Contagious Conversations

What exactly is public health law? Drawing from disciplines like epidemiology, public policy and evaluation, it's a field that we may not often think about in our day-to-day lives. But it has a profound impact on our lifetime trajectory. Sarah de Guia—chief executive officer of ChangeLab Solutions, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that uses the tools of law and policy to advance health equity...

This is a special edition Contagious Conversations podcast in conjunction with Public Health On Call , a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. This special edition features a discussion between CDC Foundation President and CEO Judy Monroe, MD, and Joshua Sharfstein, MD, vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Pu...

In today's world, people are used to having immediate access to data directly from the phones in their pockets. But how do public health agencies ensure that their massive and complex sets of data are managed at both scale and speed? Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who has led CDC's responses to dozens of disease outbreaks and flu pandemics in the United States and around the world, sits down with Claire Sti...

In this episode of Contagious Conversations, Dr. Anand Parekh breaks down the critical population health and policy issues facing the United States now—plus what's needed in a public health workforce of the future. Dr. Parekh is the chief medical advisor for the Bipartisan Policy Center. Prior to joining the BPC, he served for ten years at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, playing...

In this episode of Contagious Conversations, Dr. Heidi Larson discusses the spread of vaccine rumors, how these rumors impact confidence in science, and how we can help put a stop to them. Dr. Larson is the professor of anthropology, risk and decision science and the founding director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She is also the author of a...

In this episode of Contagious Conversations, Anna King and Elizabeth Rorick of the National PTA discuss the impact of COVID-19 on schools, children and parents—especially when it comes to mental health—and their advice for nurturing healthy minds. Anna King has over 20 years of leadership experience at all levels of PTA and is a dedicated and passionate child advocate. Elizabeth Rorick has been wi...

Dr. Judy Monroe hosts Dr. Atul Nakhasi and Dr. Elizabeth Homan Sandoval, frontline doctors working on the COVID-19 response, in a discussion about how vaccine hesitancy continues to be a challenge in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and the power of spreading culturally competent information using trusted voices in our communities. Dr. Nakhasi serves as an advisor to the office of government affairs...

In this special episode of Contagious Conversations, new CDC director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky joins CDC Foundation President and CEO Dr. Judy Monroe to discuss CDC's latest work to combat COVID-19, how public health professionals can help prepare communities for a new normal, and her vision for the future of the agency that works 24/7 to protect America's health, safety and security . Dr. Walensk...

When Dr. Evelyn McKnight was battling breast cancer in 2002, the last thing on her mind was hepatitis C. So when she and her husband Thomas learned she had contracted the virus from unsafe injection practices during her treatment, they were shocked. Now she's sharing the story of how she turned this tragic event into an ongoing campaign for patient safety. Dr. Evelyn McKnight, an audiologist and m...

After a career in pediatrics and both public and private health leadership, Dr. Lauren Smith is now stepping into the new position of chief health equity and strategy officer at the CDC Foundation. In this episode, she discusses the perspectives on health equity, systemic racism and community resiliency that she's bringing to the role. Dr. Lauren Smith is the chief health equity and strategy offic...

Meet the man whose discovery has made it possible to save millions of lives. In this episode, Dr. Harvey Alter shares the story of his 50-plus year career and how his research led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. Dr. Harvey J. Alter is a Senior Scholar at the National Institute for Health and was just named the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work in discovering the hepa...

In Season 6 of Contagious Conversations, you'll hear what it was like to discover Hepatitis C from recent Nobel Prize winner Dr. Harvey Alter, learn about the latest strategies for tackling health equity and systemic racism during the COVID-19 pandemic from Dr. Lauren Smith, and find out how advocates like Dr. Evelyn McKnight are working to save lives by preventing unsafe injection practices.

Chief Lynn Malerba has served as a registered nurse, as director of Cardiology and Pulmonary Services at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, as chairwoman of the Tribal Council and now as the first female Chief of the Mohegan Tribe. And she's now drawing on this full history as the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps disproportionately through the Native American population. For more information and full episode t...

How much do you really know about contact tracing? And would you have what it takes to be a successful contact tracer? Dr. Joshua Sharfstein of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health takes listeners through the essential ins and outs of contact tracing during a public health crisis like COVID-19. For more information and full episode transcription go to Contagious Conversations  (www.cdcfoundati...

Daniel E. Dawes is the director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, an institute laser-focused on advancement of health equity. Now Dawes sits down to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color and marginalized populations, and the importance of understanding political determinants of health in the context of American history. Fo...

In the fifth season of Contagious Conversations, each of our episodes takes a deep look at the COVID-19 pandemic from a different perspective. Our guest experts discuss health equity and COVID-19's disproportionate impact on people of color, the challenges and opportunities facing tribal nations in the time of coronavirus, what's really involved in contact tracing, and more.

Dr. Jim Curran has served as dean and professor of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University since 1995, following 25 years of leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Curran is co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research and he holds faculty appointments in the Emory School of Medicine and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. In...

Dr. Georges Benjamin is the executive director of the American Public Health Association, the nation's oldest and largest organization of public health professionals. Dr. Benjamin also previously served as a secretary at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. For the last 20 years he has been actively practicing public health at the local, state and national level with expertise in...

Dr. Rasha Khoury is a physician in the Bronx, New York, with a focus on global maternal health. Dr. Khoury has completed six Doctors Without Borders surgical missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone. She also serves on the organization's U.S. board of directors. In this episode, Dr. Khoury shares her experiences with Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian organizatio...

Contagious Conversations features compelling interviews with people who are making the world safer and healthier for us all. In season 4, our guest experts share their perspectives on some of the world's toughest health challenges, including global maternal health, the evolution of public health in America, and what it takes to be part of the next generation of the public health workforce.

For our tenth episode, we sit down with the CDC Foundation's own president and CEO, Dr. Judy Monroe. Dr. Monroe has also previously been deputy director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Indiana State Health Commissioner, and president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. In this episode, Dr. Monroe shares shares stories from her recent trip to West Africa:...

Dr Michael McGinnis is an epidemiologist, health policy expert and Leonard D. Schaeffer Executive Officer at the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. McGinnis is well regarded both for his program and policy leadership and his research and publications on population health and life expectancy. Dr. McGinnis was also the recipient of the 2018 Fries Prize for improving health. In this episode, Dr. McGin...

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician and a public health advocate whose research helped expose the Flint water crisis. Dr. Mona is founder and director of the Michigan State University and the Hurley Children's Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, an innovative and model public health program in Flint, Michigan. In this episode, Dr. Mona shares how she became an advocate for the people...

Dr. Robert Redfield is the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Prior to becoming CDC's Director, Dr. Redfield had a long and distinguished career in public health, including researching and contributing to the early scientific understanding of HIV, serving as the chief of infectious diseases and...

Contagious Conversations features compelling interviews with people who are making the world safer and healthier for us all. The third season features experts who are sharing their perspectives on some of the world's toughest health challenges, including advocating for safe water for the children of Flint, tackling the Ebola crisis, ending the AIDS epidemic and developing policy that creates healt...