Fairfax County's next health director will be Dr. Parham Jaberi, the department's current deputy director for medical services.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appointed Jaberi to lead the Health Department effective Saturday, Nov. 14, according to a county press release published Tuesday, Oct. 27. He succeeds Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu, who is retiring after 23 years as director.

The department oversees public health for about 1.2 million residents in Fairfax County, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Herndon, Vienna and Clifton. It operates with an annual budget of more than $70 million and more than 900 employees. Reston residents use the Herndon-Reston Public Health Center for services including immunizations, tuberculosis screening and vital records.

Who is Dr. Jaberi?

Jaberi brings 20 years of executive leadership in local and state public health, the county said. He has served as Fairfax County's deputy director for medical services since November 2022, providing oversight for clinical public health programs, emergency preparedness and response, epidemiology and school health services.

Before joining Fairfax County, Jaberi served as chief deputy commissioner of the Virginia Department of Health from 2018 to 2022. In that role he helped oversee statewide public health operations and the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the county.

He also briefly served as Virginia's acting state health commissioner in April 2023, overseeing an agency with more than 3,400 employees and a $1.4 billion budget.

His earlier career included positions as assistant state health officer for the Louisiana Department of Health's Office of Public Health and district health director for Virginia's Chesterfield Health District. He is a board-certified preventive medicine physician with degrees from Johns Hopkins University, Tulane University and the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Addo-Ayensu's tenure

Addo-Ayensu joined the Fairfax County Health Department in 1999 and was appointed director in 2003. She led the department through the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies, and guided it to national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board, the county said.

The department is the largest local public health agency in Virginia.