President-elect Joe Biden has made selections for leaders of the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
Biden chose California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his nominee for HHS secretary. The 12-term veteran of U.S. Congress had previously advocated for healthcare issues as AG in California and led a coalition that worked to uphold the Affordable Care Act passed during the Obama administration when Biden was vice president.
Additionally, the president-elect picked Massachusetts General Hospital chief of infectious diseases Dr. Rochelle Walensky, an HIV/AIDS expert, as the nominee to head up the CDC. Walensky will be thrown into the mix of the COVID-19 pandemic response with an onus on vaccine distribution right out of the gate.
At the moment, Biden still has not selected a nominee for the role of FDA commissioner.
The president-elect has been active in shaping his future administration, naming a number of cabinet members already, while also unveiling the beginning steps to his plan for combatting COVID-19, including the appointment of a 12-person coronavirus advisory board.
Biden’s advisory board is being headed up by former surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy, former FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler and Yale University’s Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith. Dr. Luciana Borio, Rick Bright, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Dr. Atul Gawande, Dr. Celine Gounder, Dr. Julie Morita, Michael Osterholm, Loyce Pace, Dr. Robert Rodriguez and Dr. Eric Goosby round out the board.