The CDC Leaders

Andrew S. Rein, MS

Associate Director for Policy

Andrew Rein is the Associate Director for Policy for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Office of the Associate Director for Policy′s mission is to bring about policies that result in demonstrable improvements in public health—at the federal, state, and local levels and globally. To achieve this mission, the office′s activities include conducting policy research and analysis, coordinating policy agenda development, creating and maintaining partnerships to support these strategies, coordinating CDC engagement with Congress, and ensuring the agency′s scientific activities are communicated to and supported by policy makers and stakeholders. The office also focuses on leveraging the changing health care system to improve population health and coordinating CDC′s efforts related to the Affordable Care Act.

Prior to joining CDC, Mr. Rein spent 20 years addressing a uniquely diverse set of public policy and management challenges in government agencies and nonprofit research organizations. He served as Executive Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer for the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He was one of the prime drafters of NYC′s Health Policy, Take Care New York, which identified 10 priority interventions to improve New Yorkers′ lives. Mr. Rein spearheaded passage and implementation of NYC′s “Green Cart” law that puts 1,000 fruit and vegetable mobile food vendors in high need neighborhoods. He oversaw the econometric analysis that demonstrated that NYC′s Smoke Free Air Act had no negative impact on restaurant and bar employment. He also obtained and redirected hundreds of millions of dollars for programs that effectively addressed NYC's leading causes of morbidity and mortality.

Previously, Mr. Rein was Senior Policy Advisor to the NYC School′s Chancellor as well as Executive Director of Research and Management Analysis. Mr. Rein focused on policy and system change that improved teacher quality and school accountability, as well as labor relations and analyses to identify the relationship between student attendance and performance.

Mr. Rein started his policy career conducting applied policy research for the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC). As Associate Research Director, Mr. Rein′s work included analysis of comparative health and social welfare spending and overseeing CBC activities evaluating the financial, human resource and operational management of NYC and New York State governments. He then became Associate Director of the NYC Independent Budget Office, where he was in charge of the health and social services task force, the uniformed services task force, and communications.

Mr. Rein received his Master′s degree in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from the Milano Graduate School at the New School, and Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Tufts University.