HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, reported Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, will serve as the new CDC director, Medscape reports.
Here are five things to know:
1. Dr. Fitzgerald has been Georgia's public health commissioner since 2011.
2. As Georgia's public health commissioner, Dr. Fitzgerald launched the "Talk With Me Baby" initiative, which promotes language development in babies. Additionally, she championed childhood immunizations and strived to decrease childhood obesity.
3. An obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. Fitzgerald is the president-elect of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
4. No stranger to politics, Dr. Fitzgerald ran as a Republican for the House of Representatives in Georgia's 7th district in 1992 and 1994; she lost both times. She has also served Newt Gingrich and late Senator Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.) as a healthcare policy advisor.
5. Anne Schuchat, MD, has been serving as acting CDC director since Tom Frieden, MD, resigned in January. She will now continue to serve in her former position as the CDC principal deputy director.