At-Risk Populations Episodes

Suicide remains one of the most urgent and complex public health challenges in the United States, with more than 49,000 lives lost in 2023 alone. In this episode, ASTHO’s director of state health policy, JoAnne Deehr, breaks down how states are responding with more targeted, data-driven strategies.

Kentucky is experiencing its largest spike in whooping cough cases since 2012, an alarming rise that has already claimed the lives of three infants in the past year. In this episode, Dr. Steven Stack, secretary of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services, joins us to unpack what’s driving the surge, why waning vaccination rates matter, and how misinformation is complicating public health response efforts.

Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, ASTHO member and chief medical executive for the State of Michigan, explains how Michigan’s multifaceted approach has reduced overdose deaths across the state; Heidi Westermann, director of public health data modernization and informatics at ASTHO...

Dr. Susan Kansagra, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer, outlines the recommendations from the most recent ACIP meeting; Kathleen Amos, Director of Workforce Development at the Public Health Foundation, explains how Academic Health Department Partnerships can...

Maria Gabriela Ruiz, an analyst on ASTHO’s maternal and infant health team, discusses a new ASTHO resource on strategies to use during prenatal care to address hypertension and other chronic diseases; Warren Villagomez, director of...

Allison Wheeler, wastewater surveillance unit manager at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and co-director of the Wastewater Center of Excellence in Colorado, tells us about a recently published ASTHO report on ethical considerations in public health wastewater surveillance; Dawn...

Dr. Bradley Stoner, director of the Division of STD Prevention at the CDC, discusses the first few weeks in his new role; Dr. Barbara Van Der Pol, professor of medicine and public health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, explains how the UAB...

Jason Cummins, president of the National Tuberculosis Coalition of America, gives an update on a TB outbreak in Kansas; Dr. Charles Chima, Washington Department of Health chief healthcare innovation and strategy officer, tells us about the “clarion...

Laura Ungar, science and medical writer on the Global Health and Science Team for the Associated Press, discusses the two articles she wrote about the maternal mortality crisis; Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO past president and Alaska’s former chief medical...

Catherine Jones, ASTHO Senior Analyst for Government Affairs, says there are discussions underway to ensure the AI is managed properly; Jeffrey Ekoma, ASTHO Senior Director for Government Affairs, tells us Congress remains busy as January nears an...

Josh Berry, ASTHO Director of Chronic Disease Risk Factors, says ASTHO is calling on the White House to implement a rule that would prohibit the sale of menthol-flavored tobacco products; Chrissie Juliano, Executive Director of the Big Cities Health...

Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, Chief Science Officer for the Washington State Department of Health, says providing doses of naloxone to many schools in the state will save lives; Molly Cotant, Deputy Director, and Laura de la Rambelje, MA, Director, both of the Division of Local Health Services and at...

AJ Pearlman, Director of Public Health AmeriCorps, shares the organization’s plan to get more people into public health positions across the nation; ASTHO explains legal considerations for agencies working to vaccinate people against Monkeypox;...

Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO President-Elect and Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, says new CDC life expectancy data sounds an alarm for public health and the nation; ASTHO shares how public health leaders can help their teams recover from the pandemic; Dr....