The pandemic has put in stark relief the inherent health inequities in the United States. Social epidemiologist Shivani Patel provides sobering insights into the numbers and makes a case for effective public health grounded in equity and data. Shivani A. Patel is a social epidemiologist whose ongoing research focuses on cardio-metabolic diseases. Her expertise in this area and the relationship between these diseases and severe COVID-19 symptoms made her a natural choice for the Emory University research team that began tracking COVID-19 infection and death rates in April 2020. Shivani is leading this team in creating the national COVID-19 Health Equity Dashboard, a free tool that tracks the differences in the impact of the pandemic across communities in the United States with an emphasis on the social determinants of health. She is an Assistant Professor in the Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Shivani also holds an adjunct appointment at the Public Health Foundation of India and is affiliated with the New Delhi-based Centre for Control of Chronic Conditions (4C). This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx