Welcome to A Shot In The Arm Podcast, where we take a deep dive into the heart of global health. Since our launch in 2019, we've released over 150 episodes that illuminate the intersection of innovation and equity in healthcare. Join me, your host Ben Plumley—a global infectious disease strategist and passionate HIV advocate, along with our expert team of co-hosts, as we engage in compelling, character-driven conversations with a diverse array of guests from around the world. Together, we explore the intricate connections between everyday lives and biomedical research, tackling pressing issues like pandemic preparedness, climate disruption, and the impact of conflict. Tune in as we uncover the stories and insights that shape our collective health narrative, making complex topics both entertaining and accessible. Let's embark on this journey to improve lives, one episode at a time!
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Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Chpt 6: Innovation in Global Health: Scaling responsibly, equitably, and faster
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 • Duration 42:41
At the AIDS 2026 Global AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Ben interviews Dr. mike Reed about how global health technology succeeds or fails depending less on the tools than on governance, ownership, community co-design, and alignment with ministries of health and other relevant government authorities. Reed contrasts Rwanda’s scaled Zipline drone deliveries and a government-led “sovereign” AI large language model and real-time health dashboards with the many HIV AI pilots that never scale due to weak partnerships, poor interoperability, and lack of sustainable financing. They discuss AI’s potential to support marginalized communities with stigma-free access to information and care navigation, alongside risks around privacy, market capture by big tech, and the need for fair value exchange when community data trains models. Reed highlights a “force multiplier checklist,” Botswana’s youth-designed prevention campaign, and the need to speed up rigorous implementation science and data-to-action timelines.
00:00 Intro
00:32 Drones and donor tech
03:45 Why pilots fail
06:56 Rooting tech locally
10:59 Sovereign AI example
12:43 AI for key populations
18:28 Governance and commons
25:06 Force multiplier checklist
29:36 Data sovereignty rules
31:24 Faster science with AI
36:19 Optimistic closing
41:12 Thanks and wrap
Learn more about the book:
https://bit.ly/redefining-global-health
More from UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences:
https://globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu
Check Out mike Reid’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@reimaginingglobalhealth
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
What would it take for global health to avoid decline? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform.
Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health — and look out for a dedicated sub channel for Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century under A Shot in the Arm’s YouTube home.
Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century: The Podcast (Playlist on Youtube)
https://bit.ly/rgh-book
A Shot in the Arm Podcast Youtube (Main Channel)
https://youtube.com/@shotarmpodcast
Beyond the Hype: Re-engineering HIV Diagnostics for a Resilient Future (recorded at AIDS 2026)
Tuesday, September 1, 2026 • Duration 47:39
Recorded at AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro at the Roche Diagnostics booth, host Ben Plumley speaks with Professor Pedro Cahn (Fundación Huésped, Argentina) and Dr. Rupa Patel (Whitman-Walker Health, Washington, DC) about why diagnostics—often overlooked in the HIV continuum—are the essential entry point to prevention and care, especially amid reduced funding. They discuss late diagnosis and loss to follow-up, structural barriers like clinic access and hours, and the need for community-led, person-centered delivery models including outreach brigades, mobile and home-based services, and task shifting to peers and other health workers. The conversation covers integrating point-of-care and lab testing, the promise and risks of self-testing with real-time linkage to support, and linking HIV diagnostics with broader health needs such as TB, STIs, diabetes, and cancer screening to advance equity and progress toward 95-95-95.
00:00 Welcome and Setup
01:22 Live Booth Kickoff
02:20 Why Diagnostics Matter
07:11 Late Diagnosis and Equity
12:15 Reimagining Care Delivery
19:28 Outreach Testing in Practice
22:53 Point of Care vs Lab
27:28 Self Testing Debate
34:35 Building Integrated Platforms
38:30 Policy and Provider Barriers
43:43 Closing Calls to Action
Guests:
Professor Pedro Cahn
Scientific Director
Fundación Huésped, Argentina
Dr. Rupa R. Patel
Biomedical HIV Prevention Clinical and Research Lead
Whitman Walker Institute and Health, Washington D.C.
Roche Diagnostics
https://diagnostics.roche.com
AIDS 2026
https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
How do you see the future of global health unfolding? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health.
#hivaids #HIV #AIDS #globalhealth #AIDS2026 #RocheDiagnostics
Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Chapter 5: The Climate Crisis is a Health Crisis: Reframing the Global Health Agenda in an Era of Planetary Instability
Tuesday, August 18, 2026 • Duration 37:14
Recorded at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, Ben and Dr. mike Reid discuss how climate disruption will exacerbate existing infectious diseases, enable emerging threats, and worsen non-infectious conditions, arguing global health must anticipate and mitigate climate-health impacts. They note health was sidelined at COP Egypt 2025 and that few national climate plans include health adaptation budgets. Case studies contrast Pakistan’s 2022 floods—2.6 million new malaria cases, fivefold dengue increase, and 20% of primary care facilities underwater—with Mozambique’s Cyclone Idai response, where PEPFAR-supported HIV infrastructure enabled faster recovery through reliable supply chains, information systems, energy backups, and workforce support. They emphasize integrated, resilient primary care and scaled community health workforces (e.g., Ethiopia), including community-delivered mental health care, amid shrinking donor support. mike explains applying Kate Raworth’s “donut economics” to climate-health financing, referencing the Bridgetown Initiative and proposing climate-health bonds, while also highlighting greener delivery, regional manufacturing, and lower-emission prevention tools like lenacapavir and cabotegravir.
00:00 Live from Rio
00:52 Climate-Driven Disease
03:26 Health Plans Missing
05:31 Resilient Systems
06:10 Pakistan Flood Case
08:00 Mozambique Cyclone Ida
11:35 Primary Care Backbone
12:27 Community Health Workforce
14:22 Conference Funding Shift
17:09 Donut Economics Explained
20:55 Cameroon Donut Priorities
22:25 Why Leaders Ignore Health
23:32 Financing Climate Health
29:57 Sustainable Global Health
32:09 One Key Investment
33:34 Rio Networking Surprise
35:02 Wrap-Up and Credits
Learn more about the book:
https://bit.ly/redefining-global-health
More from UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences:
https://globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu
Check Out mike Reid’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@reimaginingglobalhealth
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
What would it take for global health to avoid decline? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform.
Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health — and look out for a dedicated sub channel for Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century under A Shot in the Arm’s YouTube home.
Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century: The Podcast (Playlist on Youtube)
https://bit.ly/rgh-book
A Shot in the Arm Podcast Youtube (Main Channel)
https://youtube.com/@shotarmpodcast
Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Chpt 4: Financing Global Health in an Era of Scarcity
Wednesday, August 5, 2026 • Duration 01:06:17
In this episode of Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, Ben chats with authors mike Reid and Eric Goosby about how funding shocks become life-and-death realities, starting with a case from Zambia after the January 2025 U.S. pause and cuts to PEPFAR that left many without antiretrovirals and destabilized HIV services in a system heavily dependent on U.S. support. They describe behind-the-scenes efforts to warn political leaders, on-the-ground resilience and improvisation, and the emotional toll of what they view as an abandonment of dialogue. The discussion explores whether donor dependency was a design choice, the roles donors should play (equity gaps, global public goods, and underwriting transitions), and options such as co-investment requirements, government-to-government funding, debt-to-health swaps, public financial management support, domestic resource mobilization (including sin taxes), and potential roles for development finance and sovereign wealth funds, while stressing the need to define a clear destination for health financing and country ownership.
00:00 Welcome and Book Intro
00:29 Zambia Funding Shock
02:26 Why Zambia Matters
05:58 Scrambling After PEPFAR Pause
07:58 Resilience and System Fragility
09:58 Eric Goosby Reaction
15:37 Dependency by Design
18:44 Colonial Debt Reality
22:25 What Solidarity Looks Like
26:10 Donor Funding Roles
30:21 Accountability and Oversight
32:50 Co Investment and Direct Funding
35:37 Debt Relief as Co Investment
36:46 Debt for Health Swaps
37:46 Modernizing Gavi and Global Fund
41:26 Local Accountability and Trust
45:26 Post Aid Era Roadmap
48:19 Building Country Ownership
53:46 Sovereign Wealth Fund Ideas
58:04 New Finance Tools and Taxes
01:00:04 Defining the Destination
01:04:03 Call to Action and Thanks
Learn more about the book:
https://bit.ly/redefining-global-health
More from UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences:
https://globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu
Check Out mike Reid’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@reimaginingglobalhealth
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
What would it take for global health to avoid decline? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform.
Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health — and look out for a dedicated sub channel for Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century under A Shot in the Arm’s YouTube home.
Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century: The Podcast (Playlist on Youtube)
https://bit.ly/rgh-book
A Shot in the Arm Podcast Youtube (Main Channel)
https://youtube.com/@shotarmpodcast
Wrapping our Conversations with Youth Leadership at AIDS 2026
Saturday, August 1, 2026 • Duration 19:42
This episode was made in partnership with the International AIDS Society (IAS), Young Leaders Programme.
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Host Ben Plumley wraps up the A Shot in the Arm Podcast from AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro with Zarawu Adams, a medical scientist from Salama Clinic in Accra, Ghana, reflecting on an exhausting but valuable week balancing conference sessions with the IAS’ Young Leaders Programme. Adams highlights research linking antiretroviral treatment to metabolic crises such as type 2 diabetes, including work focused on pregnant women, and confirms through conversations with scientific leaders that this issue is still under-emphasized. She describes the Young Leaders program as a diverse international advocacy network across HIV and other infectious diseases that builds connections, fills gaps, and broadens engagement beyond science to policy, innovation, and activism. Adams emphasizes resilience, the funding crisis, and the urgent need to tackle stigma and discrimination – particularly as a driver of suicide, while noting increased visibility for LGBT communities within the IAS space.
00:00 Welcome to Rio
00:53 Metabolic Risks Spotlight
03:15 Young Leaders Program
04:53 Networking and Advice
07:26 Stigma and Discrimination
08:32 Activism and Funding Crisis
10:36 Resilience and New Ideas
14:27 Priority on Stigma
15:41 LGBTQ and Closing Reflections
17:54 Final Thanks and Sign Off
Guests:
Zarawu Adams
Medical Scientist, Salama Clinic, Accra, Ghana
AIDS 2026
https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
How do you see the future of global health unfolding? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health.
#hivaids #HIV #AIDS #globalhealth #AIDS2026 #IAS
Communities & Treatment Access with ITPC at AIDS 2026
Saturday, August 1, 2026 • Duration 40:14
Host Ben Plumley speaks with Solange Baptiste Simon and Othoman Mellouk of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) about their packed treatment pre-conference and concerns that treatment is being sidelined amid heavy focus on PrEP and prevention. They argue the prevention-versus-treatment framing is false, emphasizing a continuum from testing to prevention to treatment, and describe on-the-ground chaos as HIV services are integrated into broader chronic care with overstretched health workers and communities. They discuss a “strange” AIDS 2026 marked by funding cuts and reduced PEPFAR influence, uneven country leadership, and a shift from scientific innovation to challenges of financing, manufacturing, regulation, and equitable delivery of long-acting technologies. They caution against product-driven responses, stress human rights and stigma realities, and conclude that community power, involvement, and resourcing remain central to sustainable solutions.
00:00 Welcome and Guests
01:08 Treatment Preconference Highlights
03:13 Prevention vs Treatment Debate
05:00 Continuum of Care Reality
07:34 Clinic Integration Chaos
10:07 Conference Avoiding Hard Truths
14:58 Post PEPFAR Future
18:39 Product Hype vs Access
22:58 Fiscal Space and Priorities
25:13 Beyond Biomedical Fixes
30:19 2030 Targets Reality Check
32:29 Crossroads and Policy Choices
36:15 Community Hope and Closing
38:23 Final Thanks and Signoff
Guests:
Solange Baptiste Simon
Executive Director, ITPC
Othoman Mellouk
Access to Medicines & Diagnostic Lead, ITPC
ITPC Global
https://itpcglobal.org
AIDS 2026
https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
How do you see the future of global health unfolding? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health.
#hivaids #HIV #AIDS #globalhealth #AIDS2026 #ITPC
Shuga Global discusses Creating HIV Prevention Media with Youth at AIDS 2026
Saturday, August 1, 2026 • Duration 35:01
At AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, host Ben Plumley speaks with Wame Jallow, Jerop Limo, and JulieBrenda Waweru about Shuga Global’s evolution from the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and why entertainment-education remains relevant for HIV prevention and youth health. They discuss how Shuga’s storytelling reflects young people’s lived realities, helps break taboos, builds agency, and connects audiences to services through a broader ecosystem that includes peer education, screenings, and chatbots. The guests describe how Gen Z’s autonomy, digital media habits, and demand for solutions require new ways of communicating health, while addressing backlash, misinformation, and harmful online influences. They also share reflections from the conference on shifting resources, community leadership, new prevention and treatment options, and the need to fund and empower youth-led solutions through stronger government and civil society collaboration.
00:00 Welcome and Guests
01:14 What Is Shuga Now
01:22 From MTV to Global Movement
02:38 Proof Entertainment Works
04:54 Why Shuga Still Matters
07:28 Fan Stories and Impact
09:16 Gen Z Needs New Approach
14:23 Solutions Not Lectures
16:14 Youth Activism and Health Demands
17:45 Media Shift And Backlash
18:32 Short Clips For Health
19:02 Shuga As Holistic Support
21:18 Competing With Misinformation
22:45 Trust And Community Dialogue
24:43 Conference Takeaways
26:34 Science And Choice Agenda
27:30 Youth Power And Funding
30:56 Partnership With Government
32:21 Watch Shuga And Wrap Up
Guests
Wame Jallow
Executive Director, Shuga Global
Jerop Limo
Executive Director, Ambassador For Youth and Adolescent Reproductive Health Program (AYARHEP)
JulieBrenda Waweru
Actress, Shuga Mashariki , Shuga Global
Shuga Global
https://shuga.global
AIDS 2026
https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
How do you see the future of global health unfolding? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health.
#hivaids #HIV #AIDS #globalhealth #AIDS2026 #Shuga #ShugaGlobal
Young Leaders, Big Ideas at AIDS 2026
Thursday, July 30, 2026 • Duration 39:04
This episode was made in partnership with the International AIDS Society (IAS), Young Leaders Programme.
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Host Ben Plumley records from a windy Rio de Janeiro at AIDS 2026 with IAS Young Leaders guests Zarawu Adams (Ghana), Xandro Xu (USA), and returning guest Mengfei Li (Hong Kong). Adams discusses research on antiretroviral therapy–related metabolic complications and an app concept to monitor metabolic panels to prevent type 2 diabetes among patients on treatment. Xu presents research on how civic engagement and political empowerment relate to more frequent HIV testing among LGBTQ+ people in the United States, with findings highlighting benefits for transgender communities. Li shares success from a hand-dance campaign and a poster on why U=U messaging struggles to gain traction across Asia Pacific, noting ongoing knowledge gaps. They reflect on conference networking, stigma, funding uncertainty, integration with broader health priorities, optimism, collaboration, communication, and self-care as they commit to long-term HIV work.
00:00 Welcome and Guests
00:49 Metabolic Crisis Research
02:39 Civic Engagement and Testing
05:19 Hand Dance Campaign Wins
06:38 U Equals U Awareness Gap
08:43 Conference Takeaways
13:09 Why We Chose HIV Work
16:58 Can We End HIV
22:42 What Fuels Optimism
25:13 Family and Health Advocacy
28:31 HIV Fatigue and Funding Cuts
31:10 Lessons and Final Advice
37:37 Closing Thanks
Guests:
Zarawu Adams
IAS Young Leader
Medical Scientist, Salama Clinic Accra, Ghana
Xandro Xu
IAS Young Leader
Researcher & Advocate, University of Pennsylvania alum
Mengfei Li
IAS Young Leader
PhD Candidate, The University of Hong Kong
AIDS 2026
https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
How do you see the future of global health unfolding? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health.
#hivaids #HIV #AIDS #globalhealth #AIDS2026
Science, Funding, and Young Leaders at AIDS 2026
Thursday, July 30, 2026 • Duration 36:21
On the first full day of AIDS 2026 in Rio, the A Shot in the Arm podcast (with the International AIDS Societies Young Leaders Program) captures excitement about new HIV science alongside anxiety over PEPFAR-related funding cuts and debate about reliance on a single donor. Guests include Florence, a Botswana-Harvard lab research scientist studying HIV/HBV coinfection and occult hepatitis B, reporting mutation findings (notably in the HBx region) and urging more inclusive OBI screening and greater HBV visibility at AIDS conferences; Bernard, a Nigerian doctor practicing emergency medicine in Russia, proposing integrating HIV awareness into existing emergency/ambulance systems to reduce stigma and cost; and returning guest Maggie Duncan, who presents work improving the Intact Proviral DNA Assay for measuring HIV reservoirs across subtypes. They discuss partnerships, private sector roles, long-term post-2030 HIV response, stigma, and unequal access to technologies and reagents.
00:00 Welcome From Rio
00:30 Conference Mood Check
01:08 PEPFAR Tensions
02:13 Meet The Guests
02:30 Florence HBV HIV Research
06:04 Clinical Coinfection Basics
07:08 Bernard Emergency Integration
10:18 Stigma Sparked A Pivot
11:45 Maggie Reservoir Assay
13:53 Florence Poster Deep Dive
19:18 Partnerships And Funding
22:58 Private Sector Debate
27:18 Beyond 2030 Future Outlook
31:27 Access Equity And Stigma
34:47 Closing Thanks
Guests:
Florence Gaone, IAS Young Leader: Research Scientist, Botswana Harvard Health Partnership
Bernard Adorbe, IAS Young Leader: Medical doctor- Hospital of Emergency Medical Services, Rostov on don, Russia
Maggie Duncan, IAS Young Leader: PhD Student at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University Vancouver Canada
AIDS 2026
https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
How do you see the future of global health unfolding? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health.
#hivaids #HIV #AIDS #globalhealth #AIDS2026
Youth Leadership and Prevention Innovation at AIDS 2026
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 • Duration 28:48
From AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, host Ben Plumley talks with International AIDS Society Young Leaders Edmond Soko (Zambia, Grassroots Soccer) and Noah Mancuso (Atlanta, Emory/RTI) about where the HIV epidemic is heading. Edmond describes using soccer-based, play-focused curricula to deliver HIV prevention education and reach rural adolescents who struggle to access services. Noah outlines three posters: a systematic review on barriers and facilitators to injectable PrEP for adolescent girls and young women, an analysis of how US federal funding cuts affect geographic access to PrEP in Atlanta, and a review of 20 years of mobile health interventions showing limited translation into real-world apps. They discuss new prevention innovations like a monthly pill and a weekly prevention pill with earlier access planning, the promise and risks of AI and telehealth for reducing stigma and improving access, shifting funding realities, and ongoing activism and optimism for epidemic control.
00:00 Welcome to AIDS 2026
00:50 Meet the Young Leaders
01:24 Edmond’s Grassroots Soccer Work
03:00 Noah’s Path into HIV Research
04:09 Posters and New Findings
07:12 Soccer as Prevention Strategy
08:30 Conference Vibe and Tensions
10:24 New Prevention Innovations
12:11 Careers and Funding Cut Reality
13:34 Optimism and Activism
17:03 AI and Digital Health Trends
21:46 Telehealth Access and Stigma
25:16 Next Generation Takeaways
27:10 Closing Thanks and Sign Off
AIDS 2026
https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
Join the Conversation!
How do you see the future of global health unfolding? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Subscribe & Stay Updated:
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. Watch on YouTube & subscribe for more in-depth global health.
#hivaids #HIV #AIDS #globalhealth
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