Deputy Director/Chief Strategy Officer

Role at CDC

In this role, Fristedt provides strategic policy direction to advance CDC's public health mission and oversees the agency's communication activities, cross-cutting global health strategy and programs, and engagement with Congress and other Washington-based partners and policymakers.

Previous experience

Fristedt served as the Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs at the US Food and Drug Administration from 2021 to 2023. Under her leadership, FDA advanced key policies to address tobacco use, strengthen nutrition and food safety, and bolster medical product regulation, and health equity. Fristedt also oversaw the agency's engagement with Congress, securing critical new resources and authorities, most notably under the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act of 2022. Her work at FDA also focused on strengthening the agency's engagement with Tribal partners and advancing FDA's global activities.

Prior to her role with the FDA, Fristedt worked for nearly a decade in various capacities with the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). She first served as a senior advisor to Chairman Tom Harkin and later to Ranking Member and Chair Patty Murray. In addition to serving as the Senate's top Democratic public health staffer beginning in 2012, she was the HELP Committee's Deputy Health Policy Director from 2017 to 2021. Fristedt spearheaded the Senate Democratic response to COVID-19, developing extensive policy proposals that advanced over the course of the pandemic. During her time in the Senate, she also led the drafting or negotiation of a wide range of public health legislation that was signed into law, including two reauthorizations of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; legislation increasing the legal age of tobacco sale to 21; and key provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act, the Lower Health Care Costs Act, and the SUPPORT for Patients Act.

Fristedt began her federal service at CDC Washington where she led the agency's engagement with Congress on key issues, including HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis. She first joined CDC as a Presidential Management Fellow.

Before joining the federal government, Fristedt worked as a Chief of Staff in the Oregon House of Representatives and completed a fellowship at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

Education

Fristedt holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in public affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, where she studied health and health policy.