Department of Community Health and Ambulatory Care at the District of Columbia General Hospital. He was promoted to acting commissioner for public health for the District of Columbia and later directed one of the busiest ambulance services in the nation as interim director of the Emergency Ambulance Bureau of the District of Columbia Fire Department.

At APHA, Benjamin also serves as publisher of the nonprofit’s monthly publication, The Nation’s Health, the association’s official newspaper, and the American Journal of Public Health, the profession’s premier scientific publication. He is the author of more than 100 scientific articles and book chapters. His recent book The Quest for Health Reform: A Satirical History is an exposé of the nearly 100-year quest to ensure quality affordable health coverage for all through the use of political cartoons.

Benjamin is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (Formally the Institute of Medicine) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and also serves on the boards for many organizations including Research!America and the Reagan-Udall Foundation. In 2008, 2014 and 2016 he was named one of the top 25 minority executives in health care by Modern Healthcare Magazine, in addition to being voted among the 100 most influential people in health care from 2007-2017.

In April 2016, President Obama appointed Benjamin to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, a council that advises the president on how best to assure the security of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

Director of Health Policy Studies

The Cato Institute

Senior Fellow at KFF; Editor-at-Large for Public Health at KFF Health News; and Medical Contributor for CBS News (New York)

Celine Gounder, MD, ScM, is Senior Fellow at KFF; Editor-at-Large for Public Health at KFF Health News; and Medical Contributor for CBS News. Trained at Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Washington, and Harvard University, Gounder is an internationally renowned internist, infectious disease specialist, and epidemiologist. She is a CBS News Medical Contributor and a Senior Fellow and Editor-at-Large for Public Health at KFF and KFF Health News. Dr. Gounder is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. She cares for patients at Bellevue Hospital Center. She is one of the world’s leading experts in science, medicine, and public health communication. Gounder advises local and national policymakers on issues of public health, including epidemics and pandemics, the health impacts of climate change, mental health, drug overdose, and disinformation. Prior to joining CBS News, Gounder was a CNN Medical Analyst and a guest expert on numerous other networks. She’s written for numerous publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post. She’s a frequent guest on NPR and other radio and podcast programs, including two she produces: “American Diagnosis” and “Epidemic.” Between 2017 and 2018, Gounder cared for patients at Indian Health Service and tribal health facilities. In early 2015, Gounder spent two months volunteering as an Ebola aid worker in Guinea. She also interviewed locals to understand how the crisis was affecting them. Early in her career, Gounder studied HIV and tuberculosis in Brazil and southern Africa. While on faculty at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Gounder was the Director for Delivery for the Gates Foundation-funded Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS/TB Epidemic. She went on to serve as Assistant Commissioner of Health for Tuberculosis at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She received her BA in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, her Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and her MD from the University of Washington. Dr. Gounder was an intern and resident in Internal Medicine at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital, and a post-doctoral fellow in Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University.

Ruth and O.C. Hubert Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology

Emory University

Chief Physician Editor, Health and Lifestyle Medicine, WebMD (Georgia)

Neha Pathak, MD, FACP, DipABLM, is Chief Physician Editor, Health and Lifestyle Medicine at WebMD and the host of WebMD’s Health Discovered podcast. She is part of the team responsible for ensuring the accuracy of health information on WebMD. She also reports on topics related to lifestyle, climate change, and environmental impacts on health for WebMD and Medscape, and is a regular contributor to Yale Climate Connections. Beyond her role at WebMD, Dr. Pathak is a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, where she facilitates a course in the Climate Change and Health Certificate Program. She serves on the board of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) and is chair of ACLM’s Global Sustainability Committee. She represents ACLM on the Medical Society Consortium for Climate and Health steering committee and is a member of the Consortium’s communications committee. Her research focuses on the intersection of lifestyle medicine and planetary health. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed medical journals and the lay press. She is also a founding member of the Georgia Clinicians for Climate Action and is the Co-Chair of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, an interfaith environmental stewardship non-profit. Additionally, Dr. Pathak is the Associate Program Director of the Atlanta VA Medical Center Quality Scholars Program and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. She is a Primary Care Physician and was a designated women’s health provider in the VA healthcare system. She continues to see patients at a community health center in Georgia. Dr. Pathak is dual board-certified in internal medicine and lifestyle medicine utilizing therapeutic lifestyle interventions – whole food, plant rich eating patterns, physical activity, sleep and stress- management strategies – as the foundation of maintain health and well-being. She graduated with a BA in psychology/biology from Harvard University. She received her MD with honors in community service from Cornell University’s Weill Medical College. Dr. Pathak completed her primary care, internal medicine residency at New York Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College. She obtained her certificate in climate change and health communication from Yale School of Public Health. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children.

What Should Kids Eat? Ultra-Processed Foods & Children's health

Join Us on September 10, 2025

This back-to-school season, school nutrition is in the spotlight once again. Federal health officials recently pledged that the newest edition of the US Dietary Guidelines will drive “major, dramatic changes in school food.” This effort is part of a longstanding debate around the role of “ultra-processed foods” in the American diet.

Ultra-processed foods usually have more added sugars and carbohydrates and less protein, fiber, and vitamins than unprocessed or minimally processed foods and are linked to weight gain and related health problems. Research suggests that up to 67 percent of what kids eat in the United States is ultra-processed.

Tune in to a virtual conversation and audience Q&A with leading nutrition experts to explore what we do and don't know about the impact of ultra-processed foods on children's health and get practical advice to support good eating habits for American kids.

Guests

Megan Ranney (Moderator), Dean, Yale School of Public Health
Christopher Gardner, Director of Nutrition Studies, Stanford University
Kevin Hall, Author of Food Intelligence and Former Senior Investigator, National Institutes of Health
Susan Mayne, Former Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Fatima Cody Stanford, pediatrician and professor, Harvard Medical School; and member, 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

Regulating a "Miracle Drug": GLP-1 Costs, Access, & Safety

Join Us on October 8, 2025

Nearly three-quarters of Americans are overweight or obese, and therefore at higher risk for chronic and debilitating conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegoby, which help people lose weight by reducing their appetite and altering their digestion, have been hailed as a “miracle” with the potential to transform health and reduce costs at the national level. They may also support heart and kidney health.

Demand for GLP-1s is huge and growing, but access is uneven. These drugs can be expensive, topping $1,000 per month without insurance. On the other hand, less expensive options are readily available through loosely regulated direct-to-consumer telehealth companies, raising quality and safety concerns. Although around 12 percent of Americans say they have taken a GLP-1 at one time or another, the long-term effects of using these drugs – as well as the health impacts of discontinuing use – are not well known.

What should patients, physicians, insurers, policy makers, and researchers know about GLP-1 cost, access, and safety? This timely conversation and expert Q&A will be valuable to anyone with a personal or professional interest in these powerful new drugs.

Guests

Alex Azar (Moderator), Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Jaime Almandoz, Medical Director, Weight Wellness Program, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Govind Persad, Associate Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School
Jeffrey A. Singer, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
Tracy Zvenyach, Director, Policy Strategy & Alliances, Obesity Action Coalition

Jun 17, 2025Key Facts

Health Basics: Bird Flu

Infectious Diseases

Health Basics: Bird Flu

Apr 3, 2025Key Facts

Health Basics: Measles

Children and FamiliesInfectious Diseases

Health Basics: Measles

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For more information about Health in the Headlines, contact Laura DeStefano, NAM Director of Strategic Communications & Engagement, at [email protected].