Public health rarely looks the way people expect. It shows up in a hospital pharmacy trying to help a patient afford insulin. It shows up on a highway where a transportation safety lead is tracking who gets left out of the data. It shows up in a Nigerian medical school, where a young physician starts asking bigger questions about mental health policy.

In this episode, Dr. Huntley brings together three professionals with three very different lenses for one conversation about a shared mission.

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▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

South Carolina recently experienced the largest measles outbreak in modern American history, and for Dr. Huntley, who lives and works in the state, this wasn't a distant headline. It was a story unfolding in her own backyard.

In this episode, Dr. Huntley sits down with Scott Thorpe, Executive Director of the Southern Alliance for Public Health Leadership, to unpack what actually happened in Spartanburg and what helped bring the outbreak under control. They also talk about why the real work is only beginning now that the crisis has passed.

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▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

What does the national debt have to do with your health? More than most people think. In this episode, Dr. Huntley sits down with Dr. Kasie Whitener, a radio host, business professor, entrepreneur, and the current Libertarian Party nominee for U.S. Senate in South Carolina. Dr. Whitener brings a perspective that is rarely heard in public health spaces, and this conversation is all the better for it.

Dr. Whitener is not a career politician. She is a researcher, an educator, and a community builder who sees public health as deeply connected to the fiscal decisions made at the federal level. Her motivation is straightforward: every policy issue, at its core, is a funding issue.

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▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

What does it look like when lived experience becomes a public health career? In this episode of the PHEC Podcast, Dr. Huntley sits down with Marco Benjamin, Director of Public Health at the Joseph H. Neal Health Collaborative in South Carolina, for a conversation that is equal parts inspiring and urgent. Marco has been living with HIV for more than 20 years, and rather than letting that diagnosis define him in a limiting way, he channeled it into decades of advocacy, innovation, and community-centered work.

This conversation explores what it actually takes to reach communities that have been overlooked, undereducated, and underserved on issues of sexual health and HIV.

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▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

After several weeks of travel, reflection, and intentional rest, Dr. Charlotte Huntley returns with a deeply personal episode to reconnect with listeners and share what's ahead.

If you've recently discovered the podcast or you've been listening since the beginning, this episode is an opportunity to get to know the person behind the microphone. Dr. Huntley shares how her work as an epidemiologist, entrepreneur, consultant, podcast host, and soon-to-be author all connect around one purpose: helping public health professionals create meaningful impact.

She also opens up about navigating grief, the importance of slowing down, the joy her grandchildren bring into her life, and why building community has become one of the most meaningful parts of her work.

You'll also hear exciting updates about her upcoming book, a memorable conversation with Kamala Harris, the continued growth of the Public Health Epidemiology Conversations Community, and how each of these experiences reinforces her commitment to advancing public health leadership.

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▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

Ask ten public health professionals to explain their work without using jargon, and you will get ten completely different answers. That is exactly the kind of honest, grounding conversation Dr. Huntley set out to have in this panel episode. What emerged was something more than a communication exercise. It was a compelling case for why explaining public health in plain language is itself an act of leadership.

In this episode, Dr. Huntley brings together three rising voices in the field to explore one of the most practical questions in public health: how do we make people care about something they do not fully understand yet?

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▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

What does it look like to lead the nation's oldest and largest public health organization during one of the most turbulent moments the field has ever faced? Dr. Nandi A. Marshall, current president of the American Public Health Association (APHA), has a clear answer, and she delivers it everywhere she goes: you are here for a reason, and this moment needs you.

In this episode, Dr. Huntley sits down with Dr. Marshall for a wide-ranging conversation that covers personal origin stories, public health advocacy, maternal and child health, workforce encouragement, and the future of the field.

Resources

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▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting

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

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▶️ 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.

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▶️ 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

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▶️ DrCHHuntley, Public Health & Epidemiology Consulting