The CDC Leaders

“You can′t lead by pointing and telling people some places to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case."

- Ken Kesey

Christine M. Branche, PhD

Acting Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Christine M. Branche, Ph.D., is the Acting Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Previously, she served as the Principal Associate Director of NIOSH. In that capacity, she ensured coordination within the Office of the Director of NIOSH and between the Office of the Director and Institute divisions, laboratories and regional offices. She also represented NIOSH among its stakeholders and customers.

Dr. Branche began her career at CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service in the Division of Injury Epidemiology and Control. From 1996 to 2007, Dr. Branche was the Director of the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention (DUIP) in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and was responsible for managing the mission of DUIP. She has done extensive work in this field, including work to prevent drowning and injuries related to water recreation, fire, motor vehicles, and sports and recreation.

Her scientific investigations include fatal and nonfatal drowning in adults and children; personal watercraft, boating, and spinal-cord injuries related to water recreation; and falls among adults and construction workers. She has authored several scientific publications, including many that uncover new problems in injury control.

Dr. Branche has provided technical consultation to many U.S. and international organizations, including the American Red Cross, the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Football League, and the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization.

Dr. Branche received her B.A. in biology from the University of Rochester in New York and her M.S.P.H. and Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), using topics in occupational safety and health as her graduate research. During her coursework at UNC, she was a National Science Foundation Fellow. While completing her Ph.D., she worked as an Epidemiology Research Associate at Burroughs Wellcome Company (now GlaxoSmithKline), where she gained expertise in pharmaco-epidemiology. At CDC, Dr. Branche has received numerous awards for her research and leadership. Dr. Branche is a Public Health Leadership Institute scholar. She serves on the Fire Council of Underwriters Laboratory, and she previously served on the advisory boards for the International Association of Firefighters, and CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training, and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.