Julie L. Gerberding is chief patient officer and executive vice president at Merck, where she is responsible for a broad portfolio focused on patient engagement, strategic communications, global public policy, population health and corporate responsibility. She joined the company in 2010 as president of Merck vaccines.

Previously, Julie was director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she led the agency through 40+ emergency responses to public health crises. She has received more than 50 awards and honors, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) distinguished service award for her leadership in responses to anthrax bioterrorism and the September 11, 2001 attacks. She was named to the TIME 100 list of most influential people in 2004 and the Healthcare Businesswomen Association’s Woman of the Year in 2018.

Julie serves on the boards of Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), Cerner
Corporation and the MSD Wellcome Trust Hilleman Laboratories, a non-profit that develops new technologies for developing countries. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American College of Physicians. She is board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases. Julie received her undergraduate and M.D. degrees from Case Western Reserve University. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine and fellowship in clinical pharmacology and infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco, where she is currently an adjunct associate professor of medicine. Julie received a Masters of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley.