Acting Director of the Office of Public Health Ethics and Regulations

CDC role

Rachel Hulkower is responsible for planning, managing, and evaluating the programs within OPHER. She works to ensure CDC science and research activities comply with scientific regulatory and ethical practices.

Previous experience

Since 2023, Rachel Hulkower, JD, MSPH has served as the team lead for the Privacy and Confidentiality Unit in the Office of Public Health Ethics and Regulations (OPHER). She began her public health career as a microbiologist in CDC's Streptococcus Laboratory providing support for active population-based surveillance for invasive streptococcal disease.

Before joining OS and OPHER, Rachel worked in the Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support (CSTLTS), Office of Public Health Law Services (OPHLS) as a lead for the Research and Translation team, providing technical assistance and legal epidemiology research expertise to develop legal tools and trainings for state, tribal, local, and territorial governments, and programs across CDC. She was also the senior researcher for OPHLS's public health surveillance and health information privacy and confidentiality portfolio. Rachel also previously worked in Congressional relations and issues management in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control's Office of Policy & Partnerships.

Education

Rachel received her MSPH from the University of North Carolina and her JD from Georgia State University.