Acting Associate Director for Science

William R. Mac Kenzie, MD, is the Acting Associate Director for Science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Dr. Mac Kenzie has had a distinguished career at CDC and serving state and local public health organizations.  Dr. Mac Kenzie began his service at CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer assigned to the Wisconsin Division of Health. As an EIS Officer, he led the investigation of an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Milwaukee—the largest documented outbreak of waterborne disease ever linked to a public water supply in the United States.

Since completing EIS in 1993, Bill has served in a number of roles that include the supervision and training of more than 35 EIS Officers, collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct studies to estimate the national burden of waterborne disease, engagement in emergency preparedness and response planning for pandemic influenza and leading studies on the treatment of drug-susceptible and drug-resistant tuberculosis. Dr. Mac Kenzie has substantial international public health experience, including work with the International Rescue Committee in Kosovo where, in collaboration with local officials and WHO, he led in rebuilding the public health system.

As the CSELS Deputy Director for Science Captain Mac Kenzie has focused on building cross-cutting, shared, public health services such as electronic case reporting which is the automated generation and transfer of case reports from the electronic health record to state and local health departments for review and action.  He also has worked closely with CDC’s Office of the Associate Director for Science to write sponsorship guidance for CDC programs to address whether the Paperwork Reduction Act applied to investigations.

Dr. Mac Kenzie received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, trained in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at Stanford University. He is a past winner of the Alexander D. Langmuir Prize and the Philip S. Brachman Award.