Shawna Mercer, MSc, PhD

Branch Chief – Community Guide Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services

Shawna Mercer, MSc, PhD, is the Chief of the Community Guide Branch, where she oversees the conduct of systematic reviews of population-based public health interventions, support for all activities of the nonfederal and independent Community Preventive Services Task Force (Task Force), dissemination of the Task Force’s recommendations and other findings, and support for decision makers interested in implementing Task Force recommendations.

Dr. Mercer previously served as Acting Branch Chief for the Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library and Acting Director of CDC’s Division of Epidemiology, Analysis, and Library Services. She also previously served as a Senior Health Scientist in CDC’s Office of the Chief Science Officer, where she led initiatives to bridge gaps between research, practice and policy, and developed CDC processes and systems to ensure CDC’s compliance with Office of Management and Budget policy requirements for scientific information. Dr. Mercer earlier served as a Health Scientist and Deputy Director of CDC’s Office of Science and Extramural Research, where she oversaw a major research grant program, explored study design options for effectiveness and translation research, and evaluated participatory approaches for bridging research and practice.