The President also announced a number of other key leadership appointments at federal health agencies.
President Trump nominated Dr. Erica Schwarts, MD, JD, MPH, for head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1
The nomination comes only weeks after reports surfaced that the
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However, President Trump posted on his Truth Social account this morning that he is “pleased to announce the new leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is my Honor to nominate the incredibly talented Dr. Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, as my Director of the CDC.”
The post continues, “Erica graduated from Brown University for College and Medical School, and served a distinguished career as a Doctor of Medicine in the United States Military, the greatest and most powerful force in the world, and then served as my deputy surgeon general during my first term.”
The president continued on to describe Dr. Schwarts as a star (which he wrote in all capital letters).
The post also contained announcements for other key leadership role at federal health agencies. The President wrote, “I am also pleased to announce the appointment of Sean Slovenski as the CDC Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Jennifer Shuford, MD, MPH, as the CDC Deputy Director and Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Sara Brenner, MD, MPH, as Senior Counselor for Public Health to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.”
The post concludes with Trump praising each of his nominees and appointees, saying that they represent what he considers to be “the gold standard of science.” He then makes a vague critique of how former President Joe Biden’s administration ran the CDC, before concluding the post with a promise to “make America healthy and great again.”
As Pharmaceutical Executive previously reported, National Institutes of Health lead Jay Bhattacharya has served as acting CDC director since taking over for the previous acting head of the agency, Jim Oneill. The previous head of the agency, Dr. Susan Monarez, was removed from the role in August 2025.
Leadership changes remain a
Most notably,
In a post on X, FDA chief Dr. Marty Makary wrote, “A year ago, Dr. Prasad came to the FDA to implement 4 major long-lasting reforms: 2-to-1 pivotal trial requirement, national priority reviews, a risk-stratified covid vaccine framework, & the new plausible mechanism framework for ultra rare diseases which we launched last week. Also, under his leadership, his center hit a record number of approvals in Dec. He got a tremendous amount accomplished within his one-year sabbatical from UCSF and will be returning back to his academic home later next month. We will name a successor before his departure.”
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