Berkeley Public Health alum Dr. Julie Gerberding is new CEO of FNIH
Gerberding is an international health leader and first woman to lead the CDC
- By Dylan Svoboda
- 2 min. read ▪ Published
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) has appointed Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding as its next Chief Executive Officer, starting in May 2022. Gerberding is the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and current executive at Merck & Co., Inc. Gerberding received her MPH from Berkeley Public Health in 1990.
“The Board sought a visionary, trailblazing leader, and I am tremendously excited we have found that person in Julie Gerberding,” said Steven M. Paul, M.D., Chairman of the FNIH Board of Directors in a statement. “Julie’s incredible accomplishments and mix of biomedical and health sciences acumen, strategic outlook, and executive management ability make her the ideal person to lead the Foundation as we urgently seek new ways to prevent and treat disease and improve the quality of people’s lives.”
“I am delighted and privileged to be the next CEO of the FNIH and appreciate the confidence of the Board and of NIH leadership,” Gerberding said in a statement. “I was drawn to the opportunity to lead the Foundation because of its pioneering work to bring together the public and private sectors to improve health outcomes.”
Gerberding takes on the role as the public health community continues to deal with the consequences of COVID-19.
“As we work to emerge from the pandemic, America and the world need a fully empowered NIH, and NIH needs a fully energized FNIH as its partner,” she said. “From countering the ongoing threat of SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19] to advancing our knowledge of biomedical science to accelerating the development of better treatments for many serious diseases, there is great work to be done. I am excited to begin this journey with colleagues new and old.”
“As dean I’m so proud of all that Julie has done in her career, from being the first woman to serve as the director of the CDC where she led the nation through the 2001 anthrax attacks to now being appointed CEO at the Foundation for FNIH,” said Berkeley Public Health dean Dr. Michael C. Lu.
The FNIH is a nonprofit that works with public and private institutions “to accelerate biomedical research and strategies against diseases and health concerns in the United States and across the globe,” according to the organization’s website.