Public Health Epidemiology Conversations

What does a journalist watching a mother scream for her child outside a burning building have to do with mental health policy? For Zack Stoycoff, MPA, everything. That early morning moment on a street corner in Oklahoma planted a seed that eventually grew into one of the state's most impactful mental health advocacy organizations. In this episode of the PHEC podcast, Dr. Huntley sits down with Zack Stoycoff, founder and executive director of the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative, a mental health policy think tank based in Oklahoma. Their conversation covers his journey from breaking news reporter to healthcare lobbyist to policy entrepreneur, and what it actually takes to move the needle on mental health outcomes at the state and community level.
 
Resources
▶️ Join the PHEC Podcast Community
▶️ Visit the PHEC Podcast Show Notes
▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

What if the most powerful tool in your public health toolkit isn't a dataset or a policy brief? What if it's a story? In this episode, Dr. Huntley sits down with Sally Perkins, PhD, a storytelling expert who has spent years teaching healthcare and public health professionals how to communicate in ways that actually move people to act. From persuading vaccine-hesitant patients to presenting population-level data to legislators, Dr. Perkins brings practical, field-tested frameworks to a challenge that nearly every public health professional faces: bridging the gap between what we know and what our audiences understand.
 
Resources
▶️ Join the PHEC Podcast Community
▶️ Visit the PHEC Podcast Show Notes
▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

It is one of the most important questions in the field right now, and one of the hardest to answer. Public health professionals know the work inside and out, but translating it for friends, neighbors, and policymakers? That is where many of us get stuck.
In this episode, Dr. Huntley is joined by two leaders from Sisters in Public Health, a national organization advancing women in the public health field. Together, they explore one of the most pressing challenges of this moment: how do we explain public health in plain language, and why does it matter so much right now?
The conversation is grounded, practical, and genuinely energizing.
Resources
▶️ Join the PHEC Podcast Community
▶️ Visit the PHEC Podcast Show Notes
▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

What does it take to lead one of the largest local health departments in the country when funding is disappearing, misinformation is spreading, and measles outbreaks are making headlines? In this episode, Dr. Huntley sits down with Dr. Claude A. Jacob, Public Health Director of the City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, for a candid, energizing conversation about resilience, cross-sector collaboration, and what it truly means to protect 2.1 million residents in the middle of a storm.
Dr. Jacob and Dr. Huntley both share a deep commitment to communicating the value of public health in ways that resonate with everyday people. From understanding how zip codes shape life expectancy to explaining why kids need to be vaccinated, both agree that telling the public health story more effectively is one of the field's most urgent priorities right now.
 
Resources
▶️ Join the PHEC Podcast Community
▶️ Visit the PHEC Podcast Show Notes
▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

What happens when you stop chasing the terminology and commit fully to the work itself? In this episode of the PHEC Podcast, Dr. Huntley welcomes back Vanessa Guzman, biomedical engineer, CEO and president of SmartRise Health, and co-founder of Ella Es Health, for a candid catch-up conversation nearly two and a half years in the making.
This is not a surface-level update. It is a rich, honest conversation about what it takes to build health-centered organizations that can withstand political shifts, funding uncertainty, and a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
 
Resources
▶️ Join the PHEC Podcast Community
▶️ Visit the PHEC Podcast Show Notes
▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting