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 90 countries. She previously served as state health commissioner for Indiana.

Dr. Patricia Simone is the director of the Division of Workforce 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. Curtis is the chief administrator for the Adult Mental Health Division in the Behavioral Health Administration, Department of Health State of Hawaii and serves as the State’s Mental Health Commissioner. Previously, she served as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer (Class of ’97) and senior epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She served as a professor of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences for Western Michigan University and co-founded and served as the University’s Health Data Research Analysis and Mapping Center director. Dr. Curtis’ research interests include social and behavioral epidemiology and the use of secondary data in targeting public health interventions and evaluating evidence-based programs as well as the intersection of behavioral and physical healthcare provision.

Pam Pontones joined the Indiana Department of Health as a microbiologist in 1990 and transitioned to the Epidemiology Resource Center in 1999. As State Epidemiologist, Pontones oversaw surveillance initiatives, data projects and outbreak responses. In February 2017, she was appointed deputy state health commissioner, and in October 2022, Pontones was named deputy health Commissioner of Local Health Services, where she led working committees for Indiana’s Governor’s Public Health Commission, served as principal investigator for the CDC Public Health Infrastructure grant, and established regional staffing teams to support Indiana’s 95 local health departments.

Pontones is an adjunct faculty member for Indiana University’s Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, a member of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, Vice-Chair of the Senior Deputies Committee of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and an active member of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.

Dr. Katherine Feldman is a senior public health executive and veterinarian with more than 24 years of experience working in governmental public health. She is the chief public health scientist in the Office of the Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services at the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), where she leads initiatives and activities including strengthening public health infrastructure (workforce, public health accreditation), modernizing the public health data ecosystem, and local health department engagement. Her previous experience includes serving as the state public health veterinarian and chief of the Center for Zoonotic and Vector borne Diseases at MDH for over 10 years and leading complex projects for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a principal epidemiologist with the MITRE Corporation.  

Dr. Lisa Waddell, MD, MPH, FACPM, is the former chief medical officer (CMO) for the CDC Foundation.  A board-certified preventive medicine and public health physician, Dr. Waddell provided leadership for the development of the COVID-19 Corps nationwide surge staffing initiative and the Foundation’s overall COVID-19 response efforts including the development of a capacity-building initiative to support community based organizations. She serves as the science advisor to the Foundation and as a spokesperson for initiatives such as the Million Hearts/Live to the Beat campaign. 

Before joining the CDC Foundation, Dr. Waddell served as the deputy commissioner for Health Services in South Carolina, the chief program officer for Community Health at the Association of State and Tribal Health Officers, and the senior vice president for maternal and child health & deputy health officer for March of Dimes.  Dr. Waddell founded and is now the chief executive officer of LFW Public Health Connections, where she provides consultative services centered around leadership, mentorship and partnerships. 

Dr. Anne Zink fell in love with Alaska while working as a mountaineering guide before college. She returned to Alaska after medical school and residency, becoming the state’s chief medical officer in 2019.  Dr. Zink also serves as president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO). A practicing emergency room physician, Dr. Zink has special interest in using informatics and information to bring together public health and health care systems to improve the health of the people served, and to ensure that the patient is the first and primary focus of attention.  Her work has focused on the opioid epidemic, complex patient care, workplace violence and health care reform.

Dr. Kimberly Lamar serves as assistant commissioner for the Division of Health Disparities Elimination at the Tennessee Department of Health. Dr. Lamar’s work focuses on addressing health disparities for racial and ethnic minorities, rural and vulnerable populations, and advancing health equity through meaningful collaboration and engagement. Dr. Lamar facilitated the prioritization of health equity within the department of health’s strategic plan and has been integral to rural health transformation and efforts to improve both access and accessibility of health care and health services across Tennessee.  Dr. Lamar has held professorship roles at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, LeMoyne-Owen College, and Meharry Medical College.

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.

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. Prior to joining de Beaumont, Brian worked for a decade as an applied epidemiologist and held leadership positions at the Georgia Department of Health, Texas Department of State Health Services, and Philadelphia Department of Health.  His recent work has focused on the public health needs of large cities, the need for better data systems, and public health system improvements.

CAPT Carolina Luna-Pinto, MPH, CHES, is the acting director for the Office of Minority Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she leads four teams focused on health equity science, infrastructure and capacity building, strategic initiatives, and providing technical assistance to CDC’s health disparities grant recipients. She is also building the infrastructure for Office of Health Equity’s (OHE) emergency readiness and response coordination efforts. Prior to that, she was the deputy branch chief for CDC’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch, which is part of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections (DPEI). In her various roles at the CDC and as a U.S. Public Health Services officer, she has been fortunate to have had contributed to the Agency’s mission through steady leadership, quick thinking, creativity, and resilience in many environments, assignments and deployments e.g., H1N1, Haiti earthquake/cholera outbreaks, 2015 Zika virus outbreak, southwest border responses, MERS/Ebola outbreaks, and COVID-19 pandemic response as part of the State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support Task Force and Chief of Health Equity Officer Unit.

Dr. Iris Cardona is a pediatrician and pediatric infectious disease specialist with practice in San Juan. She serves as chief medical officer for the Puerto Rico Department of Health, and medical consultant for the Puerto Rico Immunization Program.  She completed her residency in pediatrics at the University of Puerto Rico Pediatric Hospital, followed by a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the same institution. She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree at University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine after graduating Magna Cum Laude from University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras with a major in biological sciences. 

On June 2020, Dr. Cardona was appointed as undersecretary of Puerto Rico Department of health and served until December 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.