Biden to appoint former N.C. health secretary as next CDC director

President Biden intends to appoint as the next Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Mandy Cohen, M.D., who served as secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services during the COVID-19 pandemic and previously as chief operating officer and chief of staff for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. She currently serves as CEO of Aledade Care Solutions. 
 
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., who last month announced plans to step down June 30, said Cohen’s “unique experience and accomplished tenure in North Carolina — along with her other career contributions — make her perfectly suited to lead CDC as it moves forward by building on the lessons learned from COVID-19 to create an organization poised to meet public health challenges of the future.”