The ongoing outbreak of hantavirus infections that originated with passengers on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius in April has generated concerns across the globe. This very rare occurrence has led to a number of deaths, required quarantining of passengers and prompted emergency responses from public health authorities in multiple countries.

On this episode of Raise the Line from Elsevier, we’re tapping the expertise of a leading authority on the subject, Dr. Jamie Childs of Yale University, to provide you with a scientific understanding of hantaviruses and what level of threat is posed by this situation. In short, Dr. Childs believes this is not the start of a pandemic. “The Andes variant involved here is one of the most dangerous hantaviruses, but it is totally controllable with contact tracing.”

This timely conversation with host Lindsey Smith is informed by Dr. Childs’ decades of hantavirus research as well as learnings from his role leading the CDC’s environmental investigation during the landmark 1993 hantavirus outbreak in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. And be sure to stay tuned to hear his concerns about the factors complicating containment of the current Ebola outbreak in East Africa.

Note: this conversation was recorded on May 19th, 2026.

Mentioned in this episode:

Yale School of Public Health

Yale Institute for Global Health

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We mark National Mental Health Awareness Month on this episode by tapping the expertise of Dr. Steve Strakowski, an internationally recognized expert in bipolar disorder, who has spent decades studying the neurobiology and treatment of mood conditions while pushing just as hard on the structural barriers that keep effective treatments out of reach for more than half the people who need them.

In this conversation with Raise the Line from Elsevier host Michael Carrese, Dr. Strakowski explains why access, not science, is now the biggest obstacle to improving mental health outcomes. He also addresses the heavy toll society pays for underfunding mental health prevention and treatment programs. “The money is spent eventually, but in the most expensive places like emergency rooms and prisons, and there is the human cost of suffering and suicides."

This important discussion also covers:

• The persistent problem of Black patients presenting with mania being misdiagnosed with schizophrenia;
• Why he describes bipolar disorder as a reward-processing illness;
• The emerging therapies he finds encouraging.

Mentioned in this episode:
Indiana University School of Medicine

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

"When the workforce does not align with the population, your system is misaligned by design." That candid observation comes from Tina Loarte-Rodríguez, DP, RN who has spent much of her two decade career in patient safety, risk management, and systems leadership as the only Latina in the room, which she sees as a signal of a systemic failure that demands structural solutions.

As we mark National Nurses Month, Dr. Loarte-Rodríguez joins Raise the Line from Elsevier host Lindsey Smith to explain why a culturally congruent workforce has important implications for access, trust and quality of care.

This wide-ranging discussion also covers:

• What Dr. Loarte-Rodriguez means by "narrative infrastructure" and how a book series born during COVID is now shaping workforce conversations nationwide;
  
• The case for making mentorship a core institutional system;
  
• Why nursing burnout is not about a lack of resiliency.

Mentioned in this episode:

Latinas in Nursing
The Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast