Second Opinions with John Crown

Professor John Crown’s guest on this podcast is a proud Irishman, who has the distinction of having worked in the White House as part of the Biden Administration.

Tom Wright is a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution and a writer with The Atlantic. He served as special assistant to president Joe Biden and senior director for strategic planning at the National Security Council.

In this wide-ranging interview we hear Tom’s thoughts on the war in Iran, China, Tarrifs (including the Smoot Hawley act of 1930), Joe Biden’s one term presidency and whether Ireland should join NATO.

PRODUCER: Fergus Sweeney

In this episode John speaks to Professor Des Carney, a prominent Irish oncologist and former consultant at the Mater University Hospital in Dublin.

Des is world renowned for his cancer research and cancer care. He tells John about his years in the United States, his pioneering role in lung cancer research and about the tragic death of his daughter, Patricia.

Producer: Fergus Sweeney

In episode 8 of the podcast John speaks to Professor Shaun McCann, a former boss of his at St James Hospital. Professor McCann led the team that performed the first successful bone-marrow transplant in Ireland.

In this interview we hear about his education at UCD, the 2 years he spent at the University of Minnesota and his return to Ireland.

And Shaun tells us how he fought to get the cancer drug, Imatinib available in Ireland and he talks about his own battle with cancer.

Producer: Fergus Sweeney

Professor Ken O’Byrne, a native Dubliner, is an oncologist working in Brisbane in Australia. He’s a world authority on lung cancer

In this interview Professor O’Byrne talks about the history of lung cancer, the obstacles faced by patients and the future outlook.

Producer: Fergus Sweeney

Professor Anne Parle-McDermott is Director of the Life Sciences Institute at Dublin City University.

In this interview Professor Parle-McDermott tells us about her background and she talks about some of the important research that’s taking place at the Institute. The health effects of vaping and its relationship to cancer is just one such area that DCU is investigating.

Producer: Fergus Sweeney