Joseph Henderson

oseph Henderson has been busy since rejoining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002 as associate director of terrorism preparedness and response, a job that carries with it a $1.7 billion budget.

First, it appeared that many of the CDC's terrorism-related programs might be shifted to the Homeland Security Department. Congress eventually decided that DHS would fund two major CDC programs-smallpox vaccinations and the Strategic National Stockpile of pharmaceuticals for use in the event of a biological or chemical attack. But the CDC continues to direct program operations.

Then came the national foot-dragging on smallpox vaccinations for health professionals. Although the Bush administration wanted 500,000 people vaccinated in case smallpox was used as a bioweapon, only about 40,000 got the serum that was distributed under the CDC's National Immunization Program.

Meanwhile, for much of 2003, Henderson was drawing up a strategic plan for the CDC and devising systems for tracking the disbursement of his office's anti-terrorism funds to states, localities, and other CDC units. He also has helped CDC Director Julie Gerberding implement performance-based budgeting and is monitoring grantee preparedness.

Henderson is no stranger to stressful jobs. In late 2001, after the September 11 and anthrax attacks, he became deputy director of the CDC's Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program, which coordinated the agency's response efforts. These efforts included creating a network of laboratories ready to test suspected bioterrorism agents, improving communications with state and local governments, and stockpiling vaccines.

During the 1990s, Henderson worked on the CDC's immunization programs. Before that, he spent 10 years in the Air Force, developing the medical capacities needed to respond to the consequences of nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare. He left the CDC for a few months in early 2002 to work as the vice president and chief public health officer for Scientific Technologies, a health and information technology company in Tucson, Ariz.

He has a bachelor's degree from Wilmington College in Delaware and a master's in public administration from the University of Oklahoma.