Director, Division of Global HIV and TB

CDC role

Dr. Tomlinson has served as the Director for the Division of Global HIV and TB since 2017. He guides the management of CDC’s global HIV and TB treatment, care, and prevention programs.

Dr. Tomlinson leads CDC’s engagement with the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). He works with partners within the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy to end the global HIV pandemic by 2030.

Previous experience

Prior to his current role, Dr. Tomlinson served as the Division's Principal Deputy Director. He has also served as Country Director and Division of Global HIV & TB Program Director for the CDC country office in Nigeria.

He was the Country Representative in Nigeria for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, he represented 12 operating divisions and 9 agencies in bilateral engagements with the Government of Nigeria.

During the 2022 global mpox outbreak, Dr. Tomlinson co-led the United States Government's interagency global mpox work. He collaborated with the National Security Council and the White House domestic mpox Response Team to address the outbreak.

Dr. Tomlinson began his career at CDC in 2008 in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, where his work focused on strengthening the capacity of the HIV workforce to implement science- and evidence-based interventions for HIV prevention, care, and treatment.

Areas of expertise

Dr. Tomlinson's published work focuses on the following topics:

• Epidemiology of HIV among men who have sex with men
• Strategies to reduce sexual risk for HIV transmission
• Diffusion of innovations

Education

Dr. Tomlinson earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Emory University and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Duke University. He completed his residency in clinical psychology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore VA Hospital.