March 1, 2024

Conjoined twins who share the same heart; long COVID and cognitive decline; and other news stories with VUMC sources

USA Today reporter Katie Camero interviewed Sahar Takkouche, MD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism and director of the Vanderbilt Weight Loss Center in Wilson County, for a story about the battle between “natural” and “fake” weight loss with the rise of Ozempic, and what it has done to the body positivity movement.

Jim Jackson, PsyD, director of Long-Term Outcomes, CIBS Center, for a New York Times story about long COVID and cognitive declines.

Ban Mishu Allos, MD, associate professor of Medicine, was quoted by The New York Times in a story about the HPV vaccine and cancer prevention.

William Schaffner, MD, professor of Preventive Medicine, continues to be one of the most in-demand sources about infectious disease in the news. Among the news outlets he has spoken to recently: Health, Medpage Today, Marist Poll Podcast, Associated Press via ABC News and MSN, and Fortune.

HuffPost‘s Am I Doing It Wrong? podcast interviewed Parul Goyal, MBBS, associate professor of Clinical Medicine, about aging and quality of life.

WebMD reporter Liz Scherer interviewed Heidi Silver, RD, MS, PhD, research professor of Medicine and director of Vanderbilt Diet, Body Composition, and Human Metabolism Core, for a story about her Nutrients study on nut ingestion and effective on metabolic risk.

People magazine reporter Wendy Kantor interviewed Andrea Johnson, MD, assistant professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, for a story about conjoined twins who share the same heart.

Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, adjoint professor of Anesthesiology and president of the American Medical Association, was quoted by The New York Times in its coverage of a billion-dollar gift to the Albert Einstein Medical College.

WSMV Channel 4 News reporter Lauren Lowrey interviewed Loren Lipworth, ScD, Division of Epidemiology, and Joey Barnett, professor of Pharmacology, emeritus, for a story about the HBCU Scholars program to add more diversity in health care. Barnett started the program and Lipworth is a HBCU Scholars mentor.