About me
Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, is a physician-scientist, and public health leader who served as the 19th Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021–2023), Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (2012–2021; 2025–present), and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital (2017–2021). An infectious disease clinician and health services researcher, Dr. Walensky uses quantitative methods to improve clinical and economic decision-making through clear articulation of choices, systematic evidence synthesis, and rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis. She has applied these approaches in mathematical modeling to expand global access to HIV prevention, screening, and treatment. Her scholarly contributions, including over 300 peer-reviewed publications, has informed U.S. HIV testing and immigration guidelines, strengthened funding for HIV research and treatment programs including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and supported policy changes promoting earlier and more widespread HIV screening, particularly for underserved populations, as well as earlier treatment initiation in resource-limited settings.
Dr. Walensky has played an active role in global health policy through engagement with the World Health Organization, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HIV Guidelines Committee, and the National Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she served on the frontlines in Massachusetts before becoming CDC Director in January 2021. In that role, she led the agency and contributed to the national response during an unprecedented public health crisis, addressing COVID-19 alongside a wide range of emerging infectious disease threats. She delivered nearly 100 press briefings, numerous media appearances, and testified at 17 Congressional hearings.Dr. Walensky is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Physicians, and the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves on the boards of the Doris Duke Foundation and The Carter Center, and is a founding member and Medical Affairs Advisor to the Vaccine Integrity Project, which promotes trusted, science-based vaccine decision-making.
She earned her BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Washington University in St. Louis (1991), her MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (1995), and her MPH in Clinical Effectiveness from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (2001). She completed her residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and her infectious disease fellowship at the Massachusetts General/Brigham and Women’s Hospital combined program.
