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.
Episode Summary
The pandemic didn't just expose gaps in the healthcare system — it exposed a crisis of trust in science itself. Katelyn Jetelina watched it happen from the inside, first as a CDC scientist and then as the creator of one of the most widely read public health newsletters in the country. In this conversation, she talks about why public health messaging failed, what it felt like to be inside the CDC as trust collapsed, and how she built a different model — one rooted in transparency, uncertainty, and respect for the reader's intelligence. If you want to understand why science lost the public and how it might win them back, this is the episode.
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About the Guest
Katelyn Jetelina, PhD, MPH
Creator, Your Local Epidemiologist · Former CDC Senior Scientist
Katelyn Jetelina is an epidemiologist and the creator of Your Local Epidemiologist, a Substack newsletter that grew from a pandemic-era experiment into one of the most trusted sources of public health information in the country — now reaching over 350,000 subscribers. She previously served as a senior scientist at the CDC under Director Rochelle Walensky, helping lead scientific communication until the agency's 2023 restructuring. She holds a PhD in epidemiology and an MPH, and has dedicated her career to translating complex science into language that helps people make better decisions about their health.