Executive Leadership & Expert Bios

Kenneth L. Gage, PhD

Chief, Flea-Borne Diseases Activity

Kenneth L. Gage, PhD, is chief of the Flea-Borne Diseases Activity (FBDA) in the Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD), National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).

As chief of the FBDA, Dr. Gage is responsible for many of CDC's efforts to monitor, prevent and control plague in the U.S. and other countries. These responsibilities include supervising research done by the activity's Plague Laboratory on the epidemiology and ecology of FBDA. His activity also is responsible for evaluating and developing new and improved methods for preventing and controlling plague and other vector-borne diseases. The FBDA's Bartonella Laboratory investigates the roles animal- and arthropod-associated bacteria of the genus Bartonella play in causing human disease in the U.S. and other places around the world.

He began his career at CDC as a research biologist in DVBD/BDB's Plague Section. He later was named chief of this section, a position he held for many years until he was named chief of its successor, the Flea-Borne Disease Activity, which is responsible not only for plague but also a certain work related to Bartonella-related infections.

He obtained his B.S. in biology from Wichita State University and his M.S. in zoology and ecology from the University of Oklahoma. He later obtained his Ph.D. in medical entomology and zoology at the University of Oklahoma's Department of Zoology. Following his graduate studies, he completed postdoctoral fellowships on vector-borne diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas and the National Institutes of Health's Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana.

Dr. Gage has served frequently as a short-term consultant on plague and other rodent-borne diseases for the World Health Organization (WHO) and its regional affiliates in many countries. He is the author/co-author of over 130 scientific publications, including 99 peer-reviewed articles and 14 book chapters. He also has received numerous public health-related awards from CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services.

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