COVID-19 Episodes

131: ASTHO Reacts to New COVID-19 Plan
March 4, 2022

131: ASTHO Reacts to New COVID-19 Plan

Mike Fraser, ASTHO’s CEO, issues a statement offering early reaction to the Biden Administration’s new National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan; Dr. Elisha Hall, Clinical Guidelines Lead for the CDC’s Vaccine Task Force, explains the latest...
Guests: Marcus Plescia MD MPH , Elisha Hall PhD
130: ASTHO’s State of the Union Response
March 3, 2022

130: ASTHO’s State of the Union Response

Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations, reacts to President Biden’s comments about public health in his State of the Union address Tuesday night; Jeffrey Ekoma, ASTHO’s Senior Director of...
Guests: Jeffrey Ekoma , Carolyn Mullen , Heidi Westermann MPH
129: Messaging New COVID-19 Metrics
March 2, 2022

129: Messaging New COVID-19 Metrics

Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO’s Chief Medical Officer, says public health jurisdictions must have clear messaging when explaining the CDC’s new community-level COVID-19 metrics; Elizabeth Head, Deputy Director for Injury Prevention at the Georgia...
Guests: Marcus Plescia MD MPH , Elizabeth Head MPH
126: Personal Stories Fight Vaccine Misinformation
Feb. 25, 2022

126: Personal Stories Fight Vaccine Misinformation

Molly Howell, Immunization Director at the North Dakota Department of Health, says testimonials from people impacted by COVID-19 have helped make the virus real for people with doubts about the vaccines; Chrissie Juliano, Executive Director of the Big...
Guests: Molly Howell MPH , Chrissie Juliano MPP
125: COVID-19 Antivirals
Feb. 24, 2022

125: COVID-19 Antivirals

Dr. Lisa Piercey, Tennessee’s Health Commissioner, says the increased availability of oral antiviral medications doesn’t lessen the need for vaccines to fight COVID-19; Cortney Lovell, co-founder of Our Wellness Collective, says she hopes a new...
Guests: Cortney Lovell , Lisa Piercey MD MBA FAAP
123: Territories Visit Capitol Hill
Feb. 22, 2022

123: Territories Visit Capitol Hill

Alex Wheatley, a Senior Analyst on ASTHO’s Territorial Support Team, explains the work Territorial members will do tomorrow during the organization’s annual Hill Day event in Washington, D.C.; Carolyn McCoy, ASTHO’s Senior Director of Federal...
Guests: Carolyn McCoy MPH , Alex Wheatley MPA
121: A Focus on Mental Health
Feb. 17, 2022

121: A Focus on Mental Health

Elke Shaw-Tulloch, Idaho’s State Health Officer, shares her state’s approach to addressing mental health concerns; ASTHO’s Maggie Davis authors a blog article on legislative efforts impacting mental health; Carolyn McCoy, ASTHO’s Senior...
Guests: Carolyn McCoy MPH , Elke Shaw-Tulloch MHS
119: Is COVID-19 in Retreat?
Feb. 15, 2022

119: Is COVID-19 in Retreat?

Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, says the COVID-19 virus may be in a welcomed retreat; Dr. Joe Gaugler tells us why organizers of a new conference on dementia caregiving planned for June in Minneapolis want public...
Guests: Joseph Gaugler PhD , Ashish Jha MD MPH
118: Selling Vaccines to Younger Adults
Feb. 14, 2022

118: Selling Vaccines to Younger Adults

Julie Scofield, Project Director for the Community COVID Coalition, a project of the CDC Foundation, reports on the results of a months-long social media campaign to convince younger adults to get the COVID-19 vaccine; and Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO’s...
Guests: Anne Zink MD FACEP , Julie Scofield , Dan Diamond
117: ASTHO’s New Strategic Plan
Feb. 11, 2022

117: ASTHO’s New Strategic Plan

Zarnaaz Bashir, ASTHO’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, says the organization’s new strategic plan was created during and influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic; Dr. Robert Bourgeois, an occupational and environmental health expert working along the...
Guests: Zarnaaz Bashir , Robert Bourgeois MD MPH FACOEM
116: Data Modernization Report Card
Feb. 10, 2022

116: Data Modernization Report Card

Dr. David Adinaro, New Jersey’s Deputy Commissioner for Public Health, evaluates the state of the nation’s public health data and information infrastructure; Dr. Joseph Gaugler, Director of the BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia...
Guests: David Adinaro MD FACEP , Joseph Gaugler PhD , Alison Beam JD
111: How to Modernize PH Data
Feb. 3, 2022

111: How to Modernize PH Data

Joanne Pearsol, ASTHO’s Director of Workforce Development, says more than 40,000 public health professionals responded to the latest PHWins survey; Dr. Jamie Pina, ASTHO’s Vice President of Public Health Data Modernization, offers a plan to...
Guests: Jamie Pina PhD MSPH , Joanne Pearsol MA MCHES
109: Reflections on Black History Month
Feb. 1, 2022

109: Reflections on Black History Month

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, reflects on current events in the context of Black History Month, on the first day of the month-long recognition; Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO’s President-elect, considers the...
Guests: Anne Zink MD FACEP , Ngozi Ezike MD
107: Immunization Opportunities
Jan. 28, 2022

107: Immunization Opportunities

Rachael Banks, Oregon’s Director of Public Health, says the focus on immunizations during the pandemic is a perfect opportunity to expand the public health conversation. Immunizations are one of ASTHO’s top 10 policy issues to watch in 2022;...
Guests: Rachael Banks MPA , Yaryna Onufrey MPH
106: Contact Tracing’s Role Today
Jan. 27, 2022

106: Contact Tracing’s Role Today

ASTHO Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marcus Plescia explains the latest thinking about how best to use case investigation and contact tracing to fight the Omicron variant; ASTHO joins several other national public health groups to issue a statement this...
Guests: Marcus Plescia MD MPH , Anne Zink MD FACEP
105: Rural Health Needs
Jan. 26, 2022

105: Rural Health Needs

ASTHO and associations representing epidemiologists, counties, cities, and public health labs issue a statement supporting jurisdictions moving away from universal case investigation and contact tracing at this point in the pandemic; Dr. Ayne Amjad,...
Guests: Devon Page , Ayne Amjad MD MPH
104: Advancing Health Equity
Jan. 25, 2022

104: Advancing Health Equity

Paula Tran, Wisconsin’s State Health Officer, says it’s possible to maintain health equity priorities even as the pandemic continues to strain resources. Health equity is among the issues considered in a set of 10 ASTHO policy briefings focused on...
Guests: Anne Zink MD FACEP , Paula Tran MPH
103: Ending the HIV Epidemic
Jan. 24, 2022

103: Ending the HIV Epidemic

Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana’s State Health Officer, talks about fighting the HIV epidemic during the COVID-19 pandemic as ASTHO releases a set of 10 policy briefings focused on public health issues expected to be priorities this year; ASTHO offers...
Guests: Joseph Kanter MD MPH , John Wiesman DrPH MPH
102: Recalling COVID-19’s First Case Part 2
Jan. 21, 2022

102: Recalling COVID-19’s First Case Part 2

Dr. John Wiesman, the former Secretary of Health in Washington state, gives his assessment of the nation's pandemic response since the first COVID-19 case was discovered in his state two years ago this week. He discusses what has worked, what remains...
Guests: John Wiesman DrPH MPH , Katey Redmond MPH CPH
101: Recalling COVID-19's First Case Part 1
Jan. 20, 2022

101: Recalling COVID-19's First Case Part 1

Dr. John Wiesman, the former Secretary of Health in Washington state, reflects on the moment the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in his state and thus the U.S.; Dr. Alexis Travis, Michigan’s State Health Officer, says it’s never too late to...
Guests: Alexis Travis PhD , John Wiesman DrPH MPH
100: Rethinking School Discipline Part 2
Jan. 19, 2022

100: Rethinking School Discipline Part 2

Robin Matthies, Director of Public and Behavioral Health Integration at ASTHO, explains why it’s important to consider restorative justice approaches to discipline in schools; Andy Baker-White, ASTHO’s Senior Director of State Health Policy, says...
Guests: Andy Baker-White JD MPH , Robin Matthies MSW
96: COVID-19 Messaging Lessons
Jan. 12, 2022

96: COVID-19 Messaging Lessons

Robert Jennings, Executive Director of the National Public Health Information Coalition, discusses communications lessons learned during the pandemic; ProPublica journalist Caroline Chen hopes Congress reads her story about the funding public health...
Guests: Caroline Chen , Robert Jennings
95: ProPublica’s Syphilis Investigation – Part 2
Jan. 11, 2022

95: ProPublica’s Syphilis Investigation – Part 2

Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana’s State Health Officer, explains the evolution of messaging required by the fast-moving Omicron variant during an appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal morning show Monday; ProPublica journalist Caroline Chen...
Guests: Joseph Kanter MD MPH , Caroline Chen
93: Supreme Court Hears Vaccine Cases
Jan. 7, 2022

93: Supreme Court Hears Vaccine Cases

Lawrence Gostin, law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C., tells us what to expect from today’s Supreme Court hearing on two Biden Administration COVID vaccine mandates; ASTHO CEO Mike Fraser says states and...
Guests: Michael Fraser PhD MS CAE FCPP , Lawrence Gostin JD LLD