Matthew Montesano is the Senior Director of Data Communication in the NYC Health Department's Division of Environmental Health. In a 15-year career in public health, Matthew has led work with City, State, and Federal agencies to publish health data so that it is easier to access, understand, and use. At the Health Department, Matthew led public-facing visualization of COVID-19 data, and consulted with agencies around the country to improve how they communicate data. Currently, Matthew manages one of the Health Department's marquee data communications websites, the Environment and Health Data Portal, which publishes neighborhood data on ways that environments affect health in NYC. Matthew leads efforts to conduct user research, design products so that their are easier to use and understand, and publish papers in peer-reviewed journals on the results of this work. In 2025, Matthew won the NYC Hayes Innovation Prize for using design and technology to improve how the Health Department communicates public health data. Matthew continues to consult with other City agencies to improve how they communicate data for influence and impact. 

Title of Talk: Data Visualization and Data Communication: the what & the why, plus research, resources, and techniques to make your findings more easily understood and give your data greater impact. 

Data are public health's greatest asset. But when data is at the core of our work, how do we explain data so that other people can understand it? In this lecture, I'll frame data visualization as a communication problem and explain key principles to consider. Then, we'll figure out what to do about charts: how to think about data visualization so that we're helping our audience understand. We'll look at the big picture - the underlying research - and the details and design techniques that you can apply to your data visualization that will make your work more easily understood and more influential. 

Time: May 21, 2025 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Please register for the zoom using the link below

ZOOM Registration Link:

https://mountsinai.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_r5SHh26QRniihIsRG4ocwg