Healthy Wealthy & Smart Dr. Tyler B. Evans: Pandemics, Poverty, and Politics
In this episode of Healthy, Wealthy, and Smart, host Karen Litzy welcomes Dr. Tyler Evans, an expert in infectious diseases and public health. Dr. Evans shares his journey into the field, shaped by personal loss and trauma in his youth. He discusses the social and political drivers of pandemics, drawing connections from historical outbreaks to contemporary challenges, including COVID-19. As the CEO and co-founder of the Wellness and Equity Alliance, Dr. Evans emphasizes the importance of transforming healthcare delivery for vulnerable communities. Tune in to learn more about the intersections of public health, equity, and the impact of societal factors on disease outbreaks.
Time Stamps:
[00:02:10] Childhood adversity shapes career path.
[00:07:10] Infectious diseases in global South.
[00:10:16] Resilience in medical training.
[00:12:40] Creative adaptations in healthcare.
[00:18:04] Pandemic responses through history.
[00:22:07] Government collaboration in pandemics.
[00:27:01] Health equity and pandemics.
[00:28:16] Public health response to pandemics.
[00:34:45] Syndemics and health equity.
[00:38:00] Effective leadership in public health.
[00:42:11] Innovative clinical service delivery models.
[00:44:03] Healthcare and public health systems.
[00:48:44] Public health depoliticization necessity.
[00:52:46] Rural healthcare access challenges.
[00:56:17] Effective leadership for progress.
[01:00:00] Community paramedicine as workforce solution.
[01:03:14] Pursuing dreams through unconventional paths.
More About Dr. Evans:
Dr. Tyler Evans is an experienced and passionate infectious diseases and public health expert who has been on the front lines of major disease outbreaks (including two Ebola outbreaks) around the globe. Outside the U.S., he has mostly worked in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East with organizations like Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) and Partners in Health. He is a tireless champion for medical humanitarianism and health equity, working with special populations across the world – including migrants (specifically refugees, asylees and victims of human trafficking), the LGBTQIA+ (with a special focus on transgender populations), people experiencing homelessness, people struggling with substance use, and indigenous communities.
He was also the first Chief Medical Officer for New York City - leading the Office of Emergency Management’s (OEM) COVID-19 medical response. Dr. Evans is the CEO, chief medical officer and co-founder of Wellness and Equity Alliance, a national alliance of public health clinicians and supporting operations committed to transforming health care delivery to vulnerable communities with a focus on effective COVID-19 clinical services in strategic settings, and is an adjunct associate professor at University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences. He is also author of the forthcoming book Pandemics, Poverty, and Politics: Decoding the Social and Political Drivers of Pandemics from Plague to COVID-19 (Johns Hopkins Press, August, 2025).
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