Executive Leadership & Expert Bios

Matthew J. Kuehnert, MD

Director, Office of Blood, Organ, and Other Tissue Safety, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, NCZEID

 

As Director of the Office of Blood, Organ, and Other Tissue Safety, Matthew Kuehnert, MD, coordinates investigations, surveillance, and policy at CDC for the improvement of transfusion and transplant outcomes and initiation of public health interventions to ensure patient safety in this area, including development of biovigilance in the United States.

Dr. Kuehnert completed his undergraduate education at the University of California at San Diego and received his medical degree from Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons. He trained in Internal Medicine at Stanford University and the University of California at San Francisco, and in Infectious Diseases at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Before his present position, Dr. Kuehnert was the Assistant Director for Blood Safety in the Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, and started at CDC in 1996 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in the Hospital Infections Program.

Dr. Kuehnert has been a vital contributor in the understanding and prevention of transfusion- and transplant-transmitted infections. He is a recognized expert on many aspects of patient safety over the course of his career, including blood safety, healthcare preparedness, antimicrobial resistance, and emerging infections, having authored over 50 publications in the peer-reviewed literature.

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