Biden picks internal medicine physician Cohen to lead CDC
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Key takeaways:
- Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, who led North Carolina’s response to COVID-19, will be the next CDC director.
- Current CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, has said she will step down at the end of June.
President Joe Biden on Friday officially announced that former North Carolina secretary of health Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, will be the next director of the CDC.
Cohen, an internal medicine physician, led North Carolina’s state health department from January 2017 through the end of 2021, directing the state’s response to COVID-19 and its expansion of Medicaid.
She has experience at the federal level as the former chief operating officer and chief of staff at CMS, where she helped “implement the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges and innovative new payment models,” according to her current employer, Aledade, a physician-led organization focused on helping independent primary care practices improve patient care.
In his announcement, Biden touted Cohen’s “experience leading large and complex organizations, and a proven track record protecting Americans’ health and safety” and said she “developed innovative and nationally recognized programs that improved the health and lives of families across the state” when she led the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
“Her leadership through the COVID-19 crisis drew bipartisan praise, as did her successful transformation of North Carolina’s Medicaid program and pivotal role in the bipartisan passage of Medicaid expansion,” Biden said.
“Dr. Cohen has been recognized by leaders from both parties for her ability find common ground and put complex policy into action,” he said.
Current CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, announced last month that she would resign the position at the end of June after 2 1/2 years on the job. In a statement, Walensky congratulated Cohen on becoming the 20th CDC director.
“Her 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,” Walensky said. “I can think of no better hands in which to leave this agency during a critical time in its history. I wish Dr. Cohen and the dedicated people of CDC strength and the brightest successes in the next chapter.”
Following Walensky’s announcement last month, we began asking experts what qualities they would like to see in the next CDC director. Their responses can be found here.
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President Biden announces intent to appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/06/16/president-biden-announces-intent-to-appoint-dr-mandy-cohen-as-director-of-the-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention/. Published June 16, 2023. Accessed June 16, 2023.
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