How This Epidemiologist Became One of the Most Trusted Voices in Science

Creator of Your Local Epidemiologist, Katelyn Jetelina, shares how she went from academia to reaching millions of people with clear, trusted, and actionable public health information. After working in public health, academia, and alongside organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she saw firsthand how critical information often stays trapped in institutions—and why that creates confusion, mistrust, and misinformation. This conversation breaks down: why public health communication often fails how trust in healthcare is built (and lost) why facts alone don't change behavior how to communicate uncertainty without losing credibility what healthcare leaders, clinicians, and public health professionals can do differently right now If you're a healthcare leader, clinician, public health professional, or simply someone trying to better understand how to communicate complex ideas in a world full of noise—this episode is for you. ⏱️ Chapters 01:41 – Why Choose Public Health Instead of Becoming a Physician? 03:51 – What Counts as Public Health? 05:24 – Why Public Health Work Is Often Invisible 07:01 – Why Trust in Public Health Broke Down 08:26 – What She Learned Inside the CDC 18:07 – What Public Health Got Wrong About Communication During COVID 19:50 – Why Her Newsletter Reached Millions 22:34: – Academia vs Real-World Impact 35:03 – Why Facts Alone Don't Change Behavior 36:56 – How to Rebuild Trust in the Next Public Health Crisis 49:02 – What Frontline Clinicians Should Do About Mistrust 50:08 – Why Misinformation Is Only the Tip of the Iceberg 51:35 – How Public Health Can Reduce Healthcare Costs 01:03:48 – What Public Health Leaders Should Do Next "Next four years, I think…" 🌐 Connect With Us Follow along for more conversations on healthcare, public health, and building a better system: 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/healthcarereframed 🌍 Website: https://healthcarereframed.org 📚 Substack: https://healthcarereframed.substack.com/