In this episode of the New Beginnings Podcast, Aarush Gupta speaks with Dr. George Deepe, Professor of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, about infectious disease, immunology, and what it means to build a career as a physician-scientist.

Dr. Deepe shares his unexpected path from considering a career in English literature to becoming an infectious-disease physician and researcher. He explains how a puzzling case involving a patient with histoplasmosis sparked a research interest that would shape decades of his career. The conversation explores how Histoplasma capsulatum infects the body, why some people develop serious disease while most exposed individuals do not, and how advances in treatments and technology have transformed infectious-disease research.

Dr. Deepe also discusses the unique role of physician-scientists in turning observations at the bedside into questions that can be investigated in the laboratory. Reflecting on a career spanning medicine, research, and mentorship, he shares one quality he believes every aspiring scientist needs: perseverance.