The CDC Leaders

“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what′s right.”

—Isaac Asimov

Dr. Martin Sanders, PhD, RBP, CBSP

Acting Director of the Office of Health and Safety

Dr. Martin Sanders, PhD, RBP, CBSP, is the Acting Director of the Office of Health and Safety for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this capacity he is heavily involved in biosafety and biosecurity issues nationally and internationally and has traveled to numerous countries in support of biosafety and biosecurity activities. Dr. Sanders is charged with protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of the CDC workforce as they face the new challenges of the modern public health era - no easy task in the age of increasing globalization, bioterrorism and emerging infectious diseases. His office leads CDC’s Biosafety, Laboratory and Animal Safety activities; Radiation, Chemical, and Facility Safety activities; the CDC Clinics and related Occupational Health Services; Environmental and Compliance activities; and workplace wellness and prevention initiatives for the CDC workforce. Other responsibilities include industrial hygiene programs, Agency-wide safety training, and deployment health and safety.

Dr. Sanders is also on the executive steering committee overseeing the new edition of “Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories,” the cornerstone document for biosafety guidance in the United States.

Prior to joining CDC, Dr. Sanders served as the Biological Safety Officer and Chief of the Community Health Branch for the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Army where his last assignment was Chief, Biological Threat Assessment for the 520th Theater Army Medical Laboratory. He has also served as a field epidemiologist for the Maryland State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene where he led infectious disease outbreak investigations.

Dr. Sanders obtained his PhD from the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health and is a Certified Biological Safety Professional.

He and his wife Tracee have two daughters.