An Action-Oriented Response to Public Health: Where We Were, Where We Are, and Where We Need to Go

The 175th Cutter Lecture on Preventive Medicine

Speaker:
Rochelle Walensky
Fellow, Petrie Flom Center, Harvard Law School
Women and Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School
Executive Fellow, Harvard Business School

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a 76 year-old agency and a national treasure that, for many, first came to the public’s eye in February 2020 as the earliest cases of Covid-19 reached American shores. I had the great privilege of leading the CDC for some of the most trying years of its history. Using examples from some of the public health challenges during my tenure – from Covid to Mpox to paralytic polio – I will unpack the details as to how and why some decisions were made. I will outline some of the major challenges in public health that lie ahead – from workforce to data and laboratory infrastructure to limited authorities that constrain the ability of the CDC to swiftly act in the face of infectious threats.  And, I will leave plenty of time for questions to shed some light on my wholly unexpected transition from serving as a physician-scientist leader in academia to heading a federal agency of 12,000 in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic.

Open to the public.

Seating is first come, first served. There will be an overflow room in the event that the main auditorium is filled.