Public Health Infrastructure Episodes

March 14, 2024

621: New Assessment of Public Health Authority, Federal Fund Braiding Guide

Dr. Michelle Mello, professor of Law at Stanford Law School and a professor of Health Policy at Stanford University School of Medicine, teamed up with colleagues at Temple University to study the legislative response to lega…
March 8, 2024

617: Social Media Oversight, Spending Deadline Concerns

Dr. Matthew Biel, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Georgetown University Medical Center, worries about the impact of social media on young people; Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO senior vice president for Government Affairs a…
March 7, 2024

616: Social Media Epidemic, States Act to Address Youth Eating Disorders

Dr. Matthew Biel, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Georgetown University Medical Center, tells us social media is not necessarily a good part of childhood; Lexa Giragosian, ASTHO senior analyst for Maternal and Infa…
March 6, 2024

615: Grad Considers DELPH Colleagues Family, New ASTHO CEO is “Nice, Kind, Caring”

Keon Lewis, equity and development coordinator for the Cabarrus Health Alliance, talks about his experience as a recent graduate of ASTHO’s DELPH program; Dr. Joseph Kanter is ASTHO’s new CEO and begins his role in April; Dr…
March 5, 2024

614: New ASTHO CEO Announced

Dr. Steven Stack, ASTHO president and commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, announces Dr. Joseph Kanter, ASTHO alum, as incoming CEO; Dr. Joseph Kanter, ASTHO’s newly-announced CEO, who joins ASTHO from …
Feb. 27, 2024

609: Tool Helps Assess Outdated HIV Laws and Policies, Fraser on Time as ASTHO CEO

Iyanrick John, vice president of External Affairs at ChangeLab Solutions, tells us about his organization partnering with the CDC to create a legal and policy assessment tool; Mike Fraser, ASTHO CEO, will be leaving the orga…
Feb. 20, 2024

604: How to Build a Rural Health Workforce, Pacific Island Agencies Make PHIG Plans

Dr. Nizar Wehbi, ASTHO Member and North Dakota state health officer, says North Dakota has a plan to attract healthcare workers; Lindsey Myers, ASTHO vice president for Public Health Workforce and Infrastructure, tells us Pa…
Feb. 16, 2024

603: Report Calls for New Health Data Approach, ASTHO Members Plan Hill Visit

Dr. Gabriel Seidman, Director of Policy at the Ellison Institute of Technology, details the need for a stronger nationwide health data ecosystem; Jeffrey Ekoma, ASTHO Senior Director for Government Affairs, tells us how some…
Jan. 9, 2024

576: State Health Assessments Inform Planning, How to Access Public Health Databases

Dr. Edward Simmer, director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, dives deep into a new state health assessment; Melissa Touma, ASTHO’s director of the Public Health Infrastructure Program, te…
Dec. 22, 2023

570: Policies Protect Health Data, Series Serves as Early-Warning System, ASTHO’s 2024 Federal Legislative Agenda

Lillian Colasurdo, ASTHO director of Public Health Law and Data Sharing, discusses work to protect consumer data gathered from a growing number of health-related transactions; Mike Fraser, ASTHO CEO, reacts to the legislativ…
Dec. 4, 2023

556: New Suicide Prevention Policy Statement, Testing Could Curb Newborn Syphilis Cases

Dr. Mark Levine, commissioner, Vermont Department of Health, says ASTHO’s new policy statement on suicide prevention offers many recommendations including a call to improve access to health care services for those at highest…
Nov. 15, 2023

545: Medicaid and Public Health Collaborate, Covey’s Parting Advice

Dr. Shannon Dowler, chief medical officer for North Carolina Medicaid, says healthcare gets better when state Medicaid and public health agencies take the time to understand each other; Dr. Matthew Christiansen, state health…
Nov. 14, 2023

544: New ASTHO Resource Center, How to Build External Trust

Brian Lentes, senior director of Public Health Infrastructure, ASTHO, discusses the supports offered by the ASTHO STAR Center; Stephen Covey, a well-known author, says leaders first need to build trust within the public heal…
Nov. 2, 2023

537: Presidential Reflections, Medicaid Successes

Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska Chief Medical Officer and ASTHO Immediate Past President, reflects on her time at the head of the organization; Dr. Susan Kansagra (SHO-NC), North Carolina Assistant Public Health Secretary, says her ag…
Oct. 24, 2023

530: Equity Policy Statement, New Maine Official Ponders Pandemic Lessons

Dr. Joan Duwve, State Health Officer for the Kansas Department of Health, talks about the need to put equity at the center of all public health work; Dr. Puthiery Va, Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prev…