The Future of Medicine

Stanford Department of Medicine
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Biweekly

Welcome to The Future of Medicine, a podcast from Stanford's Department of Medicine.  We bring you into conversation with the thought leaders who are reshaping how we understand disease, deliver care, and imagine what's possible in human health. This show is built around the extraordinary speakers who join us for Medicine Grand Rounds – one of the longest-running and most respected forums in academic medicine.  Our guests include world-renowned physicians, scientists, innovators, and policy leaders from across the globe, as well as the remarkable faculty at Stanford. Together, they represent the full spectrum of modern biomedical discovery: from breakthrough therapeutics and cutting-edge genomics, to health equity, digital health, global health, neuroscience, AI, and the re-design of care systems.  This is The Future of Medicine. 

  1. 2d ago

    Ross Levine on Blood Cancer, Cancer Genetics, and New Therapies

    Ross L. Levine, MD, Chief Scientific Officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, joins The Future of Medicine for a conversation about blood cancer, cancer genetics, and how a laboratory discovery can eventually lead to new treatments. More than 20 years ago, Levine helped discover a genetic change in JAK2, a gene that plays an important role in controlling blood cell growth. When JAK2 is altered in certain ways, the signal that tells blood cells to grow can become stuck in the “on” position, contributing to a group of chronic blood cancers called myeloproliferative neoplasms. That discovery helped give doctors a new way to diagnose these diseases and helped pave the way for targeted drugs. In this episode, Levine looks back on the moment he first saw the mutation in sequencing data and realized the finding could have immediate consequences for patients. He also explains why the first generation of JAK2-targeted drugs, while helpful for reducing symptoms and improving outcomes, generally does not eliminate the underlying cancer — and why researchers are now working on new approaches that may target the disease more effectively. The conversation then expands to a bigger question: how much more is there still to learn from the genetic information contained in cancer cells? Levine describes how studying DNA from increasingly large numbers of patients continues to reveal unexpected patterns, new biological pathways, and possible treatment targets. He also discusses the growing importance of combining DNA data with other information, including how a cancer responds to treatment, how it changes over time, and what doctors can see in blood tests or under the microscope. Thank you for listening! Call to action: If you enjoy The Future of Medicine, subscribe for more conversations with leading scientists shaping the next era of healthcare. Please rate and review the podcast to help others discover these important discussions. Share with friends and colleagues who are curious about how science becomes medicine.

  2. Aug 16

    Clarence Braddock on the Future of Medical Education

    Clarence Braddock, MD, MPH, a nationally recognized medical educator and former Executive Vice Dean and Vice Dean for Education in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, joins Euan Ashley on The Future of Medicine to explore how we train future doctors, why changing long-established systems can be so difficult, and what leaders often misunderstand about creating meaningful change. Braddock describes how experiences ranging from serving as a physician in the Navy to teaching trainees and studying conversations between doctors and patients shaped his thinking about what medicine asks of both clinicians and educators. The conversation then turns to medical education itself. Braddock challenges assumptions that have shaped medical school for generations and discusses newer approaches, including simulation-based learning and a growing shift away from expecting physicians to function as encyclopedias of medical knowledge. As AI and other technologies increasingly bring information directly to the point of care, he argues that tomorrow’s doctors will need to become skilled and responsible consumers of knowledge. Braddock and Ashley also examine the human side of organizational change. Drawing on lessons from major curriculum reforms, Braddock explains why the process of change can strain colleagues and institutions, and ultimately, why he concluded that how change happens can matter even more than what is changed. Together, they discuss shared decision-making, the evolution of medical training, AI in medicine and what medical schools should be preparing their graduates to do in the decades ahead. Thank you for listening! Call to action: If you enjoy The Future of Medicine, subscribe for more conversations with leading scientists shaping the next era of healthcare. Please rate and review the podcast to help others discover these important discussions. Share with friends and colleagues who are curious about how science becomes medicine.

  3. Jul 26

    Valter Longo on Fasting-Mimicking Diets and Longevity

    What can fasting teach us about aging, and can the body receive some of its benefits without giving up food completely? Valter Longo, PhD, professor of gerontology and biological sciences, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, and author of The Longevity Diet, joins The Future of Medicine for a wide-ranging conversation about nutrition, fasting-mimicking diets, protein, chronic disease, and the biology of longevity. In this episode, Longo traces an unconventional path from aspiring rock guitarist to longevity scientist. He describes how the early death of his grandfather and the striking differences he observed between relatives living in Italy and Chicago helped shape his interest in why people age and develop disease. Longo explains how experiments in yeast led his laboratory to study the effects of sugar, amino acids, and fasting on lifespan. He also discusses the development of the fasting-mimicking diet, a five-day, low-sugar, and low-protein eating plan designed to trigger some of the biological responses associated with fasting while still providing food. The conversation also examines caloric restriction, time-restricted eating, breakfast skipping, and today’s enthusiasm for high-protein diets. Longo distinguishes between short-term changes in weight or metabolic markers and the much harder question of whether a dietary practice improves long-term health.  Together, Longo and host Euan Ashley explore what scientists are learning about nutrition and healthy aging, why extreme approaches can carry tradeoffs, and how carefully designed dietary interventions might one day become part of preventive medicine. Thank you for listening! Call to action: If you enjoy The Future of Medicine, subscribe for more conversations with leading scientists shaping the next era of healthcare. Please rate and review the podcast to help others discover these important discussions. Share with friends and colleagues who are curious about how science becomes medicine.

  4. Jul 19

    Travis Zack on OpenEvidence and the Future of Medical AI

    How can medical AI help doctors make better decisions while preserving clinical judgment and human connection? Travis Zack, MD, PhD, an oncologist, researcher, and chief medical officer of OpenEvidence, joins The Future of Medicine to discuss the future of AI in clinical care. OpenEvidence is an AI-powered platform that helps clinicians find and understand information from peer-reviewed medical research, clinical guidelines, and other trusted sources. In this episode, Zack explains why reliable medical AI depends not only on avoiding fabricated information, but also on finding the right evidence for each clinical question. He discusses how OpenEvidence is designed to bring relevant research into physicians’ workflows while leaving the final decision in the clinician’s hands. The conversation also looks ahead to more proactive forms of care. Zack describes a future in which AI could identify meaningful changes in a patient’s health or in the medical literature and alert physicians before the patient’s next scheduled visit.  Zack also shares his research using language from medical records to improve cancer care. By analyzing how patients describe symptoms such as chemotherapy-related nerve damage, researchers may be able to better predict when treatment should be adjusted to prevent lasting side effects. Together, Dr. Zack and host Errol Ozdalga, MD, explore whether reliance on AI could weaken physicians’ skills, how medical education may change, and why human reasoning and empathy will remain essential to medicine. They also consider a central question for health systems: Will AI be used only to increase efficiency, or will some of the time it saves be returned to patients? Thank you for listening.  Call to action: If you enjoy The Future of Medicine, subscribe for more conversations with leading scientists shaping the next era of healthcare. Please rate and review the podcast to help others discover these important discussions. Share with friends and colleagues who are curious about how science becomes medicine.

  5. Jul 12

    Michael Osterholm on Pandemic Threats, Public Trust, and the Future of Vaccines

    Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, one of the world’s leading experts on infectious disease threats and pandemic preparedness, joins The Future of Medicine for a wide-ranging conversation about COVID-19, vaccines, airborne transmission, public trust, and what the world must do before the next pandemic arrives. Osterholm is director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and has spent nearly five decades investigating outbreaks and advising public officials. In this episode, he reflects on the experiences that first inspired him to become a “medical detective,” including an unusual outbreak linked to thyroid tissue entering the food supply through hamburger meat. The conversation then turns to COVID-19 and the lessons that remain unresolved. Osterholm explains why he believes the United States needs an independent, nonpartisan review of its pandemic response—one focused on identifying what worked, what failed, and how changing evidence shaped decisions about schools, hospitals, masking, and public gatherings. “The pandemic clock is ticking,” Osterholm says. “We just don’t know what time it is.” He also discusses why public health guidance must be able to evolve. As Osterholm puts it, “Science is not truth. Science is the pursuit of truth.” New variants, new evidence, and changing risks do not necessarily mean earlier recommendations were made in bad faith; they reflect the reality of responding to a rapidly developing threat. Watch the full conversation to learn what COVID-19 revealed about the strengths and weaknesses of modern public health—and how science, vaccines, and more honest communication could help the world respond differently next time. Thank you for listening! Call to action: If you enjoy The Future of Medicine, subscribe for more conversations with leading scientists shaping the next era of healthcare. Please rate and review the podcast to help others discover these important discussions. Share with friends and colleagues who are curious about how science becomes medicine.

  6. Jun 28

    Michelle Mello on AI, Insurance Denials, and the Future of Health Policy

    Dr. Michelle Mello, professor of law and health policy at Stanford University, joins The Future of Medicine for a conversation about one of the most frustrating and consequential parts of American healthcare: prior authorization. For many patients and clinicians, prior authorization is the process behind the letter saying an insurance company will not cover a medication, procedure, or service unless additional criteria are met. As Dr. Mello explains, this system is already difficult, time-consuming, and often painful for patients and care teams. Now, artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape how these decisions are made. In this episode, Dr. Mello and host Dr. Euan Ashley discuss how insurers and healthcare systems are using AI in prior authorization, billing, appeals, and utilization management. AI may be able to speed up routine approvals and reduce administrative burden, but it also raises serious questions about transparency, bias, accountability, and whether patients are being protected from wrongful denials. The conversation explores what Dr. Mello describes as an “arms race” of AI systems, with insurers using technology to evaluate requests and health systems using their own tools to identify denials most likely to be overturned and draft stronger appeal letters. She also explains why appeals matter: a large share of insurance denials can be reversed, but many health systems do not have enough staff to appeal every case. Together, Dr. Mello and Dr. Ashley consider what responsible AI governance should look like in healthcare, why simply banning AI may not solve the underlying problems, and how AI could be used in ways that support patients, clinicians, and fairer decision-making. They also discuss the need for greater transparency from insurers, the role of private governance, and why academic medical centers have a responsibility to help shape the safe and ethical use of these tools. Thank you for listening! Call to action: If you enjoy The Future of Medicine, subscribe for more conversations with leading scientists shaping the next era of healthcare. Please rate and review the podcast to help others discover these important discussions. Share with friends and colleagues who are curious about how science becomes medicine.

  7. Jun 14

    Anthony Fauci on the Lessons of HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and The Future of Pandemic Preparedness

    Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of the nation’s most influential public health leaders, joins Stanford Department of Medicine’s The Future of Medicine for a conversation with Dr. Euan Ashley about science, service, public trust, and the future of public health. In this episode, Dr. Fauci reflects on his early career as a physician-scientist, the first years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the creation of PEPFAR, the scientific foundation behind COVID-19 vaccines, and the challenge of communicating evidence in an era of misinformation. Together, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Ashley discuss what it means to lead with integrity when the stakes are high, and why long-term investment in science remains essential for pandemic preparedness and medical progress. Thank you for listening! Call to action: If you enjoy The Future of Medicine, subscribe for more conversations with leading scientists shaping the next era of healthcare. Please rate and review the podcast to help others discover these important discussions. Share with friends and colleagues who are curious about how science becomes medicine.

  8. Jun 7

    Christopher Murray on the Global Burden of Disease and the Hidden Threats Facing Humanity

    Dr. Christopher J.L. Murray — health economist at the University of Washington, physician, and founder of the Global Burden of Disease framework — joins The Future of Medicine to discuss what decades of data across 204 countries reveal about human health, and where it's headed by the end of this century. Dr. Murray's Global Burden of Disease project involves 19,000 collaborators in 167 countries and has produced more than 5,000 published papers. In this conversation, he explains what that data shows: remarkable progress on childhood infectious disease and HIV, a profound global shift toward chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, and a mental health crisis — rising steadily for over a decade — whose causes experts still actively debate. He also discusses why the widely circulated claim that American obesity rates had flattened is likely a statistical artifact, what the data projects for the coming decades (including diabetes overtaking heart disease as the world's leading cause of death), and the compounding health crisis facing the Sahel as population growth, poverty, and climate change converge. The conversation closes on the Lancet Commission on existential and catastrophic risks — a project Dr. Murray helped initiate that takes a data-driven look at long-range threats to humanity, from AI and synthetic biology to nuclear risk, out to 2100. It's a rare conversation that takes a long, honest look at the future — and doesn't flinch. Thank you for listening! Call to action: If you enjoy The Future of Medicine, subscribe for more conversations with leading scientists shaping the next era of healthcare. Please rate and review the podcast to help others discover these important discussions. Share with friends and colleagues who are curious about how science becomes medicine.

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About

Welcome to The Future of Medicine, a podcast from Stanford's Department of Medicine.  We bring you into conversation with the thought leaders who are reshaping how we understand disease, deliver care, and imagine what's possible in human health. This show is built around the extraordinary speakers who join us for Medicine Grand Rounds – one of the longest-running and most respected forums in academic medicine.  Our guests include world-renowned physicians, scientists, innovators, and policy leaders from across the globe, as well as the remarkable faculty at Stanford. Together, they represent the full spectrum of modern biomedical discovery: from breakthrough therapeutics and cutting-edge genomics, to health equity, digital health, global health, neuroscience, AI, and the re-design of care systems.  This is The Future of Medicine. 

Information

  • Creator
    Stanford Department of Medicine
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Future of Medicine
  • Show Website
    The Future of Medicine

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