Debra Houry, MD, MPH, is the Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and
Science at CDC. In this role, she is responsible for establishing, strengthening, and maintaining
collaboration and coordination across CDC’s national centers including infectious diseases,
chronic disease, environmental health, injury prevention, and public health infrastructure. Dr.
Houry is also the Designated Federal Officer for the Advisory Committee to the CDC Director,
working directly with private and public sector constituents to prioritize CDC’s activities and
address key areas including data modernization and health disparities. Prior to this role, Dr.
Houry served for nearly two years (2021-2023) as CDC’s acting Principal Deputy Director,
overseeing improvements to lab quality, updating global health strategy and governance, and
elevating cross-cutting initiatives. From 2014-2021, Dr. Houry served as the Director of the
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the CDC, and she has previously served as
vice chair and tenured associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory
University School of Medicine, an associate professor in the Rollins School of Public Health, and
as an attending physician at Grady Memorial Hospital in the emergency department and in the
medication assisted treatment clinic for opioid use disorder. Dr. Houry is an alum of Leadership
Atlanta and the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program.
She has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, is a member of the National
Academy of Medicine, and has received numerous awards including the APHA Jay Drotman
award, US Department of Health and Human Services Group Award for Service to America, and
the AMA Award for Outstanding Government Service. Dr. Houry received her MD and MPH
degrees from Tulane University and completed her residency training in emergency medicine at
Denver Health Medical Center.