Angela Dunn leaving Salt Lake County Health Department to join the CDC

She previously served as the Utah state epidemiologist, leading Utahns through the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Salt Lake County Health Department executive director Dr. Angela Dunn is resigning for a new role at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dunn joined the county health department in 2021, after leaving her post as Utah’s state epidemiologist. She was named state epidemiologist in 2018, and initially joined the state health department four years earlier, on assignment from the CDC as an epidemic intelligence service officer.

“It’s been my pleasure to work with Dr. Dunn,” Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said in the release. “Her ability to make critical decisions, grounded in science and compassion, has been invaluable to our community during challenges such as the COVID pandemic and beyond. As Dr. Dunn embarks on her new journey, I have no doubt that she will continue to make a profound impact on public health.”

Dunn shepherded the state through the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming the face of Utah’s fight against the coronavirus during weekly news conferences in 2020. Her supporters wore T-shirts and planted yard signs as she urged residents to mask up. But she also faced criticism for her public health stances, sometimes at her own front door after detractors circulated her address on social media and protested in front of her home.

Since moving to the Salt Lake County Health Department, Dunn brought a “renewed focus” on data, community outreach and community-led decision making, the department said in a news release. She also led the department through the latter half of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 mpox outbreak, according to the release.

“The hardest part about leaving Salt Lake County is leaving the honor of working side-by-side with each and every one of the Salt Lake County Health Department staff,” Dunn said in the news release. “I am fortunate to have such a passionate, talented, and dedicated team here.”

In her new role, Dunn will help ensure state and local health departments across the country are equipped to investigate and respond to public health threats, the release states. She will stay in Salt Lake County, and will continue working with the county health department, as she begins her new position.

Dunn’s last day as the county health department’s executive director is Feb. 16, according to the release. The Salt Lake County Board of Health will now begin a search to replace her.