Informatics Episodes

As health departments modernize their data systems, an unexpected challenge has emerged: traditional public health job classifications no longer match the reality of today’s data landscape. In this episode, Ari Whiteman, ASTHO’s senior advisor for public health data and informatics workforce, talks about why the field urgently needs new informatics-focused roles, and what it will take to build them.

In today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, Nicole Yerkes, data modernization director with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, shares how the state is using PHIG funding to advance a unified, future-ready public health data system. She discusses innovations like AI-assisted analysis, real-time lab data exchange, and the power of cross-agency collaboration through Utah's Data Modernization Council. Yerkes also highlights the importance of academic partnerships and sustainable funding to ensure modernization efforts endure and evolve.

Kristen Rogers, a jounalist for CNN Wellness, explains why synthetic food dyes are being banned by states across the country and how each state is taking action; Felicia Quintana-Zinn, associate director of health data with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, discusses...