ASTHO Welcomes New Leadership to Executive Team

March 11, 2026

ARLINGTON, VA — The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) is announcing three new executive team members. This includes Rachel Joseph as vice president of business development; Jennifer Layden, MD, PhD, as senior vice president of population health and innovation; and Manizha Nabieva, vice president of finance and chief financial officer.

“As ASTHO continues to pursue expanded partnerships and improved sustainability, we are thrilled to have the tremendous expertise from Dr. Layden, Rachel, and Manizha,” says Joseph Kanter, MD, MPH, ASTHO CEO. “I am confident that their experience will help our organization better support state and territorial health departments as they tackle increasingly complex challenges.”

Rachel Joseph joins ASTHO after more than a decade at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, where she led business development operations. Her work included launching a consultative services division, increasing philanthropic support, and improving internal coordination. Previously, Rachel served as director of business development for LifeBridge Health, a regional health system based in Baltimore, Maryland. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in Russian literature from Stanford University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Rachel Joseph will serve under the direction of Jennifer Layden, MD, PhD, senior vice president of population health and innovation. Most recently, Dr. Layden served as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Public Health, Data, Surveillance and Technology where she oversaw efforts to modernize public health data systems and improve the use of data for timely, actionable decision-making. During her five years at CDC, she played a central leadership role in the agency’s data modernization initiative and served as a trusted advisor to several CDC directors. She brings extensive national, state and local public health leadership experience to ASTHO. Prior to CDC, Dr. Layden held senior leadership roles with the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Illinois Department of Public Health. Her work spanned infectious disease outbreak response, electronic health record data improvements and development of a novel academic partnership to advance laboratory molecular detection.

Dr. Layden earned her undergraduate degree from Notre Dame and her medical degree and doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed clinical training in internal medicine and infectious disease as well as authored more than 70 scientific publications.

Manizha Nabieva brings over 20 years of senior leadership experience in financial and operational management, with expertise in financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, risk management, and compliance.

Most recently, Manizha served as Chief Financial Officer at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), where she led the development of a new investment strategy, implemented an ERP system, and strengthened compliance across both federal and private grants. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the George Washington University and is a Certified Accountant Practitioner (CAP) through the International Council of Certified Accountants and Auditors (ICCAA).

###

ASTHO is the national nonprofit organization representing the public health agencies of the United States, the U.S. territories and freely associated states, and Washington, D.C., as well as the more than 100,000 public health professionals these agencies employ. ASTHO members, the chief health officials of these jurisdictions, are dedicated to formulating and influencing sound public health policy and to ensuring excellence in public health practice.