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Dr. Mandy Cohen speaks at a press conference at the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, November 10, 2021.
Brian Anderson | AP
President Joe Biden said Friday that he will appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cohen served as the head of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services during the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously helped implement Affordable Care Act programs as a senior officer at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Cohen is an internist.
“Dr. Cohen is one of the nation’s top physicians and health leaders with experience leading large, complex organizations, and with a proven track record of protecting the health and safety of Americans,” Biden said in a statement Friday.
CDC directors do not currently seek Senate confirmation, though that will change in January 2025 due to recent legislation passed by Congress.
Cohen’s appointment comes as the US federal health leadership goes through a transition period after the Covid-19 public health emergency ended last month.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the current director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is stepping down at the end of this month. She led the CDC with the launch of the Covid vaccine, as well as Delta and Omicron waves for Covid. Walinsky cited the end of the Covid emergency in her resignation letter to Biden.
Cohen will take charge of the CDC, which is undergoing a restructuring to counter criticism that the agency acted too slowly during the pandemic and often provided health guidance that confused the public.
But the CDC isn’t the only health agency going through changes.
Dr. Ashish Jha left the White House earlier this month after leading the COVID task force for more than a year.
Biden recently nominated Dr. Monica Bertagnoli To lead the National Institutes of Health. She is currently the chair of the National Cancer Institute. The NIH has been without a Senate-approved leader since December 2021.
said Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health Committee Washington Post Earlier this week, he announced that he would oppose Bertagnoli’s candidacy until the president adopts a clear strategy to lower drug prices.
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