Jonathan Todd Weber

Jonathan Todd Weber, MD, FACP, FIDSA (CAPT, USPHS, RET), died unexpectedly at Emory Hospital in Atlanta, GA, on Wednesday, November 13th, during surgery to repair a broken clavicle sustained in a bicycle accident on October 29th. He was 66.

Todd dedicated 32 years to the U.S. Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), retiring in 2021. His distinguished career included roles in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, and as Director of the Office of Antimicrobial Resistance. From 2007 to 2011, Todd also served as a U.S. government liaison to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm. Among his many accolades were the CDC's Excellence in Leadership Award, and recognition as a finalist for the 2013 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal, meeting President Obama at a White House ceremony.

Growing up in Brooklyn Heights, New York, Todd attended the progressive and prestigious Saint Ann's School (Class of '76) starting in second grade, the first year the newly-formed school opened its doors. Todd shared a close bond with his sister, Suzanne Weber, and his parents, the late Idelle Weber, an artist whose works are in major museums across the country, and the late Julian L. Weber, lawyer and President of National Lampoon (1979 to 1984).

Always curious and interested in learning, Todd was committed to helping people in need. So much so that, even though he spent his years at Princeton University (BA '80) as a journalism major, he decided during his senior year to instead pursue a career in public health.

As Todd explained: "I was interested in becoming a reporter during college, and took an internship with Jack Anderson, an investigative journalist. I was given a tip about a group of women in Alsea, Oregon who appeared to be having miscarriages after exposure to dioxin-contaminated herbicide periodically sprayed around their homes. These women all had a single grade-school teacher in common whom they trusted and to whom they confided these events. She kept what was for all intents and purposes an epidemiological line listing. After hearing her story about these women's experiences and writing up the article that Jack published in newspapers all over the country, I knew public health was the only thing I wanted to do."

After graduating from Princeton, Todd obtained the necessary credits for medical school at a pre-med program at Columbia University and went on to get his medical degree at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University (MD '87). Following an internal medicine residency at Bellevue Hospital Center and Tisch Hospital in New York City during the early peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Todd joined the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS).

Todd changed jobs within DHQP in 2017, becoming the Associate Director for Epidemiological Science, responsible for reviewing the division's scientific publications and serving on two of CDC's Institutional Review Boards. He was very active in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic serving as an Associate Director for Science on multiple teams.

After retirement, Todd remained committed to public health, teaching a bioethics course at Columbia University in spring 2024.

Todd is survived by his children, Bianca Maria and his son, Carlo. He is also survived by his sister Suzanne Weber, brother-in-law Chris Duva, niece Julia Duva, as well as his extended family, many friends and numerous colleagues. Todd's legacy of service and dedication to improving global health will endure in the lives he touched and the work he inspired.