National Preparedness Month Episodes
401
Sept. 23, 2025
996: COVID Vaccine State Legislative Activity, Emergency Prep
Andy Baker-White, ASTHO’s senior director for state health policy, provides an update on the legislative actions states are taking across the country to ensure continued vaccination access within their jurisdictions; Captain Artensie Flowers, director of the division of regional operations with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR)...
398
Sept. 18, 2025
993: New World Screwworm, States’ Preparedness Policies
Shalini Nair, senior analyst for infectious disease at ASTHO, tells public health professionals everything they need to know about New World screwworm (NWS), and what to do if their state experiences a case; Maggie Nilz, senior analyst for preparedness at ASTHO, shares information from a new Health Policy Update on public health preparedness for extreme weather events...
Guests: Shalini Nair MPH , Maggie Nilz, MPH, CPH
395
Sept. 15, 2025
990: Connecting Public Health Silos, Tracking Data for Emergencies
Marissa Eyanson, director of behavioral health for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, shares how her department is breaking down silos between its behavioral health and disability service systems to make it easier for Iowans to access care; Dr. Paul Petersen, director of the emergency preparedness program with the Tennessee Department of Health...
Guests: Marissa Eyanson , Paul Petersen PharmD MPH CEM
392
Sept. 10, 2025
987: One Health, Fall Vaccination Season
Dr. Catherine Brown, state epidemiologist and state public health veterinarian at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, discusses ASTHO’s recent meeting with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and the importance of the One Health approach; a recent ASTHO blog article details the importance of ensuring animals are accounted for during radiological incidents; Dr. Dave Chokshi, chair of the Common Health Coalition..
388
Sept. 4, 2025
983: Accessible Public Health Data; Disaster Preparedness
Former ASTHO president Dr. Anne Zink, senior clinical fellow at Yale University and practicing emergency medicine physician, shares how PopHIVE, a database of de-identified, population-level health data, draws data from various sources, allowing public health providers to find patterns and make informed decisions; Nicholas Porter, director for environmental health at ASTHO, discusses...
Guests: Anne Zink, MD, FACEP , Nicholas Porter MPH
756
Sept. 11, 2024
747: Emergency Stockpile Strategies, Workforce Recommendations
Maggie Nilz, MPH, CPH, senior analyst, Preparedness and Disability Integration, ASTHO, discusses emergency stockpiles management; Allison Budzinski, Social & Behavioral Health and Workforce senior analyst, ASTHO, previews strategies for agencies...
755
Sept. 10, 2024
746: Preparedness Requires Year-Round Collaboration, AmeriCorps Grants
Alysia Mihalakos, chief, Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Rhode Island Department of Health, and chair of the ASTHO Directors of Public Health Preparedness Peer Network, discusses National Preparedness Month and year-round...
Guests: Alysia Mihalakos, MPH , Andrea C. Young, PhD
124
Sept. 28, 2023
513: Menthol Ban Lessons, Retail Food Safety Networks
Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO’s Chief Medical Officer, shares the challenges facing plans to ban tobacco flavorings; Dr. David McSwane, Executive Director of the Conference for Food Protection, explains the collaborative work of CFP and NACCHO to...
Guests: Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH , David McSwane PhD
117
Sept. 19, 2023
506: Maintaining Pandemic Partnerships, Septic System Data
Andrew Pickett, Director of the Bureau of Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, says collaboration among preparedness professionals is essential for public health; ASTHO has issued a statement supporting the...
Guests: Andrew Pickett, MS , Tim Callahan MPH
112
Sept. 12, 2023
501: Prepping for Cyber Attacks, Suicide Awareness and Data
Adrianna Evans, ASTHO’s Director of Preparedness and Disability Integration, says cybersecurity is an emerging topic in preparedness planning; Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan, explains that suicide...
Guests: Annie Evans, MPH , Natasha Bagdasarian, MD, MPH
109
Sept. 7, 2023
498: Extreme Heat Ideas, Updated Healthy Aging Policy
Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Director of the National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) at the CDC, explains the CDC’s work to address extreme heat; Dr. Ihsan Azzam, Chief Medical Officer...
106
Sept. 1, 2023
495: Power Outage Toolkit, Alpha-Gal Syndrome Explained
Eric Cote, founder of Power Outage Partners, explains how the ASTHO Power Outage tool kit can help prevent life-threatening situations; Elizabeth Schiffman, supervisor of the Vector-Borne Disease Unit at the Minnesota Department of Health, says it’s...