Dr. Stephanie Harper serves as the Deputy Health Officer and Chief of Staff for the St. Mary’s County Health Department. Her responsibilities include overseeing the Divisions of Behavioral Health, Clinical Services, Community Engagement and Policy, Environmental Health, Health Promotion and Community Services, Operations, and Public Health Preparedness and Response.

Dr. Harper earned a Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She received her undergraduate degree from Spelman College, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She completed residency and fellowship training in Ophthalmology and then worked in private practice, served as the Director of Ophthalmology at Washington Medical Associates, and was an Assistant Professor at the Howard University College of Medicine where she also directed resident education. Prior to her current role, Dr. Harper served as a Health Director for the Virginia Department of Health for 14 years and as the Chief of the Bureau of Chronic Disease Control at the DC Department of Health. She was also a German Marshall Fellow, was appointed to the DC Mayor’s Bioterrorism Task Force, and served on the executive committee of the United Way. Dr. Harper is a native of the DMV, but she grew up appreciating the beauty, peace and serenity of a more rural lifestyle by spending summers visiting with her extended family.