Executive Leadership & Expert Bios

Hani K. Atrash, MD, MPH

Director, Division of Blood Disorders, NCBDDD

 

Hani K. Atrash, MD, MPH, became Director, Division of Blood Disorders, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in June 2008.

Between 1981 and 1984, Dr. Atrash served as Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and was assigned to the state of Bahrain where he served as Public Health Consultant, Manager of the Office of Professional Standards and Systems Analysis, and State Epidemiologist. In 1985, he returned to CDC and joined the Division of Reproductive Health (DRH), where he developed several nationally recognized programs in maternal and child health. He led the CDC activities on Safe Motherhood, maternal and child health epidemiology, preterm delivery, and maternal and infant health surveillance and research; he established CDC′s pregnancy mortality surveillance system, the CDC/ACOG Maternal Mortality Study Group, the Annual Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Conference, and the national Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Awards.

Dr. Atrash received his medical training and completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the AUB. In 1979, he joined the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) in the Family Planning Evaluation Division and was assigned to the Tennessee Department of Health during the first year of his EIS. In 1985, Dr. Atrash received a Masters Degree in Public Health (Epidemiology) from Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. And, in 1985-86, Dr. Atrash completed the preventive medicine residency at CDC.

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