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Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar announced the appointment of Dr. Robert R. Redfield to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In this role, which does not require confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Redfield will also be the administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Pictured: Dr. Robert R. Redfield (Source: IHV)

Redfield is a virologist who specializes in HIV research and most recently worked at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He was also the founding director of the Department of Retroviral Research at the U.S. Military HIV Research Program.

Some public health groups, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, criticized the appointment, arguing that Redfield has no experience running a public health agency and that he has supported the policy of reporting positive HIV results to the government without a patient’s consent.

Anne Schuchat has been serving as acting director of the CDC since January 2018 when Brenda Fitzgerald resigned from the post after Politico revealed she had purchased shares in a tobacco company.

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