Georgia public health official named CDC director

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price today named as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Brenda Fitzgerald, an obstetrician-gynecologist who currently serves as Georgia’s public health commissioner and president-elect of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. She replaces Anne Schuchat, M.D., who has been acting CDC director since Jan. 20 and will return to her role as the agency’s principal deputy director. Fitzgerald previously has served as president of the Georgia OB-GYN Society and as a health care policy advisor for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-GA).