John F. Vertefeuille, PhD, MHS., is the Global Immunization Division (GID) Director (acting) and is based in Atlanta. In this capacity Dr. Vertefeuille is responsible for overall leadership and programmatic direction of CDC’s global immunization portfolio and is the CDC representative on the Strategy Committee of within the interagency Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Between 2015-2022 he served as GIDs Polio Eradication Branch Chief and the Incident Manager in the CDC Polio Emergency Response where he led the agency’s eradication efforts. From 2011 to 2013, Dr. Vertefeuille was the CDC Country Director for Haiti where he focused on expanding access to HIV services and rebuilding the public health infrastructure following the devastating earthquake and subsequent cholera outbreak in 2010. From 2004-2011 he served as the CDC Country Director in Nigeria and Tanzania, successively. In those roles Dr. Vertefeuille managed portfolios which included HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. He oversaw the establishment of Field Epidemiology Training Programs and expanded national public health laboratory capacity in the countries as well. During his CDC tenure he led and participated in many outbreak responses including Ebola, cholera, H5N1 and H1N1 influenza, and polio amongst others.  Between 2002 and 2005 Dr. Vertefeuille was a Research Assistant Professor of epidemiology with the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and was an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland medical school where his focus was HIV in resource poor environments.