From the CDC to leading a school of public health
How field experience informs the work of building a new school of public health and deciding what its students should be prepared to do.
An independent interview series
The Scholars Table with Dr Banda
The decisions shaping health, technology, leadership, and careers.
Dr Banda Khalifa speaks with people working across health, leadership, AI, emerging technology, and professional life about the choices behind their work and what followed.
Health · AI and emerging technology · leadership · professional development
- Guests
- 38
- LinkedIn community
- 190K+
- YouTube community
- 115K+
- Countries reached
- 20+
Featured conversations
Three leaders. Three consequential decisions.
Watch each conversation here. Apple Podcasts and Spotify carry the audio editions for listening away from the screen.
A new dean at Johns Hopkins
The priorities guiding Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the responsibility a school carries when public trust is under strain.
Pandemics, AI, and health security in Africa
How WHO’s African Region prepares for health emergencies, where artificial intelligence may help, and where judgment still belongs to people.
Interview approach
How consequential decisions get made.
Each interview starts with the guest’s record: what they built, studied, led, or changed. The full-length format gives them time to explain the evidence, the trade-offs, and the consequences.
Research before recording
Preparation begins with the guest’s work, decisions, public record, and the responsibilities attached to their role.
A question grounded in the record
The central question follows from something the guest has built, studied, led, or been accountable for.
Time for a complete answer
Long-form interviews let guests explain the evidence, name the trade-offs, and revise an answer when precision requires it.
Guests at the table
38 conversations across health, leadership, AI, emerging technology, and professional growth.
Browse the archive by theme. Every portrait represents a recorded conversation; Apple carries available audio editions, while YouTube holds the full video archive.
Institutional leadership
Six deans discuss setting direction, building new programs, developing talent, and leading through change.
Johns Hopkins
Emory
WashU
Boston University
VCU
McGillEduardo L. Franco
Interim Associate Dean & Director at the time of this conversation
McGill School of Population and Global Health
ListenAffiliations reflect each guest’s role at the time of recording. Institution names are text labels, not endorsements.
Where to watch, listen, and read
One conversation, carried across five formats.
Full video lives on YouTube. Apple Podcasts and Spotify carry the audio. LinkedIn holds selected excerpts, while Meridian Letters gives some conversations a considered life in print.
About the host
Hosted by Dr Banda Khalifa.
“How did you decide what to do?”
Dr Banda is a physician, epidemiologist, and strategist. His interviews follow consequential decisions across health, leadership, AI, emerging technology, and professional life, tracing the evidence, responsibility, and trade-offs behind them.
The series serves a LinkedIn community of more than 190,000 and a YouTube community of more than 115,000, with viewers and listeners in more than 20 countries.
For partners and future guests
Clear collaboration. Clear editorial boundaries.
Universities, health organizations, technology companies, and professional associations can request audience information, collaboration formats, and the show’s editorial policy. Guest suggestions are reviewed against the person’s work and public record.
Recorded conversations, special series, and distribution partnerships.
Dr Banda retains control over guest selection, interview preparation, and the published conversation. Financial or in-kind support is disclosed.
Request the partnership briefSuggest a person whose record supports a serious interview question.
Include the person’s contribution, the question their experience qualifies them to answer, and a link to the evidence. Submission does not guarantee an invitation.
Suggest a guestPodcast inquiriespodcast@drbandakhalifa.com