Staff Leadership

Jessica Núñez de Ybarra, MD, MPH, FACPM serves as the Chronic Disease Control Branch Chief (CDCB) in the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) since December 8, 2016.

Jessica is a Public Health Medical Administrator I, Board Certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, and a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine. 

In 2014, as a Public Health Medical Officer III (PHMO III) in CDCB she and a multi-disciplinary team authored the California Wellness Plan (CWP), the state chronic disease prevention and health promotion plan, to support and expand upon the priorities of the Let's Get Healthy California Task Force by creating a detailed road map for CDPH and its partners to promote health, eliminate preventable chronic disease and promote health equity.  Jessica continues to coordinate CWP implementation efforts with partners for collective impact to make California the healthiest state in the nation; this includes working recently to provide interim leadership with the Prevent Diabetes STAT (Screen, Test, Act – Today)™ in California Network to increase prediabetes awareness, and scale-up and sustain the National Diabetes Prevention Program in California through 2018.  She also works with partners and stakeholders to promote team based care, such as the intervention described in a recent report entitled "Comprehensive Medication Management Programs: Description, Impacts, and Status in Southern California, 2015" which she co-authored with experts. 

Jessica worked from 2005 to 2012 as a PHMO III for CDPH's Division of Communicable Disease Control facilitating internal public health communications, training and preparedness activities to address emerging infectious public health threats, including establishing and overseeing the CDPH Laboratory Directors Training Program (LabAspire from 2006 to 2012). 

Jessica received a Medical Doctorate from the University of California Davis (UCD) in 1997 and a Master in Public Health in Health Services Administration from UC, Los Angeles in 2000.  She successfully completed CDPH Preventive Medicine Residency Program (PMRP) in 2001 and CDPH Policy Fellowship in 2002.  She currently serves as interim Program Director for CDPH PMRP and as volunteer Assistant Clinical Professor at UCD School of Medicine Department of Public Health Sciences.