All Events

Leading with Listening: Modernizing Public Health Communication in a New Information Age

Wed

23

Date

September 23, 2026

Time

— CDT

Location

Clark-Fox Forum in Hillman Hall, and online

6350 Forsyth Blvd
St. Louis, MO 63105 United States

Hybrid
Upcoming event at WashU Public Health
Related media Agenda Keynote speaker Speakers and panelists Additional links

Public health is navigating a rapidly changing information landscape. As trust shifts, technology evolves, and communities seek new ways to engage, the question is no longer simply how do we communicate? – it’s how do we listen?

Join WashU Bursky School of Public Health for Leading with Listening: Modernizing Public Health Communication in a New Information Age, a convening of the Health Communication Collaborative Research Network. Bringing together leaders from public health, academia, government, design, and beyond, this half-day event will explore how listening is a core strategy for building trust, strengthening relationships with communities, and improving health outcomes.

Through keynote presentations and cross-sector discussions, participants will examine innovative approaches to community listening, learn from organizations that have built effective listening systems, and explore practical ideas for reimagining the future of public health communication. Whether you work in research, practice, policy, communications, or community engagement, you’ll leave with fresh perspectives and new connections to help shape a more responsive public health ecosystem.

Read the report: “Listening is Having A Moment in Public Health”

Agenda

9 a.m. — 9:15 a.m.
Welcome and opening remarks

Speaker

  • Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, the Margaret C. Ryan Dean of the Bursky School of Public Health, the Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health and the vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at Washington University
  • Charlie White, MFA, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University
9:15 a.m. — 9:45 a.m.
Keynote: Rethinking the Playbook for Health Communication: What Role for Community Listening?

Speaker

  • Claire Wardle, PhD, MA, associate professor in the Department of Communication, Cornell University
9:45 a.m. — 10:45 a.m.
Panel Discussion 1

Moderator

  • Matthew Kreuter, MPH, PhD, Kahn Family Professor of Public Health, WashU Bursky Public Health

Panelists

  • Stefanie Friedhoff, director of the Information Futures Lab and Professor of the Practice, Brown University School of Public Health
  • Pat Kilby, MBA, Strategy Lead, Eyes on Health
  • Claire Wardle, PhD, MA
10:45 a.m. — 11 a.m.
Break
11 a.m. — 11:30 a.m.
Presentations

Presenters

  • Dale Sanders, Chair, Dendritic Health
  • Brian Montgomery, Meteorologist, Emergency Response Specialist
11:30 a.m. — 12:30 p.m.
Panel Discussion 2: Borrowing the Playbook: What Health Communication Can Learn from Other Listening Systems

Moderator

  • Stefanie Friedhoff

Panelists

  • Jennifer Layden, MD, PhD, Associate Dean of Practice and professor, WashU Bursky School of Public Health
  • Jonathan Hanahan, MFA, Associate Professor of Design, Founding Chair MDes for HCI & Emerging Technology, WashU Sam Fox School
  • Brian Montgomery
  • Dale Sanders
12:30 p.m. — 12:35 p.m.
Closing remarks
  • Penina Acayao Laker, MFA, associate professor, WashU Sam Fox School
12:35 p.m. — 2 p.m.
Lunch

Keynote speaker

Claire Wardle, PhD, MA

Claire Wardle, PhD, MA

Claire Wardle is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University and a leading researcher on misinformation, information ecosystems, and the ways people seek, share, and make sense of information. Her work focuses particularly on how communities navigate rapidly changing information environments and how institutions can listen and respond more effectively.

Claire co-founded First Draft, a nonprofit that pioneered research and practice on misinformation worldwide, and later co-founded the Information Futures Lab at Brown University’s School of Public Health, where she helped develop community-centered approaches to understanding information needs and building healthier information ecosystems. She has worked with newsrooms, technology platforms, public health organizations, humanitarian agencies, and communities around the world.

Her current research explores community listening, trust and information needs, the role of AI in information seeking and communication, and how institutions can design more responsive, resilient information systems.

Panelists

Stefanie Friedhoff
Stefanie Friedhoff
Director, Information Futures Lab & Professor of the Practice, Brown University School of Public Health
Stefanie Friedhoff is Professor of the Practice and director of the Information Futures Lab at Brown University School of Public Health. Her 35 year career spans international media, academia, and government, from covering the fall of the Berlin Wall to serving as a White House senior policy advisor on information integrity during the COVID-19 pandemic. A former Harvard Nieman Fellow, she dedicates her work to pioneering resilient models of communication that restore civic relationships and support diverse communities in real time.
Jonathan Hanahan, MFA
Jonathan Hanahan, MFA
Associate Professor of Design, Founding Chair MDes for HCI & Emerging Technology, WashU Sam Fox School
Jonathan Hanahan is a researcher, critical designer, and educator exploring technology's cultural and societal impact. He specializes in "Thick Interfaces"—media, interactions, and experiences that disrupt digital veneers to reveal technical, tangible, and social complexity beneath. In 2022 he founded the Sensory and Ambient Interfaces Lab (SAIL), researching non-visual, screen-free interfaces with technology. Hanahan is Associate Professor of Design at WashU's Sam Fox School and the Founding Chair of the Master of Design (MDes) for HCI and Emerging Technology program.
Jennifer Layden
Jennifer Layden, MD, PhD
Associate Dean of Practice, Professor
Dr. Layden is an infectious disease physician, epidemiologist, and public health leader who has worked at the local, state, and federal levels of public health. While at the CDC, she was a senior executive and the inaugural director of the data and surveillance office, overseeing the Agency’s data modernization effort. She currently serves as the inaugural Associate Dean of Public Health practice for the WashU Bursky Public Health where she bridges academia with public health practice and community partners.
Pat Kilby, MBA
Pat Kilby, MBA
Strategy Lead, Eyes on Health
Pat Kilby is a public health strategist and communications leader dedicated to making trustworthy health information more accessible and useful. He serves as a Strategy Lead at Eyes on Health, where he helps shape strategy and investments that strengthen health information ecosystems. Previously, he spent nearly 20 years at Healthwise, leading content teams that produced evidence-based health content and visual media to support better-informed health decisions. His work focuses on improving how people find, understand, and use health information.
Brian Montgomery
Brian Montgomery
Meteorologist, Emergency Response Specialist
Brian Montgomery was raised in New Jersey, just outside New York City, where Hurricane Gloria in 1985 first sparked his fascination with meteorology. He pursued that passion at SUNY Oswego, where lake-effect snow further shaped his expertise. After beginning in private-sector broadcasting, he joined the National Weather Service in 1999. Since 2021, he has served at NWS Headquarters, supporting national-level initiatives and providing onsite decision support to the White House, FEMA Headquarters, the State Department, the FBI, and NWS senior leadership during high-impact events.
Dale Sanders
Dale Sanders
Chair, Dendritic Health
Dale Sanders is a technology executive, investor, and advisor whose four-decade career spans national security, healthcare, data, analytics, and AI. He has held senior leadership roles at Intermountain Healthcare, Northwestern Medicine, Health Catalyst, the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority, and Unite Us, and advised the CDC and DEA. A former Air Force officer and NSA/DoD nuclear threat analyst, he now chairs Dendritic Health AI and invests in emerging healthcare and technology companies.