Dr. Daskalakis is currently serving as the Chief Medical Officer at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York City, a leading LGBTQ+ and HIV-focused community health provider.  He joined Callen-Lorde in February 2026, following his resignation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in August 2025.  Dr. Daskalakis is an infectious disease physician and gay health activist who served in leadership roles at the CDC from 2020 to 2025.  At the CDC, he was director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and was previously the Director of the Division of HIV Prevention at the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention.  During the Biden administration, he was appointed the deputy coordinator of the White House mpox response to the 2022-2023 outbreak of the disease.

He received his medical degree from the NYU School of Medicine and completed postgraduate medical training at Harvard Medical School.  He completed his residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a Clinical Infectious Disease fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital’s combined program.  He also earned a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Dr. Debra Houry is a nationally recognized physician, researcher, and public health leader with nearly three decades of experience guiding health care and public health strategy across federal government, health systems, and academia.  She has consistently stepped up to address urgent challenges, ranging from hands-on trauma care in bustling county emergency rooms to tackling major issues at the forefront of the nation’s most prominent public health agency.  Through her current LLC she is an advisor to governors, state and regional health networks, health systems, and technology companies.  She is also a senior fellow at the Yale University School of Public Health and an adjunct professor at Emory University.

A board-certified emergency physician, Dr. Houry brings a clinician’s lens to national policy and organizational leadership.  At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), she served across four presidential administrations, including as the Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science.  Over her tenure at CDC, Dr. Houry guided more than $8 billion in public health programs, fostered cross-sector coalitions spanning all 50 states, and helped steer the nation through some of its most complex public health emergencies ranging from outbreaks to firearm violence. During the transition into the second Trump administration and the early RFK Jr.-led HHS era, she served as the senior-most career leader and scientist at CDC, working to safeguard the agency’s scientific integrity and continuity of mission amid political transition.

Dr. Houry has appeared on CNN, NPR, and major national outlets, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal for her leadership in crisis response and public health. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, she is the recipient of the American Medical Association Award for Outstanding Government Service, American College of Emergency Physicians Public Health Trailblazer Award, and has also authored 100+ academic articles.

Dr. Jernigan is an internationally recognized leader in infectious disease readiness and response.   For more than three decades he helped the nation and the world navigate some of the most consequential public health crises of our time – from anthrax and Ebola to H1N1 and COVID-19.  As Director of CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Dr. Jernigan guided the agency’s largest center, driving innovation to confront high-consequence pathogens, antimicrobial resistance, and disease spread through food, water, vectors, and healthcare.  Earlier in his CDC career, he led the Influenza Division for 15 years and played a pivotal role in improving global pandemic preparedness.  Dr. Jernigan’s contributions span more than 160 scientific publications and leadership on outbreak responses around the world – including Ebola in West Africa and MERS in Saudia Arabia.  His dedication has earned him multiple honors, including the prestigious Service to America Medal.

Dr. Jernigan received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and a master’s in public health from the University of Texas.  Dr. Jernigan has completed residencies in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service for 23 years before transitioning to CDC civil service. Dr. Jernigan is currently a contributing scholar and consultant at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.