Trump-Appointed CDC Deputy Director Shuford to Resign Next Month
Seven Lights
Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the deputy director and chief medical officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will leave the agency on Nov. 12, a CDC spokesperson confirmed, extending a turnover of leadership that has roiled the nation’s top public health agency for more than a year.
President Trump announced Shuford’s appointment in April as part of a four-person senior team intended to steady the agency, and she began her dual roles in June. “I am leaving to spend more time with my family,” Shuford said in a statement sent by CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz, according to the Guardian. “I am so thankful to President Trump and Secretary Kennedy for giving me the opportunity to help lead CDC.”
Schwartz, confirmed by the Senate after a turbulent year at the agency, said in an email announcing the departure that she was “deeply grateful” to Shuford for navigating “an exceptionally demanding, high-profile, rapidly evolving environment.” Dr. Satish Pillai will serve as acting deputy director and chief medical officer while the agency seeks a successor.
Shuford, formerly Texas’ chief state epidemiologist, arrived after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the previous CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, in August 2025, 29 days into her tenure. Monarez described Kennedy’s directives as “unscientific.” Four senior officials resigned in the aftermath, three of them citing concerns about political interference in the agency’s scientific process.
Shuford’s exit, taking effect after next week’s midterm elections, continues a pattern in which Trump-appointed health officials serve brief tenures. During her time in office, Kennedy dismissed the entire 17-member advisory committee on immunizations and replaced its members with appointees sharing his views, changes that public health researchers say reduced confidence in the agency’s vaccine guidance. Kennedy had praised the April team in a social media post as “highly respected doctors.”
The CDC did not say who would succeed Shuford on a permanent basis. Her departure leaves the four-person leadership team reshaped once again, with questions pending over the agency’s direction on vaccines and outbreak response.