August 4, 2025 • 9 mins
The back-to-school season represents an ideal time to reset health priorities and schedules, potentially more impactful than New Year's resolutions. Dr. Michael Koren joins Kevin Geddings to discuss how the changes that come with a new school year also include health changes and the inevitable spread of the flu. They talk about how new initiatives like BARDA, sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services, aim to give new ways to fight diseases like the flu in these changing times.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:00):
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Geddings ofWSOS St Augustine Radio and
powered by Encore Research Group.
Each Monday morning, Dr.
Michael Koren calls in to bringyou the latest medical updates
with insightful discussions.
Medevidence is where we helpyou navigate the real truth
behind medical research, withboth a clinical and research
(00:20):
perspective.
So sit back, relax and getready to learn about the truth
behind the data in medicine andhealthcare.
This is MedEvidence!
Dr. Michael Koren (00:31):
The back-to-school advertisements
have started and I saw a coupleof advertisements for parties to
celebrate the end of summer andgoing back to school and it
certainly got me thinking aboutwhat my schedule is going to
look like as the season'schanged.
Do you have a situation wheregoing back to school affects
your day-to-day schedule, Kevin?
Kevin Geddings (00:51):
I'd say the big change, at least here in
Radioland, is traffic.
You know, here in St.
John's County our traffic isalmost more dictated by school
than it is office work hours.
It's interesting.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:02):
Yeah, I'd agree with that.
My commute in the morning isdefinitely impacted by the start
of the school year, no doubt.
Kevin Geddings (01:07):
Yeah, yeah.
But it is kind of the time whenpeople say, okay, this is a
reset button, if you will, andthe start of school coming up
next week, it points to a lot ofdifferent ways that people
should think about this.
Right, even if you're waybeyond the going back to school
era, it's a time to maybe thinkabout maybe learning some new
things and looking at somethings differently, right.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:25):
For sure, yeah, so I always like to tell
my staff and others that thingsdon't happen automatically.
Things happen because they're ona schedule and when you go back
to school, of course yourschedules are changing and
you're being put into a moredisciplined approach to your
day-to-day both for the studentsand for the parents and for the
(01:46):
other people who are affectedby the students and the parents.
So I think that's true, and partof this is in the week that we
have in St.
John's County before theback-to-school season officially
begins, it's a good time tolook at your schedule and think
about what am I going to do formy health care over the course
of the next year?
And I think you can argue thatthe back-to-school transition is
even more important than theyear-end transition.
(02:09):
You know we talk about NewYear's resolutions, but actually
I think you can make more of adifference by thinking about
your schedule now, during theback-to-school season, and I
would certainly encourage peopleto think about that from a
health standpoint.
Not to mention the fact thatwhen you go back to school, all
of a sudden you're now indoorsmore, you are congregating with
other people that could spreadviruses, and certainly a big
(02:30):
part of our mission ENCORE is isto help people prevent the
complications of virus spread.
So, as you know, Kevin, we'redoing studies right now to help
people with that concept.
Kevin Geddings (02:40):
Yeah, absolutely , and you can learn more about
that too by going to EncoreDocs.
com.
Encoredocs.
com, you can also call and talkto a live human being who will
answer any of your questionsabout participating in a
clinical trial by just callinglocally, 904-730-0166,
904-730-0166.
(03:02):
Dr.
Koren, we laymen have thisperception that once the kids
start going back to schoolespecially the young ones who
are in elementary school yearsthat they come home and spread
all these viruses, that we catcha cold.
We caught a cold because Johnnybrought it to first grade.
Is that really true?
Dr. Michael Koren (03:18):
Yeah, it's much more than a perception.
It's a reality and, as you and Ihave talked about, the cold and
flu season starts earlier inFlorida.
There's actually two peaks; alate summer peak and more of a
winter peak whereas in thenortheast it really peaks in the
september to October Rangebecause their school year starts
later than ours.
So the back-to-schoolscheduling has a big impact in
the way viruses are spread.
And, as we've talked before, wehave a really fascinating study
(03:53):
right now that's sponsored bythe Department of Defense
through a group called BARDA,which is actually responsible
for protecting the US frombioterrorism, and they're super
interested in this new vaccineplatform that we're working with
.
That is actually an oralbooster.
It works by giving people apill that elicits an immune
(04:15):
response against COVID, and it'sa fundamentally different type
of treatment than the mRNAvaccines, and we'd really
encourage people to learn aboutit for a number of reasons,
including the fact that this isactually a priority of the
government.
This is a vaccine that wasoriginally put on hold because
of DOGE, but it's so importantto the government, despite
budget cuts, that it's beingfunded now as we speak, so it's
(04:38):
an opportunity for people to getprotected against viruses and
to support bioterrorismapproaches to hopefully protect
all the citizens.
Kevin Geddings (04:47):
Now this is critical stuff.
It's a great way to experienceamazing health care and also
that sense of hey, I'm, I'mparticipating, I'm contributing
to overall societal health andimprovements.
You can be a part of the wholelearning process right as we get
ready for school andimprovements.
You can be a part of the wholelearning process right as we get
ready for school.
Dr. Michael Koren (05:10):
Absolutely, and the other thing that you
alluded to is that the wholeback-to-school concept is also
kind of getting out of that lazymode of the summer and getting
back to thinkinng again and tostudying again, and certainly
that's part of your mission.
And I have to say that, youknow, I'm kind of a notoriously
cheap person.
So you know, these, thesebathing trunks that I had my
(05:31):
eyes on since April have finallygone on sale this week.
So I'm going to go ahead andbuy them this week and then
celebrate the one week of summerthat I get in my bathing trunks
.
But it also is a reminder thatthings move quickly, the seasons
move quickly and really toenjoy your best health requires
you to be more in advance than Iwas in terms of buying these
(05:53):
bathing trunks.
So now is the time to thinkabout the cold and flu season.
Now is the time to think abouthow you're going to keep your
weight under control.
Now is the time to think abouthow you're going to control your
cholesterol.
So these are all programs thatare on at ENCORE.
I'd love people to give us acall and figure out if they fit
into what we're doing.
Kevin Geddings (06:10):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
With this reset comes are-examination of your health
status and what you want to doabout obesity issues and things
like that, and they can help you.
They have clinical trialsongoing on more topics than we
can possibly mention.
Go to EncoreDocs.
com.
Encoredocs.
com and of course all of us,just about every couple of days,
are going online and looking upsomething on the Google machine
(06:31):
relating to healthcare.
Or somebody else has beendiagnosed with something, or we
hear something in the news aboutvaccines or whatever, and we
Google it and that information,I would argue quite honestly,
more often than not is notreliable.
But there's a great place onthe Internet where you can get
reliable health informationRight, Dr.
Koren.
Dr. Michael Koren (06:49):
Yeah, our MedEvidence platform is really
taking off.
I'm so proud of the groupthat's put that together.
We're about to launch actuallya national initiative, so we'll
be reaching out to multiplecommunities around the United
States and helping peopleunderstand the Truth Behind the
Data.
As you point out, when you do aGoogle search or an AI search,
(07:10):
more often than not you'regetting information that serves
some advertiser, and one of thepolicies of MedEv idence you'll
find this interesting, Kevin isthat we don't accept random
advertisement.
We'll only accept advertisementthat has a net positive health
benefit in the view of our boardof advisors.
So before we would actuallyadvertise anything, we run it by
(07:32):
the board of advisors and saydo you agree that this has a net
positive benefit?
So if you're trying to hawksome funky health treatment that
doesn't have any data behind it, we're not going to accept it.
On the other hand, if you havestudies and really good science
to show that something ishelpful, and including things
that are not necessarilymedicines like exercise, going
to the gym, healthy foods thenwe're going to be all over it.
(07:55):
So hopefully this resonateswith advertisers that really
want to show that they do wantto make a difference and they
want to prove also that there isa Truth Behind the Data.
There are ways of knowing thatsomething is truly beneficial
for people, and there's a lot ofstuff out there that's just
fluff that we want to avoid.
Kevin Geddings (08:11):
Yeah, absolutely Well, and that's exactly the
tagline, the Truth Behind theData you can trust.
Medevidence.
com, medevidence.
com.
Check out that website.
We would strongly request ifyou will, or help us out by
spreading the word about it.
So when you talk to friends andfamily and they start talking
about researching differenthealth issues vaccine health,
things like that say, hey, takea look at medevidence.
(08:33):
com.
That's medevidence.
com, Dr.
Michael Koren.
Any closing thoughts?
Dr. Michael Koren (08:40):
No, again last week before school starts
in St.
Johns County.
So think about your schedule,moving ahead and enjoy this last
wonderful week of summer.
Kevin Geddings (08:49):
There you go, Dr .
Koren.
Be safe out there.
We'll speak with you next week.
Dr. Michael Koren (08:52):
Have a great week, Kevin.
Announcer (08:53):
Thanks for joining the MedEvidence podcast.
To learn more, head over toMedEvidencecom or subscribe to
our podcast on your favoritepodcast platform.
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Geddings ofWSOS St Augustine Radio and
powered by Encore Research Group.
Each Monday morning, Dr.
Michael Koren calls in to bringyou the latest medical updates
with insightful discussions.
Medevidence is where we helpyou navigate the real truth
behind medical research, withboth a clinical and research
(00:20):
perspective.
So sit back, relax and getready to learn about the truth
behind the data in medicine andhealthcare.
This is MedEvidence!
Dr. Michael Koren (00:31):
The back-to-school advertisements
have started and I saw a coupleof advertisements for parties to
celebrate the end of summer andgoing back to school and it
certainly got me thinking aboutwhat my schedule is going to
look like as the season'schanged.
Do you have a situation wheregoing back to school affects
your day-to-day schedule, Kevin?
Kevin Geddings (00:51):
I'd say the big change, at least here in
Radioland, is traffic.
You know, here in St.
John's County our traffic isalmost more dictated by school
than it is office work hours.
It's interesting.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:02):
Yeah, I'd agree with that.
My commute in the morning isdefinitely impacted by the start
of the school year, no doubt.
Kevin Geddings (01:07):
Yeah, yeah.
But it is kind of the time whenpeople say, okay, this is a
reset button, if you will, andthe start of school coming up
next week, it points to a lot ofdifferent ways that people
should think about this.
Right, even if you're waybeyond the going back to school
era, it's a time to maybe thinkabout maybe learning some new
things and looking at somethings differently, right.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:25):
For sure, yeah, so I always like to tell
my staff and others that thingsdon't happen automatically.
Things happen because they're ona schedule and when you go back
to school, of course yourschedules are changing and
you're being put into a moredisciplined approach to your
day-to-day both for the studentsand for the parents and for the
(01:46):
other people who are affectedby the students and the parents.
So I think that's true, and partof this is in the week that we
have in St.
John's County before theback-to-school season officially
begins, it's a good time tolook at your schedule and think
about what am I going to do formy health care over the course
of the next year?
And I think you can argue thatthe back-to-school transition is
even more important than theyear-end transition.
(02:09):
You know we talk about NewYear's resolutions, but actually
I think you can make more of adifference by thinking about
your schedule now, during theback-to-school season, and I
would certainly encourage peopleto think about that from a
health standpoint.
Not to mention the fact thatwhen you go back to school, all
of a sudden you're now indoorsmore, you are congregating with
other people that could spreadviruses, and certainly a big
(02:30):
part of our mission ENCORE is isto help people prevent the
complications of virus spread.
So, as you know, Kevin, we'redoing studies right now to help
people with that concept.
Kevin Geddings (02:40):
Yeah, absolutely , and you can learn more about
that too by going to EncoreDocs.
com.
Encoredocs.
com, you can also call and talkto a live human being who will
answer any of your questionsabout participating in a
clinical trial by just callinglocally, 904-730-0166,
904-730-0166.
(03:02):
Dr.
Koren, we laymen have thisperception that once the kids
start going back to schoolespecially the young ones who
are in elementary school yearsthat they come home and spread
all these viruses, that we catcha cold.
We caught a cold because Johnnybrought it to first grade.
Is that really true?
Dr. Michael Koren (03:18):
Yeah, it's much more than a perception.
It's a reality and, as you and Ihave talked about, the cold and
flu season starts earlier inFlorida.
There's actually two peaks; alate summer peak and more of a
winter peak whereas in thenortheast it really peaks in the
september to October Rangebecause their school year starts
later than ours.
So the back-to-schoolscheduling has a big impact in
the way viruses are spread.
And, as we've talked before, wehave a really fascinating study
(03:53):
right now that's sponsored bythe Department of Defense
through a group called BARDA,which is actually responsible
for protecting the US frombioterrorism, and they're super
interested in this new vaccineplatform that we're working with
.
That is actually an oralbooster.
It works by giving people apill that elicits an immune
(04:15):
response against COVID, and it'sa fundamentally different type
of treatment than the mRNAvaccines, and we'd really
encourage people to learn aboutit for a number of reasons,
including the fact that this isactually a priority of the
government.
This is a vaccine that wasoriginally put on hold because
of DOGE, but it's so importantto the government, despite
budget cuts, that it's beingfunded now as we speak, so it's
(04:38):
an opportunity for people to getprotected against viruses and
to support bioterrorismapproaches to hopefully protect
all the citizens.
Kevin Geddings (04:47):
Now this is critical stuff.
It's a great way to experienceamazing health care and also
that sense of hey, I'm, I'mparticipating, I'm contributing
to overall societal health andimprovements.
You can be a part of the wholelearning process right as we get
ready for school andimprovements.
You can be a part of the wholelearning process right as we get
ready for school.
Dr. Michael Koren (05:10):
Absolutely, and the other thing that you
alluded to is that the wholeback-to-school concept is also
kind of getting out of that lazymode of the summer and getting
back to thinkinng again and tostudying again, and certainly
that's part of your mission.
And I have to say that, youknow, I'm kind of a notoriously
cheap person.
So you know, these, thesebathing trunks that I had my
(05:31):
eyes on since April have finallygone on sale this week.
So I'm going to go ahead andbuy them this week and then
celebrate the one week of summerthat I get in my bathing trunks
.
But it also is a reminder thatthings move quickly, the seasons
move quickly and really toenjoy your best health requires
you to be more in advance than Iwas in terms of buying these
(05:53):
bathing trunks.
So now is the time to thinkabout the cold and flu season.
Now is the time to think abouthow you're going to keep your
weight under control.
Now is the time to think abouthow you're going to control your
cholesterol.
So these are all programs thatare on at ENCORE.
I'd love people to give us acall and figure out if they fit
into what we're doing.
Kevin Geddings (06:10):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
With this reset comes are-examination of your health
status and what you want to doabout obesity issues and things
like that, and they can help you.
They have clinical trialsongoing on more topics than we
can possibly mention.
Go to EncoreDocs.
com.
Encoredocs.
com and of course all of us,just about every couple of days,
are going online and looking upsomething on the Google machine
(06:31):
relating to healthcare.
Or somebody else has beendiagnosed with something, or we
hear something in the news aboutvaccines or whatever, and we
Google it and that information,I would argue quite honestly,
more often than not is notreliable.
But there's a great place onthe Internet where you can get
reliable health informationRight, Dr.
Koren.
Dr. Michael Koren (06:49):
Yeah, our MedEvidence platform is really
taking off.
I'm so proud of the groupthat's put that together.
We're about to launch actuallya national initiative, so we'll
be reaching out to multiplecommunities around the United
States and helping peopleunderstand the Truth Behind the
Data.
As you point out, when you do aGoogle search or an AI search,
(07:10):
more often than not you'regetting information that serves
some advertiser, and one of thepolicies of MedEv idence you'll
find this interesting, Kevin isthat we don't accept random
advertisement.
We'll only accept advertisementthat has a net positive health
benefit in the view of our boardof advisors.
So before we would actuallyadvertise anything, we run it by
(07:32):
the board of advisors and saydo you agree that this has a net
positive benefit?
So if you're trying to hawksome funky health treatment that
doesn't have any data behind it, we're not going to accept it.
On the other hand, if you havestudies and really good science
to show that something ishelpful, and including things
that are not necessarilymedicines like exercise, going
to the gym, healthy foods thenwe're going to be all over it.
(07:55):
So hopefully this resonateswith advertisers that really
want to show that they do wantto make a difference and they
want to prove also that there isa Truth Behind the Data.
There are ways of knowing thatsomething is truly beneficial
for people, and there's a lot ofstuff out there that's just
fluff that we want to avoid.
Kevin Geddings (08:11):
Yeah, absolutely Well, and that's exactly the
tagline, the Truth Behind theData you can trust.
Medevidence.
com, medevidence.
com.
Check out that website.
We would strongly request ifyou will, or help us out by
spreading the word about it.
So when you talk to friends andfamily and they start talking
about researching differenthealth issues vaccine health,
things like that say, hey, takea look at medevidence.
(08:33):
com.
That's medevidence.
com, Dr.
Michael Koren.
Any closing thoughts?
Dr. Michael Koren (08:40):
No, again last week before school starts
in St.
Johns County.
So think about your schedule,moving ahead and enjoy this last
wonderful week of summer.
Kevin Geddings (08:49):
There you go, Dr .
Koren.
Be safe out there.
We'll speak with you next week.
Dr. Michael Koren (08:52):
Have a great week, Kevin.
Announcer (08:53):
Thanks for joining the MedEvidence podcast.
To learn more, head over toMedEvidencecom or subscribe to
our podcast on your favoritepodcast platform.
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