Tom Frieden | |
---|---|
Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
In office 2009–2017 |
|
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Julie Gerberding |
Succeeded by | Anne Schuchat (acting) |
New York City Health Commissioner | |
In office 2002–2009 |
|
Mayor | Michael Bloomberg |
Personal details | |
Born | 1960 (age 56–57) |
Education |
Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H is an American infectious disease expert and the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and acting administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 2009 to 2017. He was appointed by President Barack Obama. He previously served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) from 2002 to 2009.
Frieden graduated from Oberlin College (B.A., 1982), Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (M.D., 1986), and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (M.P.H., 1985). He completed a residency in internal medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and a sub-specialty fellowship in infectious diseases at Yale School of Medicine and Yale–New Haven Hospital.
Frieden's work on tuberculosis in New York City, initially as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer assigned by CDC and later as assistant commissioner of health and director of the DOHMH Bureau of Tuberculosis Control, fostered public awareness and helped improve city, state and federal public funding for TB control. The epidemic was controlled rapidly, reducing overall incidence by nearly half and cutting multidrug-resistant tuberculosis by 80%. The city's program became a model for tuberculosis control nationally and globally.