Kristin M. Brusuelas, MPH

Director, Field Services Office

 

As director of the Field Services Office in CDC’s Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support (OSTLTS), Kristin Brusuelas, MPH, oversees all support, coordination, development, and tracking of CDC field staff to state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments. Brusuelas is also responsible for overseeing the Public Health Associate Program, the Technical Assistance and Service Improvement Initiative, the establishment of a framework for grants optimization, and promotion of the use of direct assistance for assigning CDC staff to state, tribal, local and territorial health agencies. Senior liaison officers (SLNO) to other CDC centers, institutes, and offices (CIOs) are also part of the Field Services Office, along with the liaison officer for CDC-funded territories.

Brusuelas’ work with OSTLTS began with the establishment of the office through the 2005 CDC Organizational Improvement effort. As chief of the Technical Assistance Branch, she was responsible for providing technical assistance to and managing alliances with health officers, secretaries, and commissioners for states, tribes, localities, and territories. She also led the strategic planning effort for OSTLTS and established the SLNO position for CDC’s Office of Infectious Diseases.

Before OSTLTS, Brusuelas served as deputy director for the Portfolio Management Program. In that capacity, she supervised senior management officials, coordinated state and local engagement with CDC CIOs, created linkages with state leadership, developed relationships with national partners, and ensured implementation of the Public Health Apprenticeship program (now the Public Health Associate Program).

Brusuelas has worked for CDC since 1990 and has had field assignments throughout the world. She began with the STD/HIV programs in Los Angeles and Dallas, Texas, before moving to the National Immunization Program in Chicago, Illinois, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles. Moving to Atlanta in 2000 as a co-deputy and team lead for the Immunization Service Division’s Program Operations Branch, Brusuelas served as acting branch chief through response activities to smallpox and SARS. Her international work includes assignments in Kenya and the Pacific Island territories.

When CDC created the Office of Terrorism and Emergency Response, Brusuelas was recruited as deputy for Field Services. She went on to become the first senior management official (SMO) for Florida. Her work involved developing a workforce training pilot project that placed public health apprentices into county health departments. She established an operational role for SMOs in emergency response with the Department of Health and Human Services as a result of her experience coordinating in-state CDC response efforts to numerous hurricanes including Katrina and Rita. Additionally, she worked to build surge-capacity training in coordination with the CDC quarantine office, the Miami-Dade County Health Department, and the Florida Department of Health.

Brusuelas holds a master of public health degree in community and international health from the University of Illinois in Chicago, and a bachelor of science degree in community health with a minor in Spanish from the University of New Mexico.