Rob Merritt, MA

Branch Chief , Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Robert Merritt’s research career has spanned nearly 30 years with the Smithsonian Institution (SI), Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  He has authored nearly 80 scientific publications and book chapters on a variety of health-related topics and was a contributing author for several Surgeon General’s Reports on Smoking and Tobacco Use. As a supervisory health scientist, he serves as Chief of the Epidemiology & Surveillance Branch in the Division for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention (DHDSP), CDC.  He also holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.  Mr. Merritt is a graduate of Washington and Lee University, Emory University and The University of the South (Sewanee) where he received academic training in sociology & anthropology, medical sociology, public health, and research methods & statistics.  His current responsibilities include tracking trends in cardiovascular risk factors and diseases and engaging in epidemiologic and health services research to support evidence-based practice and programs.  Through epidemiology and surveillance, research, and science translation, CDC helps state and national health agencies implement public health strategies to address the burden of heart disease and stroke.