Stephen C. Redd

Stephen C. Redd is a retired U.S. physician and rear admiral with the U.S. Public Health Service and an Assistant Surgeon General. With over 30 years of public health and executive leadership experience, Redd served as the Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Previously, he was the Director of the CDC's Influenza Coordination Unit, where he served as the incident commander for the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic influenza response.

Early life education Redd grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and played football and soccer in high school. He earned an undergraduate degree in history from Princeton University and graduated with honors from the Emory University School of Medicine. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Redd completed his residency in medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Following his EIS training, Redd joined the CDC’s International Health Program Office, where he worked on childhood survival projects in Africa to develop diagnostic and treatment strategies for malaria and acute respiratory infections.

Redd has investigated and led the U.S. response for some of the most notable public health outbreaks, including Legionnaires’ Disease in the 1980s and measles in the 1990s; he later served as an integral part of CDC’s Anthrax Response in 2001. Redd also led a team that evaluated the effect of air pollution regulations on deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning. In 2005, Redd was deployed on behalf of CDC to coordinate federal efforts and work closely with Louisiana health officials to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

Influenza Coordination Unit and H1N1 Pandemic Response In 2006, in order to have a more comprehensive agency approach to its far-reaching influenza activities, the CDC created the Influenza Coordination Unit to prepare for and respond to severe influenza pandemics.

Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response On January 1, 2015, Redd was asked to serve as the Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response. Redd continues to serve in that capacity and is charged with ensuring international, federal, state and local efforts to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies are effective, and that the United States is protected from a range of health threats CDC's readiness to respond to public health emergencies by overseeing the CDC's Division of State and Local Readiness, Division of Strategic National Stockpile, Division of Emergency Operations and Division of Select Agents and Toxins.

Under his leadership, CDC's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been activated for global and local health emergencies including the West Africa Ebola virus epidemic, Zika virus, the Flint Water Crisis, and Polio eradication efforts.

Publications Redd has authored over 120 scientific publications on a variety of topics, including: pandemic influenza, Legionnaires' disease, acute respiratory infections, malaria, measles and asthma.

Personal life Redd is married and has two adult children. His wife, Judy is a radiologist in private practice in Atlanta. He and his family attend Christ the King Cathedral. Redd's son was a Boy Scout and achieved Eagle Scout rank, and Redd served as an Assistant Scout Master in an Atlanta Area Council Troop. Redd also volunteers with the Atlanta branch of the Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service on a regular basis.

In the 2024 United States presidential election, Redd endorsed Kamala Harris.