The Future of Medicine
Welcome to The Future of Medicine, a podcast from Stanford's Department of Medicine. We bring you into conversation with the thought leaders who are reshaping how we understand disease, deliver care, and imagine what's possible in human health. This show is built around the extraordinary speakers who join us for Medicine Grand Rounds – one of the longest-running and most respected forums in academic medicine. Our guests include world-renowned physicians, scientists, innovators, and policy leaders from across the globe, as well as the remarkable faculty at Stanford. Together, they represent the full spectrum of modern biomedical discovery: from breakthrough therapeutics and cutting-edge genomics, to health equity, digital health, global health, neuroscience, AI, and the re-design of care systems. This is The Future of Medicine.
Episodes
Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of the nation’s most influential public health leaders, joins Stanford Department of Medicine’s The Future of Medicine for a conversation with Dr. Euan Ashley about science, service, public trust, and the future of public health.
In this episode, Dr. Fauci reflects on his early career as a physician-scientist, ...
Dr. Christopher J.L. Murray — health economist at the University of Washington, physician, and founder of the Global Burden of Disease framework — joins The Future of Medicine to discuss what decades of data across 204 countries reveal about human health, and where it's headed by the end of this century.
Dr. Murray's Global Burden of Disease project involves 19,000 collaborators in 167 countries and has produced ...
Dr. Samuel Klein, Division Chief and William H. Danforth Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Science at Washington University Medicine, joins The Future of Medicine for a conversation about obesity, metabolism, insulin resistance, and the revolution sparked by GLP-1 medications like Ozempic.
In this episode, Dr. Klein explains why obesity is far more biologically complex than many people realize — and why some indivi...
In this episode of the Future of Medicine, we welcome Dr. Robert Wachter, physician, author, and chair of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, for a conversation about artificial intelligence, healthcare, and the future of medicine.
Dr. Wachter reflects on how the digitization of healthcare reshaped modern medicine — and why many of the frustrations clinicians experience today, from burnout to endle...
In this episode of the Future of Medicine, we welcome Crystal Mackall, the Ernest and Amelia Gallo Family Professor and founding director of the Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy at Stanford, for a conversation on CAR T-cell therapy, pediatric cancer, and the future of biologic medicine.
Dr. Mackall reflects on her path from a working-class town in Ohio to becoming one of the world’s leading pioneers in cancer im...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Stephen Quake, a bioengineer, physicist, and serial entrepreneur whose innovations have transformed how we measure biology and deliver care.
Dr. Quake shares how his early fascination with building and experimentation led him from physics into biology, where he helped pioneer microfluidics, enabling the automation of complex biological experiments. He reflects on founding multipl...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Yvonne "Bonnie" Maldonado, pediatrician and infectious disease expert at Stanford, for a powerful conversation on vaccines, public health, and the fragile progress of modern medicine.
Dr. Maldonado reflects on the lessons behind her Grand Rounds talk, “Lessons from a House on Fire,” drawing from the global eradication of smallpox, one of humanity’s great...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Priscilla Chan, MD, pediatrician and co-founder of Biohub, a first-of-its-kind research initiative combining frontier AI with frontier biology to accelerate progress toward curing or preventing all disease.
Dr. Chan shares how her experience caring for children with rare and undiagnosed conditions shaped her commitment to transforming how science is done. She discusses how patien...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD, clinician, AI researcher, and Associate Professor at Stanford, whose work focuses on combining human and artificial intelligence to improve clinical decision-making.
Dr. Chen reflects on the rapid rise of AI in medicine, and the moment he realized everything had changed. He also walks through surprising findings from his research, including studies...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Eric Topol, MD, cardiologist, scientist, bestselling author of Super Agers, and founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, whose work has helped shape the field of digital medicine and the use of data, genomics, and artificial intelligence to personalize care.
Dr. Topol reflects on how medicine is shifting from treating disease to preventing it, and why exte...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Alexis Thompson, MD, MPH, pediatric hematologist and internationally recognized expert on sickle cell disease whose work helped lead to the first approved gene therapies for this serious condition.
Dr. Thompson reflects on the extraordinary transformation of sickle cell care over the course of her career. From the early days of newborn screening and simple interventions l...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS, physician, epidemiologist, and Editor-in-Chief of JAMA, whose work sits at the center of how today’s most influential medical research is evaluated, communicated, and translated into practice.
Dr. Bibbins-Domingo takes us inside the high-stakes world of scientific publishing, exploring how editors weigh evidence, interpret peer...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Mark Skylar-Scott, PhD, bioengineer and researcher at Stanford University, whose work sits at the forefront of 3D bioprinting, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.
Dr. Skylar-Scott explores the bold challenge of organ manufacturing — why it’s one of the hardest problems in medicine, and why there is good reason for optimism. He explains how advances ...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Anna Lembke, MD, psychiatrist and professor at Stanford School of Medicine, and author of the bestselling book, Dopamine Nation.
In this conversation, Dr. Lembke explores how modern life reshapes our brains — from digital media and compulsive overconsumption to addiction, recovery, and the science of pleasure and pain. She explains why “the more pleasure we ge...
In this powerful episode of The Future of Medicine, host Dr Euan Ashley sits down with Dr. Miriam Mutebi, a breast surgical oncologist at the Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Mutebi discusses the rising incidence of cancer in low and middle-income countries, where 70% of global cancer deaths occur despite only 5% of resources being allocated to these regions.
She shares her personal journey into medicine and surgery, refle...
What does it really mean to care for patients in an era increasingly shaped by technology?
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, host Dr. Euan Ashley is joined by Dr. Arthur Kleinman — psychiatrist, medical anthropologist, and one of the most influential thinkers on illness, caregiving, and the human experience of medicine. Across a wide-ranging and deeply reflective conversation, Dr. Kleinman explores the enduring distin...
In this compelling episode of The Future of Medicine, we dive into an insightful conversation with entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark Cuban. Known for his no-nonsense approach, Cuban brings his entrepreneurial spirit to the forefront of one of America’s most pressing issues: healthcare.
Join us as we explore Cuban's perspectives on the broken healthcare system, the escalating drug prices that impact millions, and his vision ...
In this special episode of The Future of Medicine, host Euan Ashley sits down with Jennifer Doudna, Nobel laureate and co-discoverer of CRISPR-Cas9, to explore the dramatic ascent of genome editing and what it means for the future of medicine. From the promise of precision therapy that could be “one-and-done” to the challenges of translating groundbreaking science into scalable treatments, this conversation dives deep i...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we sit down with Dr. Sumbal Desai to explore how consumer health technology is reshaping medicine at scale — and why the human connection between patient and physician remains central to care. From breakthrough blood pressure sensing on wearables to a world-spanning hypertension predictor, Desai shares the design philosophy, scientific basis, and real-world impact behind Apple’...
In this episode of The Future of Medicine, host Dr. Euan Ashley sits down with William Flanary, MD—better known to millions as Dr. Glaucomflecken—for a candid, funny, and deeply human conversation about medicine, media, and what it means to be a physician in the digital age. Recorded during a Stanford Department of Medicine Grand Rounds event, the discussion blends clinical reality with storytelling and comedy to reveal...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
Building on the belief that a deeper understanding of the natural world enriches all of our lives, host Steven Rinella brings an in-depth and relevant look at all outdoor topics including hunting, fishing, nature, conservation, and wild foods. Filled with humor, irreverence, and things that will surprise the hell out of you, each episode welcomes a diverse group of guests who add their own expertise to the vast world of the outdoors. Part of The MeatEater Podcast Network.
Where the world and America meet, with episodes each weekday. The world is changing. Decisions made in the US and by the second Trump administration are accelerating that change. But they are also a symptom of it. With Asma Khalid in DC, Tristan Redman in London, and the backing of the BBC’s international newsroom, The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption. Come and join us our live event. You can register for Castfest tickets here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/castfest-2026