Before her resignation, Dr. Debra Houry was the highest-ranking non-political official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is a nationally recognized ER physician and public health leader with nearly three decades of experience guiding health care and public health strategy across the federal government, health systems, and academia. An emergency physician, she brings the perspective of frontline care together with proven experience leading complex organizations, shaping national policy, and driving results at scale.

Most recently, Dr. Houry served as Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science at the CDC, where she oversaw nine national centers and the Office of Science, with a combined budget exceeding $6 billion. She also served as Acting Principal Deputy Director, where she co-led the Moving Forward initiative, which strengthened and reorganized preparedness, data, and laboratory systems.

Previously, as Director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Dr. Houry guided dramatic growth in resources and impact, advancing national strategies on opioid use, suicide prevention, and mental health. Earlier in her career, she served as the Vice Chair for Research in Emergency Medicine at Emory University, where she helped build the department into the top NIH-funded emergency medicine program in the country.

Dr. Houry has served on multiple boards:

• President, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

• President, Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research

• Board member, Emory University Alumni Association

• Board member, Georgia State University School of Public Health

• Board member, FutureVerse

• Member, Gunderson Tech Advisory Council

As an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Houry has been recognized with numerous honors:

• Atlanta Business Chronicle Public Healthcare Hero Award

• American Public Health Association Jay Drotman Award

• American Medical Association Award for Outstanding Government Service

• Rotary Club of Atlanta, Bert Adams International Service Award

• Tulane University School of Medicine Outstanding Alumnus Award