The thing about a pandemic due a novel virus — there is no vaccine and there is no treatment. No one in the world has immunity and everyone in the world is susceptible. At first, the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to be an infectious equalizer, but as it spread through communities, it only made existing health and economic disparities even worse.

As the Utah State Epidemiologist, Dr. Angela Dunn has been at the forefront of managing the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the state. In this serious, yet heart-felt talk, Dr. Dunn shares how we are all interconnected and when one community suffers, we are all more vulnerable. She provides real and achievable standards so all those in our communities can not just live, but thrive in times of normalcy and in times of crisis.

This presentation was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with only a limited live audience of cast and crew members. While applause has been added to the beginning and end of the video, all other aspects have intentionally remained as filmed to honor the struggle and loss experienced globally during 2020.

Wardrobe furnished by Tommaso Cardullo. Dr. Angela Dunn is currently the State Epidemiologist for the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) where she works across the department to identify and address health concerns of Utahns. She came to UDOH as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As an EIS Officer, she has responded to communicable disease outbreaks both in Utah and abroad, including the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Dr. Dunn is boarded in General Preventive and Public health, and completed her residency training at the University of California, San Diego.

Prior to joining the CDC, Dr. Dunn worked as a primary care and public health physician in San Diego, focusing on women’s health, sexually transmitted diseases, refugee health, and tuberculosis. Dr. Dunn also engaged in health systems research and interventions aimed at improving health care delivery within the military health system and federally-qualified health care clinics. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx