Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,

where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges.

If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jh.h.edu.

That's public health question at jh.u.edu for future podcast episodes.

This is Lindsay Smith Rogers.

Today, Dr. Ashikha, who was until June, the White House COVID-19 coordinator,

joins public health on call to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what he learned in Washington,

D.C., his return to his position as dean of the Brown University School Public Health,

and what he's worried about with respiratory viruses this fall.

If you listen to the end, you'll hear a special connection between the guest and the host in this week's episode.

Let's listen.

Dr. Ashish Jha, it is fantastic to see you.

Thanks so much for coming on Public Health on call.

Dr. Josh Sharfstein, I'm delighted to be on.

Thanks so much for having me.

So how long has it been since you left your role as the White House COVID coordinator?

I spent a few months. I left in the second half of June. So I spent almost four months since I left.

And you're back at Brown School of Public Health? I'm back at the Brown School

Public Health, which is where I was before I went to the White House, happily back for so many

reasons. One was, my family was up here, so it's just nice to be back home. But also, there was just a

lot of things that we had started working on and doing at Brown that I really wanted to continue

and drive forward. So I'm wanted to continue and drive forward.

...