Current:Home > StocksBiden to name former North Carolina health official Mandy Cohen as new CDC director-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Biden to name former North Carolina health official Mandy Cohen as new CDC director
View Date:2024-12-23 23:53:50
The White House announced that President Biden will name Dr. Mandy Cohen, a former North Carolina official, to be the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Unlike the last two people to serve as head of the nation's top federal public health agency, Cohen has experience with running a government agency. From 2017-2022, she served as secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Before that, she was the chief operating officer and chief of staff at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, where she worked on implementing Affordable Care Act programs, including the expansion of health insurance coverage, according to the White House.
"Dr. Cohen is one of the nation's top physicians and health leaders with experience leading large and complex organizations, and a proven track-record protecting Americans' health and safety," Mr. Biden said in a statement.
She succeeds Dr. Rochelle Walensky, 54, who last month announced she was leaving at the end of June. Cohen's start date has not yet been announced. Her appointment does not require Senate confirmation.
In a statement, Walensky congratulated Cohen on her appointment.
"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.
Walensky, a former infectious disease expert at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, took over at the CDC in 2021 — about a year after the pandemic began.
Cohen, 44, will take over after some rough years at the CDC, whose 12,000-plus employees are charged with protecting Americans from disease outbreaks and other public health threats.
The Atlanta-based federal agency had long been seen as a global leader on disease control and a reliable source of health information. But polls showed the public trust eroded, partly as a result of the CDC's missteps in dealing with COVID-19 and partly due to political attacks and misinformation campaigns.
Walensky began a reorganization effort that is designed to make the agency more nimble and to improve its communications.
Cohen was raised on Long Island, New York. Her mother was a nurse practitioner. Cohen received a medical degree from Yale and a master's in public health from Harvard.
She also has been an advocate. She was a founding member and former executive director of Doctors for America, which pushes to expand health insurance coverage and address racial and ethnic disparities. Another founder was Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general. The group formed in the midst of an effort to organize doctors into political action and support Barack Obama's candidacy for president.
Cohen started working for the federal government in 2008 at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where she served as deputy director for women's health services. She later held a series of federal jobs, many of them with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, rising to chief operating officer.
In 2017, she took the health and human services job in North Carolina. A top adviser to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, Cohen was the face of her state's response to the coronavirus, explaining risks and precautions while wearing a gold chain adorned with a charm of the Hebrew word for "life."
Some residents dubbed her the "3 W's lady" for her constant reminders to wear a mask, wash hands frequently, and watch the distance from other people. One man even wrote a country-rock ballad praising her with the refrain: "Hang on Mandy, Mandy hang on."
In 2020, Cohen refused to support President Trump's demands for a full-capacity Republican convention in Charlotte with no mask wearing. Her office later said it would accommodate the GOP by relaxing the state's 10-person indoor gathering limit, but it remained adamant about masks and social distancing. Trump ultimately moved the main events from Charlotte.
Cohen resigned the state post in late 2021, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family and pursue new opportunities. She then took a leadership post at Aledade Inc., a Maryland-based consulting company.
- In:
- Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- North Carolina
- Joe Biden
- Politics
- Rochelle Walensky
veryGood! (43429)
Related
- She was found dead while hitchhiking in 1974. An arrest has finally been made.
- McDonald's brings back Spicy Chicken McNuggets to menu in participating markets
- Ruby slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz' recovered after 2005 theft are back in the spotlight
- NY state police launch criminal probe into trooper suspended over account of being shot and wounded
- Some women are stockpiling Plan B and abortion pills. Here's what experts have to say.
- Interpreting the Investment Wisdom and Business Journey of Damon Quisenberry
- Police Search Underway After 40 Monkeys Escape Facility in South Carolina
- Why Fans Think Cardi B May Have Revealed the Name of Her Third Baby With Offset
- Prosecutors say some erroneous evidence was given jurors at ex-Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial
- Cole Leinart, son of former USC and NFL QB Matt Leinart, commits to SMU football
Ranking
- Sister Wives' Janelle Brown Details to Meri Why She Can't Trust Ex Kody and His Sole Wife Robyn
- Don’t wait for a holiday surge. Now is a good time to get your flu and COVID-19 vaccines
- Climate Initiatives Fare Well Across the Country Despite National Political Climate
- Nikola Jokic's ultra-rare feat helps send Thunder to first loss of season
- Ford agrees to pay up to $165 million penalty to US government for moving too slowly on recalls
- USDA sets rule prohibiting processing fees on school lunches for low-income families
- Travis Kelce Details Meeting “Awesome” Caitlin Clark at Taylor Swift’s Indianapolis Concert
- Kirk Herbstreit's dog, Ben, dies: Tributes for college football analyst's beloved friend
Recommendation
-
Queen Elizabeth II's Final 5-Word Diary Entry Revealed
-
Cole Leinart, son of former USC and NFL QB Matt Leinart, commits to SMU football
-
Questions about sexual orientation and gender ID on track to be on US Census Bureau survey by 2027
-
$700 million? Juan Soto is 'the Mona Lisa' as MLB's top free agent, Scott Boras says
-
College Football Playoff bracket: Complete playoff picture after latest rankings
-
Best Holiday Gifts for Women: Shop Beauty, Jewelry, Athleisure, & More
-
Rachael 'Raygun' Gunn, viral Olympic breaker, retires from competition after backlash
-
Every Time Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Channeled Their Wicked Characters in Real Life