Carly Ornstein, MPH is a public health expert in lung cancer, lung health, wellness and health education. Carly’s knowledge areas include but are not limited to:
Lung cancer biomarker testing, minimally invasive surgery and diagnostic procedures, palliative care, cancer nutrition, clinical trials, brain metastases and lung cancer screening.
COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy
Health equity and disparities
Health and wellness, specifically Yoga, Pilates, and complementary and alternative medicine
The Memoir Version
To know me is to know I (almost) exclusively read memoirs and biographies when I read for fun. Sometimes I will follow a memoir trail pretty deep and wonder how I got there (like the time I found myself reading Glenn Close’s sister’s memoir). So if you want to know a little bit more about me, here is the memoir version.
I was born in Baltimore, MD where shortly after my birth I was placed in ballet classes. Ballet defined my childhood and I can’t hear music from the Nutcracker without experiencing an extreme visceral reaction. All those ballet lessons paid off (you are welcome, Mom) and I managed to get a full dance scholarship to the University of Maryland College Park. At the same time, I became very interested in complementary medicine and completed the massage therapy training program at Potomac Massage Training Institute, graduating both programs in 2007.
After several years of teaching ballet, Pilates and doing massage (on some famous people like Baltimore Ravens Players and Cate Blanchett!), I realized I needed more and set out to find my calling. Spoiler alert: it was public health.
Graduate school brought me to DC where I graduated with my Masters of Public Health in Health Promotion from the George Washington University in 2012. While in graduate school, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer which sparked my interest in cancer and public health.
Shortly after I graduated, I was hired to build out the lung cancer content on the American Lung Association’s website. I spent the next nine and a half years amassing a large amount of lung cancer and lung health knowledge and honing my project management and writing skills. I also got married, adopted a dog (Myrtle Joan Rivers) and had two kids!
After living in Baltimore, DC, Ann Arbor and St. Louis, we have settled in Athens, GA (go sportsballs!). Like many families, we have had to be nimble and reimagine what it means to work and care for children during a global pandemic.
I am now looking forward to using my skills and knowledge to help organizations execute their mission.
P.S. I do many others things! Check out the sections about my other work