Elections will be held at the Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates on June 9, 2026.
Officers and five councils are elected by the American Medical Association House of Delegates (HOD) at the Annual Meeting. Elections for contested contests are held during a special election session under the supervision of the Committee on Rules and Credentials and the chief teller, who are appointed by the speakers. Voting is conducted by secret ballot.
Dave Cundiff, MD, MPH
Candidate for Council on Science & Public Health
Term: 2026-2030
Dr. Dave Cundiff for re-election to CSAPH
My vision
You know me as an advocate for public health. In testimony, in service, and in leadership, I remain passionate about public service and about the values of our wonderful profession. Our AMA constantly advocates for physicians, and for all Americans. Our AMA’s work for public health gives perspective and credibility to everything else we do. The pandemic, and the current Administration, have illuminated our nation’s need for preparation, for equity, for public health infrastructure, and for sacrifice in service of the common good.
Our AMA’s analytic and advocacy strengths will be needed to counter current threats to public health, and to build a stronger public health system for the future. My experience as a public health official and as a clinician (board certified in both addiction medicine and public health) gives me the lived understanding to help serve the very diverse America that we live in. I will bring my profound depth and breadth of experiences to the council: urban, rural, and tribal; public and private; patient care and administration; and service to communities of diverse racial, ethnic, and economic makeup. As a member of CSAPH, I help our AMA to realize its mission as a force for public health. As we focus on “the betterment of public health” as a central component of our mission, we strengthen our AMA’s position as one of the most respected entities in American health policy. This requires:
- A focus on public health infrastructure and public education
- Courageously addressing large problems, such as smoking, infectious diseases, and health equity, at their roots
- Articulating the necessary roles of physicians at all levels of public health leadership. I love our AMA and believe in the potential our organization has to strengthen our position as the voice of physicians for our nation. I ask for your vote so that I can help make our AMA’s voice stronger, wiser and more effective through continued service on our Council on Science and Public Health
A tireless, thoughtful advocate for public health
In his work as a public health official, Dr. Cundiff has built a deep understanding of the complicated health care system and the patients it serves. He has been able to identify and implement changes that have resulted in meaningful, better care for patients. He has had leadership roles as a state public health official in New Jersey and Indiana, and as a local public health officer in Arizona, Kentucky and Washington state.
- As the director of the Bureau of Local Health Services for Indiana, he successfully implemented first-ever state funding for the general support of local health departments.
- As the Jefferson County director of health services, he led the department to become the first in Kentucky to implement smoke-free policies in all department operations. He also increased the number of service sites, expanded methadone treatment services, implemented a new drug treatment program for cocaine offenders, initiated school-based health services, and expanded lead poisoning prevention, screening, and treatment in Jefferson County. He served on the board of directors of what was then the National Association of County Health Officials (NACHO) and represented NACHO on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel on the role of public health information systems in health care reform.
- As the Maricopa County director of public health, he drafted and implemented policies and programs targeting air pollution, lead levels in children, STI prevention, immunizations and tobacco use. He achieved water fluoridation in cities serving more than half the county's population and helped pass legislation reducing child drownings by requiring physical barriers around residential swimming pools.
- As the medical director of the Washington State Medical Assistance Administration, he revised state Medicaid rules for reimbursement of physician-related services and increased communication between Medicaid managed care plans and mental health care networks, which provided mental health services for many Medicaid patients.
A profound breadth & depth of experience
Dr. Cundiff has dedicated his career and life to public health. In addition to his work as a public health official, he has worked in a variety of settings as a physician, serving patients from many different walks of life, and achieved a second board certification in addiction medicine in 2022.
- He currently serves as medical director at two recovery facilities in the Northwest. Seeing the need in his current home in Ilwaco, a town of 1,100 in remote rural Washington, he is co-founding an integrated care clinic that will combine behavioral health, primary care and other services.
- He has worked at multiple remote tribal health centers in Washington, establishing and supporting culturally competent services, including prevention of childhood trauma, SUD and violence.
- As a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs physician detailed to a Veterans Benefits Administration site, he received the deputy secretary’s award for exceptional services to help clear case backlogs while making accurate determinations.
- He has worked in private practice sites and federally-funded community health centers, lending his expertise in medical and administrative services.
- He worked as a physician at the Putnamville, Indiana Correctional Facility, and as interim medical director for two corrections centers in Washington state.
- As a senior public health physician for the New Jersey State Department of Health, he made policy recommendations, conducted medical and epidemiologic outbreak investigations, and created special surveillance systems under a CDC grant.
- As the chief of adult medical services at Park DuValle Community Health Center, the largest African-American Health Center in Kentucky, he improved patients’ ability to gain same-day appointments, assisted with many community outreach programs and presentations, and guided the system in achieving full three-year JCAHO accreditation on its first application.
- He designed and presented a public health curriculum for AAPHP and has presented on many topics in public health and addiction medicine and has served as adjunct faculty for medical and public health schools in multiple states.
- As a CSAPH member (2022-2026), he brings perspectives—sometimes unique—from rural and tribal practice, addiction practice, governmental public health practice, and other cultural and practice environments.
Love for the profession & organized medicine
Dr. Cundiff’s passion for AMA shines through at AMA meetings, where he has led as a public health physician's voice on important resolutions that come to the House. He sees organized medicine as an important place where physicians come together to advocate for themselves and their patients. He continues to actively mentor and uplift the voices of medical students and physicians as they bring their ideas to the House. He has been an AMA member since 1990 and has provided House of Delegates testimony on behalf of the American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP) since 1997.
He is especially proud of work to reduce smoking, to declare gun violence a public health crisis, and to support AMA’s work for health equity. He has been an active member of AAPHP since the 1980s and served as AAPHP president from 2000–2002. He has also chaired AAPHP’s Tobacco Control Task Force and has served as AAPHP’s delegate or alternate from 2015 to the present, with 100% attendance at House proceedings. In addition to his work at the AMA, he served for 12 years as a trustee of Thurston-Mason County Medical Society in Washington state, and as that society’s delegate to the Washington State Medical Association (also with 100% attendance at WSMA HOD meetings). He is a member of several other related organizations, such as the American College of Correctional Physicians, American Public Health Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and the National Medical Association.
Endorsements
The American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP) is proud to nominate Dave Cundiff, MD, MPH, for re-election to the AMA Council on Science and Public Health. He is endorsed by the PacWest Conference, the Specialty and Service Society, the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and the Washington State Medical Association.
Additional resources
- Visit the AMA elections page for information on other candidates running for office.
- Find up to date information for the June Annual Meeting of the HOD.
