- The ARC - California Edition -

New Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities

The Children’s Health Act of 2000 required the establishment of a new center at CDC, the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. This has now been accomplished and Dr. Jose F. Cordero has been named as acting director of the new center. 

Dr. Cordero brings extensive public health experience in the field of birth defects and developmental disabilities. In 1973, he obtained his medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico, then completed residency training in Pediatrics at Boston City Hospital and a fellowship in Medical Genetics at the Massachusetts General Hospital. 

In 1979, he obtained a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University and joined CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer. He was assigned to the Birth Defect Branch, where he spend more than 15 years of his CDC career addressing birth defects, developmental disabilities, and other child health issues. 

A former President of the Teratology Society, a professional research society devoted to the prevention of birth defects, he has been a strong proponent of eradicating rubella (German measles), a major cause of birth defects that can be prevented through vaccination. 

In 1994, Dr. Cordero was appointed Deputy Director, National Immunization Program, and has made important and long lasting contributions in many facets of one of the Nation's most successful public health programs. He is also active in the American Public Health Association and chaired the Epidemiology Section from 1997 to 1999.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Cordero to this new role and assisting him in ensuring that the new Center gets off to a rapid and successful start. 

— Peter Leibert, Editor