Nirav Shah

Nirav Dinesh Shah is an American epidemiologist, economist, attorney, and politician. He worked as an economist and epidemiologist at the Cambodian Ministry of Health. Shah was appointed as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health in 2015 and served in that role until 2019. He served as the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2019 to 2023, leading the state through the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2023, he was appointed as the principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and he assumed that position in March 2023. Following the resignation of Rochelle Walensky, Shah served as the acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July 2023 until Mandy Cohen assumed office. Shah resigned the position in February 2025. In March of 2025, Shah accepted an appointment to the faculty of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, to teach courses in public health, epidemics and crisis communication.