Dr. Robert Tauxe recently retired as Director of the CDC, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, after a 40-year career.

Dr. Tauxe earned his baccalaureate degree in cultural anthropology from Yale University, his medical degree from Vanderbilt Medical School and a Master’s in public health from Yale.  In 1984, he joined the CDC in the program then entitled the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.  His first challenge was an outbreak of E.coli O157 requiring field investigation and the laboratory application of molecular subtyping, an emerging technology.

Since joining CDC Dr. Tauxe has been at the forefront of investigating food and waterborne disease outbreaks in addition to mentoring aspirant epidemiologists in the Epidemic Intelligence Service  (EIS) program.

Dr. Tauxe has always emphasized the need for collaboration among scientists of diverse disciplines and has advocated for cooperation among state and local public health agencies in addition to the FDA and USDA. He emphasizes, “We can always count on fresh challenges because Mother Nature bats last.”  This is evidenced by emerging drug resistance, changes in eating habits and the problems arising from expansion, intensification and specialization inherent to food production systems. He stated in a recent interview “Every time there’s a challenge, there’s something to learn from it and I encourage everyone to look for the lesson in every emergency that arises.” He credits more comprehensive surveillance with the ability to identify emerging foodborne infections and with molecular subtyping to identify their source.

Dr. Tauxe has authored or co-authored more than 300 scientific contributions to journals, and texts relating to his chosen field. He is a speaker in demand having participated in numerous conferences delivering platform presentations in addition to the poultry industry. In his “retirement”, Dr. Tauxe will continue writing, mentoring and contributing to the field of food safety.