Dr. Anand Parekh provides clinical and public health expertise as the chief medical advisor for the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a think tank based in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the BPC, Dr. Parekh completed a decade of service at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As an HHS deputy assistant secretary for health from 2008 to 2015, he played instrumental roles in the implementation of the Recovery Act’s Prevention and Wellness Fund, the Affordable Care Act’s prevention initiatives, and HHS’ Multiple Chronic Conditions Initiative. He is an adjunct professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Antonia Blinn has served as the Director of Performance Management and Quality Improvement at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the past six years. She established the Academic Public Health Corps, which onboarded more than 900 volunteers to support more than 135 local boards of health. She’s also the owner of DPH’s REDCap, a secure web-based survey and data collection tool. Blinn co-chairs the Cross-Department Racial Equity Communication Committee whose purpose is to communicate racial equity work and lift up new tools, resources and successes.

An award-winning epidemiologist with a decade of experience working in state and local health departments in Texas, Georgia and Philadelphia, Brian Castrucci currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of the de Beaumont Foundation, which plays an active role in health philanthropy and public health practice. Inside Philanthropy describes him as a “fount of knowledge and passion when it comes to health” who speaks with “sound-bite-perfect urgency” on the social determinants of health. He’s published more than 70 articles in the areas of public health systems and services research, maternal and child health, health promotion, and chronic disease prevention. His recent work has focused on the public health needs of large cities, the need for better data systems, and public health system improvements.

David Fleming, MD serves as Chair of the newly reconstituted Advisory Committee to the Director of CDC, as well as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Trust for America’s Health and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Washington, School of Public Health. His prior positions include Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for PATH, the Director and Health Officer for Public Health–Seattle and King County and the Director of Global Health Strategies at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

As the APHA’s executive director since 2002, Georges Benjamin continues to lead the Association’s push to make America the healthiest nation in one generation. He previously served as the secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, following four years as its deputy secretary for public health services. An established administrator, author and orator, Dr. Benjamin served as chief of emergency medicine at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and acting commissioner for public health for the District of Columbia. He is the author of more than 100 scientific articles and book chapters and is the publisher of the American Journal of Public Health, the profession’s premier scientific publication.

A national health equity leader with extensive leadership and management experience across multiple sectors, Dr. J. Nadine Gracia is the president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to advance sound public health policy, address the social determinants of health, advance health equity, and make health promotion and disease prevention a national priority. Prior to joining TFAH, Dr. Gracia served in the Obama Administration as the deputy assistant secretary for Minority Health and director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In that capacity, she directed departmental policies and programs to end health disparities and advance health equity and provided executive leadership on administration priorities including the Affordable Care Act.

Dr. Judy Monroe has dedicated her career to protecting people and saving lives. She joined the CDC Foundation in February 2016 as president and CEO, following her role as a deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and director of CDC’s Office of State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support. In her work at the CDC Foundation, Dr. Monroe advances priority programs that improve the health of people across America and around the world. The CDC Foundation mobilizes philanthropic and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection work, managing hundreds of programs in the United States and in more than 140 countries. The CDC Foundation is actively supporting CDC and U.S. health departments’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She previously served as state health commissioner for Indiana.

As a result of her research, practice, advocacy and policy development, Lisa Macon Harrison is a recognized leader in public health in North Carolina and has served as the director of the state’s Granville Vance District Health Department since 2012. Dr. Harrison has been the director of the Office of Healthy Carolinians and Health Education at the North Carolina Division of Public Health; led the Public Health Incubator Collaboratives Program at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and directed the Southeast Public Health Leadership Institute (SEPHLI) at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. As a local health director in a rural district, she is a strong advocate for rural public health and provides mentorship for students interested in public health and rural health.

Dr. Patricia Simone is the director of the Division of Scientific Education and Professional Development at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where she leads public health training and education programs, strengthening the public health workforce—from training the current workforce, to offering in-depth, on-the-job fellowships, to attracting students and early career professionals to the field of public health. She joined CDC in 1992 in the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, later serving as the chief of the Field Services Branch and has since held multiple CDC positions, including in 2020–2021, serving as the acting deputy director and, subsequently, the acting director of the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services during CDC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky became the 19th director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the ninth Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in January 2021 after serving on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic as chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2017–2020 and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2012–2020. Dr. Walensky is an influential scholar whose pioneering research has helped advance the national and global response to HIV/AIDS, serving as the National Institutes of Health’s chair of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council from 2014 to 2015 and as a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents since 2011. Dr. Walensky is also a well-respected expert on the value of testing and treatment of deadly viruses and has conducted research on vaccine delivery and strategies to reach underserved communities.

Scott Becker is chief executive officer of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, where he leads the emergency response to COVID-19, as well as more than 100 staff who are engaged in all aspects of public health preparedness and response, informatics, scientific affairs, training and policy. He regularly convenes laboratory, federal and corporate partners to coordinate activities and resolve logistical issues and is a featured expert in the recently released documentary “Totally Under Control.”

Tahra Johnson, MPH, is an associate director in the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Health Program, with a focus on public health and maternal and child health. Prior to her position at NCSL, Johnson worked for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) in similar program areas as well as for the Department of Homeland Security. She earned her master’s degree in public health policy from George Washington University.

The public health officer for the County of San Diego, Wilma Wooten is board-certified in family medicine and has a master’s degree in public health. Dr. Wooten has been with the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency since 2001, initially as deputy health officer and serving as public health officer since February 2007. In her current role, she has oversight of almost 500 employees and a budget of approximately $100 million, serving a county of 3.1 million residents. In 2020, she was chosen as the San Diego Times Union’s San Diegan of the Year for her leadership during the COVID-19 crisis.

The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has raised over $1.6 billion and launched more than 1,200 programs impacting a variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer, to infectious diseases like rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and Ebola. The CDC Foundation managed hundreds of programs in the United States and in more than 160 countries last year. Learn more at cdcfoundation.org.

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) is the national nonprofit organization representing public health agencies in the United States, the U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia, and over 100,000 public health professionals these agencies employ. ASTHO members, the chief health officials of these jurisdictions, formulate and influence sound public health policy and ensure excellence in state-based public health practice. ASTHO’s primary function is to track, evaluate, and advise members on the impact and formation of public or private health policy which may affect them and to provide them with guidance and technical assistance on improving the nation’s health. Learn more at astho.org.

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. Learn more at naccho.org.

The Big Cities Health Coalition (BCHC) is a forum for the leaders of America’s largest metropolitan health departments to exchange strategies and jointly address issues to promote and protect the health and safety of their residents. Collectively, BCHC member jurisdictions directly impact nearly 62 million people or one in five Americans. Learn more at bigcitieshealth.org.