Nancy Knight, MD - Director, Division of Global Health Protection
RADM Nancy Knight, MD is the Director of the Division of Global Health Protection (DGHP) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In this role, RADM Knight leads a team of CDC experts in protecting Americans and people around the world from public health threats.
Prior to joining DGHP in 2017, RADM Knight spent more than 10 years in Africa, leading CDC’s largest programmatic and financial portfolios. RADM Knight’s career at CDC started in 2006, where she served in Nigeria as CDC’s Assistant Director for Clinical Programs for PEPFARexternal icon and then in 2008 as the CDC Country Director. From 2010-2012, RADM Knight served in Kenya as the Program Director for CDC’s Division of Global HIV and TB. In 2012, she became CDC’s Country Director in South Africa, leading CDC’s HIV response in the country with the largest epidemic globally.
Throughout her international career, RADM Knight led the development, coordination, and implementation of key public health policies and programs. She has extensive experience advancing public health priorities through her leadership and close collaboration with government officials and partners.
RADM Knight began her career with the U.S. government in 2001 at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), where she held various roles in the Bureau of Health Professionsexternal icon from 2001-2003. RADM Knight’s work at HRSA focused on improving the quality of primary care medical education and services in the United States. From 2003-2006, RADM Knight was a Ready Responder in the National Health Service Corps. In this role, she worked in public health at the local government level based in the City of Cincinnati Health Departmentexternal icon, where she provided primary healthcare services and worked on several response teams that were responsible for local and regional disaster planning and coordination.
RADM Knight received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Psychology from Washington University. She attended the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, where she graduated with Honors. She completed her residency training in Family Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, and she is Board Certified in Family Medicine. Prior to medical school, RADM Knight served as a Peace Corpsexternal icon Volunteer in Lesotho, where she worked as a secondary school science teacher.
- Building Global Health Security Capacity: The Role for Implementation Scienceexternal icon Health Security, 2018 Nov 27 16(S1)
- Global Health Security Implementation: Expanding the Evidence Base. external icon Health Security, 2018 Nov 27 16(S1)
- Scale-up of HIV Viral Load Monitoring – Seven Sub-Saharan African Countries. MMWR, 2015 Nov 27 64(46):1287-90.
- Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak – Nigeria, July-September 2014. MMWR, 2014 Oct 3 63(39):867-872.
- Progress in Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Service Provision – Kenya, 2008-2011. MMWR, 2012 Nov 30 61(47):957-961.
- Voluntary medical male circumcision: translating research into the rapid expansion of services in Kenya, 2008-2011external icon. PLoS Med. 2011;8:e1001130.
Additional Photos of Dr. Nancy Knight
