Former CDC Director Robert D. Redfield on Viruses, Vaccines, the COVID Epidemic, and Distrust in Public Health
The public health sector has been roiled by controversy and political turmoil in the last few years, what with the COVID pandemic, the fight over vaccine mandates, and questions about politicization of the sector. Beyond that, viruses make the news like never before. So, Wesley turned to an expert in both fields to learn more about virology, the government’s response to COVID, and the potential threat of bird flu.
Robert R. Redfield, M.D., is a virologist. He has been a public health leader actively engaged in clinical research and clinical care of chronic human viral infections and infectious diseases, especially HIV, for more than 30 years.
From 2018-2021, Dr. Redfield served as the 18th Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Prior to his tenure as Director of the CDC, Dr. Redfield served as the founding director of the Department of Retroviral Research within the U.S. Military’s HIV Research Program, and retired after 20 years of service in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Following his military service, he co-founded the University of Maryland’s Institute of Human Virology and served as the Chief of Infectious Diseases and Vice Chair of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Dr. Redfield made several important early contributions to the scientific understanding of HIV, including the demonstration of the importance of heterosexual transmission, the development of the Walter Reed staging system for HIV infection, and the demonstration of active HIV replication in all stages of HIV infection.
Dr. Redfield earned a Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University’s College of Arts and Sciences in 1973. He then attended Georgetown University School of Medicine and was awarded his Doctor of Medicine in 1977.
Related Resources
- Dr. Robert R. Redfield bio | BPGbio
- “Ex-CDC Chief Warns of Looming Bird Flu Threat” | Daily Signal
- “Ex-CDC Director Warns Gain-of-Function Research on Bird Flu Could Spark ‘Great Pandemic'” | The COVID Advisor
- The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John Barry | Amazon