Welcome, Wonks, to another edition of WonkCast: People Power Policy, where we spotlight the people, ideas, and tensions shaping child and family policy.
If this is your first listen, you can also check out Episode 0 here to learn more about our vision and focus, and subscribe through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
I hope you enjoy listening, and look forward to hearing from you about who else you’d like to hear from on WonkCast.
Episode # 3: Dr. Melissa Merrick
This week we have a conversation with Dr. Melissa Merrick, a public health leader reshaping the conversation about adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs.
Before becoming President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, Dr. Merrick was a senior CDC epidemiologist and practiced as a clinical child psychologist.
Her work is a consistent through line of looking to the latest research and public health strategies to prevent child abuse and neglect.
We talked about what the original ACEs study showed about lifelong health and development.
She also shared about how her background as a clinician for families, epidemiologist, and scientific leader shaped the way she thinks about child and family policy today.
Our conversation also touched on the inherent challenges of defining a term as broad as prevention, and how she understands its relationship to child safety.
The topic of ACEs is also a powerful one for me personally; the research on how ACEs shape health and development was my gateway into working on child welfare policy.
I hope this conversation sparks new ideas for you, and thanks as always for listening.
Sponsorship Shoutout
Special thanks to Binti for their foundational sponsorship of WonkCast.
