The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has appointed Dr. Parham Jaberi as director of the Health Department, effective Nov. 14. Jaberi, who currently serves as the department's deputy director for medical services, succeeds Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu, who is retiring after 23 years as director.
Jaberi brings 20 years of executive leadership experience in local and state public health, including senior leadership positions in Virginia and Louisiana. Since November 2022, he has been Fairfax County's deputy director for medical services, providing strategic direction and oversight for the department's clinical public health programs, emergency preparedness and response, epidemiology and population health, and school health services.
During his tenure in Fairfax County, Jaberi has helped lead responses to communicable disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies, strengthened employee occupational health services and supported efforts to expand access to vaccinations and other essential health services. He has also worked with regional health care systems and community organizations to strengthen public health partnerships and address health disparities.
Jaberi previously served as chief deputy commissioner of the Virginia Department of Health from 2018 to 2022, helping oversee statewide public health operations, emergency preparedness and the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also briefly served as Virginia's acting state health commissioner in April 2023 while on partial leave from his Fairfax County position, overseeing an agency with more than 3,400 employees and a $1.4 billion budget.
His career also includes serving as assistant state health officer and interim assistant secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health's Office of Public Health, as well as district health director for Virginia's Chesterfield Health District and regional medical director for the Louisiana Office of Public Health.
Jaberi is a board-certified preventive medicine physician. He earned his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a master's degree in public health from Tulane University and a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University.
Addo-Ayensu joined the Fairfax County Health Department in 1999 and was appointed director in 2003. During her tenure, she led the department through the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies. She helped shape county public health policy and led the department in achieving and maintaining national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board.
The Fairfax County Health Department is the largest local public health department in Virginia, with an annual budget of more than $70 million and more than 900 employees. It serves approximately 1.2 million residents in Fairfax County, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Herndon, Vienna and Clifton. Its services include disease prevention and control, environmental health inspections, public health clinics, school health services, emergency preparedness and programs to improve community health and reduce health disparities.