WASHINGTON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Brenda Fitzgerald, health commissioner of the U.S. state of Georgia, was named as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.
In making the announcement, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Fitzgerald "has a deep appreciation and understanding of medicine, public health, policy and leadership--all qualities that will prove vital as she leads CDC."
An obstetrician-gynecologist, Fitzgerald has headed Georgia's public health department since 2011. She is set to succeed Tom Frieden who stepped down in January after taking the helm of the CDC for eight years.
On Twitter, Frieden suggested Fitzgerald, in her early 70s, listen to and learn from the CDC staff if she wants to be successful.
The CDC director oversees the Atlanta-based agency that addresses health threats in the United States and abroad and chronic health problems that troubles Americans, while advancing scientific research helpful to prevent disease.
With a bachelor's degree in microbiology from Georgia State University and medical degree from Emory's School of Science, Fitzgerald has practiced medicine for three decades in Carrollton, Georgia.
Although unsuccessful, she made two runs for Congress in early 1990s. She also served as a healthcare policy adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and spent time as a major in the U.S. Air Force.
There are doubts over her ability to run the CDC, citing her lack of scientific research experience as a reason, but her new post does not need Senate confirmation.
The current administration is proposing cutting over 1.2 billion U.S. dollars of budget, 17 percent of the total, for the agency in fiscal 2018, a move set to make operating the CDC more difficult.
