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"There are still mysteries out there that we need to understand," says Yonatan Grad, MD, PhD, assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, on his work addressing the spread of COVID-19 and possible interventions to help combat this pandemic.

"There is no drug therapy to prevent or treat calcific aortic valve disease, " says Elena Aikawa, director of the Vascular Biology Program at the Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Science. Aikawa discusses her research on developing new therapies to treat this disease.

"Team science is more important than it ever has been, and we’re trying to make a difference in this really challenging time,” says Jane Wilkinson, senior director of the Genomics Platform in alliance and project management at the Broad Institute. Wilkinson discusses her career studying genomics and the Broad's work to aid in COVID-19 research and testing.

"Virtual reality is very effective because we can create these scenarios that simulate real world situations,"" says Lotfi Merabet, OD, PhD, MPH, of Massachusetts Eye and Ear. Lotfi discusses his recent pilot grant from Harvard Catalyst to improve outcomes for patients with cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (cALD) and work using virtual reality and brain imaging techniques to improve detection. "

"Can we use improving sleep to improve blood pressure?" asks Janet Mullington, program director of the Clinical Research Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Mullington discusses her work evaluating whether sleep behavioral interventions help reduce blood pressure and the effects of COVID-19 on her research.

"We need to empower not just future physicians, but all individuals in our society to understand that we can use our voice to make a change," says Isaiah Cochran, MD, of Halifax Health. Cochran discusses his past experience as a Harvard Catalyst intern, describes his work in health policy and politics, and shares his career aspirations as he begins his residency in family medicine.

"The aim is to give opportunities to students who normally wouldn't have these kinds of opportunities," explains Alex Lin, PhD, director of the Center for Clinical Spectroscopy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Lin discusses his role as a mentor in the Harvard Catalyst Visiting Research Internship Program (VRIP) and the importance of mentor-mentee relationships.

"I treat pancreatic cancer and only 1% of those patients respond and the rest don't," says Osama Rahma, principal investigator at the Center for Immuno-Oncology and Gastroenterology Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Rahma discusses his research in cancer immunotherapy and his development of novel immunotherapy drugs.

"Microbes are amazing chemists,” says Emily Balskus, PhD, of Harvard University. Balskus discusses her research on the chemistry of microorganisms, including the microbiome, and how they affect human health and disease.

COVID-19 has affected all of us. How has it affected your research? Using the voice memo app on your smartphone, record yourself telling us how the pandemic has changed the way you're working. Send the file to: onlineeducation@catalyst.harvard.edu and we may use your voice in an upcoming episode. Please try to keep your submissions to around 2 minutes. Thank you!

Food in the U.S. is cheap. It's very accessible; it's very unhealthy. And it's strongly marketed to us," says Sara Bleich, professor of public health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Bleich discusses her research evaluating policies related to obesity and diet in vulnerable populations in our latest podcast.

"It's astonishing to understand how little we know about how people become pregnant," says Caroline Mitchell, MD, MPH, director of the Vulvovaginal Disorders Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. In our latest podcast, Mitchell discusses her research with IVF patients to identify how the vaginal microbiome impacts fertility.

"There are about 15,000 deaths a year from C. diff.," says Georg Gerber, MD, PhD, MPH, co-director of the Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center. In our latest podcast, Gerber discusses his research on predicting recurring C. difficile infections in patients by utilizing precision medicine, microbiome data, and machine learning.

What are the factors driving antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea? Yonatan Grad, MD, PhD, Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, discusses his lab's work exploring antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea and the methods employed to tackle this problem.

“Large wounds have the same risk of infection as small wounds," explains Victor Neel, PhD, director of Massachusetts General Hospital's Dermatologic Surgery Unit. In this podcast, Neel discusses his research examining the interplay between skin bacteria and infection post-surgery.

"Our experience as physicians and patients is kind of getting lost in this web of the healthcare system," says Michael Barnett, MD, Brigham and Women's Hospital. In this podcast, Barnett discusses his research analyzing patient sharing networks and their associated cost of care, as well as his work evaluating policies aimed at reducing opioid use disorder.

Jeff Karp, PhD, Brigham and Women's hospital, discusses the concept of radical simplicity, which he describes as “breaking down the problem into simple terms that you can test.” Karp explains how he used this approach in stem cell therapy research to inform the translational and commercialization process.

"I think some of the most exciting areas have been where there are no guideposts,” says Martha Shenton of Brigham and Women's Hospital. In this podcast, Shenton reflects on her career in neuroimaging, discusses her research looking at schizophrenia, and gives advice to aspiring researchers.

"Sexual orientation and gender identity demographics are not routinely and uniformly collected in electronic health records," says Harry Reyes, MAS, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University. In the fourth episode of this series, Reyes and Li Zhou, MD, PhD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, discuss their research using machine learning and natural language processing to improve data collection of LGBTQ patients.

"In South Africa, about 40% of the population living with HIV are not in care," says Ingrid Katz, MD, Brigham and Women's Hospital. Katz discusses her research on HIV/AIDS treatment in South Africa, the importance of feedback from target populations, and the future of HIV research.