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Answering the Code in this New Year: Learnings from a Season of Service at the CDC
In November 2020, Dr. Rochelle Walensky “answered the code,” to serve as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, facing the challenges of a historic pandemic and a politically charged climate. She reflects, “Through my 2.5-year tenure, I grew in unforeseen ways and found wisdom and counsel in corners unexpected.” In this New Year, we are all likely to face unexpected challenges. We will all have opportunities to step up and lead – at home, at school, at work, in the community and, for some of us, even nationally and globally. Join us at 4:30pm on Yom Kippur afternoon, October 12th, as Dr. Walensky shares lessons learned from her season of service that can inspire our own growth in the New Year ahead.
About Dr. Rochelle Walensky
Dr. Rochelle Walensky served as the 19th Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021-23), Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School (2012-2021), and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital (2017-2021). Dr. Walensky is an infectious disease clinician whose research career is guided by a belief that the clinical and economic outcomes of medical decisions can be improved through the explicit articulation of choices, the systematic assembly of evidence, and the careful assessment of comparative costs and benefits. She has focused these beliefs on mathematical model-based research toward the promotion of global access to HIV prevention, screening, and care. Her ground-breaking work and over 300 research publications have motivated changes to US HIV testing and immigration policy; promoted expanded funding for HIV-related research, treatment, and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPfAR); and led to policy revisions toward aggressive HIV screening – especially for the underserved – and earlier treatment in resource-limited international settings. In light of these contributions, Dr. Walensky has been an active member of policy discussions at the WHO, UNAIDS, the DHHS HIV Guidelines Committee, and the NIH Office of AIDS Research. She is married to Loren Walensky, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist and pediatric oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Hospital. The Doctors Walensky have 3 sons ages 20, 22, and 24.
