Steven Becknell

Deputy Director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office

Steven is the Deputy Director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, based in Tbilisi Georgia. This office supports ten countries to strengthen core systems and functions supportive of pandemic preparedness, address the intersectoral challenge of antimicrobial resistance, eliminate Hepatitis C, and address other public health challenges. In this capacity, Steven has led development of a portfolio to strengthen country capabilities with informatics and data science, with a heavy focus on workforce development programming.

Steven has been working in global health since 2000, including 18 years working overseas in Ethiopia, Vietnam, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ghana. During those assignments, he supported programs for neglected disease control eradication and elimination, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, COVID-19 response, routine immunization, antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections, and various health systems strengthening and workforce development initiatives.

Steven received his master’s degree in public health from Emory University, where he also received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy. He is currently enrolled in the implementation science track of the DrPH program at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and is interested in questions of how public health interventions and core functions are implemented with quality, impact, and at-scale.