Source: School of Public Health
Sarah Mayberry
Sarah Mayberry
Sarah Mayberry, MPH ’00, hasn’t jumped out of the stands at a sporting event to assist an athlete in crisis with CPR. She has never diagnosed a case of cancer in the earliest stages or applied a tourniquet to a bleeding auto accident victim.
But saving lives—and changing lives—while putting people on a safer, healthier course—she is all about those things.
As the senior medical producer for WDIV-TV in Detroit, Mayberry utilizes the latest in medical research and healthcare information to educate and inform her viewers. That is her personally crafted job description.
“Finding that information and sharing it—that’s the reason to do this job,” she said. “There’s nothing better than getting that call telling you that your story made a difference in someone’s life.”
So, whether it is a feature on the dangers of excessive exposure to the sun and melanoma, or the benefits of eating a more plant-based diet, Mayberry wants to put the best information on prevention in front of the viewers.
In some cases, her presentations have saved lives.
“The life-saving ones happen,” she said. “You don’t always hear about them right away, but that has happened numerous times in my career. And that is pure gold when you find out about it.”
After earning her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Michigan in 1996, she went on to complete a Master of Public Health degree in Health Management and Policy from the School of Public Health in 2000, adding an interdepartmental concentration in Genetics. Her route to a prominent place at WDIV was a somewhat circuitous one. Initially, she expected to be focused on the health of fish, not her fellow humans.
The powerful stories she has put together form a very lengthy list, but one certain standout is the ongoing look at a young man she first highlighted more than 20 years ago when he was a 4-year-old undergoing his fifth heart surgery. Now in college and the recipient of a heart transplant, he gave Mayberry the opportunity to follow his life and advocacy for organ donation.
“I love that we can bring attention to diseases or conditions that don’t get enough attention, or that we can teach people how to do CPR or use a defibrillator or apply a tourniquet without ever leaving their house,” she said.
