Polly Marchbanks, after receiving a PhD in epidemiology, had a 30-year career in the United States Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Beginning in CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), she worked in multiple practice and research areas.Read more
She became the first woman and first non-physician to serve as EIS Chief, leading epidemiology training and overseeing cross-cutting activities including response to public health emergencies. She was a Principal Investigator of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Women’s Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences Study, a member of the Oxford Collaborative Groups on Reproductive Cancers, and a technical advisor to WHO on evidence-based contraceptive guidelines. She taught epidemiology internationally and is a former President of the Society for Epidemiologic Research. Currently retired from CDC, she continues epidemiology collaborations. She has broad interests and expertise, particularly in women’s health. She was an Associate Editor at the American Journal of Epidemiology (AJE) from 1997-2007, and she has served as an Editor at AJE from 2007 to the present time.
