Coleen Boyle

Dr. Coleen Boyle is an adjunct professor in the Center for Leadership in Disability at the Georgia State University School of Public Health and serves as the COVID-19 Research Advisor at the CDC Foundation.

Dr. Boyle began her public health career at CDC in 1984 as part of a large effort to study the adverse health effects of exposure to Agent Orange, an herbicide used during the Vietnam War. Following that project, she joined CDC’s work in birth defects and developmental disabilities holding various positions of increasing responsibility until her appointment as the Director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Disabilities in 2010. She held that position until her retirement in early 2020.

Dr. Boyle’s interest and expertise span a number of areas related to child health and disability. She directed a major public health response on cochlear implants and risk of meningitis, resulting in the recall of a particular implant device and helped guide the Nation’s emergency response on reducing the potentially devastating impact of the Zika virus on birth defects and child development. Dr. Boyle led the development of CDC’s autism research and surveillance activities that have documented the changing prevalence of autism in the United States and contributed widely to the field of newborn screening overseeing CDC’s work in newborn hearing and congenital heart disorder screening.

Dr. Boyle is trained in epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Public Health and did postdoctoral work at the Yale School of Public Health. She has twice awarded CDC’s highest recognition for scientific excellence, the Charles C. Shepard Award, for her scientific work and on her retirement from CDC was honored with the Excellence in Public Health Service Award by the American Academy of Pediatrics.