About Dr. Cullen
Dr. Theresa Cullen became the Public Health Director of Pima County, Arizona, in the United States in May 2020. She successfully guided the county of over one million residents through the COVID-19 pandemic. She developed a local public health data modernization initiative, initiated and integrated a data analytics team, focusing on community engagement, human centered design, and public sharing of data through dynamic dashboards. In addition, she has developed a strategic approach to transformational health status change with a goal of helping achieve health equity.
Why she’s nominated
As Public Health Director of Pima County, Dr. Cullen has built something many health systems aspire to but few achieve: a genuine culture of continuous learning. By integrating 7-1-7 into routine surveillance reporting, she gave her department a shared metric for accountability and brought school, tribal, border, preparedness, and clinical teams into a more coordinated, learning-oriented approach to outbreak response. Through peer mentorship with other U.S. health departments, she has ensured that Pima County’s experience doesn’t stop at the county line—turning local transformation into a model for public health systems across the country and worldwide.