Award-Winning VUMC Podcast Prepares for Season Two

Season 2 of the award-winning Vanderbilt Health DNA: Discoveries in Action podcast—designed to spark conversations about medicine, health and society—is two weeks from launch. The Season 2 agenda will cover an array of topics, including colon cancer rates in young adults, transplant innovation, the permanent imprint of COVID-19, climate change, trust and representation, clinical trials and how societies can be pandemic-ready. Stay tuned for a detailed schedule.

The first season launched in August 2020 and has been downloaded tens of thousands of times in more than 80 countries. DNA connects with and engages listeners, with episodes often being shared by word-of-mouth. This kind of connection is the ultimate indication of DNA’s success—people finding, listening and sharing the podcast. Similarly, DNA served as a connection point while VUMC and its community adjusted to virtual processes during the pandemic.

In its first season, more than 30 experts talked candidly about the impact of COVID-19, unconscious bias, health equity, impostor syndrome, REDCap, neurosurgery, and vaccine hesitancy. It was named the Healthcare Podcast of the Year at the 2021 Healthcare and IT Marketing Community (HITMC) Awards.

“This is a pivotal time for medicine and science where people are looking for expertise and hope regarding the way forward. The podcast series provides insights that are grounded in the latest research and, perhaps most importantly, demonstrates the passion of our experts behind this work,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, about the series launch

The Season 2 agenda will cover an array of topics, including colon cancer rates in young adults, transplant innovation, the permanent imprint of COVID-19, clinical trials and how societies can be pandemic-ready.