By IDSE News Staff
Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, announced she will be stepping down as director of the CDC at the end of June, according to the agency. Dr. Walensky not only led the agency during the turbulent COVID-19 pandemic, but helped to usher in a period of greater normalcy across the United States.
Dr. Walensky was appointed director of the CDC by then president-elect Joe Biden during the presidential transition in December 2020. One of her more notable achievements was to institute wide-ranging reforms at the CDC to help the agency serve the country better during other health emergencies.
“The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency marks a tremendous transition for our country, for public health, and in my tenure as CDC Director,” Dr. Walensky wrote in a letter to President Biden describing the launch of Moving Forward—a wide-ranging set of reforms designed to strengthen communications and response operations at the CDC. “I took on this role, at your request, with the goal of leaving behind the dark days of the pandemic and moving the CDC–and public health–forward into a much better and more trusted place.”
The reforms included in Moving Forward were designed to refocus the CDC on public health action, promote accountability, and improve the timeliness and clarity of scientific communications. The reforms are underway and include everything from the number of staff ready to respond to a disease outbreak to implementing plain language training in the overhaul of the CDC’s website meant to make public health information more easily accessible.
“Clinicians and researchers who focus on combating infectious diseases are grateful for the leadership and contributions of Dr. Rochelle Walensky during her tenure leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She took on the challenge of leading the nation’s public health agency at a crucial time during the COVID-19 pandemic and her leadership saved lives,” said Carlos del Rio, MD, FIDSA, the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “Her most notable public health accomplishment at CDC was leading the rapid and efficient rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine to hundreds of millions of Americans, with a priority on safety and equity. Dr. Walensky’s efforts to modernize CDC and ensure the nation’s future health preparedness will be an important legacy.”
Dr. Walensky also assisted in the restoration of morale and normalcy at the CDC after the agency had endured significant public adversity stemming from the pandemic. During her tenure as CDC director, the agency successfully addressed a multinational mpox outbreak, contained the spread of Ebola in Uganda and responded to countless infectious disease threats internationally.
She is also recognized internationally for her contributions in the improvement of HIV screening and care in South Africa. Nationally, Dr. Walensky is credited for motivating health policy and informing clinical trial design and evaluation in various settings.
“Dr. Walensky has saved lives with her steadfast and unwavering focus on the health of every American,” Mr. Biden said. “As Director of the CDC, she led a complex organization on the front lines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity. Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans. We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in the next chapter.”
Dr. Walensky served as the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2017 to 2020 and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2012 to 2020, both in Boston, prior to joining the CDC.
“While at CDC, I had the true gift of meeting, working with, and giving voice to thousands of people at the agency who work 24/7 to worry about health and public health so that the rest of the nation does not have to,” Dr. Walensky said. “I have never been prouder of anything I have done in my professional career.”
From agency materials.
