Executive Leadership & Expert Bios

Martin Cetron, MD

Director, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Captain, U.S. Public Health Service

 

Martin Cetron, MD, is the Director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The DGMQ mission is to prevent introduction and spread of infectious diseases in the U.S. and to prevent morbidity and mortality among immigrants, refugees, migrant workers, and international travelers.  Dr. Cetron has authored or co-authored more than 100 publications and received numerous awards for his work since joining CDC in 1992.

Dr. Cetron holds faculty appointments in the Division of Infectious Disease at the Emory University School of Medicine and the Department of Epidemiology at Rollins School of Public Health. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1981, and his M.D. from Tufts University in 1985. He trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia and Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington before joining the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service and becoming a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) in 1992.

His primary research interests are international health and global migration with a focus on emerging infections, tropical diseases, and vaccine-preventable diseases in mobile populations. Dr. Cetron’s program is responsible for providing medical screening and disease prevention programs to 80,000 refugees prior to U.S. resettlement and over 1 million immigrants annually. Additionally, DGMQ regularly publishes the textbook Health Information for International Travel, known widely as the CDC Yellow Book, providing health promotion and disease prevention guidance to travelers globally.

Dr Cetron has also been a leader in public health emergency preparedness and response activities at CDC and is a graduate of the Harvard School of Public Health & Kennedy School of Government’s National Preparedness Leadership Institute.  Since 1992, he has led several domestic and international outbreak investigations, conducted epidemiologic research, and been involved in domestic and international emergency responses.  He has played a leadership role in CDC responses to intentional and naturally-acquired emerging infectious disease outbreaks including the 2001 anthrax bio-terrorism incident, the 2003 global SARS epidemic, the 2003 U.S. Monkeypox outbreak and recent 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
 
Dr. Cetron is part of the CDC pandemic influenza planning, preparedness and response team. He leads CDC’s preparedness for international border responses and community mitigation strategies; most recently, he headed the CM Task Force response to 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza. Dr. Cetron is also part of the WHO Influenza Pandemic Task Force.