UB Medicine Podcast

Listen to the podcast where transformation meets innovation in health care. Broadcasting from the heart of downtown Buffalo, NY, this exciting series dives deep into the evolving landscape of health and wellness in Western New York. 

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Ep. 9: Care for Rare – Elevating Awareness & Innovation in Rare Diseases

Rare diseases — more than 7,000 conditions affecting 30 million people in the U.S. — are often misdiagnosed or misunderstood because of low prevalence and complex presentations. Find out how the Jacobs School is nurturing a culture that centers on awareness, advocacy, research and community partnership around rare diseases.

Host Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, is joined by two guests who are deeply involved in the Care for Rare movement. Mark D. Hicar, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of pediatrics and chief of pediatric infectious diseases. Meagan Collins Hutchinson is an MD-PhD trainee and organizer of UB’s Rare Disease Day event.

Check Out Past Episodes

Missed an episode? Tune in to powerful past discussions to discover how Western New York is becoming a hub for health transformation. 

Each episode of UB Medicine features candid, insightful conversations with the region’s most respected doctors, medical pioneers and wellness advocates who are redefining what it means to be healthy in today’s world.

Covering a range of themes, episodes of the UB Medicine podcast bring you stories that inspire, inform and empower. Whether you’re a health care professional or someone just looking to live better, this podcast offers real talk, expert opinions, a few surprises, and a local lens on the national health conversation.

Meet the Host

Allison Brashear, MD, MBA.

Visionary leader Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, hosts the UB Medicine podcast. She is an internationally recognized neurologist, accomplished researcher and health science administrator. Brashear was appointed vice president for health sciences at the University at Buffalo and dean of the Jacobs School in December 2021.

She also leads the strategic integration of interprofessional education and practice, health sciences collaborative research, and clinical programs across the university’s health science schools — the Jacobs school, dental medicine, nursing, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, public health and health professions — as well as programs among our hospital and clinical affiliates.

Brashear is an internationally renowned researcher in movement disorders and an expert in ATP1A3-related diseases, a spectrum of rare neurologic disorders. Additionally, she is a powerful advocate for promoting diverse leaders in medicine and a lifelong champion of advancing women’s leadership in medicine.

She is committed to educating the next generation of medical doctors and research scientists, exploring areas of clinically impactful and cutting-edge discovery science, conducting impactful research, and cultivating relationships through community involvement.