Public Health Infrastructure Episodes

March 1, 2022

128: Epidemiologists Needed

Chrissie Juliano, Executive Director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, explains the critical need to hire hundreds of epidemiologists in public health departments nationwide; Richard Hamburg, Executive Director of the Safe…
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, Ex…
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 …
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 ex…
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, …
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,…
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 poli…
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…
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 wha…
Jan. 13, 2022

97: Announcing ASTHO’s 2022 Federal Policy Agenda

Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations, outlines the organization’s 2022 federal policy agenda and tells members what they ought to expect from Washington this year; ASTHO CE…
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 journal…
Jan. 10, 2022

94: ProPublica’s Syphilis Investigation – Part 1

Caroline Chen, a journalist for the non-profit news organization ProPublica, reports on public health’s work to combat a rising number of syphilis cases in the nation; ASTHO offers a new blog article with ideas and guidance …
Guest: Caroline Chen
Oct. 13, 2021

45: Infection Control Funding

Janet Hamilton, Executive Director of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists explains how $2 billion in CDC funds will help hospitals and healthcare facilities fight infections; Jonathan Wolfe, ASTHO’s Senior D…
Sept. 30, 2021

37: Workforce Reforms Pitched

Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana’s State Health Officer and Medical Director, calls on Congress to take steps to address urgent public health workforce needs; Dr. Umair Shah, Secretary of Health for Washington state, reminds pub…
Sept. 28, 2021

35: Medicaid Cliff Nears

Karl Ensign, ASTHO’s Vice President for Territorial Support, discusses the potential for Congressional action to approve enhanced financial support for Medicaid services in the U.S. Territories, as a Thursday deadline nears;…