“Policy, Pundits, and Pandemics: Crisis Decision-Making at the Speed of Covid”

Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies

Health Policy Grand Rounds

Tomás Aragón, MD, DrPH,
State Public Health Officer and Director, California Department of Public Health

Dr. Tomás Aragón serves as the director of the California Department of Public Health and the State Public Health Officer, since January 4, 2021. Prior to coming to CDPH, he was the health officer for the City and County of San Francisco and director of the public health division.

Dr. Aragón has served in public health leadership roles for more than 20 years (communicable disease controller, deputy health officer, health officer, community health and chronic disease epidemiologist), including directing a public health emergency preparedness and response research and training center at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

As CDPH director, striving to embody and promote the universal values of dignity, equity, compassion and humility, he works through collaborative partnerships to mobilize communities and institutions to transform policies and systems towards a culture of equity, antiracism, healing and health for all people and our planet. As State Public Health Officer, he exercises leadership and legal authority to protect health and prevent disease.

Dr. Aragón graduated from University of California, Berkeley (B.A., Molecular Biology; Dr.P.H., Epidemiology), Harvard Medical School (M.D.), Harvard School of Public Health (M.P.H.), and Stanford University (certification in Strategic Decision and Risk Management in Healthcare). He completed his clinical and research training at University of California, San Francisco (San Francisco General Hospital Primary Care Internal Medicine; Clinical Infectious Diseases; and Traineeship in AIDS Prevention Studies).​