Susan Monarez

Susan P. Coller Monarez (born November 6, 1974)^[2] is an American health scientist who is serving director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monarez served as the Principal Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She was previously Deputy Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.

Susan Monarez
Official portrait, 2025
21st Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Incumbent
Assumed office July 31, 2025[1]
President	Donald Trump
Deputy	Debra Houry (acting)
Preceded by	herself
Acting January 23, 2025 – March 24, 2025
President	Donald Trump
Deputy	Nirav D. Shah Debra Houry (acting)
Preceded by	Mandy Cohen
Succeeded by	herself
Personal details
Born	Susan Patricia Coller (1974-11-06) November 6, 1974 (age 50) USA
Spouse(s)	John Joseph McCann IV, November 8, 2001 Eduardo Daniele Monarez, February 2, 2008
Education	University of Wisconsin–Madison (BS, MS, PhD)

Education

Monarez completed her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2003, where her research focused on developing technologies to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious diseases, particularly those affecting low- and middle-income countries.^[3] Her dissertation explored how trypanosome GIP-SVSG regulates macrophages during Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infection.^[4]

Monarez was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University School of Medicine, continuing her work in the field of infectious disease research.^[3]

Career

Monarez was a Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.^[when?][3] She held roles in the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. National Security Council, where her work included initiatives to combat antimicrobial resistance, expand the use of wearable technology for health monitoring, and improve pandemic preparedness efforts.^[3][5]

At the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Monarez served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategy and Data Analytics, overseeing research portfolios for the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.^[when?] In this capacity, she also led international cooperative initiatives to foster bilateral and multilateral collaboration in health research and innovation.^[3]

In January 2023, Monarez was appointed Deputy Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), where she led projects focused on applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve health outcomes, addressing healthcare accessibility and affordability, expanding mental health interventions, combating the opioid epidemic in the United States, addressing disparities in maternal health, and improving organ donation and transplantation systems.^[3][5]

Monarez became Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Acting Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry on January 23, 2025, after being named as the agency's Principal Deputy Director. Her leadership responsibilities at the CDC include overseeing responses to public health emergencies and emerging diseases.^[5][6] Donald Trump announced her nomination as permanent director on March 24, 2025; she is the first appointee to the position requiring confirmation by the Senate, after an amendment to the Public Health Service Act enacted in 2022.^[7][8][9] If confirmed, she would be the first director without a medical degree since 1953.^[10] On July 29th 2025, the US Senate voted 51-47 (along party lines) to confirm Monarez. ^[11]