The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services,and is headquartered in Atlanta,Georgia.
Preventive healthcare,or prophylaxis,is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases. Disease and disability are affected by environmental factors,genetic predisposition,disease agents,and lifestyle choices,and are dynamic processes that begin before individuals realize they are affected. Disease prevention relies on anticipatory actions that can be categorized as primal,primary,secondary,and tertiary prevention.
David Satcher,is an American physician,and public health administrator. He was a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health,and the 16th Surgeon General of the United States.
Karen Christine Handel is an American businesswoman and politician. A member of the Republican Party,Handel served as chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners from 2003 to 2006,as Secretary of State of Georgia from 2007 to 2010,and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019.
Robert Ray Redfield Jr. is an American virologist who served as the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 2018 to 2021.
Thomas R. Frieden is an American infectious disease and public health physician. He serves as president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives,a $225 million,five-year initiative to prevent epidemics and cardiovascular disease.
Katherine "Kate" L. O'Brien is a Canadian American pediatric infectious disease physician,epidemiologist,and vaccinologist who specializes in the areas of pneumococcal epidemiology,pneumococcal vaccine trials and impact studies,and surveillance for pneumococcal disease. She is also known as an expert in infectious diseases in American Indian populations. O’Brien is currently the Director of the World Health Organization's Department of Immunization,Vaccines and Biologicals.
Anne Schuchat is an American medical doctor. She is a former rear admiral and assistant surgeon general in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She also served as the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In May 2021,Schuchat stepped down from her post.
Terrie Linn McNutt Hall was an American anti-smoking and anti-tobacco advocate. She was a survivor of ten cancer diagnoses,undergoing 48 radiation treatments,and nearly a year's worth of chemotherapy,before and after undergoing a laryngectomy in 2001. She was well known for starring in one of the ads of CDC's smoking ad campaign,as well as traveling across America to educate youth and adults about the consequences of tobacco use. By her 11th cancer diagnosis,Hall died at the age of 53.
Leana Sheryle Wen is an American physician,author,professor,speaker,consultant,newspaper columnist and television commentator. She is former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore and former president of Planned Parenthood. She has written two books based on her experiences as a medical professional.
Michael Weitzman is an American pediatrician specializing in public health and policy. He is known for his research focusing on the social and environmental determinants of child health. He has published over 150 articles in medical and scientific journals on the damaging effects of second-hand smoke,lead exposure,and countless other determinants of children's health and behavior. From 1999-2005 he served as the executive director of the Center for Child Health Research,a national research institute created by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Deborah Leah Birx is an American physician and diplomat who served as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021. Birx specializes in HIV/AIDS immunology,vaccine research,and global health. Starting in 2014,she oversaw the implementation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program to support HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in 65 countries. From 2014-2020,Birx was the United States global AIDS coordinator for presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and served as the United States special representative for global health diplomacy between 2015 and 2021. Birx was part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force from February 2020 to January 2021. In March 2021,Birx joined ActivePure Technology as Chief Medical and Science Advisor.
Jerome Michael Adams is an American anesthesiologist and a former vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the 20th surgeon general of the United States from September 5,2017,until January 20,2021. Prior to becoming Surgeon General,he served as the Indiana state health commissioner,from 2014 to 2017.
Susan J. Curry is an American health management and policy scholar. She retired from the University of Iowa in 2020 and is currently emerita dean and distinguished professor in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa. She served as Interim Executive Vice President and Provost at University of Iowa from 2017 to 2019.
Dileep G. Bal is an Indian-American physician,epidemiologist,and public health administrator. He is also a faculty member of the John A. Burns School of Medicine of the University of Hawaii at Manoa,and previously of the University of California School of Medicine at Davis and the University of Arizona College of Medicine. As a public servant,health advocate and academic researcher,his areas of focus include tobacco control,cancer and obesity prevention,and remedying socio-economic disparities in health care.
Nancy Messonnier is an American physician who served as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2016 to 2021. She worked on the CDC's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Mandy Krauthamer Cohen is an American internist,public health official,and healthcare executive serving as the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since July 10,2023. She was previously the executive vice president at Aledade and chief executive officer of Aledade Care Solution,a healthcare company.
During his term as president of the United States (2017–2021),Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly politicized science by pressuring or overriding health and science agencies to change their reporting and recommendations so as to conform to his policies and public comments. This was particularly true with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States,but also included suppressing research on climate change and weakening or eliminating environmental regulations.
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