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Dr. Erica Schwartz emerges as White House's top pick for CDC leader

By
Dr. Céline Gounder
Dr. Céline Gounder
Medical Correspondent
Dr. Céline Gounder, an internist, epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, is a CBS News medical correspondent as well as senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News.
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Dr. Céline Gounder,
Olivia Rinaldi
Olivia Rinaldi
White House reporter
Olivia Rinaldi is a White House reporter at CBS News. She covered President Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and was previously an associate producer for "CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell" and a broadcast associate for "Face the Nation." She is based in Washington, D.C.
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Olivia Rinaldi,
Margaret 91³Ô¹ÏÍø
Margaret 91³Ô¹ÏÍø
Moderator, "Face the Nation with Margaret 91³Ô¹ÏÍø;" Chief foreign affairs correspondent
Margaret 91³Ô¹ÏÍø is moderator of "Face the Nation with Margaret 91³Ô¹ÏÍø" on CBS. Based in Washington, D.C., 91³Ô¹ÏÍø is also the Network's chief foreign affairs correspondent and a contributing correspondent to 60 Minutes. Additionally, she appears regularly on the "CBS Evening News," leading coverage from Washington when news breaks on the political and foreign affairs fronts.
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Margaret 91³Ô¹ÏÍø

/ CBS News

Dr. Erica Schwartz has emerged as the White House's top pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to current and former officials. 

Schwartz, a Coast Guard rear admiral, served as deputy Surgeon General in the first Trump administration.

Schwartz spent 24 years in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. 

She is a graduate of Brown University's medical school and has a law degree from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Erica Schwartz
Dr. Erica Schwartz U.S. Coast Guard

The previous CDC director, Susan Monarez, was ousted from the role in August, just weeks after being confirmed, following clashes with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

In recent months, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health, oversaw the CDC on an acting basis. 

At a staff meeting in March, Bhattacharya acknowledged the struggles the agency has faced over the past year, including multiple rounds of job cuts, plummeting morale, and a gunman opening fire outside the CDC's Atlanta campus, killing a police officer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report that Schwartz had become the frontrunner for CDC head.

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