NCSD Real Talk

About NCSD Real Talk

NCSD is excited to announce our new podcast: NCSD Real Talk! Tune in to explore pressing public health and disease intervention topics in a simple, engaging format. We'll touch on topics like public health trends, public policy, emerging issues, and NCSD initiatives.

Publisher

National Coalition of STD Directors

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Apr 2025

Latest episode

6 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

9 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Jul 2026

   Sexual Health and Harm Reduction

   In this episode of NCSD Real Talk, we’ll be discussing the impact of harm reduction on public health and the intersection of harm reduction and sexual health/wellness! Our guest for today is Colleen Daley Ndoye, executive director of Project Weber/RENEW, a Rhode Island-based organization providing groundbreaking harm reduction and recovery services. To learn more about harm reduction, please visit harmreduction.org, OPCinfo.org, and WeberRenew.org Please note, at one point in the podcast, a statistic regarding the overdose death rate in Rhode Island is misstated. Rhode Island’s overdose death rate was decreased by 50% from 2022 through 2025, not 2024 to 2025. To learn more about NCSD and the work of the NCSD Learning Team, please check out our website: ⁠https://ncsddc.org/learning-center/⁠ (https://ncsddc.org/learning-center/)

2. 

   23 Apr 2026

   340B and Congenital Syphilis Prevention

   In this episode of NCSD Real Talk, we’ll be discussing the 340B Drug Pricing Program and its impact on congenital syphilis prevention with NCSD’s very own Stephanie Arnold Pang! Stephanie oversees all policy and advocacy matters with a specific focus on policymaker education efforts at the federal level with the legislative and executive branches of government.  Prior to joining NCSD, she was a senior Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Patty Murray (WA), working on issues of sexual and reproductive health and health care reform and also worked at the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA).  Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Beloit College. To learn more about our Injectable Syphilis Treatment Delivery toolkit, mentioned in the episode, please visit this link: https://tinyurl.com/340BNCSD (https://tinyurl.com/340BNCSD) To learn more about NCSD and the work of the NCSD Learning Team, please check out our website: https://ncsddc.org/learning-center/ (https://ncsddc.org/learning-center/)

3. 

   18 Mar 2026

   Real Talk from the Field: DI Ambassadors on Certification

   This episode spotlights Disease Intervention (DI) ambassadors participating in the Certified in Disease Intervention (CDI) program. Through their perspectives, the discussion explores how the CDI project is being implemented in the field, how certification elevates and validates DI work, and what professionals should know when pursuing this emerging credential. The conversation features Barton Brooks, an HIV/STD Program Manager based in Denton, TX; Andre Ivey, a Staff Development Coordinator in Raleigh, NC; and Tametria Samms, a Case Manager and First Line Supervisor in Denton, TX. Drawing on their diverse roles and experiences, they share insights from the field and reflect on their involvement in supporting the CDI initiative. To learn more about NCSD and the work of the NCSD Learning Team, please check out our website: https://ncsddc.org/learning-center/ (https://ncsddc.org/learning-center/) Learn more about the Certified in Disease Intervention Program at ThisIsDiseaseIntervention.org

4. 

   12 Feb 2026

   Centering Pleasure in Sexual Health

   Sexual education often focuses on the potential risks of unplanned pregnancies and STIs. But an approach to sexual health that includes frank discussions of what feels good could yield better health outcomes. In this episode: Sexual health expert Joshua O’Neal talks about the value of starting sexual health conversations with enjoyment and comfort. Note: This episode was produced in collaboration with John Hopkins University (https://www.jhu.edu) Joshua O’Neal, MA, is a sexual health educator and program director at the Southeast HIV/STI Prevention Training Center (https://www.southeastptc.org/). Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast (https://johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com/), an editor for Expert Insights (https://publichealth.jhu.edu/headlines/expert-insights-newsletter), and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. To learn more about NCSD and the work of the NCSD Learning Team, please check out our website: https://ncsddc.org/learning-center/

5. 

   9 Feb 2026

   Introduction to UniversiDI with Melissa Boyette

   In this episode of NCSD Real Talk, we’ll be discussing the Certified in Disease Intervention Program with our guest, Melissa Boyette from the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE)! We’ll be talking about why this certification is so important, what kind of content will be in the exam, useful information for future exam takers, and more! Melissa Boyette, CPH (she/her) is the Director of Partnerships at NBPHE. She has 26 years of experience working in the field ofdisease intervention for HIV, STI, Mpox, and COVID-19 both at the national level at CDC and in health departments in Colorado and Alaska. To learn more about NCSD and the work of the NCSDLearning Team, please check out our website: https://ncsddc.org/learning-center/ (https://ncsddc.org/learning-center/) Learn more about the Certified in Disease InterventionProgram at ThisIsDiseaseIntervention.org

6. 

   26 Sept 2025

   Pleasure As Tool For STI Prevention: Part 2

   Sexual health experts Joshua O'Neal and Leslie Fowler explore the connection between condom fit, pleasure, and sexual health interventions, highlighting the importance of addressing these factors for effective prevention, in this interview.

7. 

   9 Sept 2025

   Pleasure As Tool For STI Prevention

   Host [Host Name] interviews health advisor Frank Strona about using pleasure as a powerful tool for effective STI prevention.

8. 

   28 Apr 2025

   Reproductive Health in a Post-Roe America: What It Means for STI Prevention

   This episode of NCSD Real Talk is titled Reproductive Health in a Post-Roe America: What It Means for STI Prevention. In this episode, we examine how changing abortion laws impact access to STI services, contraception, and sexual health education. Link to resources and transcript on the NCSD Learning Center (login required): https://ncsdlearningcenter.myabsorb.com/#/resources/f3e4ba50-1fd2-4523-af92-179337dc168f (https://ncsdlearningcenter.myabsorb.com/#/resources/f3e4ba50-1fd2-4523-af92-179337dc168f) Information from this podcast is pulled from the following article: Bossick, A. S., Brown, J., Hanna, A., Parrish, C., Williams, E. C., & Katon, J. G. (2021). Impact of State-Level Reproductive Health Legislation on Access to and Use of Reproductive Health Services and Reproductive Health Outcomes: A Systematic Scoping Review in the Affordable Care Act Era. Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, 31(2), 114–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2020.11.005 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2020.11.005)Article Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33303355/ (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33303355/) Note: This is an AI-generated podcast.

9. 

   16 Apr 2025

   The Public Health Workforce Crisis: Burnout, Funding Cuts & The Future of STI Clinics

   In this AI episode of NCSD Real Talk, we cover the current state of the public health workforce crisis, the driving forces behind it, the impacts of the crisis, and what actions we can take to help. Link to resources and transcript (login to NCSD Learning Center required): https://ncsdlearningcenter.myabsorb.com/#/resources/787a7ae6-7d81-4fab-9569-087bdd3e1e7b (https://ncsdlearningcenter.myabsorb.com/#/resources/787a7ae6-7d81-4fab-9569-087bdd3e1e7b) *Though this podcast mentions "pregnant women", NCSD recognizes that people of all genders can be pregnant. Information from this podcast is pulled from the following articles: Gift, T. L., Cuffe, K. M., & Leichliter, J. S. (2018). The Impact of Budget Cuts on Sexually Transmitted Disease Programmatic Activities in State and Local Health Departments With Staffing Reductions in Fiscal Year 2012. Sexually transmitted diseases, 45(11), e87–e89. https://doi.org/10.1097/OLQ.0000000000000894 Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6785808/ Leichliter, J. S., Heyer, K., Peterman, T. A., Habel, M. A., Brookmeyer, K. A., Arnold Pang, S. S., Stenger, M. R., Weiss, G., & Gift, T. L. (2017). US Public Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinical Services in an Era of Declining Public Health Funding: 2013-14. Sexually transmitted diseases, 44(8), 505–509. https://doi.org/10.1097/OLQ.0000000000000629 Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5642112/ Note: This is an AI-generated podcast.

Who has been a guest on NCSD Real Talk

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Joshua O'Neal
• Leslie Fowler
• Frank Strona

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 4 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

8

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0