HeadScratchers is a mini-cast produced by the Duke University School of Medicine featuring experts from the School of Medicine answering intriguing questions about health and science. Tune in and email us your questions today at lindsay.key@duke.edu.
Host/Producer: Lindsay Key
Audio Producer: Anna Cassell
Sound Engineer: Ivan Panarusky
Executive Producer: Jill Boy
Consultant: Alison Jones
Can I Get Lung Cancer If I Don’t Smoke?
Dr. Jeffrey Crawford, MD, George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor and Professor of Medicine, explains the relationship between smoking and lung cancer.
Salamanders Can Grow Back Amputated Limbs—Why Can’t We?
Ken Poss, PhD, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology and Director of the Regeneration Next Initiative, explains how salamanders can regenerate limbs and discusses what implications that has for the future of human limb regeneration.
Why Can’t I Remember What I Had for Lunch?
Rich O’Brien, MD, PhD, the Disque D. Deane University Professor of Neurology and chair of the Department of Neurology, is an expert in memory disorders. He discusses why a person might be able to recall a retirement party they attended thirty years ago, but not what they had for lunch that day.
What's at the Heart of Sudden Cardiac Death?
Sana Mustapha Al-Khatib, MD, is an expert in sudden cardiac death. She discusses how – and why—an otherwise healthy young person can die suddenly of sudden cardiac death and the difference between the terms “sudden cardiac death” and “heart attack.” Dr. Al-Khatib is a professor of medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine.
Developing a Flu Vaccine: The Strain of So Many Strains
Vaccine development expert Dr. Tony Moody, MD, explains why creating a universal flu vaccine—which protects against all strains of the virus—is so difficult, and how researchers at Duke are addressing this challenge. Dr. Moody is an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, and the Department of Immunology at Duke University School of Medicine. He is director of the Laboratory of B cell Immunotechnology at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute.
What's Keeping You Up at Night?
Sleep expert Jade Wu, PhD, discusses the causes of insomnia and what to do—or not do—about it. Dr. Jade Wu is a clinical psychologist at Duke University School of Medicine and her current research focuses on treating sleep disorders in those with chronic illness.