Executive Leadership & Expert Bios

Ben Beard, PhD

Chief, Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, NCEZID
Associate Director for Climate Change, NCEZID

Charles Benjamin (Ben) Beard, PhD, is the Chief of the Bacterial Diseases Branch at the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases within the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infecious Diseases (NCEZID) and coordinates CDC's national programs on Lyme disease, plague, and tularemia. He also serves as the Associate Director for Climate Change at NCEZID. Dr. Beard is involved in coordinating CDC's work in understanding and mitigating the potential impact of climate variability and change on infectious disease ecology.

During his tenure at CDC, Ben has worked mostly in tropical medicine and international health. In 1991, he joined the Division of Parasitic Diseases at CDC, where he conducted applied research on the prevention and control of malaria and Chagas disease, and studied the epidemiology of Pneumocystis pneumonia in persons with AIDS. From 1999 to 2003 he served as Chief of the Vector Genetics Section in the Entomology Branch of the Division of Parasitic Diseases before joining CDC's Division of Vector-borne Infectious Diseases in Fort Collins, CO, in 2003.

He earned a B.S. in 1980 at Auburn University, a M.S. in 1983 at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine, and a Ph.D. in 1987 at the University of Florida. He served as a post-doctoral fellow and as an associate research scientist at Yale University School of Medicine from 1987 to 1991.

He has published over 100 scientific papers, books, and book chapters collectively, and has served on a variety of committees and panels both inside and outside of CDC. He is currently an Associate Editor for Emerging Infectious Diseases and past president of the Society for Vector Ecology.

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