Epidemiologist
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Ruth Link-Gelles, PhD, MPH is a Commander in the US Public Health Service assigned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division, where she serves as a senior epidemiologist and the program lead for vaccine effectiveness. In this role, she plays a key role in evaluating the real-world effectiveness of current vaccines and determining the potential impact of future vaccine policy, routinely advising CDC and Department of Health and Human Services leadership. Ruth previously led planning and implementation for COVID-19 vaccine rollout in long-term care facilities and has deployed numerous times in response to outbreaks of COVID-19, Zika virus, measles, and hepatitis. Before COVID-19, she served in CDC’s Division of Viral Diseases, working on measles outbreaks and poliovirus containment, with CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion investigating outbreaks of infectious diseases in healthcare facilities, and with CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis combating hepatitis A, B, and C in the U.S. and abroad. Ruth holds a PhD in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, an MPH from Emory University, and a BA from George Washington University.