Help! Make it Make Sense with Dr. Toni and Dr. Aimee

Toni
  • 4.8 (18)
  • Science
  • Updated Bimonthly

Do you get overwhelmed by science? Does it mystify or scare you? Have you ever wondered if scientists are normal people and why they use so much freakin’ jargon when they talk? You’re not alone! In this podcast, you’ll enter the world of science through conversations between two friends who happen to be a med peds doctor (internist and pediatrician) and an immunology professor. They will talk through the most recent and crazy headlines and help you separate the nuggets of truth from the B. S.!Relax, pop in your ear buds, and listen to conversations about science that will surprise, delight, and inform you.Dr. Aimee Bernard is a PhD in immunology with expertise in science communication, community science outreach, and medical education. Dr. Toni Eyssallenne is an MD, PhD double boarded in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics with expertise in global and public health, health equity, and medical education. Both have been actively working in their fields for over 15 years and are dedicated to improving access and understanding to population level questions about science and medicine.

  1. Feb 9

    Compassionate Science Communication with Liz Marnik

    Send a text We are checking back in to speak with the extraordinary Dr. Liz Marnik who discusses her journey into science communication coming from a background where skepticism for vaccines and medicine were the norm into evolving into a premier scientist and scientific communicator on platforms like Those Nerdy Girls on instagram, substack and facebook and founding Science Whiz Liz.  What a fun conversation and Dr. Marnik and her story is incredibly inspirational.  Please follow her @sciencewhizliz on all the platforms and writes the substack for the Science Classroom and her new endeavor evicollective.org.  What a fun convo!  Dont forget to check her out and send us questions and comments at drtonianddraimee@gmail.com.   Thanks again to Jeff Jeudy for our music and check out our youtube!

    56 min

  2. 06/19/2025

    The Power of Showing Up with Your Local Epidemiologist Dr. Katelyn Jetelina

    Send a text Great conversation with the one and only Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, AKA Your Local Epidemiologist, about the power of showing up, the experience with members of the Make America Healthy Again movement on the Why Should I Trust You podcast, the work of distinguishing public health from the industrial complexes of food and pharma and insurance and also acknowledging that the status quo of public health needs to change and taking that first step no matter how small because it matters.  Such a rich conversation and we were so honored to have her! Dr. Katelyn Jetelina is an epidemiologist and scientific communicator. She is the co-founder of the non-profit Health Trust Initiative, an adjunct professor at Yale School of Public Health, and former Senior Scientific Advisor to the White House and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, Dr. Jetelina is the publisher of Your Local Epidemiologist- a public health newsletter that “translates” ever-evolving science to the public, reaching over 500 million views in over 133 countries. Dr. Jetelina has received numerous national awards, including recently being named a TIME100 Most Influential Person in Health.  Check out her newsletter https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/what-would-making-america-healthy Check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@helpmakeitmakesense6769/about Send us your questions and comments to drtonianddraimee@gmail.com Thanks to Jeff Jeudy for our themesong!

    41 min

  3. 06/08/2025

    Finding new ways to impact science communication with Ed Nirenberg

    Send a text Today we chat with Edward Nirenberg, an immunology science communicator who found his calling working with vaccine hesitant parents on facebook and expanding his reach through a blog on substack called Deplatform Disease, and had a fun convo about what inspired him to get into science communication, the times we are currently in, figuring out new ways to reach those groups of folks who are genuinely lost in the confusion of misinformation and disinformation that have been weaponized by those who oppose vaccines in particular.   We shout out the work of Katelyn Jetelina who was recently on the podcast Why Should I Trust You? with other leaders in public health who sat down with a group from the Make America Healthy Again movement.  https://www.whyshoulditrustyou.net/ And we discuss the moment of individualism that we are in instead of the moment of community. Aimee and Toni duke it out again about Vicks vapor rub again LOL.  See the references below for Ed's blog and the unbiased science podcast work on building brides not divides https://deplatformdisease.substack.com/?utm_source=homepage_recommendations&utm_campaign=4168390 https://theunbiasedscipod.substack.com/p/building-bridges-not-divides Send us your questions and comments to drtonianddraimee@gmail.com

    53 min

  4. 04/16/2025

    How we fight back with Dr. Jim Alwine

    Send a text Today we sit down with Dr. James Alwine who is a virologist, a professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy for Microbiology and a member of the coordinating committee of the public health movement Defend Public Health.  We discuss his oped ed Trump is Killing Life Saving Health Research where he highlights the need for our scientific, medical and public health communities to fight back at this moment of our current administration and the impact of federal decisions on local day to day experiences.  We need to be loud.  We need to get out of our labs and clinics and from behind our desks and let our communities know how important this work is to their day to day lives, their babies, their spouses, their neighbors.  It is a short but powerful discussion about the magic of science and how scientists dont have secrets we will talk you to death about our love of the work and how we actually cured cancer! Please see the link to his oped here https://progressive.org/op-eds/trump-is-killing-life-saving-health-research-alwine-20250416/ Please see the link to the oped from Elizabeth Jacobs  https://tucson.com/opinion/column/local-opinion-robert-f-kennedy-jr-is-dangerous-for-the-health-and-economy-of-arizona/article_6bc1d020-e2f9-11ef-b359-6732f13f6300.html Please see link to Dr. Aimee's oped The Critical Need for Science Funding https://frontporchne.com/opinion-the-critical-need-for-science-funding/ Join Defend Public Health by emailing defendingpublichealth@gmail.com Send us your questions and comments at drtonianddraimee@gmail.com.

    26 min

  5. 03/30/2025

    Social Media as a tool for advocacy with The Vaccine Mom

    Send a text Today we have a very special guest, Taryn Chapman also known as "The Vaccine Mom" on instagram, to talk about the power of social media as an advocacy tool.  She has a master’s in molecular medicine from the University of South Florida. Before becoming a mother, she worked in vaccines and virology for USF’s College of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. Currently, she’s a science and vaccine communicator for vaccine- and health-related organizations nationwide and her content can also be found on her website https://www.thevaccinemom.com/ Thanks to Jeff Jeudy for providing our music! Contact us with your questions and comments at drtonianddraimee@gmail.com

    51 min

  6. 03/23/2025

    Boiling the Ocean of Health Equity and Delivery with Dr. Torian Easterling!!

    Send a text We sit down today with Dr. Torian Easterling to talk about the challenges of working in health equity and care delivery for the most vulnerable in these uncertain times, the importance of checking in, being steady and steadfast in our goals, understanding that while it is important to promote justice and preserve the progress, the status quo wasn't completely working for those that are the most vulnerable and that it is important to rebuild our programs with true equity at the forefront and not performative DEI by building relationships and collaborations with non science or non health entities (law, community organizations, laundromats!) to get everyone to live the lives that we all deserve to live. We cannot go back and NYC is leading the way through the work of NYC Commission on Racial Equity. Dr. Easterling is a distinguished physician and public health leader, currently serving as the Senior Vice President for Population and Community Health and Chief Strategic and Innovation Officer for One Brooklyn Health (Brookdale, Interfaith and Kingsbrook- Jewish). In this senior leadership role, Dr. Easterling spearheads the Office of Community Health and Health Equity- with a mission to strengthen the system's capacity to address health inequities and improve the health and well-being of the communities served. Prior to his tenure at One Brooklyn Health, Dr. Easterling held the positions of First Deputy Commissioner and Chief Equity Officer at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). In these roles, he led New York City’s equity response to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensured equitable distribution of vaccines to vulnerable populations and communities. Dr. Easterling is a member of several boards and commissions, including the NYC Commission on Racial Equity (NYC CORE). He continues to drive local policy and planning efforts to improve community health. Dr. Easterling is the Co-Founder and Director of Education for the Young Doctors Project, intergenerational mentoring program for high school boys of color. Book Recommendation: We Are The Leaders We Have Been Looking For By: Eddie S. Glaude Jr. Health Insurance 101 Medicare And Commercial Health Insurance: The Fundamental Difference", Health Affairs Blog, February 15, 2012 Cindy Mann and Adam Striar, “How Differences in Medicaid, Medicare, and Commercial Health Insurance Payment Rates Impact Access, Health Equity, and Cost,” To the Point (blog), Commonwealth Fund, Aug. 17, 2022 NYC Racial Equity Legislation and Infrastructure NYC City Charter Section on Racial Equity Mayor's Office of Racial Equity NYC CORE NY 1. Commission calls on city to release Racial Equity Plan by March 21 Link to Charter Preamble https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/newyorkcity/latest/NYCcharter/0-0-0-4 Thanks to Jeff Jeudy for providing the music! Email your questions and comments to drtonianddraimee@gmail.com

    53 min

  7. 02/09/2025

    Defending Public Health with Dr. Gregg Gonsalves

    Send a text We are here today with Dr. Gregg Gonsalves to discuss ways forward to defend public health.   Dr. Gonsalves is an epidemiologist focused on substance use and infectious diseases. He is also an expert in policy modeling on infectious disease and substance use, as well as the intersection of public policy and health equity.  In the past he worked in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for 25+ years, in HIV/AIDS, global health and human rights, in the US and Southern Africa.  He started a grassroots coalition - Defending Public Health - on LinkedIn in November 2024 in response to the nomination of RFK Jr. to lead HHS. We discuss the tragic battle of the billionaires, the strength of people power, what we can learn from the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, the way doctors and scientists can reach the communities they care for and translate our work in ways that communities can digest, and advocate for policy changes that can strengthen the health of the public in the current political climate and beyond.  The persistence of a few people is enough!! The article he mentioned below: How Public Health Took Part of its Own Downfall.  Ed Yong https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/10/how-public-health-took-part-its-own-downfall/620457/ Dr. Aimee's favorite podcast besides ours LOL: Unbiased Science And learn more about the movement to defend public health by reaching out to the below! EMAIL: defendingpublichealth@gmail.com WEBSITE: coming soon! GOOGLE GROUP: need to 'ask to join' - go to Google Groups, search for defendpublichealth (lowercase, no spaces) and request to join Thanks as always to Jeff Jeudy for providing our music!  And don't forget to check out our youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4BNZEI5dk. Send us your questions and comments to drtonianddraimee@gmail.com

    46 min

  8. 12/31/2024

    Buckle up Buttercup!! 2025 loading....

    Send a text We are back to wrap up the year after an accidental hiatus!!  We wanted to stop by before the end of the year to discuss what our work looks like in the near future under leadership changes in the US, our worries about the increase in misinformation and confusion as we all just try and survive this life and do what is right for ourselves and our families, and valuing science education and science communication so we can bring people along in confidence instead of fear. Science and medicine have done great things for the health of our populations AND we are not speaking in words and terms that non-science people understand nor are we patient enough to explain during encounters and that stokes conspiracy.  We must do better!   Dr. Aimee recommends 3 resources of science information that can help you understand the world of health: Your Local Epidemiologist https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/ Unbiased science podcast https://www.unbiasedscipod.com/ Immunologic https://news.immunologic.org/ Thanks to Jeff Jeudy for providing our music and see you all in 2025!!

    37 min
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4.8
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About

Do you get overwhelmed by science? Does it mystify or scare you? Have you ever wondered if scientists are normal people and why they use so much freakin’ jargon when they talk? You’re not alone! In this podcast, you’ll enter the world of science through conversations between two friends who happen to be a med peds doctor (internist and pediatrician) and an immunology professor. They will talk through the most recent and crazy headlines and help you separate the nuggets of truth from the B. S.!Relax, pop in your ear buds, and listen to conversations about science that will surprise, delight, and inform you.Dr. Aimee Bernard is a PhD in immunology with expertise in science communication, community science outreach, and medical education. Dr. Toni Eyssallenne is an MD, PhD double boarded in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics with expertise in global and public health, health equity, and medical education. Both have been actively working in their fields for over 15 years and are dedicated to improving access and understanding to population level questions about science and medicine.

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