Anne Schuchat

Former rear admiral and assistant surgeon general in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

Anne Schuchat is a well-known medical doctor and epidemiologist with over 30 years of senior leadership experience at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and throughout her career she has emphasised prevention of infectious diseases in children. Dr Schuchat has deep expertise in immunisation and vaccines, and she has worked on e.g. meningitis, pneumonia, and Ebola vaccine trials. Her medical focus has also been on respiratory diseases, and she was Director for the US National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases for almost ten years. As part of this work, she led the introduction of new vaccines for children and for adults. She has a broad experience with emergency responses in the US, West Africa and Asia and a good understanding of vaccination programmes globally. During her time at CDC, she played key roles through many emergencies, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the Ebola crisis (and Ebola vaccine trial) in Sierra Leone in 2014, the 2003 SARS outbreak response in Beijing, the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak, and the 2001 bioterrorist anthrax response. Furthermore, she has worked on GERMS, PoPs prevention trial in South Africa; as Steering Group member for the Pneumococcal vaccine trial in Gambia; on Meningococcal vaccine trials in Niger; and on Meningitis outbreak preparedness in Chad and Guinea; as well as Listeriosis outbreak in Costa Rica. She has been a member of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and a number of other working groups influencing the public and global policies. Dr Schuchat retired in June 2021 after over 30 years at CDC, most recently as Principal Deputy Director. She is currently a member of the WHO Health Hazards Advisory Group, as well as a member of the Stanford University’s Global Emerging Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee. She was a member of the Gavi Board in 2010-2012 as well as a member of the Programme and Policy Committee (PPC) and the Audit and Finance Committee (AFC).