Executive Leadership & Expert Bios

Robert Massung, PhD

Chief, Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, NCEZID

Robert Massung, PhD, serves as Chief of the Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).

He joined the CDC is 1991 as a National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Poxvirus Section, Viral Exanthems and Herpesvirus Branch, where he led a research team that determined the first complete genome sequence of Variola (smallpox) virus. Dr. Massung joined the Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch in 1994 as a Supervisory Research Microbiologist and directed a molecular biology laboratory with a focus on the epidemiology of human ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis. In January 2005, he became director of the Q fever (Coxiella burnetii) laboratory where he directed studies on bioterrorism preparedness and the molecular basis for pathogenesis.

Dr. Massung received his PhD from the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

Dr. Massung has published more than100 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and presented his work at national and international conferences. He has received numerous awards for his public health service including the United States Department of Public Health and Human Services Special Act/Service Award, the James H. Nakano Citation for outstanding scientific publication, and the Secretary Award from United States Department of Public Health and Human Services.

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