UConn Health Podcasts

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Thank you for your interest in the UConn Health Pulse Podcast. We hope to help you get to know UConn Health – and its people – a little better, and maybe even leave you with some useful health information too. Please subscribe to the UConn Health Pulse Podcast, so you always get the latest episode, and be sure to share with a friend!

Dr. Jaime Imitola portrait white coat next to Multiple Sclerosis Center sign

Making MS More ‘VISIBL’

A great challenge in multiple sclerosis care is recognizing it soon enough to start intervention and change the disease trajectory. Social determinants of health, including cultural barriers, can make this especially difficult. Dr. Jaime Imitola, chief of UConn Health’s Division of Multiple Sclerosis and Translational Neuroimmunology, led a group that came up with a new,…

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Dr. Hetal Patel and Emmett Sullivan portraits

Addressing Barriers to Rx Access

UConn Health is now part of the Dispensary of Hope Network, which means it can connect qualifying patients with no-cost prescriptions for certain medications that the pharmaceutical companies make available. Emmett Sullivan and Dr. Hetal Patel from the UConn Health Pharmacy explain the program, which is only the third of its kind in Connecticut and…

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Linda York environmental portrait

Season’s Eatings: Tips From an RD

Temptation surrounds us during the holiday season. How do we navigate those holiday parties, potlucks and happy hours so we can be reasonably healthy and still be festive? Linda York, registered dietitian at UConn Health, has some tips on how to “brave the buffet” and still share in the merriment. (Linda York, Chris DeFrancesco, November…

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Dr. Chang portrait, Dr. Ford portrait, Trauma Avengers art

Meet the ‘Trauma Avengers’

A nationwide child and adolescent behavioral health project that originated at UConn Health takes a creative, modern approach to helping young people cope with mental health challenges. At the same time, it creates educational resources for therapists throughout the country. A component of this includes the “Trauma Avengers” sharing their “Digital Diaries.” Clinical psychologists Julian…

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Dr. Jennifer Kanaan portrait

Start School Sleep Schedule Soon!

When is the best time to start moving up bed time? Hint: it’s not the night before the first day of school! Dr. Jennifer Kanaan from UConn Health’s Sleep Disorders Center works with adults, adolescents, and children. She joins the podcast to explain what’s happening in our bodies when we sleep and why it’s so…

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Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues portrait

Managing Movement Disorders Like Parkinson’s

Identifying Parkinson’s disease early and starting a treatment plan can go a long way in delaying the onset of disability or loss of function. Once that diagnosis is made, supportive care and planning become crucial parts of managing the disease. Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues, director of UConn Health’s Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center, explains. (May…

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three portraits

Education as a Diabetes Management Tool

Two UConn Health endocrinologists, Drs. Pooja Luthra and Parvathy Madhavan, and the coordinator of UConn Health’s Diabetes Self-Management Education Program, nurse practitioner Luriza Glynn, discuss the importance of recognizing early signs of diabetes and, once diagnosed, managing it with the benefit of education. (Luriza Glynn, Dr. Parvathy Madhavan, Dr. Pooja Luthra, Chris DeFrancesco, April 2023)…

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Drs. Joseph Walker and Durgadas Sakalkale portraits

Alternatives to Opioids in Pain Management

When it comes to pain management, particularly back and neck pain, narcotics are not the only option. We ask two UConn Health physiatrists — Dr. Joseph Walker and Dr. Durgadas Sakalkale — about the approaches they take in the UConn Musculoskeletal Institute. (March 2023, Dr. Joseph Walker, Dr. Durgadas Sakalkale, Chris DeFrancesco) Listen to the…

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Drs. Katherine Fleming and Michaela Matos

Dental Care for Kids

Dr. Katherine Fleming from the UConn School of Dental Medicine’s Division of Pediatric Dentistry and Dr. Michaela Matos, a UConn pediatric dental resident, join for Children’s Oral Health Month. They explain what is (and isn’t) a dental emergency, discuss the importance of establishing a dental home for your child, and offer tips for parents to…

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Thomas Babor headshot 2009

Addressing Alcohol Addiction

One of the founding fathers of the Alcohol Research Center at UConn Health — the longest-running NIH-funded center of its kind — is part of an international collaboration of addiction researchers out with updated findings on the social, cultural, and environmental factors that influence alcoholism and harmful drinking. UConn School of Medicine Professor Emeritus Thomas…

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