Staff Bio
John Vertefeuille, PhD, MHS, is the acting director of the Global Health Center (GHC) at CDC.
Role at CDC
As acting director of GHC, Dr. Vertefeuille directs engagement with countries and global partners to strengthen resilient, sustainable public health systems; detect and contain emerging threats at their source; and build capacity to prevent, prepare for, and rapidly respond to outbreaks.
In his permanent role, Dr. Vertefeuille directs CDC's global immunization portfolio and represents CDC on the Strategy Committee of the interagency Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Previous experience
Dr. Vertefeuille served as the Global Immunization Division's Polio Eradication branch chief and CDC Polio Emergency Response incident manager between 2015 and 2022. From 2011 to 2013, he served as CDC Haiti country director, leading efforts to expand access to HIV services and rebuild public health infrastructure following the 2010 earthquake and subsequent cholera outbreak.
He served as the CDC country director in Nigeria and Tanzania from 2004 to 2011 overseeing programs including HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. He also led the establishment of Field Epidemiology Training Programs and expansion of national public health laboratory capacity. Throughout his career, Dr. Vertefeuille has led and supported numerous CDC outbreak responses, including Ebola, cholera, H5N1 and H1N1 influenza, and polio.
From 2002 to 2005, Dr. Vertefeuille was a Research Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, and an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where his work focused on HIV in resource-limited settings.
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