Staff Bio
Aaron (Ari) Bernstein, MD, MPH, serves as the Director for the National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR).
Role at CDC
Dr. Bernstein oversees CDC's efforts to protect people's health from environmental hazards by investigating the relationships between environmental factors and health, developing guidance, and building partnerships to support healthy decision making.
Previous experience
Prior to joining NCEH/ATSDR, Dr. Bernstein led the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE) and practiced pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital for nearly 20 years.
Dr. Bernstein is an internationally known leader in children's environmental health, having spent his career working to ensure that all children can grow up in environments that enable them to live up to their full potential. His scholarship has explored a broad range of subjects, from toxic exposures to mercury and air pollution, to global environmental changes such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity, and their effects on health and health equity.
Dr. Bernstein has held many leadership and advisory positions. He has served on the steering committee for the National Academy of Medicine's action collaborative on decarbonizing the U.S. healthcare sector, chaired the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health, was an advisor to the Dalio Center for Health Justice at NewYork-Presbyterian, and was a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors to the CDC's NCEH/ATSDR.
Education
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University, Dr. Bernstein received his Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health from the University of Chicago and Harvard University, respectively.
He is a recipient of Stanford University’s Firestone Medal for Research and a Harvard University Zuckerman Fellowship.