The Southern Nevada Health District has a new leader, Dr. Cassius Lockett, who on March 4, 2025, replaced the agency’s outgoing District Health Officer, Dr. Fermin Leguen.
Lockett has a long history in public health, having earned a Ph.D. in nutrition science and epidemiology from UC Davis in 1999, then worked for the CDC and other agencies before landing in Las Vegas.
He says his interest in public health started young, when he was working in the restaurant industry and had the opportunity to talk to an epidemiologist about a local disease outbreak.
“At that point, I was really hooked,” he says.
Between 2014 and 2024, Lockett would work on and off for SNHD, serving as Director of Disease Surveillance and Control, Director of Community Health, and — most recently — Deputy District Health Officer of Operations.
Now, as the District Health Officer, he says a top priority during his tenure will be curbing infectious disease spread from things like measles, avian influenza, and mosquito-borne illnesses.
To do that, the Health District broke ground in February 2025 on a 12,600-foot expansion of its existing downtown public health lab. The new facility will help officials stay ahead of future outbreaks, Lockett says.
“As [Southern Nevada’s] population grows, there will be more disease incidents,” Lockett adds, “so we're trying to be prepared and position ourselves to do [more testing].”
