About Dr. Katie Schenk

Dr. Katie Schenk is an epidemiologist, public health informatics specialist, implementation scientist, and science communicator with more than 25 years of experience in public health research and practice.

Her work spans infectious disease epidemiology, HIV implementation science, public health systems, research and evaluation, scientific communication, and the public health workforce. Across these areas, she is interested in a common question: How can we make public health work better, both for the people delivering it and for the communities depending on it?

Through KDS Public Health Consulting, Katie brings together consulting, research, teaching, writing, and strategic collaboration. Her approach combines methodological rigor with practical experience, a commitment to evidence, and an understanding of the organizational and human realities that shape public health practice.

Dr. Katie Schenk is an infectious disease epidemiologist, public health informatics specialist, and implementation scientist. She has global experience in research and implementation of interventions to prevent and control infectious disease epidemics. She has worked in U.S. governmental public health at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as in global health, public health nonprofits, private-sector consulting, and academia. This breadth of experience enables her to connect perspectives across sectors and speak with credibility to diverse audiences.

She has previously worked at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), specializing in health informatics and contributing to efforts to strengthen public health data systems and infrastructure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also supported emergency and frontline response efforts through state and local health departments, the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 Corps, and the U.S. Medical Reserve Corps.

Dr. Schenk excels at translating complex topics into engaging and impactful resources for diverse audiences, including community groups, program implementers, and public health leaders. She has presented her scientific research at conferences around the world and delivered training to diverse audiences internationally, both in person and online.

She is actively building community among public health professionals through initiatives she founded and manages, including the Public Health Connections Lounge and the Public Health Book Club.

Dr. Schenk is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Unbiased Science and serves on the Institutional Review Board of the Population Council.

Dr. Schenk was a contributing columnist for JPHMP Direct, where she wrote the regular column “Lessons from the Public Health Frontline.” She subsequently transitioned this work to her independent Substack publication, The Public Health Workforce is Not OK, which examines challenges facing the public health workforce through analysis, professional perspectives, and lived experience. The publication regularly features among Substack’s Top Ten Rising publications in Health Politics.

Dr. Schenk is an active teacher, researcher, and practitioner in public health and epidemiology. She has taught public health and global health courses as a professor at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C., and the Department of Global and Community Health at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

She was co-principal investigator on an NIH-funded research study exploring HIV status disclosure among children and caregivers in Zimbabwe. She has also designed and conducted fieldwork for research projects aimed at improving healthcare delivery and decision-making. Her international fieldwork has taken her to Kenya, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and Zambia.

Previously, Dr. Schenk led the research portfolio on children and families affected by HIV at the Population Council. This portfolio included social and behavioral research addressing the needs of vulnerable children and pediatric antiretroviral treatment.

Dr. Schenk holds a PhD in Public Health and an MSc in Medical Demography from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as well as an honorary master’s degree from the University of Oxford.

She lives in Washington, D.C., with her family.

Teaching

Dr. Schenk is a skilled teacher and lecturer with many years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at universities. She has presented the results of her scientific research at conferences around the world. Outside of the academic setting, she has conducted many trainings for varied audiences worldwide.

Courses include:

• Global Health (small high-level undergraduate course, American University, School of International Service)
• Global Health (large introductory undergraduate review course, George Mason University, Dept of Global and Community Health)
• Introduction to Human Health and Disease (undergraduate review course, American University, Department of Health Studies)
• Behavioral Research Methods (graduate seminar, George Mason University, Dept of Global and Community Health)
• International Research Ethics and Methods (graduate seminar, George Mason University, Dept of Global and Community Health)

Faculty Profiles

• Dr. Katie Schenk, School of International Service, American University
• Dr. Katie Schenk, Department of Global and Community Health, George Mason University

Education and Training

• Privacy and Confidentiality Training– Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services / Medical Reserve Corps (2021)
• CDC Foundation COVID-19 Corps Certificate of Completion – CDC Foundation (2020)
• Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19: methods for detection, prevention, response and control – World Health Organisation, Health Emergencies Program (2020)
• Making Contact: A Training for COVID-19 Contact Tracers – Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) (2020)
• COVID-19 Contact Tracing – Johns Hopkins University (2020)
• COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2020)
• Ph.D., Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK (2008)
• M.Sc., Medical Demography, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK (1999)
• M.A. (Oxon), Philosophy, Politics, Economics, University of Oxford (Keble College), UK

Fieldwork

Dr. Schenk has designed and conducted fieldwork for research projects collecting data to improve decision-making for healthcare delivery globally. She has conducted fieldwork in diverse global settings, including in Kenya, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.