As the organizer of the 2025–2026 CIM Seminars, pulmonologist Michelle Sharp, a Mary and David Gallo CIM Scholar and Elena and Everardo Goyanes CIM Scholar, has drawn an inspiring array of speakers who have shared their insights from both inside Johns Hopkins and from much farther afield.
In January, for example, audience members heard from actor Alan Alda and physician Karl VanDevender, his friend and collaborator, in a seminar on “Speaking Science, Hearing Humanity.” And in early March, internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma spoke movingly about the healing power of music.
Sharp has served as the interviewer in this year’s seminars, which unfold about twice a month over Zoom for an eager audience of patients, CIM donors, and current and former Johns Hopkins faculty members. Among the questions she asks is one that gets to the very heart of CIM’s mission: What does medicine as a public trust mean to you personally?
In the excerpts that follow, we offer a sampling of responses to this question from a variety of speakers who led seminars this academic year.
“I was always struck with the things we ask patients to share with us — the precious information about themselves and their lives. And so obviously there’s that trust. And then there’s the trust where they are relying on us to use our knowledge, our experience and our wisdom on their behalf, and to always look after their interest. Those are the top two for me.”
– William G. Kaelin Jr., 2019 Medicine Nobel Prize-winner and former Johns Hopkins Osler Medical resident, now on faculty at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
“I’m intrigued by the relationship between the language of public trust and public good. I think they’re so deeply related, they could be used interchangeably. A public good is something that advances the collective well-being of society, as well as the well-being of individuals that comprise society. I can’t imagine another social institution that more qualifies for the language of a public good than medicine, healthcare and public health. All constitute for me a public good, in the same way a free press does, a functioning educational system does, an independent judiciary does.
“Without these institutions we would have a very diminished collective experience, and as individuals, we would not flourish.”
– Ruth Faden, founder, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics
“If you look in a dictionary, it will say that public trust means you have the public good at your heart. That you are there to serve your local community. When you work in health care and particularly in my role at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, being the anchor institution for your local community is really, really important.
“It’s not just being here behind walls and delivering care when people come to us. It’s being in the community, helping folks stay healthy. And that takes on a lot of different looks. That’s chronic disease prevention, sure. But I think it goes beyond that. It’s [considering] the social determinants of health. What are we doing to help housing? What are we doing for jobs?
“I can go into a lot of different programs we have here — from participating with city hospitals and providing shelter homes with wraparound services to local residents who are experiencing homelessness [to] what we’re doing in hiring [such as removing questions about criminal history from initial job applications to foster opportunities for individuals with criminal records]. I do think we take that role seriously.”
– Redonda Miller, president, The Johns Hopkins Hospitals
“Everything is important for public trust, but one of the most important components of delivering and improving health is the capability and the wellbeing and the health of the physician workforce that’s delivering that care. I think that’s part of the public good, of the public trust.”
– Sanjay Desai, formerly chief medical officer for the American Medical Association; recently named Vice Dean for Education, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
“Over time, I’ve really come to appreciate that there are so many ways that we can impact health, and I think a lot about lung health. So beyond seeing patients in the clinic, which is a joy and a privilege, I also try to think about how I can be an ambassador for improving health — whether it’s at a school, advocating for having buses not idle [out] front, or being a champion for air quality. And so thinking about population health in addition to the health of the individual is something that I’ve tried to lean into more over time, because I think we can broaden our impact in that way.”
– Meredith McCormack, director, Johns Hopkins Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
