Robert R. Redfield facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert R. Redfield
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Redfield in 2018
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| 18th Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| In office March 26, 2018 – January 20, 2021 |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Anne Schuchat |
| Preceded by | Brenda Fitzgerald |
| Succeeded by | Rochelle Walensky |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Robert Ray Redfield Jr.
July 10, 1951 Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Education | Georgetown University (BS, MD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1977–1996 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Unit | Medical Corps |
Robert Ray Redfield Jr. (born July 10, 1951) is an American virologist, a scientist who studies viruses. He served as the 18th Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2018 to 2021. The CDC is a very important government agency that works to protect public health.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Robert Ray Redfield Jr. was born on July 10, 1951. His parents, Robert Ray Redfield and Betty Gasvoda, were both scientists. They worked at the National Institutes of Health, which is a big research center. His father was a surgeon and studied cells, and this influenced young Robert's interest in medical research.
Redfield went to Georgetown University. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1973. He then continued his studies at Georgetown University School of Medicine. In 1977, he became a doctor, earning his Doctor of Medicine degree.
Army Career and Research
After medical school, Redfield joined the U.S. Army. He did his medical training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He specialized in infectious diseases and tropical medicine.
For the next ten years, Redfield worked as an Army doctor and researcher at Walter Reed. He focused on studying viruses and the body's immune system. He worked with teams who were leading the research into HIV/AIDS. He published many papers and worked to use new scientific discoveries to help patients with long-lasting viral diseases. He retired from the Army in 1996 as a Colonel.
University of Maryland Work
In 1996, Redfield helped start the Institute of Human Virology. He co-founded it with other scientists, Robert Gallo and William Blattner. This institute focuses on researching and treating long-lasting human viral infections.
At the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Redfield was a professor of medicine and microbiology. He also led the infectious disease department. He is known for his important work on HIV and AIDS during this time. In the early days of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, Redfield's research showed that the HIV virus could spread through heterosexual contact. He also helped create a system used worldwide to check how far HIV infection has progressed. Under his leadership, the number of patients they helped grew from 200 to thousands in the U.S. and over a million in other countries.
Redfield was also a member of the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 2005 to 2009. He received awards for his work, including being named entrepreneur of the year at the University of Maryland in 2012.
Leading the CDC
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Robert Redfield became the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on March 26, 2018. President Donald Trump appointed him to this important role.
When he started, Redfield said that the CDC is "science-based and data-driven." He emphasized that this is why the CDC is trusted around the world. There was some discussion about his salary, which was higher than previous directors. Redfield quickly asked for his pay to be lowered so that it would not distract from the CDC's important work.
COVID-19 Pandemic Response
Redfield was the director of the CDC when the COVID-19 pandemic began. On January 8, 2020, he learned that the virus causing COVID-19 could likely spread between people. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was found on January 20, 2020. Redfield became a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
In February 2020, the CDC's first coronavirus test kits had problems. It took about three weeks to fix these issues. This delayed widespread testing in the United States. Later investigations found that the CDC had not followed its own rules when developing the test.
Redfield testified to Congress in March 2020 about the outbreak. He explained that social distancing could be effective in slowing the virus. In July 2020, he warned that the winter of 2020–2021 would be very difficult for public health. He also said that if everyone wore a mask, the epidemic could be brought under control in a few weeks.
In September 2020, Redfield disagreed with President Trump about the timeline for a COVID-19 vaccine. Redfield told a Senate group that a vaccine might be available for some people by late 2020. However, he said it would not be available for the general public until the summer or fall of 2021. He also stated that masks could be more effective than a vaccine in preventing the spread of the virus.
Later Life and Views
After leaving the CDC, Redfield shared his opinion on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 26, 2021, he said he believed the virus most likely came from a laboratory escape. He explained that as a virologist, he thought it did not make "biological sense" for the virus to be so good at spreading between humans right from the start if it came from animals naturally.
In June 2021, Redfield said he received threats because of his views on the virus's origin. He felt that other scientists sometimes criticized him for suggesting this idea. In March 2023, he spoke at a congressional hearing about the origins of COVID-19. He repeated his belief that the virus came from a lab. He based this on how easily the virus spread from person to person. He also mentioned that research to make viruses more transmissible or harmful had been funded by U.S. government agencies in Wuhan.
Personal Life
Robert Redfield is married to Joyce Hoke. They met when he was a medical student and she was a nursing assistant. They have six children and nine grandchildren.
See also
- HIV/AIDS research
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
