Dr. Michael Cannon received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at Brigham Young University in 1993.  In 1996 he received a Master of Science in Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management from the University of Washington, and in 2000 he received a PhD in Epidemiology from Emory University.  He currently works as a research epidemiologist in the Herpesvirus Section of the National Center for Infectious Disease at the Center for Disease Control.  He also is an adjunct professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory.  He was also a consultant to the World Health Organization in Angola during the Marburg virus outbreak.

Dr. Cannon is widely recognized as an expert on herpes viruses and cytomegalovirus (CMV), a disease that is a leading cause of disabilities in children.  He is a leading advocate for greater awareness and prevention of congential CMV.  He is the recipient of both the Apex Award of Excellence for health and medical writing and the Nakano Citation for an outstanding scientific paper.