Vaccines are considered by more than a few scientific experts to be among the most significant developments in modern medicine. Now, it’s hard to know what to believe about vaccinations. The resurgence of measles, effectively eradicated in the U.S. 25 years ago, is one indication that in some pockets of our country, is one indication of doubt in vaccines’ effectiveness. Meanwhile, the federal government is pulling back on its recommendations about who should take the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Melissa Held, professor of pediatric infectious diseases and senior associate dean of medical student education at the UConn School of Medicine, and Dr. David Banach, associate professor of medicine, infectious diseases physician and UConn Health’s hospital epidemiologist, join us to help separate facts from myths.

(Dr. Melissa Held, Dr. David Banach, Carolyn Pennington, Chris DeFrancesco, May 2025, studio and production support by Ethan Giorgetti and Ryan Bernat)

Dr. Melissa Held https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/profile?profileId=Held-Tobin-Melissa

Dr. David Banach https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/profile?profileId=Banach-David

UConn Health’s Infectious Diseases Division https://health.uconn.edu/infectious-diseases/

American Academy of Pediatrics https://www.aap.org/

Infectious Diseases Society of America https://www.idsociety.org/

Connecticut Department of Public Health https://portal.ct.gov/dph

When severe depression becomes treatment-resistant depression, an unconventional medication is proving to be effective. It’s a specific form of ketamine that is administered by nasal spray in a supervised clinical setting, approved by the FDA for this purpose. Dr. Caleb Battersby, director of interventional psychiatry at UConn Health, explains how esketamine works and why this treatment approach has been providing hope for those who otherwise may be out of answers.

(Dr. Caleb Battersby, Carolyn Pennington, Chris DeFrancesco, April 2025, studio and technical support by Ethan Giorgetti and Ryan Bernat)

Dr. Caleb Battersby https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/profile?profileId=Battersby-Caleb

UConn Health Department of Psychiatry https://health.uconn.edu/psychiatry/

Find a treatment center https://www.spravato.com/find-treatment-center/

UConn Health Minute: Treating Severe Depression (December 2024) https://today.uconn.edu/2024/12/uconn-health-minute-treating-severe-depression/

Treatable but not curable, endometriosis affects one in 10 women and girls of reproductive age. But it's not all that well understood and recognized, and can go undetected, leading to years of avoidable suffering and causing time away from school, work, and other activities. UConn Health is part of a collaboration with The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine and the state of Connecticut called EndoRISE, which seeks to raise awareness and advance research of endometriosis. Dr. Danielle Luciano, director of minimally invasive gynecological surgery at UConn Health, and Jasmina Kuljancic, EndoRISE program manager from JAX, help lead this effort.

(Dr. Danielle Luciano, Jasmina Kuljancic, Chris DeFrancesco, March 2025, studio and technical support by Ethan Giorgetti and Ryan Bernat)

EndoRISE https://www.ctendorise.org/

Dr. Danielle Luciano https://health.uconn.edu/find-a-provider/physician/Luciano-Danielle

Endometriosis care at UConn Health https://health.uconn.edu/women/gynecology/endometriosis/

UConn Today: 'EndoRISE Launch Marks New Era in Endometriosis Research and Support' https://today.uconn.edu/2024/06/endorise-launch-marks-new-era-in-endometriosis-research-and-support/