

Public Health Review Morning Edition
ASTHO
Your daily public health briefing with the latest news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 20, 2025 • 5min
973: Never A Bother Campaign, Expanding Academic Partnerships
Darcy Pickens, Program Coordinator for the Office of Suicide Prevention at the California Department of Public Health, explains how the state’s “Never a Bother” youth suicide prevention campaign collaborated with youth to develop a campaign tailored to their needs; Courtney Dezendorf, Director for the Office of Practice and Learning at the Texas Department of State Health Services, shares the statewide strategy her department developed to expand partnerships between Texas’ local health departments and academic institutions; an ASTHO resource provides public health leaders with the information they need to learn more about effective infectious disease response; and a new ASTHO blog article describes the art of storytelling and why it’s so essential to the public health field. California Department of Public Health: California Launches New Youth Suicide Prevention Campaign ASTHO Blog: Public Health and Academic Leaders Unite Through Texas Consortium ASTHO Web Page: Infectious Disease Response Resources ASTHO Blog: The Art (and Science) of Storytelling in Public Health

Aug 19, 2025 • 5min
972: PHIG Funding in Data Infrastructure
Dr. Lindsay Weaver, ASTHO Member and the State Health Commissioner of Indiana, discusses how her state is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant. PHIG Partners Web Page PHIG Newsletter

Aug 18, 2025 • 5min
971: Medicaid & Public Health Team Up, Respiratory Virus Season
Dr. Joseph Kanter, ASTHO CEO, and Kate McEvoy, Executive Director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, discuss a new partnership between the two organizations; Dr. Joseph Kanter, ASTHO CEO, Dr. Susan Kansagra, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Scott Harris, ASTHO President and State Health Officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health, Dr. Ayanna Bennett, Director of the District of Columbia Department of Health, and Dr. Manisha Juthani, ASTHO President-Elect and Commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, held a deskside briefing discussing ACIP recommendations amid preparations for the upcoming respiratory virus season; a new ASTHO report analyzes recent Medicaid data to determine causes of commercial tobacco use in Washington State; and ASTHO will host a webinar with the PHIG National Partners to introduce Wave 2 of the Public Health Data Modernization Implementation Center Program on August 26. NAMD Web Page: National Committee for Sustainable Medicaid and Public Health Partnerships ASTHO YouTube: ASTHO Respiratory Virus Season Deskside Media Briefing ASTHO Report: Tobacco Use in King County Washington: A Medicaid Data Analysis Report ASTHO Webinar: Public Health Data Modernization Implementation Center Program

Aug 15, 2025 • 5min
970: Respiratory Virus Season Briefing, CICT Course
Dr. Joseph Kanter, ASTHO CEO, Dr. Susan Kansagra, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Scott Harris, ASTHO President and State Health Officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health, Dr. Ayanna Bennett, Director of the District of Columbia Department of Health, and Dr. Manisha Juthani, ASTHO President-Elect and Commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, held a deskside briefing on the preparations for the upcoming respiratory virus season; Ericka McGowan, Senior Director of Emerging Infectious Disease at ASTHO, explains the importance of case investigation and contact tracing, and how ASTHO’s Foundations in CICT course can help prepare public health providers; a new ASTHO brief breaks down succession planning to help public health departments develop strategies to address workforce challenges; and ASTHO will hold the first webinar of a three-part series on Thursday, September 4th, to explore building a future-ready public health workforce through succession planning. ASTHO Blog: Strengthening Case Investigation and Contact Tracing Skills: Q&A with Ericka McGowan ASTHO Brief: Demystifying Succession Planning ASTHO Webinar: Succession Planning Part 1 of 3: Building the Case for Succession Planning

Aug 14, 2025 • 5min
969: Record Low Infant Mortality, Island Areas Learning Series
Dawn Shanafelt, Director of the Division of Maternal and Infant Health and Title V Maternal Child Health Director for the State of Michigan, shares the policies and program that helped the state record its lowest infant mortality rate on record; Dulce Mendoza, Senior Analyst of Island Support at ASTHO, explains how a new learning series can help prepare public health professionals to engage with U.S. territories and freely associated states; applications are now open for ASTHO’s Developing Executive Leaders in Public Health program, a ten-month intensive leadership development full of workshops, coaching, and networking opportunities; and a new ASTHO resource breaks down document management systems to help public health departments determine the best fit. State of Michigan: Michigan records lowest rate of infant mortality in its history; continues focus on resources to keep moms, babies healthy ASTHO Learning Series: LMS Module: Exploring Key Insights of U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States ASTHO Webpage: Leadership Development ASTHO Web Page: Document Management System

Aug 13, 2025 • 5min
968: Long COVID Education, Shah Addresses Public Health Leaders
Dr. Michelle Morse, Acting Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer for the New York City Health Department, explains how the city’s new video series aims to help educate communities about the impact of Long COVID; Dr. Nirav Shah, ASTHO Alum and former Principal Deputy Director at the CDC, discusses the focus of this year’s Executive Leadership Forum, and what he hopes to teach future public health professionals in his new role as a professor at Colby College; Emman Parian, Immunization Program Manager at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation of the Northern Mariana Islands, shares what he learned from the Building Capacity to Advance Health certificate program; ASTHO will host the third webinar session of the Accelerate series on Thursday, August 14th, about accountability, performance, and feedback; and a new ASTHO resource helps public health teams communicate effectively about infectious disease preparedness. New York City Health Department: Facts vs Fiction: What is Long COVID? A discussion with Dr. Michelle Morse and Matt McGorry New York City Health Department: Living with Long COVID: Matt McGorry's story New York City Health Department: The risks and realities of Long COVID: A discussion with Dr. Michelle Morse and Matt McGorry ASTHO Web Page: Building Capacity to Advance Health Certificate Program Emman Parian LinkedIn ASTHO Webinar: Ignite, Accelerate, and Activate: Series 2, Session 3: Accountability, Performance, Feedback ASTHO Web Page: Communicating About Infectious Disease Preparedness

Aug 12, 2025 • 5min
967: Healthcare-Associated Infection Response, Public Cannabis Education
Dr. James Lewis, Health Officer for the Snohomish County Health Department in Washington State, explains how data can help quicken healthcare-assosciated infection response; Lyla Hunt, Deputy Director of Public Health and Education at the New York State Office of Cannabis Management, tells us about the recent Cannabis Regulator Association stakeholder meeting; a new ASTHO resource can help your department reprioritize Black maternal health; and ASTHO’s INSPIRE hub also has resources for Wastewater Surveillance. CORHA Web Page Shonomish County Health Department Web Page Cannabis Regulators Association Web Page ASTHO Blog Article: Reprioritizing Black Maternal Health ASTHO Web Page: INSPIRE ASTHO Web Page: Advancing Wastewater Surveillance for Public Health Impact

Aug 11, 2025 • 7min
966: Get To Know ASTHO, Workforce Well-Being
Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations, shares more of her story in this installment of Get To Know ASTHO; Juliane Walker, Public Health Program Specialist at the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute, discusses the Public Health Employee Well-Being Assessment Guide; an article published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice takes a deeper look at using AI to expedite content analysis of real-world public health documents; and Dr. Susan Kansagra, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer, helped author a blog article that provides insights from several executive leadership coaching events. ASTHO Web Page: Federal Government Affairs Kansas Health Institute Web Page: Public Health Employee Well-Being Assessment Guide Journal of Public Health Management and Practice Web Page: Content Analysis of Social Determinants of Health Accelerator Plans Using Artificial Intelligence – A Use Case for Public Health Practitioners ASTHO Blog Article: Insights from Executive Leadership Coaching for Public Health and Community Leaders

Aug 8, 2025 • 4min
965: Leadership in Emergencies, PFAS Activity
Sam Jarvis, Community Health Division Manager at Johnson County Public Health in Iowa, explains how his DELPH experience helps him prepare others to be leaders in emergencies; applications for ASTHO’s DELPH program are now open; Heather Tomlinson, ASTHO Senior Analyst of the Environmental Health Team, updates us on federal and state activity focused on PFAS chemicals; and August 14 at 2 p.m. ET is ASTHO’s next Ignite, Accelerate, and Activate webinar series. ASTHO Blog Article: How Public Health Can Better Manage Uncertainty ASTHO Web Page: Developing Executive Leaders in Public Health ASTHO Blog Article: States Continue to Address PFAS in U.S. Food and Water Supply ASTHO Webinar: Ignite, Accelerate, and Activate: Series 2, Session 3: Accountability, Performance, Feedback

Aug 7, 2025 • 9min
964: MAHA Report, Subrecipient Monitoring
Dr. Susan Kansagra, Chief Medical Officer for ASTHO, discusses the recent Make America Healthy Again report, and the work done by state and territorial health departments that intersects with the report’s themes; Ryan Daly, Deputy Director of Finance and Operations for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health, explains how the department’s new standardized process for subrecipient monitoring has helped improve operations; ASTHO’s framework for addressing ethical considerations in public health wastewater surveillance was recently published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice Direct; a new ASTHO blog article describes the public health insights that can come from interjurisdictional immunization information systems; and ASTHO welcomes new member Dennis Worsham, Secretary of Health for the Washington State Department of Health. ASTHO Blog: Levers for Preventing Chronic Disease That Intersect with Key MAHA Report Themes ASTHO Blog: Nebraska Paves the Way for Improved Grant Subrecipient Monitoring JPHMP Direct: Demystifying Applied Public Health Ethics: New Framework Highlights Ethical Considerations in Wastewater Surveillance and Tools for Deliberating Them ASTHO Blog: Immunization Information Systems: One Foundational Data Source, Endless Health Insights Dennis Worsham Bio