Department of Health
Executive Leadership

Acting Secretary of Health
Dr. Debra L. Bogen

Dr. Debra L. Bogen is the Acting Secretary of Health. Prior to joining the Commonwealth, Dr. Bogen was the Director of the Allegheny County Health Department, where she and her staff stayed on top of the pandemic and provided consistent, measured and common-sense information to the public while working closely with many stakeholders in the county. 

Prior to that appointment, Dr. Bogen was a member of the Pittsburgh region medical and research community for more than two decades. She held a primary academic appointment as Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh, and secondary appointments in psychiatry and clinical and translational science. Dr. Bogen also served as the Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Pediatrics at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. She dedicated her career as a pediatrician to caring for children and families impacted by social inequities. Her clinical research focused on the impact of mental health and substance use on families.   

Dr. Bogen earned her medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed both her pediatric residency and general academic pediatrics fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She was one of the founders of the Mid-Atlantic Mothers' Milk Bank and served as the organization's Volunteer Medical Director until assuming her role at the state.  

Deputy Secretary for Administration
Debbie Smith

Debbie Smith is the Deputy Secretary for Administration. Ms. Smith most recently worked as a contractor with the Department of Health for the past few years. Prior to this role, she served 35 years with the Commonwealth which culminated with her appointment as Deputy Secretary for Administration with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA). She played an instrumental role in creating the Commonwealth's first Human Resource Service Center at DMVA. Her fiscal management experience began in the Department of Health, where much of her professional growth occurred over the course of twenty years.

Deputy Secretary of Health Resources and Services & Chief Business Analytics Officer
Muneeza Iqbal

Muneeza Iqbal is the Deputy Secretary of Health Resources and Services, as well as Chief Business Analytics Officer at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Ms. Iqbal oversees the Bureau of Health Statistics and Registries, the Office of Drug Surveillance and Misuse Prevention, the Health Research Office, the Primary Care Office, and the data modernization initiative. Prior to serving in this role, she was the executive advisor for Health Resources and Services, and played an instrumental role in getting the department's data modernization initiative off the ground.

Ms. Iqbal has a background in public health, healthcare policy, and journalism. Previously, she worked as a consultant with Deloitte, with a focus on improving the structure and policy of the commonwealth's non-emergency medical transportation program. Prior to that, she created a public health curriculum for medical students and raised awareness on racial biases and inequities in medical education and the healthcare industry. Her previous work in global health sparked an interest in tackling barriers to healthcare access. Ms. Iqbal has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Journalism from New York University, and a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University.

Deputy Secretary, Health Preparedness and Community Protection
Dr. Wendy Braund

Dr. Wendy E. Braund is the Deputy Secretary of Health Preparedness and Community Protection (HPCP) at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Previously she served as the COVID-19 Response Director and will continue to lead that work within HPCP. Before joining the Department, Dr. Braund was the Director of the Center for Public Health Practice, Associate Dean for Practice, and a Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Before her time in academia, she served as the Wyoming State Health Officer and Public Health Division Administrator for the Wyoming Department of Health. Before working at the state level, Dr. Braund was employed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, first in the Office of the Assistant Secretary, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and then at the Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions.

Dr. Braund’s degrees include a BA from Duke University, MSEd from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and MD from the Penn State College of Medicine. She is a 2007 graduate of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Preventive Medicine Residency Program and is board certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine.

Deputy Secretary, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Cindy Findley

Cindy Findley is the Deputy Secretary, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Ms. Findley has been with the Pennsylvania Department of Health since 2000, and began her public health career as the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Health Planning and Assessment where she was involved with the Bureaus of Community Health Systems, Health Planning, Laboratory, Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Medical Services. In this role, she worked closely with program staff and helped determine their policy needs and assisted with various procedures.

Ms. Findley then became a program administrator with the Special Kids Network in the Bureau of Family Health. From there, she was promoted to the program manager in the Division of Immunizations Vaccines for Children program, and then to the Division Director for Immunizations.

Ms. Findley has served as the Bureau Director of Communicable Diseases, where she oversaw the Divisions of Immunizations, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Tuberculosis and HIV. Ms. Findley also served as the Acting Bureau Director for Health Promotion and Risk Reduction including services for Nutrition and Physical Activity, Cancer Prevention and Control, Tobacco Prevention and Violence Prevention, as well as the acting Bureau Director  of Women’s Infants and Children. Ms. Findley has over 20 years of Social Work experience in the fields of long-term care and acute care hospital settings. She received her undergraduate degree in Social Work from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and her Master's degree in Social Work from Temple University of Pennsylvania.

Deputy Secretary, Quality Assurance
Jeanne Parisi

Jeanne Parisi is the Deputy Secretary for Quality Assurance for the Department of Health. Ms. Parisi recently served as the Department of Human Services (DHS) Bureau Director for Human Services Licensing, overseeing licensure of Personal Care Homes and Assisted Living Facilities. Prior to this, she served as DHS Division Director for Office of Long-Term Living focusing on home and community based services and managed the enrollment process for transitioning participants to managed long term services and supports in Community HealthChoices.  She began her career supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities in community based services in New York and received her Master's in Public Administration from Baruch College, City University of New York.   

Chief Counsel
Douglas Snyder

Douglas Snyder was appointed Chief Counsel to the Department of Health in January, 2023. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Snyder served as the Deputy Chief Counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Health since 2018. He served as an attorney for the Department of Health since 2007. During that time, Mr. Snyder served as counsel for numerous programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, Robert P. Casey Memorial Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Trust Fund, the Bureaus of Information and Informatics Technology, the Bureau of Health Planning, the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and the Bureau of Emergency Preparedness and Response.  He has also served as the Department of Health’s Right-to-Know Law Legal Liaison, Contracts Coordinator and as the Department’s designee for the Governor’s Advisory Council on Veteran Services. 

Prior to attending law school, Mr. Snyder served in the United States Army and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He is a 2002 graduate of Bloomsburg University. He graduated from The Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson School of Law in 2006 as a member of the school’s Woolsack Honor Society. After graduation, Mr. Snyder served as a legal intern for the Judge Advocate General and United States Army War College in Carlisle and clerked for the Honorable Richard J. Walsh of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas of the 39th Judicial District in Chambersburg.

Chief Financial Officer
Andrea Race

Director, Office of Communications
Barry Ciccocioppo

Barry Ciccocioppo is the Director of Communications at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Mr. Ciccocioppo has an extensive range of communications and media relations experience in the private and public sector where he served in the executive and legislative branches and, most recently, as communications director for the Department of the Auditor General. He completed the Management Development Institute at the Department of Labor & Industry where he led the communications team. Mr. Ciccocioppo earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Shippensburg University. He is a graduate of the U.S. military's Defense Information School and served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

Director, Office of Legislative Affairs
Dave Toth

Dave Toth is the Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Mr. Toth has over a decade of public service beginning in 2006 working as a Legislative Assistant and Chief of Staff to three state Representatives in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2015, Mr. Toth joined the Department of Human Services as a Legislative Specialist, focusing on the Office of Long-Term Living and Office of Developmental Programs. In 2017, Mr. Toth was named Legislative Director for the Department of Aging and in March of 2019 his role expanded to Director of Policy & Legislative Affairs.

Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

Director, Office of Policy

Director, Office of Operational Excellence