The top U.S. public health official addressed members of the Georgia Public Health Association at the organization’s annual conference Wednesday, May 8 in Atlanta. Robert R. Redfield, M.D., Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke about the importance of partnerships in public health. Dr. Redfield discussed the need for collaboration in the effort to increase immunization for vaccine-preventable diseases, steps to curb infant injury, ensure domestic preparedness through enhanced global security, and eliminate HIV.
Dr. Redfield 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. He 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.
Pictured above at the GPHA Conference, from left to right:
- Dr. Kathleen Toomey, Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner
- Mike Powell, Pike County Board of Health and Pike/Upson Family Connections
- Holly Murray, Spaulding County Board of Health and City Commissioner
- Regina Abbott, GPHA Executive Director
- Dr. Colin Smith, GPHA President and Clinical Assistant Professor at Georgia State University School of Public Health
- Dr. Robert Redfield, CDC Director
- Dr. Chris Rustin, GPHA Vice President and Georgia Department of Public Health Interim Director, Division of Health Protection