Arizona State University expert directory

Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine is the Medical Director of the Health Observatory at Arizona State University, where she leads applied healthcare and population health research focused on epidemiology, public health preparedness, provider wellbeing, and heat-related health outcomes. 

Her work supports the Health Observatory’s mission to transform health data into actionable knowledge and evidence-based solutions for Arizona’s health challenges.

As an infectious disease physician and medical epidemiologist, Dr. Sunenshine earned her MD from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed residency and fellowship at Oregon Health & Science University. She joined the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS), completed the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service fellowship, and continued as a CDC assignee to the Arizona Department of Health Services as Deputy State Epidemiologist. She transferred to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH), serving as Medical Director/Chief Medical Officer for 16 years,  retiring as Captain from the USPHS in 2024.

During her tenure at MCDPH—the third-largest US local public health jurisdiction—she guided the H1N1 and COVID-19 pandemics as Incident Commander, subject matter expert and media spokesperson. With more than 65 epidemiology publications, Dr. Sunenshine brings over two decades of leadership across federal, state and local public health to ASU’s Health Observatory.