More articles about: Michigan Medicine

In this episode, Dr. Elizabeth Harry welcomes Keith Gran and Devin Lippert from the Office of Patient Experience (OPE). Gran is Michigan Medicine’s chief patient experience, with over 30 years in academic health care leadership. Lippert is OPE’s administrative director with over 25 years in the field. Both bring deep professional and personal insights into improving care through empathy, data and collaboration. They share how their team supports patient and caregiver well-being, highlights impactful programs like peer mentorship and medical improv, and discusses strategies to create a consistent, compassionate experience across Michigan Medicine—emphasizing that every human interaction is an opportunity to improve health care.

Most parents agree that talking to their kids about puberty is important—but when and how to start the conversation is often less clear, a national poll suggests.

Like many other mental health conditions, bipolar disorder is still quite stigmatized in our society. Stigma can play a significant role in how people living with bipolar disorder receive treatment and care, their education and careers, and many other aspects of daily life. For this episode, we’ll be tackling topics like medications, relationships, the workplace, and supporting a loved one. We’ll be hearing from Dr. Sagar Parikh, a psychiatrist in the Michigan Medicine Bipolar Disorder Clinic and professor of psychiatry and of health policy and management in the School of Public Health at UofM, and Michelle Yang, writer, activist, marketing project manager, and research participant with the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program.

Research into conditions like bipolar disorder cannot happen without the participation of hundreds of people who sign up for research studies and programs like the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program. In this episode, we’ll unpack wellness—how we define and measure it healthcare and research settings. We’re joined by Dr. Alexandra Vinson, assistant professor of Learning Health Sciences and co-lead of the Prechter Bipolar Disorder Learning Community. Stephanie Prechter, artist, philanthropist, a bipolar disorder research participant with lived experience and board member of the Prechter Program, and Dr. Sarah Sperry, director of the Emotion and Temporal Dynamics Lab and associate director of the Prechter Program.

Bipolar disorder is more than just mood swings. It’s a journey marked by intense highs of mania and debilitating lows of depression. But within this condition exist millions of people who live unique lives. Today, we're going to talk to three clinical and research experts from the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program at Michigan Medicine to learn more about the science of bipolar disorder—diagnostics, genetics, and decision-making. We'll be hearing from Dr. Melvin McInnis, director of the Prechter Program, Dr. Paul Jenkins, associate professor of pharmacology and associate director of the Prechter Program, and Dr. Chandra Sripada, professor of psychiatry and philosophy.

Figuring out the secrets of planarian worms' immortality could lead to insights about aging for mammals, including people.

In today's episode of The Fundamentals, we talk with Dr. John Ayanian, director of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. Dr. Ayanian's research explores underlying factors that contribute to persistent health disparities between minoritized groups and their white counterparts, as well as strategies for ending inequity in health care and improving overall health outcomes for everyone.

Recently, interest in psychedelic research has seen a resurgence, strengthened by better designed and controlled clinical trials and the use of neuroimaging, examining psychedelics' potential therapeutic use for PTSD, addiction, anxiety, and depression. On today’s episode, we talk with Dr. George Mashour, professor of anesthesiology and pharmacology and founder of the Michigan Psychedelic Center about using rigorous scientific methods to unlock the mysteries of psychedelics and investigate their potential as therapeutics.

Dana Habers, M.P.H., joined the Well-Being at Michigan Medicine podcast to discuss the pivotal role innovation played in improving both health care delivery and organizational well-being. Habers is Michigan Medicine’s chief innovation officer and chief operating officer of pharmacy services. In the conversation, Habers emphasized that innovation was about "magnificent problem solving," citing the successful rollout of COVID vaccines as a prime example of rapid, large-scale problem-solving within a complex health care system. Habers saw herself as a bridge between strategy and operations, focusing on scalable processes to solve diverse challenges. In her leadership role, Habers advocated for a culture that prioritized well-being by setting guiding principles for her team. She believed that when leaders modeled behavior and made decisions based on clear principles, it helped align efforts and reduced burnout. Habers also highlighted the importance of using AI to alleviate administrative burdens, allowing staff to focus on more rewarding aspects of patient care. For example, AI tools in pharmacies helped reduce the time spent on prior authorizations, enabling staff to spend more time assisting patients. Habers acknowledged the complexity of implementing AI in health care, balancing innovation with safety. Her team followed a cautious, rigorous approach, starting with smaller, low-risk projects to build a solid foundation for more advanced AI applications, like ambient clinical documentation tools, which helped providers document patient information more efficiently. Looking ahead, Habers was focused on creating a culture of belonging and inclusion at Michigan Medicine, alongside continuing innovation efforts. She believed that improving organizational well-being was crucial for both employee retention and patient care. The integration of AI, she argued, had to solve real-world problems while maintaining a strong focus on workforce sustainability. Ultimately, Habers envisioned a future where innovation enhanced both caregiver and patient experiences, benefiting the entire healthcare system.

Learn how to apply the diagnostic criteria of major anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, specific phobias, PTSD, and unspecified anxiety. Determine age-appropriate screening tools for anxiety disorders.

An expert shares 10 things you should know about your health costs right now.

There are an estimated 86 billion neurons in the human brain. Neuroscientists are actively exploring the importance of single or small groups of neurons versus networks of billions of neurons in the processing of sensory information, storage of memories, generation of movement, and everything else the brain does. Until recently, it simply wasn't possible to study billions of neurons at once. In today's episode, we talk with U-M's Dr. Anne Draelos, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and assistant professor of computational medicine and bioinformatics, who is using A.I. and bioinformatics to reveal the hidden networks of the brain, and exploring how gaining this understanding could improve lives.

This special installment of Well-Being at Michigan Medicine coincides with celebrating Health Workforce Well-Being Day on March 18, 2025. As such, this episode brings together Chief Well-Being Officer Elizabeth Harry, M.D., and Jeffrey Patterson, M.H.S.A., M.P.H., the senior director for well-being operations and strategy. The duo discusses the evolution of the Office of Well-Being from its past iteration and how it brings a broader focus on creating environments where individuals and teams thrive, emphasizing well-being and addressing upstream factors that lead to burnout. Additionally, Dr. Harry and Patterson chat about key tenants of their work: operational well-being, culture of well-being and personal resilience. Recently, the team has grown, and new members have brought greater expertise to the organization. Learn more about how the Office of Well-Being aids it team members and brings a culture of belonging, resilience and support.

A new national poll on children's health shows that less than half of parents think they have accurate information about bird flu, 2 in 5 parents wish the government was doing more to prevent a bird flu outbreak and only 1 in 3 parents have taken action to protect their family against it. You can read the full article on the Health Lab website.

People with diabetes often have a host of other conditions including cardiovascular disease and kidney disease driven by inflammation. On today's episode, we talk with Dr. Katherine Gallagher, professor of surgery, professor of microbiology and immunology, and the Leland Ira Doan Research Professor of Vascular Surgery at U of M, who is looking at how epigenetics - the influence of environmental factors and behaviors impact on gene expression - might explain changes in the immune system in people with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other conditions related to inflammation.