Dana L. Thomas was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral (Upper Half) in March 2019. Rear Admiral Thomas is the Director of Health, Safety and Work-Life for the U.S. Coast Guard.
RADM Thomas is responsible for the Coast Guard's health care system of 41 clinics and 150 sick bays, as well as operational and off-duty mishap prevention, response and investigation. She oversees the Coast Guard's Child Development Services, Culinary Services ashore and afloat, Substance Abuse, Health Promotion and Sexual Assault Prevention, Response and Recovery programs.
Prior to her transfer to the Coast Guard in 2019, RADM Thomas served within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of State and Local Readiness, as a Career Epidemiology Field Officer in New Jersey and Puerto Rico. Concurrently, she was the CDC Division of Tuberculosis Elimination’s Field Medical Officer in Puerto Rico. Her fluency with federal, state and local infrastructure in New Jersey and Puerto Rico improved resilience and ensured appropriate medical response at the forefront of public health emergencies and disasters. Working for the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, she responded to the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone and dengue outbreaks in Tanzania and Texas.
From 2015-2017, RADM Thomas served on the leadership team of the Physicians’ Professional Advisory Committee to the U.S. Surgeon General, representing the professional interests of more than 700 uniformed service physicians in the Public Health Service. She served as the Alternate Delegate for the USPHS to the American Medical Association during 2018.
RADM Thomas completed Command and General Staff College in 2005. She graduated from residency at the Naval Aerospace Medicine Institute in 2003. She completed a dual degree, receiving her Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health degrees from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Public Health in 1998. She completed an internship in General Surgery from Tripler Army Medical Center in 1999. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Honors Biology from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1992. She is board certified in Aerospace and Occupational Medicine and deeply committed to operational medicine, prevention and public health.
Preceding her transfer to the Centers for Disease Control, she served seven years in the U.S. Coast Guard and seven years in the U.S. Army.