Biden to Appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen as CDC Chief

President Joe Biden will appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen as chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after Dr. Rochelle Walensky leaves the role this month, The Hill reported.

“Dr. Cohen is one of the nation’s top physicians and health leaders with experience leading large and complex organizations, and a proven track record protecting Americans’ health and safety,” Biden said in statement Friday.

“Dr. Cohen has been recognized by leaders from both parties for her ability to find common ground and put complex policy into action. I look forward to working with Dr. Cohen as she leads our nation’s finest scientists and public health experts with integrity and transparency.”

Cohen, who received her medical degree from the Yale School of Medicine and a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is an internal medicine physician with experience working in state and federal government. She served as North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services through the pandemic before taking a role in the private sector.

Former Biden adviser Andy Slavitt, who worked with Cohen, said she doesn’t “run from a challenge.”

“She embraces the challenge,” Slavitt said. “She’s the kind of person who says the thing in the room that everybody doesn’t want to say or is fearing, including the truth about whether or not they’re doing the right thing or doing their job or not.

“She’s able to be both a participant in the solution but also kind of sit on top of the problem and have enough perspective. She reaches out to people and asks for advice, and she just goes at it without fear.”