Debra HouryAcademic

Biography

Dr. Debra Houry, MD, MPH, is a board-certified emergency physician and public health leader who joined the Yale School of Public Health as a Lecturer and Senior Fellow in the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology in January 2026. She previously served as Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she oversaw nine national centres and the Office of Science with a combined budget of more than $6 billion. She also served as Acting Principal Deputy Director — the agency's most senior leader after the CDC Director — co-leading the Moving Forward initiative to restructure CDC's 12,000 staff and $8 billion budget. In August 2025 she resigned from the CDC, and in September 2025 testified before the US Senate HELP Committee about the politicisation of CDC science under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles on injury prevention, opioid overdose, suicide prevention, and violence.

References

1. 1.Distinguished physician and public health leader joins YSPH | Yale School of Public Health — Confirms current role as Lecturer and Senior Fellow at Yale School of Public Health (January 2026), and prior CDC CMO role
2. 2.Testimony from Debra Houry, M.D., M.P.H. — Senate HELP Committee Hearing, September 17, 2025 — Confirms her resignation from CDC and her congressional testimony about CDC scientific integrity
3. 3.Debra Houry, MD, MPH — University of Minnesota — Confirms CDC CMO role, NCIPC directorship, budget growth from $150M to $714M, and CDC Opioid Prescribing Guidelines
4. 4.Debra Houry | Emory University – Rollins School of Public Health — Confirms adjunct professor role at Emory, National Academy of Medicine membership, and awards including AMA Award for Outstanding Government Service
5. 5.Gupta, Houry Elected to NAM | Emory University

Expertise

Cited on

• Learning disability & autism

Stated areas of expertise

• Public health preparedness
• Opioid overdose and prescribing policy
• Injury and violence prevention
• Suicide prevention
• Scientific integrity in federal agencies
• Chronic disease epidemiology

Notable achievements

• Elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2019 in recognition of her public health research. Source ↗
• As Director of CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, grew its budget from $150 million to $714 million and oversaw release of the CDC Opioid Prescribing Guidelines for Chronic Pain. Source ↗
• Testified before the US Senate HELP Committee in September 2025 about CDC scientific integrity following her resignation as CDC Chief Medical Officer. Source ↗
• Joined California's Public Health Network Innovation Exchange (PHNIX) as a senior medical advisor following her CDC resignation. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “As of three weeks ago, we hadn't seen evidence that acetaminophen was linked with autism, so it's curious to know how quickly that was developed”

  former chief medical officer and deputy director at the CDC · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · Trump attacks Tylenol as officials unveil highly contentious conclusions on autism ↗

• “I spoke with several scientists at CDC yesterday and none were aware of this change in content. When scientists are cut out of scientific reviews, then inaccurate and ideologic information results.”

  former CDC top official · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · CDC website altered to reflect RFK Jr’s belief in link between vaccines and autism ↗

Source references

1. Trump attacks Tylenol as officials unveil highly contentious conclusions on autismtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. CDC website altered to reflect RFK Jr’s belief in link between vaccines and autismtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://ysph.yale.edu/profile/debra-houry/
• Websitehttps://www.debhoury.com/about
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/debhoury/

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.