Biography

Cynthia Moore, MD, PhD
Director, Division of Congenital and Developmental Disorders

Cynthia Moore, MD, PhD, is the director of the Division of Congenital and Developmental Disorders in the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. In this role, Dr. Moore oversees efforts to promote healthy birth and optimal development for all children. The Division of Congenital and Developmental Disorders strives to prevent the occurrence or adverse consequences of birth defects, developmental disabilities, and pediatric genetic conditions, through surveillance, research, and intervention programs.

Her 20-year career at CDC has been in the area of birth defects and genetic disease epidemiology and activities have focused on mechanisms of morphogenesis, classification of birth defects and genetic syndromes, prevention strategies for exposure to teratogens, genetic and environmental risk factors for birth defects, and public health issues related to children with special healthcare needs. Dr. Moore’s contributions have included designing and implementing the clinical component of the China community intervention trial for folic acid and neural tube defects, leading CDC efforts to develop birth defects prevention strategies during the licensing of thalidomide for the US market, and working to decrease adverse health effects in vulnerable populations including collaborations to understand the characteristics of child deaths due to pandemic H1N1.

Dr. Moore completed her M.D. and pediatrics residency at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences and her Ph.D. and clinical fellowship in medical genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine. She holds board certification in Medical Genetics. She continues to practice clinical genetics on a part-time basis as a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University School of Medicine.

Dr. Moore has received a number of awards during her career including a Public Health Service Special Recognition Award and the 1997 Arthur S. Flemming Award for Outstanding Service in the Federal Government.