President Donald Trump has unveiled a new leadership team for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nominating Dr. Erica Schwartz as the agency’s director.
The announcement on Thursday, April 16, comes just hours after the U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers he expected Trump to name a nominee “today or tomorrow,” signaling a major shift in the nation’s public health leadership.
“I am 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,” Trump said in a statement.
“She is a star! Together, they will do a tremendous job leading the CDC as we continue to make America healthy and great again!”
Trump announces new CDC leadership team
The president also named Sean Slovenski as Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Jennifer Shuford as Deputy Director and Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Sara Brenner as Senior Counselor for Public Health to Secretary Kennedy.
Trump framed the appointments as a restoration of the “Gold Standard of Science” after what he described as failures under the Biden administration.
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Earlier in the day, Secretary Kennedy told members of the House Appropriations Committee’s health subcommittee that he anticipated the nominations imminently.
Reacting to the nomination later, in a statement on X, the secretary thanked President Trump for nominating Schwartz and further congratulated her and the new CDC leadership team.
Schwartz’s background
Dr. Erica Schwartz was recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She previously served as Deputy Surgeon General from March 2019 to April 2021, where she helped lead the nation’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before that, the CDC director nominee spent 24 years in uniformed service, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Coast Guard.
As Chief Medical Officer and Director of Health, Safety, and Work Life from 2015 to 2019, she oversaw medical readiness and preventive health programs across the service.
Her career also included roles as the Coast Guard’s Chief of Health Services and Preventive Medicine Chief. Since 2021, Schwartz has served on the board of Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc., a provider of pediatric and adult healthcare services.
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She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and a medical degree from Brown University, as well as a Master of Public Health from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Schwartz also holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law and is board-certified in preventive medicine.
The CDC has been without a permanent director since August, following a series of leadership changes. Trump’s earlier nominee, Dr. Dave Weldon, a former U.S. representative from Florida, was withdrawn in March 2025 amid concerns about Senate confirmation.
Scientist Susan Monarez briefly led the agency before being dismissed after disagreements over vaccines. More recently, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya oversaw the CDC while also heading the National Institutes of Health, replacing Jim O’Neill, who served as acting director for several months.
The instability has raised concerns about the CDC’s ability to provide consistent guidance amid heightened public health debate.
Schwartz’s nomination comes at a time of ongoing tension between the administration and the judiciary. Just last month, a federal judge blocked several changes to the childhood vaccination schedule introduced under Secretary Kennedy.
The ruling also paused decisions by the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
