Improving Health Communication Here and Abroad
Education
I completed a BA in psychology at McGill University in 1997 and an MS at Harvard School of Public Health in 2003.
Jobs Prior to CDC
After undergraduate school, I was hired by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. There I served as a research assistant for two Expert Committees, each of which produced a major report—one on the science of behavior change and one on the effectiveness of communication campaigns. That experience sparked my interest in public health.
In summer 2002, I was a CDC intern sponsored by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), and I worked in the area of STD Prevention. My supervisor and mentor was Hilda Shepeard, an expert in health communication research. She encouraged me to come back to CDC after grad school and I did.
First Job at CDC
For the next 12 years, I worked on communication materials and campaigns relevant to STD Prevention. The health topics included HPV awareness, sexually transmitted infections (STI), cancer and infertility prevention, STI testing, and sexual health promotion. For example, I conducted formative research to guide campaign development and delivery of a congressionally mandated effort to inform the public about Human Papillomavirus (HPV), its associated cancers, and their prevention. This work was used later to support the rollout of an HPV vaccine; the cancer-preventing HPV vaccine was recommended for pre-adolescents, and that was a sensitive message for parents.
Later Jobs at CDC
In late 2016, I moved to a unit that focused on Global Migration & Quarantine to lead a communication team that handled messages designed to protect the health of international travelers. I also led communication teams during CDC’s responses to the Ebola and Zika outbreaks, as well as other (less well known) outbreaks, such as a yellow fever outbreak in Brazil. After maternity leave (in early 2019), I moved to the Office of Communications in the Office of the Director of Global Migration and Quarantine, where I led a communication evaluation team and spent over two years in CDC’s COVID-19 Response. I forged public-private partnerships to support behavioral data collection. I led messaging strategy and rapid research-based translation for critical audiences (i.e., parents, schools, travelers, and migrant workers), as well as a $2.3 million geo-targeted digital campaign for international travelers, and a $4.1 million mental health and resilience campaign. I also supported executive communications across CDC’s COVID response leadership and led the technical writing for high-stakes briefings, toolkits, and digital platforms.
Final Job at CDC
In my most recent CDC position, I led the communication activities for a cross-cutting division that addressed a wide range of population health topics. Its broad portfolio spanned Healthy Tribes, Sleep, Alcohol, Alzheimer’s, Lupus, and Epilepsy, as well as innovative programs addressing Social Determinants of Health. I transformed a small group that had been largely reactive to growing division needs into a strategic, pro-active and high-functioning team. We set up formal processes and systems for clearance, collaboration and planning (based on needs identified through internal and external assessments). I funded contractors to support the design of media relations functions, refreshed the division’s brand identity, and ensured consistency across communication platforms. I also developed communication plans for our division and its programs that focused on priorities and maximized impact, set up a tiered media rollout process, and trained division communicators in “smart brevity” and strategic communication planning, among other skills.
Proudest Achievement
I’m proudest of my infertility prevention work in STD Prevention. It began with a charge to promote chlamydia testing and treatment among young girls and women and grew into an award-winning, 5-year national campaign called GYT (Get Yourself Tested).
Chlamydia is a very common, often asymptomatic STI which, left undiagnosed and untreated in adolescence, can result in infertility for women. But our research with girls and young women uncovered the fact that they found it stigmatizing to be the sole targets of an STI testing campaign. We needed more than messages targeted to girls – we needed messaging that was grounded in gender equity (i.e., that put the onus on girls/young women and boys/young men equally), that destigmatized conversations about STIs, and that routinized STI testing.
We didn’t have the funding necessary for widespread social change, so I reached out to the private sector (Kaiser Family Foundation, MTV) for support. CDC leadership was hesitant to support the MTV partnership initially because of its sexually explicit programming, but it was clear that MTV had the eyes and ears of sexually active youth. We strengthened the partnership by bringing on Planned Parenthood Federation of America to serve as technical consultant while we waited for CDC to become a full partner in the campaign.
GYT used an innovative cross-platform approach. Throughout the year, this approach included original on-air and online programming, PSAs, content integrated into MTV shows, popular artists and celebrity spokespersons, on-the-ground outreach, and events like concerts and STI testing-promotion tours. On top of that, there were special promotions each April -- National STI Awareness Month.
Impact of My Work
When the GYT campaign first launched in April 2009, the acronym was among the most-searched terms on Google, the most-tweeted terms on Twitter, and the most-discussed videos on YouTube. We clearly achieved the initial goal of piquing interest in the campaign and acronym.
Then, in the campaign’s five years of implementation:
Over 80 GYT PSAs were produced, representing 15 hours of airtime and airing 2,000 times on MTV. This did not include PSA airings on other MTV channels (MTV2, mtvU, Tr3s), or airtime for special programming (e.g., original documentaries and messaging integrated into existing MTV programs).
A nationally representative survey found that 20% of youth respondents reported ever having heard of GYT; reported rates of testing for STIs and HIV were significantly higher among those who were aware of the GYT campaign (26% for STIs and 46% for HIV) compared to those who were unaware (13% and 25%), as were reported rates of talking with a provider (38%) or a romantic partner (33%) about STIs – compared to those who were unaware of the campaign (20% and 15%, respectively).
> 4.1 million people accessed information through itsyoursexlife.org and GYTNOW.org
> 700,000 people received free or low-cost STI tests through Planned Parenthood and other health centers across the country during April promotions. Planned Parenthood clinics also reported a 70% increase in testing for chlamydia during April promotions in the first two years of GYT.
Even after the media partners moved on to other issues, we continued to produce collateral materials that public health partners could use to reinforce and refresh the message.
The Lay-Off
Since the inauguration, it had become very hard to work at CDC. All external communications were put on hold, so we had no real work we could do. Instead, our days were spent responding to rapid turnaround data requests, which were used to identify and cut programs, staff, and contracts. I was required to scrape web content (e.g., by cutting words like gender, DEI, and “transgender” from all websites and reports—erasing entire populations of marginalized people). It felt like the electronic burning of books. I dreaded the day when I would be asked to post “science” that wasn’t really evidence-based, but I was committed to staying to prevent being replaced by someone who would do whatever they were told without question.
Then, along with my entire division (except for one branch), I was part of the group of 10,000 HHS employees that got emails at 5 a.m. on April 1st. Key information was missing from the emails and some of what was stated was wrong. Consequently, I didn’t go to work that day, but was later told I had one day to retrieve my belongings before being locked out. The RIFs are being fought in the courts, so our separation is still not final—I’m waiting for a formal reduction-in-force notice. CDC’s HR office itself suffered so many layoffs that the whole process has been a mess. Officially, I’m still on extended leave and presumably will keep receiving a paycheck, unless that gets reversed by the courts. For months now, thousands of us have been paid not to provide the service that we were hired to provide.
It used to be that we’d celebrate retiring or departing staff for their contributions to public health. We had parties to celebrate mission completion—like the end of the Ebola Response. But the recent lay-offs were just the opposite—you’re alone, with no clear communication or support. Those still there have no clear mission, are left feeling hollow.
Future Plans
I’ve just moved to Vermont, to be closer to Montreal where my aging parents live. I’m interviewing for jobs, but the job market is hard; so many people were laid off and the Federal cuts have affected contractor and state funding. Now, even if the courts reverse the lay-off decision, I don’t know that I could go back. I would be required to work from the office, which would be physically impossible unless they allowed me to work locally at a government office in Vermont. I’d also want to know that the work would be meaningful, science-based and adequately staffed. The current CDC is not the CDC that I’ve known for the past 20 years. I’m quite angry about what they’ve done to CDC; I want my “old” job back.
Other Comments
I believe that these changes and layoffs are the very opposite of the efficiencies that DOGE promised. The offices and programs they’ve terminated largely reflect ideological positions (many of which were outlined in Project 2025); they should be transparent about that. They eliminated whole divisions dedicated to HIV and reproductive health, as well as my own division which addressed social determinants of health. Scientific subject matter experts were let go—even in congressionally funded programs like Alzheimer’s, as were data analysts that made critical data like PLACES available at the local level.
CDC could use some additional efficiency, certainly, but this would require working with CDC officials and staff to identify real inefficiencies and address them in an orderly manner. We thought maybe DOGE would do something about OMB requirements, which are cumbersome and antiquated. They make data collection by government agencies so slow that often, by the time we are cleared to collect data, the data collection tools themselves are outdated. That limits our ability to develop real-time, audience-informed communication efforts. Also, communication within the agency can be siloed, breeding duplication of effort. For example, the CDC’s Office of Communication developed a media rollout system much like our 3-tiered system, announced it only after ours was completed, and required us to use theirs. This ignorance of work-in-progress elsewhere in the agency isn’t solved by eliminating disease specialists, but by creating user-friendly structures for routine information sharing and requiring their use.