Kayla Laserson, ScD, SM, FASTMH, is the Director for the Global Health Center (GHC) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)where she leads CDC’s global efforts to protect and improve health through science, policy, partnership, and evidence-based public health action.

Prior to becoming the director for GHC, Dr. Laserson served as the deputy director for Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Delivery, India Office of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) where she focused on programmatic support to the government of India and partners on TB, neglected tropical diseases, malaria, and vaccine delivery.  Dr. Laserson also led the BMGF’s COVID-19 response in India from 2020-2022.

Before her role at BMGF, Dr. Laserson was the CDC India Country Director and the CDC India Division of Global Health Protection program director for six years, based in Delhi. In these roles, she oversaw CDC’s platform in India, provided technical assistance to support India’s developing role in Global Health Security, oversaw partnerships and collaborations with the government of India, and directed CDC’s scientific strategy in India.

She also served as the CDC resident advisor and helped build the India Epidemic Intelligence Service Program. Dr. Laserson also served as the director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute/CDC Research and Public Health Collaboration in Kisumu, Kenya from 2006 to 2013. As director, she managed a comprehensive research platform in HIV, malaria, TB, emerging infectious diseases, demographic surveillance, and programmatic service delivery of HIV care, treatment, and prevention programs.

Prior to her role in Kenya, Dr. Laserson worked in CDC’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination (DTBE), where she started her career as an EIS officer in DTBE’s International Research and Program Branch in 1997 and later became the branch’s deputy branch chief.

In addition to her work in India and Kenya, Dr. Laserson has worked extensively in Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Lativia, and Vietnam. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and a Doctor of Science in infectious disease epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Laserson served as a commander in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps until 2007