CDC Division of Bacterial Diseases
Office of the Director and Branch Chief Bios
Kimberley Fox, MD, MPH
Director
Dr. Kimberley Fox is the director of the Division of Bacterial Diseases (DBD) within CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). Prior to her appointment, Dr. Fox served as deputy director of DBD from 2018 to 2020. As director, Dr. Fox is responsible for oversight and direction of the division’s efforts to reduce illness and death from vaccine-preventable and other bacterial respiratory pathogens and meningitis, including meningococcal and pneumococcal disease, diphtheria, pertussis, and Legionella. Dr. Fox is also a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service.
From 2015 to 2018, Dr. Fox was chief of the Immunization Systems Branch in CDC’s Global Immunization Division. As branch chief, she led a group of physicians, epidemiologists, and health scientists conducting technical assistance, research, and evaluation activities related to vaccine introduction, access, utilization, and demand, as well as policy and communication.
From 2009 to 2015, Dr. Fox was detailed from CDC to the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Manila, Philippines. In this role, she worked with countries across the region on surveillance, policy, and vaccine introduction for rotavirus, pneumococcal, HPV, Japanese encephalitis and other new vaccines. From 2003 to 2009, she was the Asia Regional and Thailand director of CDC’s Global AIDS Program, leading CDC’s HIV prevention and treatment efforts in Thailand, Laos, and Papua New Guinea.
Dr. Fox joined CDC in 1996 as an assignee to the North Carolina HIV/STD program, where she initiated epidemiologic and programmatic research to improve STD control in the state and served as a medical consultant to the program. She subsequently developed a Field Epidemiology Unit in CDC’s Division of STD Prevention in Atlanta to conduct programmatic research and research-to-program translation through a group of field-assigned medical officers. During this time, Dr. Fox also led CDC’s national surveillance for antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea.
Dr. Fox earned a Bachelor’s degree in History from Princeton University and a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina. She completed post-graduate training in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, and Preventive Medicine at the University of North Carolina Hospitals.
Dale Rose, PhD, MSc
Deputy Director
Dr. Dale Rose is the deputy director of the Division of Bacterial Diseases within the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Prior to this position, Dr. Rose was in the Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, where he has served as chief of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch since 2018. In this role, he oversaw the work of specialized activities related to infectious disease preparedness and response. This included clinical guideline development for diseases caused by biological threat agents; regulatory affairs for therapeutics, vaccines, and other medical countermeasures; infectious disease modeling, cost-effectiveness analysis, and data analytics; and response operations and coordination.
Dr. Rose has been a health scientist at CDC for more than a decade and has significant experience engaging with state and local health departments and public health partners to support capacity building, outbreak investigations, and emergency response. He brings leadership experience as a team lead, division ADS, and branch chief as well as various leadership roles in emergency responses. Dr. Rose has authored numerous publications on a variety of epidemiologic, surveillance, risk communication, laboratory testing, clinical guidance, vaccine, and other topics.
Prior to joining CDC, Dr. Rose worked to enhance disaster preparedness of non-profit service provider organizations for at-risk populations in the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds a doctorate degree in medical sociology from the University of California, San Francisco, and a Master of Science degree from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Adam L. Cohen, MD, MPH
Chief, Respiratory Diseases Branch
Dr. Adam L. Cohen is the chief for DBD’s Respiratory Diseases Branch. Prior to his current position, Dr. Cohen led the Applied Epidemiology Team in the Division of Global Health Protection. At CDC, Dr. Cohen has worked in the areas of vaccines, child survival, surveillance, antimicrobial resistance, patient safety, global health security, and prevention of pneumonia, influenza, meningitis, and diarrhea in international settings. He has led and served on national and international committees with the World Health Organization and the United Nations, and has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters. He has worked in more than 40 countries and lived and worked at CDC in South Africa and the World Health Organization in Switzerland.
Dr. Cohen started his CDC career as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion and his early career includes three years as a medical epidemiologist in DBD’s Respiratory Diseases Branch.
Dr. Cohen is a pediatrician and received his medical degree from West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, and completed his residency in pediatrics, fellowship in general academic pediatrics and Master of Public Health degree at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He is board certified in pediatrics, is a Captain in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, and holds an academic appointment at Emory University.
LeAnne Fox, MD
Chief, Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch
Dr. LeAnne Fox is the chief for DBD’s Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch where she guides domestic epidemiologic and laboratory investigations, outbreak response, and policy development for bacterial vaccine preventable diseases including Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae, pertussis, diphtheria, and tetanus. In addition, she guides international projects focused on surveillance and vaccine evaluation for Neisseria meningitidis, diphtheria, and pertussis.
Dr. Fox is a technical task force member for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “Defeat Meningitis by 2030” Initiative and is an adjunct associate professor at the Emory University’s School of Medicine in pediatric infectious disease and School of Public Health in epidemiology. She is a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service.
Prior to her current position, Dr. Fox worked at CDC for more than a decade on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and served as lead for the Elimination and Control Team within the Parasitic Diseases Branch. She began her work at CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer and has also served on the faculties of Boston University’s School of Public Health in the International Health Department and Harvard University’s Medical School in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Fox is a pediatric infectious disease physician having trained at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital. She received her undergraduate degree from Smith College, her medical degree from The University of Connecticut, her Master’s in public health from The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and a diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.