Raise the Line

Picture an anatomy professor on stage in front of more than a hundred students, pounding his chest like a gorilla to bring a lecture on locomotion to life. For Dr. Kamla Ahluwalia, watching her grad school mentor do exactly that was the moment she realized "this is what school is supposed to be like."Decades later…

Fifty years ago, rural Americans were less likely to die of cancer than people living in cities, but a study released earlier this year by the American Cancer Society showed that pattern has flipped, and limited access to care is a big reason why. That is not news to our guest today, Dr. Robert Hoyer, who has gained…

"We know in public health that if you're not counting, there's no way to develop prevention programs or policies.” That understanding explains why forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Mitchell is working to change how the United States tracks people who die while in the custody of police, jails and prisons. "There is no…

On today’s episode, we kick-off a series of conversations with winners of the 2026 Raise the Line Faculty Awards from Elsevier Health, who were selected from more than 1,000 nominations submitted by students and colleagues at over 300 institutions worldwide. First up is Professor David Tanner, Director of Nursing…

"Throw a dinner party. It's the best wellness thing you can do." That surprising prescription comes from Dr. Zeke Emanuel, whose book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules For a Long and Healthy Life, offers a refreshing counterpoint to the elaborate fitness regimens and proliferation of products pushed by wellness…

As we've noted on Raise the Line from Elsevier before, the system Americans rely on to keep vaccine recommendations grounded in science has changed in ways that many in the medical community find alarming. Our guest today, Dr. Jason Goldman, has watched this shift unfold from a closer vantage point than most in his…

As many of our listeners know from news reports, emergency departments have been under enormous strain in recent years trying to manage overcrowding, the opioid addiction crisis, the consequences of an under-resourced mental health system, and rising rates of violence against staff, among many other challenges. But…

Limiting the side effects of cancer treatments has been an animating force in the field of oncology for many years, and there’s been progress to report on that front, but what if you could target cancer tumors without using radiation or chemotherapy and instead generate heat from inside the tumor to kill cells? That’s…

"It's really hard to justify a test that has any complications if there isn't any reasonable expectation of benefit," says Dr. Rita Redberg, who has spent her career trying to help fellow clinicians consider the actual value of routine screenings and diagnostic testing in asymptomatic patients. Dr. Redberg -- a…

For millions of young women and girls, often the first place they turn with questions about their bodies isn't a doctor's office, it's social media which can lead to encountering many misconceptions and outright misinformation. Or, if the right voices show up, it can mean something else entirely. Our guest today, Dr…

"I'd already finished my cardiovascular unit. I'd finished my pulmonary unit. I had never heard about this in any of my classes." That was Dr. Joel Bervell's reaction to discovering that a device used every day in hospitals -- the pulse oximeter -- reads less accurately on darker skin tones. He posted a 30-second…

Despite gains in recent years, Black, Hispanic, and Asian communities are still under-represented in the U.S. nursing workforce. We’re going to explore that gap and how to close it on this episode of Raise the Line from Elsevier with Dr. Ernest Grant, Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at the…