CDC deputy director to leave administration after 4 months

Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) deputy director and chief medical officer, is leaving the agency after just four months on the job.

Shuford, an infectious disease physician, was a former Texas health commissioner. She was appointed in April as part of a leadership team to support director Erica Schwartz, along with Sean Slovenski as CDC’s chief operating officer.

Shuford will stay on until just after the midterm elections. Her last day at CDC will be Nov. 12, the agency said.

“I am leaving to spend more time with my 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,” Shuford said in a statement.

Satish Pillai, a career public health official, will serve as the agency’s acting deputy director and chief medical officer while the CDC looks for a permanent replacement. CDC said it will “initiate the process of identifying a permanent successor in the near future.”

Shuford’s departure comes as CDC faces criticism over the nation’s continuously spreading measles outbreak, as well as a dispute with Pennsylvania over the agency’s refusal to acknowledge several measles-related deaths.

As chief medical officer, Shuford would have been directly involved in determining how the agency defines a measles death. She also coordinated the CDC’s response to the Ebola outbreak in Africa and was involved in the decision to quarantine overseas Americans exposed to the virus instead of repatriating them.

“I imagine that she has found her red line,” Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned from the agency in protest in August 2025, told The Hill in a text message. “She is an excellent public health leader. I fear what is to come next.”

During her time in Texas, Shuford gained respect from career CDC career staff as she coordinated the state’s response to a measles outbreak last year.

“I am deeply grateful for Dr. Shuford’s outstanding leadership and commitment to CDC and public health, especially as she has navigated an exceptionally demanding, high-profile, and constantly evolving environment over the past several months,” Schwartz said in a statement.