Debra Sanchez-Torres

Debra Sanchez-Torres has over three decades of public health and legislative policy experience at the local, state, federal, and global levels. She served temporarily as the acting Global Security Officer in Vietnam for CDC. Currently, Debra is a Senior Advisor in the Division of Diabetes Translation. She has been with DDT for ten years, serving as the Associate Director for the National Diabetes Prevention Program and, most recently, a Senior Advisor in the Program Implementation Branch responsible for various program initiatives and special projects. Debra has been with CDC for 20 years, starting her career with the Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) as a project officer and Deputy Branch Chief for the OSH-Global Health Program. Ms. Sanchez-Torres also worked in the Division of Population Health as the Deputy Branch Chief for the Healthy Aging Program. Before working at CDC, Debra worked for local non-governmental organizations on legislative policy and the State of New Mexico Department of Health, leading the rural health and primary care program and Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program.

Debra holds a Bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University and a Master’s of Public Health from the University of New Mexico.

She has an awesome 21-year-old daughter Madison who recently graduated from the University of South Carolina, a sweet fourteen-year-old Corgie/German Shepard cross (seriously), Niki (who recently passed away), and a wild 4-year-old Goberian, Indiana Jones. Debra enjoys traveling, hiking, photography, and spending time with family and friends.