For U.S. territories and freely associated states in the Pacific, climate change is a daily reality. Today, ASTHO Senior Analyst for Environmental Health Shelbi Davis talks about how these island communities are navigating so...

Much of the data public health leaders need already exists, but it just isn’t accessible as it could be. Today, we’ll hear about a new platform aiming to unlock the full potential of population health data. Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO past president and a senior fellow at the Yale School of Public Health …

Rural communities face some of the most complex and often overlooked public health challenges. Today, Melanie Ramsey, deputy director of CDC’s Office of Rural Health, discusses how a new national effort is working to close those gaps. The Rural Health Academy is a growing initiative designed to str…

Cyberattacks aren’t just an IT problem; they’re a potential public health emergency. ASTHO Senior Analyst for Preparedness, Maggie Nilz, explains how cyber disruptions are reshaping the foundation of public health systems. She explains how increasingly interconnected digital infrastructure has made…

When overdose cases suddenly spike, every second counts. In this episode, Jessica Pough, director of overdose preparedness and response at ASTHO, talks about a new tool designed to help communities prepare before a crisis hits. The “Overdose Spike Preparedness Exercise: Tabletop in a Box” gives sta…

Strong leaders don’t just appear, they’re developed. In this episode, Joshua Allen, leadership training director for the South Carolina Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Organizational Development, talks about how targeted supervisor training and mentorship programs are reshaping workforce cu…

What does it take to build and sustain a strong public health workforce in uncertain times? In this episode Kirsten Aird, public health director for Oregon’s Multnomah County, explores how strategic investments are strengthening workforce capacity, stability, and community impact. Aird breaks down …

Public health data modernization isn’t a quick fix; it’s a multi-decade transformation. In this episode, ASTHO Senior Vice President for Population Health and Innovation, Jen Layden, talks about the real progress happening across the country and the persistent challenges that remain. Drawing from i…

How do public health officials detect emerging viruses before they spread widely across the U.S.? Heather Reese, genomic epidemiology and preparedness team lead at CDC, tells us about the Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program: a cutting-edge effort that turns international travel into a…

Public health challenges don’t exist in neat categories, so why does funding? In this episode, Corinne Gillenwater, ASTHO senior analyst for chronic disease and health improvement, unpacks the limitations of traditional, siloed funding models and explores a more adaptive approach: flexible funding.…