On Aug. 23, Director Rochelle Walensky called for a paradigm shift in the manner the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do their work. “In these pandemic moments, we found ourselves having to talk to a broader audience,” she said. “We didn’t have to convince the scientific audience — we had to convince the American people.” This shift is critical if the efforts of the CDC are to fully understand, address and combat the challenges undermining the health of the American people. Moreover, this shift is timely given the near historic drops in life expectancy in the United States reported by the National Center for Health Statistics reported a week after Walensky’s statement. To read the full story.