Deputy Director, Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS)

Chesley Richards, MD, MPH, FACP, is the CDC Deputy Director for the Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS). OPHSS is comprised of the National Center for Health Statistics and the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (CSELS). Previously, Dr. Richards served as Director for the Immunization Services Division in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC.

In these two roles, Dr. Richards is a key advisor to the CDC Director and oversees the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (CSELS) with activities that include the MMWR, Vital Signs publications, the Epidemic Intelligence Service and other scientific training programs, the Guide to Community Preventive Services, and a broad range of cross cutting epidemiology, public health surveillance, and laboratory services.

Dr. Richards earned his M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina, an M.P.H. in Health Policy and Administration from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a graduate of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) at CDC, the Cancer Control Education Fellowship at UNC Lineberger Cancer Center and the Program on Clinical Effectiveness at Harvard School of Public Health.  He completed Internal Medicine (Medical College of Georgia), Geriatric Medicine (Emory University) and General Preventive Medicine and Public Health (UNC Chapel Hill).