In the early 1860's the US was torn apart by war and opposing ideas. In the midst of the conflict, President Lincoln created the USDA, one of the first healthcare laws, and laid the foundations for what would now be known as the FDA.

To help me dive into President Lincoln's impact and explore the history of his presidency, I'm joined by Erin Carlson Mast, President and CEO of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation.

The Lincoln Presidential Foundation (“Foundation”), formerly known as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, is a 501c3 nonprofit with over two decades of experience leading and supporting efforts to share the story of Abraham Lincoln’s life, legacy, and leadership with the world. Learn more about the Lincoln Presidential Foundation here: https://www.lincolnpresidential.org/

How does something intended for good, cause harm? That's the topic explored in this episode. The concept is Externalities, which is a cost or a benefit that affects a third party who is not directly involved in an economic activity or transaction. These impacts can be either negative or positive.

This mundane-sounding concept can play out in big impacts. We explore how research meant to end a killer virus, resulted in an unlikely final victim, Janet Parker. This story is explored with our guest Dr. Mark Pallen, a retired professor from the Quadram Institute and author of the book: The Last Days of Smallpox.

We are also joined by Dr. Tom Dean, who served as a family physician, and Medicare Payment Advisory Commission member for Congress. He shares about externalities during his tenure on MedPAC.

To read Dr. Pallen's book and learn the whole story, find it here: Amazon

Read more from Dr. Tom Dean through his writings in South Dakota Searchlight here: SD Searchlight

On our first episode of this season, Tracey shares the story of her son Mac who lost his life to the opioids. Despite years of creating laws and regulations, we haven't been able to stop the destruction. Biology is partly to blame. I’m joined by Lee Baugh, Associate Professor at the University of South Dakota and neuroscientist and researcher Jamie Bushman (also from the University of South Dakota) to explore the biology of addiction and how opioids hijack our biology and better understand why we still fail to control these drugs.

Our name has changed and new episodes are coming! I'm excited to bring you a new season, starting soon!

“I will tell you something about stories. They aren't just entertainment. They are all we have to fight off illness and death. You don't have anything if you don't have stories.” ― Leslie Marmon Silko

The story of Scott Jerome Parks captivated me and the filled headlines in 2010. His story led me to connect with people around the US and world and, ultimately, to Dr. Joel Carter, a palliative care physician. While treating patients, Joel discovered that stories alone provided relief from pain and improved the well being of patients suffering in the end stages of cancer.

In this episode, Joel tells us the story which led him to this discovery. Deb Murphy and Pam McKenney also share their stories on overcoming cancer and how radiation treatment was a component in that fight. This podcast is all about sharing stories to encourage and educate those working to improve lives --let's continue our work of helping others make many more stories.

To learn more about Dr. Joel Carter, visit his website here: https://joelcartermd.com/

Gordon Isaacs sat on a table at Stanford Medical School in 1955. A large linear accelerator shadowed behind him while he waited for treatment of the tumor growing in his retina. He made history as the first patient treated in the US with this radiation therapy approach. Linear Accelerators (LINACs) have come a long way since that time and have treated millions. How has there been so much success? The answer is a harmonization between quality and engineering.

Dr. Todd Pawlicki, Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences at UC San Diego's School of Medicine joins Leslie and I to talk LINACs, Quality, and the role of Physicists in healthcare. Dr. Pawlicki is an expert and leader in the field of radiation oncology (and quality nerd!). Click here to learn more about Dr. Pawlicki's work.

ASTRO is the group of professionals working to continue improving radiation therapy. They helped connect me to Dr. Pawlicki and are a great resource for professionals and patients!

Information for patients can be found here

Scott Jerome Parks died in 2007 from a radiation overdose. His slow, agonizing death captured headlines. Headlines were followed by a congressional hearing, where his dad shared of Scott's suffering and the need for reform in medical device and radiation safety. As I learned of his story, it brought me to many more stories. The first being the Therac 25.

Natalia Silvis-Cividjian also found the story of the Therac 25. She too became captured and harnessed its lessons to teach students the importance of effective software testing. Natalia is a lecturer at the Vrije University in Amsterdam and joins me to talk about software, radiation, and the tragedy of the Therac 25.

To learn about Natalia's project to teach and preserve software bugs for teaching click here.

In this episode, Dr. David Evans, Virologist at the University of Alberta joins Leslie and I, where we explore a question he once asked. Could he and his team synthetically recreate horsepox virus?

Science is all about asking questions and creating experiments to answer them. These questions can make us uncomfortable. Quality Assurance also thrives on questions. Listen in while we discuss his experiment and ask him questions.

Link to Dr. Evans' publication on horsepox virus:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188453