Acting Chief Medical Officer/Acting Director, Office of Health Security
Herbert Wolfe is the Department’s Acting Chief Medical Officer and the Acting Director of the Office of Health Security (OHS), overseeing medical, public health and workforce health and safety activities with responsibilities for CBRN health threats, border health security, food, agriculture and health resilience, total workforce protection, health informatics, regional medical operations and FSLTT health engagement. Prior to the establishment of OHS, Dr. Wolfe served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Security in the Department’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office.
Dr. Wolfe joined DHS in September 2019 following a distinguished career in government service. Highlights include serving as Director for Medical and Public Health Preparedness Policy at the White House National Security Council and Chief Audit Executive for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration. Before joining the VA, Dr. Wolfe was Senior Adviser to the Director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, responsible for ensuring the agency fulfilled its mission of using the best science in public health to prevent and mitigate harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances. In this role he was the senior CDC official deployed to Flint, Michigan, to lead the agency’s response to the drinking water public health emergency. Prior to his tenure at Health and Human Services, Dr. Wolfe served as a Technical Intelligence Officer at the Central Intelligence Agency and as the Director for Combating WMD and Contingency Operations at the United States Navy Office of the Surgeon General.
From 1998 to 2002, Dr. Wolfe was a physician assistant in the U.S. Public Health Service, completing his family medicine fellowship at the Claremore Indian Hospital in Claremore, Oklahoma. He also deployed with the U.S. Public Health Service to NYC Ground Zero in the days following 9/11, providing medical care to first responders. He holds a PhD in biodefense and is considered an expert on global health security, public health, incident management, and biodefense. Dr. Wolfe was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in 2017 and was awarded the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award for extraordinary accomplishments and commitment to public service in 2023. He began his federal career in 1993.