CDC Leadership

Kate Galatas, MPH, is CDC’s Acting Associate Director for Communication. When not serving as the acting director, Kate is the deputy associate director for communication at CDC, where she applies health communication and marketing expertise to help the agency save lives and protect people.

Robin M. Ikeda, MD, MPH, is the Associate Director for Policy and Strategy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  In this capacity, she supports the policy, performance, and strategy across CDC.

Nina Witkofsky is the Acting Chief of Staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She has served in senior executive roles with the government, the private sector, and academia for more than 20 years with an international, good governance, and management focus.

Sherri A. Berger, MSPH, became Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one of 10 major operating divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in August 2011. As COO, she oversees management, facilities, and operations at the Atlanta-based public health agency. She provides substantial strategic direction for CDC’s workforce and budget, while ensuring CDC has proper resources to fulfill its critical work to save lives and protect people from health threats.

Anstice Brand Kenefick, is currently the Acting Director of the CDC Washington Office. She most recently served as Acting Deputy Director of the CDC Washington Office.

Reginald R. Mebane, MS, is currently the Director of CDC’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (OEEO). As Director, Mr. Mebane is responsible for advising and counseling CDC′s executive leadership team on a variety of equal employment opportunity, diversity management, civil rights and human resources issues impacting the agency′s complex and diverse global workforce.

Mitch Wolfe, MD, MPH, is CDC’s Chief Medical Officer. In this role, Dr. Wolfe provides support to the CDC Director, and interacts with key public health partners, Congress, the White House, and other government and public health officials. In addition, he leads the development of objectives and planning for CDC’s global health strategy, footprint, and budget.

Steve Monroe, PhD, is the Associate Director for Laboratory Science and Safety (ADLSS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He oversees the Office of Laboratory Science and Safety (OLSS) which provides high-level oversight and coordination of critical laboratory policies and operations, particularly those associated with laboratory safety and quality management programs at all CDC campuses.

Leandris Liburd, PhD, MPH, MA is the Associate Director for the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In this role she leads a wide range of critical functions in the agency’s work in minority health and health equity, women’s health, and diversity and inclusion management.

Rebecca Martin, PhD, is the Director of the Center for Global Health (CGH) at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr Martin has worked both domestically and internationally in immunization, HIV, and health system strengthening and now leads CDC’s global efforts to protect and improve health globally through science, policy, partnership, and evidence-based public health action.

John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, FACOEM is the Director of the Center for Preparedness and Response. In this role, he is responsible for all programs that comprise CDC’s public health preparedness and response portfolio. Dr. Dreyzehner is a highly respected national leader in the field of public health, with a particular career emphasis on preparedness and response issues, including serving as the ASTHO Preparedness Policy Committee Chair, National Homeland Security Consortium Tri-Chair, and the NEMA-ASTHO-GHSAC Policy Committee Co-Chair.

José T. Montero, MD, MHCDS, is the Director of the Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support, where he oversees support to the US health departments and those serving tribal nations and insular areas. He provides leadership for key activities and technical assistance designed to improve the public health system’s capacity and performance to achieve the nation’s goals in population health.

Rebecca Bunnell, PhD, MEd is the Director of CDC’s Office of Science. Since joining CDC in 1996 as an EIS Officer in the Division of STD Prevention, Dr. Bunnell has held key CDC positions in Atlanta, California, Uganda, and Kenya.

Steve Monroe, PhD, is the Associate Director for Laboratory Science and Safety (ADLSS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He oversees the Office of Laboratory Science and Safety (OLSS) which provides high-level oversight and coordination of critical laboratory policies and operations, particularly those associated with laboratory safety and quality management programs at all CDC campuses.

Michael F. Iademarco, MD, MPH is Director of the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services (CSELS) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). His expertise as a physician-scientist and laboratorian provides a strong foundation to lead CDC’s efforts to track America’s health, strengthen laboratory networks, and help public health officials identify urgent health threats.

Brian C. Moyer, PhD, is the Director for the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is the nation’s principal source for health statistical information to guide actions and policies to improve the health of people. In this role, he is responsible for providing leadership for a wide-range of programs, including research and analysis in health and vital statistics, epidemiology, and related health and statistical sciences.

Karen Remley, MD, MBA, MPH, FAAP, is the Director for the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD). She has more than 30 years of experience in public health and health care, with leadership roles in the public and private sectors. Her “north star” has always been children and families, and she has shaped her career around helping every family have the best opportunity for health and well-being.

Karen Hacker, MD, MPH, is the Director of CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), a position she assumed in August 2019. NCCDPHP has an annual budget of about $1.2 billion and more than 1,000 staff members dedicated to preventing chronic diseases and promoting health across the life span.

Pat Breysse, PhD, CIH, joined CDC in December 2014 as the Director of NCEH/ATSDR. Dr. Breysse leads CDC’s efforts to investigate the relationship between environmental factors and health. He came to CDC from the Johns Hopkins University where he served as Associate Chair for Educational Programs within the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Program Director for the Industrial Hygiene Training Program, and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Childhood Asthma in the Urban Environment.

Debra Houry, MD, MPH, is the Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) at CDC. In this role, Dr. Houry leads innovative research and science-based programs to prevent injuries and violence and to reduce their consequences. She joined the CDC in October 2014. She has previously served as Vice-Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and as Associate Professor in the Departments of Behavioral Science and Health Education and in Environmental Health at the Rollins School of Public Health.

Nancy Messonnier, MD, is the Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) and is currently leading CDC’s efforts on COVID-19 vaccine. In late 2019, Dr. Messonnier directed NCIRD to activate a center-based response to an unknown respiratory disease in China that later transitioned to a full agency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the COVID-19 response, Dr. Messonnier is leading the effort to support the COVID-19 vaccine program in the areas of distribution, administration, implementation, safety, and access for hard-to-reach populations with the goal of ensuring that a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is available to every American who wants one.

Rima F. Khabbaz, MD, is the Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). In this capacity she helps to advance the agency’s cross-cutting infectious disease priorities, including the integration of advance molecular detection (AMD) technologies into public health. She served as CDC Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases and Director of the Office of Infectious Diseases (OID) from 2010 to 2017 where she provided leadership to the efforts of CDC’s three infectious disease national centers.