Informed observers have indicated that the President will nominate Dr. Mandy Cohen as the next Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to replace Dr. Rochelle Walensky who will step down at the end of this month.  Dr. Cohen earned an M.D. from Yale and a Masters in Public Health from Harvard.  She has extensive experience in administration having served as the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for five years before entering private industry in January 2022.  She is currently the Executive Vice President and CEO of Aledade Care Solutions, a health-consulting firm based in Bethesda, MD.   

Her accomplishments in North Carolina include expansion of the state Medicaid program and directing a rational and practical approach to preventive measures during the COVID pandemic. She advocated for personal protective measures and for vaccination when it became available.  She is known to be a good communicator and in the words of someone who has worked with her she can “listen and talk with politicians on both sides of the aisle”.

In support of her nomination, NC Governor Roy Cooper stated, “Dr. Mandy Cohen used a steady hand to help my Administration lead North Carolina through the pandemic to be among the states with the lowest deaths and job losses per capita.”  He added, “She is a brilliant, talented and battle-tested leader who would be a fantastic CDC director.”

Prior to serving as Secretary of Health in North Carolina, Cohen served in the Administration of former President Barack Obama as a senior official in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services responsible for overseeing federal health insurance coverage for 140 million citizens.

Cohen will be tasked with restoring trust in the CDC among politicians and the public. A recent survey showed that a quarter of adults that responded, expressed either a low level or no trust in the CDC recommendations during the COVID outbreak. Regrettably the Agency, with a long history of achievements in public health and a model for other nations, was subjected to political interference during the previous Administration. Hopefully Dr. Cohen can restore trust and confidence among the public and Congress and can reestablish the credibility and contribution of the Agency, vital to public health.