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2d ago

Newsom Taps Former CDC Leaders to Launch California Public Health Network

The appointments launch a California effort to modernize data systems to bolster trust in science-driven public health.

FILE - Debra Houry testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 25: Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on June 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. Monarez is a health scientist with a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology who previously served as the Deputy Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that Susan Monarez and Dr. Debra Houry will advise the new Public Health Network Innovation Exchange, known as PHNIX.
  • PHNIX is designed to connect data, technology and funding across states to strengthen disease surveillance and modernize public health infrastructure.
  • Susan Monarez will serve as strategic health technology and funding advisor, and Dr. Debra Houry will serve as senior regional and global public health medical advisor.
  • The state also enlisted epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina to advise the California Department of Public Health on building public trust.
  • The appointments follow the pair’s Senate testimony in September describing political pressure on vaccine policy, including Monarez’s account of resisting demands from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.