Less than five months into her tenure as the deputy director and chief medical officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr.Jennifer Shuford will leave the agency next month, a spokesperson said.Her exit is the latest example of the leadership churn that has roiled the country’s top health agencies under the Trump administration.
Shuford’s last day will be Nov.12, the CDC spokesperson said.
In a statement provided on Shuford’s behalf, she said she was leaving to spend more time with her family.“I am so thankful to President Trump and Secretary Kennedy for giving me the opportunity to help lead CDC.It has been an amazing experience and I will be forever grateful for it,” she said.The spokesperson said Satish Pillai, who leads the agency’s Ebola response, will serve as acting deputy director and chief medical officer while the CDC looks for a permanent successor.President Donald Trump announced in April that Shuford had been appointed to CDC leadership, and she started her dual roles in June.
Previously, she was Texas’ chief state epidemiologist during the Covid pandemic, then was appointed in 2022 to be commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.In that role, she oversaw the response to the measles outbreak centered in West Texas last year, which led to more than 750 cases and the deaths of two school-age children.The CDC has lost several top leaders over the last year and a half.
The agency went without a permanent director for about a year after Health Secretary Robert F.Kennedy Jr.
fired CDC Director Susan Monarez in August 2025, just 29 days into the role.The Senate confirmed the current director, Dr.
Erica Schwartz, in August.In February, the CDC’s principal deputy director, Dr.
Ralph Abraham, stepped down, and Dr.Allison Arwady, director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, announced her departure in June.
The agency also saw a wave of departures last year after Monarez’s...