Julie Louise Gerberding (born August 22, 1955) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

expert who was the first woman to serve as the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of May 2022, she is the CEO of the

Foundation for the National Institutes of Health The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization established by the US Congress in 1990. Located in North Bethesda, MD, the FNIH raises private-sector funds, and creates and manage ...

(FNIH). Gerbering grew up in

Estelline, South Dakota Estelline is a city in Hamlin County, South Dakota, Hamlin County, South Dakota, United States. It is part of the Watertown, South Dakota Watertown micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 749 at the 2020 United States ...

, attended Brookings High School, and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

. She was the chief medical resident at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

where she treated hospitalized

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

patients in the first years of the

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

. Gerberding became a nationally-recognized figure during the

2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during her tenure as the acting deputy director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, where she was a prominent spokeswoman for the CDC during daily briefings regarding the attacks and aftermath. Gerberding then served as CDC director from 2002-2009, and was then hired as an administrator at

Merck Merck refers primarily to the German Merck family and three companies founded by the family, including: * the Merck Group, a German chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences company founded in 1668 ** Merck Serono (known as EMD Serono in the Unite ...

Education and early career

Gerberding grew up in Estelline, South Dakota and attended Brookings High School and Case Western Reserve University, where she earned an undergraduate degree in biology in 1977 and an M.D. in 1981. She completed her internship and was the chief medical resident at the University of California San Francisco, where she also completed a fellowship in clinical pharmacology and infectious diseases. Gerberding was an assistant professor at UCSF from 1988-1995 and the director of the Epidemiology and Prevention Interventions Center at San Francisco General Hospital from 1990-1998. She also earned an M.P.H. degree from the

University of California Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

in 1990 and was an associate clinical professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

AIDS research

During her medical residency at San Francisco General Hospital, Gerberding treated some of the first hospitalized

patients. She completed several studies on the risks of HIV to healthcare workers, created guidelines to prevent their infections, and established a treatment and research unit focused on HIV/AIDS cases among the urban poor.

US CDC

In 1998, Gerberding was hired by the United States

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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, Georgi ...

as the Director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. There, she "developed CDC's patient safety initiatives and other programs to prevent infections, antimicrobial resistance and medical errors in healthcare settings." In September 2001, she became the acting deputy director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID). During the

, Gerberding was part of a CDC team who regularly communicated with Congress, briefed the United States Health and Human Services senior staff, and communicated with the public about the crisis via daily press conferences. In April 2002, after the resignation of CDC Director

Jeffrey Koplan Jeffrey P. Koplan is an American physician and epidemiologist who is the Vice President for Global Health at Emory University. He established and became the first Director of the Emory Global Health Institute from 2006 to 2013. Koplan was the d ...

, Gerberding became the acting principal deputy director of the CDC and deputy director of the NCID.

CDC director

In July 2002, Secretary of Health and Human Services

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

named Gerberding as the director of the CDC and administrator for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). In May 2004, the CDC announced a significant restructuring to improve its preparedness for several types of threats, to promote health, and to better prevent disease, injury and disability. The reorganization was controversial, and Gerberding received bipartisan criticism from individuals and occupational health & safety groups, mainly centered around the implications of the restructuring for the

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, ) is the United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the C ...

. Other challenges of Gerberding's tenure as CDC Director included the American response to the global outbreak of

Severe acute respiratory syndrome Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...

(SARS) and to several natural disasters, including

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

. Gerberding resigned as CDC director effective on January 20, 2009,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's inauguration day, to enable Obama's appointment for CDC director,

Tom Frieden Thomas R. Frieden (born December 7, 1960) is an American infectious disease and public health physician. He serves as president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a $225million, five-year initiative to prevent epidemics and cardiovascular disease ...

, to assume his position.

Private sector

In December 2009, Gerberding became president of

's vaccine division. In December 2014, the company announced her appointment as executive vice president for strategic communications, global public policy and population health. In March 2022 it was announced that she would be retiring from Merck in May in order to assume the role as CEO of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH). In April 2021, Gerberding told a Michigan news outlet that the United States' response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

was inadequate and that herd immunity to the virus would be challenging to achieve due to widespread

vaccine hesitancy Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

. On May 30, 2021, Gerberding delivered the commencement address to the

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

Class of 2020, whose commencement ceremonies were postponed until May 2021 due to the pandemic.

Memberships

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...

Infectious Diseases Society of America The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is a medical association representing physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases. It was founded in 1963 and is based in Arlington, Virginia. ...

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 ph ...

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a national organization of internists, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults.Sokanu "What is an Internist?" Retrieved October 20, 2014 With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest ...

* National Academy of Public Administration *

Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance The Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance consists of world leaders and experts from across sectors working together to accelerate political action on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The Group performs an independent global advisory and ...

Honors

*2005

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

“100 Most Influential People in the World" *''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' “100 Most Powerful Women in the World” 2005-2008, *2012 Distinguished Alumnus Award, Case Western Reserve University *Honorary Doctor of Science,

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...

Surgeon General's Medallion The Surgeon General's Medallion is the fourth highest award of the Public Health Service and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. The medal is awarded in the name of the United States Surgeon General for actions of except ...

*U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) distinguished service award *Healthcare Businesswomen Association's Woman of the Year 2018

References

External links

Former CDC Director Breaks Down U.S. Readiness For Coronavirus
NPR's ''All Things Considered'', January 29, 2020 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerberding, Julie 1955 births Living people American infectious disease physicians United States Department of Health and Human Services officials University of California, San Francisco faculty Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine alumni UC Berkeley School of Public Health alumni Emory University faculty American women physicians People from Hamlin County, South Dakota Physicians from South Dakota University of California, San Francisco alumni Directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention George W. Bush administration personnel American women epidemiologists American epidemiologists 21st-century American women Members of the National Academy of Medicine