Good Medicine - Dr. Ashwin Vasan on Public Health as a Moral Endeavor

Good Medicine - Episode 14 What happens when a doctor trained to fight HIV in rural Uganda takes charge of public health for the largest city in America? In this episode of Good Medicine, Dr. Rohan Ramakrishna sits down with Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the 44th Health Commissioner of New York City, whose path ran from trailing his immigrant neonatologist mother through Chicago's ICUs to delivering AIDS treatment alongside mentors Paul Farmer and Jim Kim. Vasan reflects on the WHO, PEPFAR, and the real promise of ending AIDS in our lifetime, then turns to the hardest years of his career: leading the NYC Health Department through the pandemic's backlash, launching HealthyNYC to reverse falling life expectancy, confronting Black maternal mortality, and building TeenSpace for youth mental health. He also makes a candid case on the MAHA movement, nutrition, and taking on the corporate food system. A conversation about medicine, public health, AI, and why health is fundamentally a moral project. New episodes are released wherever you get your podcasts. Find us on Instagram and X: @roondoctors If you have a question, comment, or suggestion for a future guest, please email us: jane@roon.care. -- 0:00 Intro 3:02 Trailing his mom through Chicago's ICUs 5:05 The immigrant physician's contribution to American medicine 8:41 From development economics to public health 12:54 Partners In Health in Uganda, Rwanda, and Lesotho 14:31 The beat-up Camry and a Jay-Z playlist 16:30 Building trust with patient communities 18:45 Inside the WHO and the case for reform 22:52 Can global health delivery survive US funding cuts? 26:35 PEPFAR, lenacapavir, and ending AIDS in our lifetime 29:42 Why public health is a moral endeavor 31:57 The call from Mary Bassett to join NYC Health 35:49 What surprised him as Health Commissioner 38:57 Protesters at home and his daughter's wisdom 41:31 Launching HealthyNYC and a life expectancy North Star 48:03 Confronting Black maternal mortality 51:35 Why healthcare affordability is a public health issue 53:16 Hospital price transparency and medical debt 56:12 TeenSpace and the youth mental health crisis 1:01:53 AI as prevention infrastructure 1:04:14 Modernizing public health data systems 1:07:46 MAHA, nutrition, and where medicine dropped the ball 1:13:14 Would he work with RFK Jr.'s HHS? 1:15:41 Quick Hits: mandates, mentors, and book picks 1:18:19 Why a physician community like Roon matters