The deputy director and chief medical officer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is leaving her job after just four months.
Jennifer Shuford, an infectious disease specialist, was appointed by President Donald Trump in April after spending almost four years as commissioner of Texas’s Department of State Health Services and started at the CDC in June. Shuford had previously served as Texas’s chief state epidemiologist and an infectious disease medical officer, as well as being an infectious disease physician in private practice.
Citing a desire to spend time with her family, Shuford confirmed her departure to the Washington Post late on Monday. Sources told the Post that she had clashed with the administration over its attempts to overhaul the U.S.’s vaccine guidance and that this reportedly factored into her leaving.
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A CDC spokesperson confirmed to Scientific American that Shuford’s last day would be Nov. 12.
“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,” said CDC Director Erica Schwartz in a statement.
Her resignation comes at a difficult moment for the CDC. The agency has come under fire from infectious disease experts for its responses to a series of ongoing measles outbreaks, including for seemingly disputing several recorded deaths from the disease in Pennsylvania. And for the first time in years, the agency has not held a flu vaccine awareness campaign ahead of flu season, leaving independent organizations to issue their own guidance. Public confidence in the CDC, meanwhile, has plummeted, with a recent survey showing only half the country trusts health recommendations from the agency.
The departure is a sign of continuing dysfunction at the CDC, said Yolanda Jacobs, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883, which represents many CDC workers, in a statement.
“When the agency’s own leadership can’t build a lasting, cohesive team, imagine the damaging effects this has on the employees they’re charged with leading,” she said. “The theatrics happening in and around CDC are continuing to cause ripple effects on the health and wellbeing of CDC employees and, ultimately, it is the public that will pay the price.”
Editor’s Note (10/27/26): This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
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