Sara Cody, M.D. ’93, has been named director of public health for the County of Santa Clara, Calif., and will continue her role as county health officer, which she has held since October 2013. In her dual roles, her duties will include providing public health leadership for all of Santa Clara County, including leading the development of public health policy and programs, assessing and reporting on the health status of the community, and enforcing local health orders and ordinances, while overseeing the administration of a 450-person public health department. The decision to make this structural change grew out of a desire to align the legal authorities and responsibilities for protecting the public's health with the operational functions of the department.
Following an internship and residency in internal medicine at Stanford University Hospital, Cody completed a two-year fellowship in epidemiology and public health, as an epidemic intelligence service officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She joined Santa Clara County's Public Health Department in 1998 and served as the county's communicable disease controller/deputy health officer. In this role, Cody oversaw surveillance and investigation of 83 reportable diseases, conducted investigations on outbreaks, participated in planning for public health emergencies, infectious diseases, and bioterrorism, and responded to SARS, H1N1 and other public health emergencies.