Dr. Sara Cody spent her career at Santa Clara County’s Department of Public Health. When COVID-19 first struck the United States, Santa Clara County was among the earliest and hardest hit. Dr. Cody reflects on the intense decision-making of those early days, the public’s fatigue and frustration, and the necessity of coordinating decision-making across public health jurisdictions. Drawing on her early training in CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service—where she investigated outbreaks linked to contaminated apple juice and raw milk—those formative experiences shaped her approach to managing the pandemic. Dr. Cody’s story is one of a deep sense of duty to community and an inside look at what it means to lead in local public health when decisions have enormous consequences.
In the shadow of the HIV epidemic, Drs. Bill Clapp and Jim McAuley faced a growing tuberculosis crisis in the United States as frontline clinicians and public health leaders. In this episode, they discuss the science behind TB control, the values that guided their mission-driven work in government health systems, and the faith that sustained their commitment to service. Bill, a pulmonologist, cared for patients in one of Chicago’s impoverished neighborhoods before transitioning to public health and eventually returning to clinical medicine at Cook County Hospital. Jim, an infectious diseases physician, trained at the CDC, helped build TB control programs in Chicago and Africa, and now serves as Clinical Director at the Whiteriver Indian Hospital in Arizona. They share how medicine, public health, and faith intertwined in shaping lives devoted to healing and service.
In the shadow of the HIV epidemic, Drs. Bill Clapp and Jim McAuley faced a growing tuberculosis crisis in the United States as frontline clinicians and public health leaders. In this episode, they discuss the science behind TB control, the values that guided their mission-driven work in government health systems, and the faith that sustained their commitment to service. Bill, a pulmonologist, cared for patients in one of Chicago’s impoverished neighborhoods before transitioning to public health and eventually returning to clinical medicine at Cook County Hospital. Jim, an infectious diseases physician, trained at the CDC, helped build TB control programs in Chicago and Africa, and now serves as Clinical Director at the Whiteriver Indian Hospital in Arizona. They share how medicine, public health, and faith intertwined in shaping lives devoted to healing and service.
Public health expert Mike Osterholm discusses outbreak investigations, pandemics, and the risky path the US is taking abandoning innovative vaccine technology and issuing poorly-informed recommendations. Mike’s motivation to leave his small town in Iowa to become a disease detective was driven by a steady diet of “The Medical Detectives” by Berton Roueche. As an epidemiologist, he helped solve hamburger-associated thyrotoxicosis, a tampon-related epidemic of toxic-shock in 1980, and a decades-old cluster of mysterious pneumonia cases called “Austin pneumonia”. Recently, he directed his energy toward filling the gap created when CDC’s science-backed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was dismantled and replaced with political appointees. Mike’s new book “The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics” was published in September, 2025.
Using molecular methods and shoe-leather epidemiology, Don Weiss and Kim Musser teamed up to resolve a Legionnaires’ outbreak in the Bronx in 2015. It’s a classic tale of combining surveillance and field epidemiology with advanced molecular methods to pinpoint and eradicate the lethal source. Future deaths were prevented when the New York City Department of Health, the New York State Department of Health, and the CDC collaborated on this public health success story. You can read about this and other cases in Don’s new book Disease Detectives: True Stories of NYC Outbreaks. You can read about this and other cases in Don’s new book Disease Detectives: True Stories of NYC Outbreaks.
Using molecular methods and shoe-leather epidemiology, Don Weiss and Kim Musser teamed up to resolve a Legionnaires’ outbreak in the Bronx in 2015. It’s a classic tale of combining surveillance and field epidemiology with advanced molecular methods to pinpoint and eradicate the lethal source. Future deaths were prevented when the New York City Department of Health, the New York State Department of Health, and the CDC collaborated on this public health success story. You can read about this and other cases in Don’s new book Disease Detectives: True Stories of NYC Outbreaks.
Chief Communications Officer, Caryn Stancik, and General Counsel, Elizabeth Reidy, recognized the value of having a highly functional government healthcare system to care for the medically underserved population of Cook County. Their careers were devoted to helping guide Cook County Hospital through the Affordable Care Act, a transition to an independent health system board; they provided stability through a series of CEOs. They describe their motivation for working in government, in health care, and how the mission sustained them as they developed legal and communications strategies to navigate a series of crises—and, they managed to retain their sense of humor. Find out what it takes to thrive in a no-frills work environment.
Chief Communications Officer, Caryn Stancik, and General Counsel, Elizabeth Reidy, recognized the value of having a highly functional government healthcare system to care for the medically underserved population of Cook County. Their careers were devoted to helping guide Cook County Hospital through the Affordable Care Act, a transition to an independent health system board; they provided stability through a series of CEOs. They describe their motivation for working in government, in health care, and how the mission sustained them as they developed legal and communications strategies to navigate a series of crises—and, they managed to retain their sense of humor. Find out what it takes to thrive in a no-frills work environment.
Professor Laura Bix, the Director of the School of Packaging at Michigan State University, is a national leaders in designing solutions for drug packaging that improves medication safety. Two catastrophic events, young children dying of aspirin toxicity during the 1940s and 1950s, and deaths due to intentional contamination of Tylenol with cyanide in the 1980s, prompted Federal agencies, industry, and academic partners to design child-resistant and tamper-evident drug packaging. The slogan for Professor Bix’s department speaks to their work, “It’s the industry that no one thinks about, but saves lives”.
Dr. Robert (Bob) A. Weinstein, former Chair of Medicine at Cook County Hospital, describes a career formed early as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer investigating hospital outbreaks at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. A single investigation led to decades of research & inquiry, and international leadership. With characteristic humor, he provides advice on life and leadership. Epilogue by Denise Cardo, former Director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at CDC.
When asked, “What is the one item, literal or figurative, that you would put in your medical bag?”, seventeen former Cook County Hospital healthcare workers provided responses that sustained them during challenging but fulfilling, mission-oriented careers. Collectively, they distill hundreds of years of patient care into advice that is critical to pack with you during a healthcare career.
Dr. Jeff Schaider thrived in his career as an emergency medicine physician in Cook County Hospital’s storied Emergency Department. From the “routine” chaos of a Friday night in the ER to the stress of resuscitating a dying patient, he enjoyed having his brain activated by the rapid pace of medical care and his hand on the pulse of the city. Jeff reflects on his career, the patients, the hospital, and Hollywood’s adaptation of the original “ER”. Epilogue provided by Dr. Steve Aks, toxicologist and emergency department colleague.
Dr. Denise Cardo and David Henderson are infectious diseases physicians and leaders in healthcare epidemiology—the medical discipline that studies the causes and solutions to prevent infections, use antibiotics wisely, and prevent the spread of “superbugs” in healthcare settings. Dr. Cardo led the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and Dr. Henderson was the Associate Director of the NIH’s Clinical Center. They pioneered the practice of providing post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV infection among healthcare workers exposed to blood through puncture wounds. Their research and collaboration saved the lives of countless healthcare workers. Epilogue by Dr. Julie Gerberding, who worked with Drs. Henderson and Cardo on post-exposure prophylaxis for healthcare workers.
Dr. Denise Cardo and David Henderson are infectious diseases physicians and leaders in healthcare epidemiology—the medical discipline that studies the causes and solutions to prevent infections, use antibiotics wisely, and prevent the spread of “superbugs” in healthcare settings. Dr. Cardo led the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and Dr. Henderson was the Associate Director of the NIH’s Clinical Center. They pioneered the practice of providing post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV infection among healthcare workers exposed to blood through puncture wounds. Their research and collaboration saved the lives of countless healthcare workers. Epilogue by Dr. Julie Gerberding, who worked with Drs. Henderson and Cardo on post-exposure prophylaxis for healthcare workers.
