President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and former deputy U.S. surgeon general, to serve as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I am pleased to announce the new leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),” Trump wrote. “It is my Honor to nominate the incredibly talented Dr. Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, as my Director of the CDC. Erica graduated from Brown University for College and Medical School, and served a distinguished career as a Doctor of Medicine in the United States Military, the Greatest and Most Powerful Force in the World, and then served as my Deputy Surgeon General during my First Term.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump went on to describe Schwartz as “incredibly talented” and a “STAR,” highlighting her military medical career and service in his first administration. He also named three other senior officials: Sean Slovenski as CDC deputy director and chief operating officer; Dr. Jennifer Shuford, M.D., M.P.H., as CDC deputy director and chief medical officer; and Dr. Sara Brenner, M.D., M.P.H., as senior counselor for public health to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump added that the appointees “have the knowledge, experience, and TOP degrees to restore the GOLD STANDARD OF SCIENCE at the CDC, which was an absolute disaster focused on ‘mandates’ under Sleepy Joe.” He concluded that the team would “do a TREMENDOUS job leading the CDC as we continue to MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AND GREAT AGAIN!”
Schwartz, a board-certified physician in preventive medicine (occupational medicine), has more than two decades of uniformed service across the U.S. Navy, Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and U.S. Coast Guard, where she rose to the rank of rear admiral and served as chief medical officer from 2015 to 2019.
She previously held roles as the Coast Guard’s chief of health services and chief of preventive medicine, establishing herself as the service’s principal expert on influenza pandemics. In January 2019, she was appointed deputy surgeon general of the United States, a position she held until April 2021. During that time, she helped oversee the commissioned corps’ response to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and national public health coordination efforts.
Schwartz’s educational credentials include a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering (1994) and Doctor of Medicine (1998) from Brown University, a Master of Public Health with concentrations in health services administration and occupational/environmental medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (2000–2001), and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law. She is admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.
After leaving government service in 2021, Schwartz has held corporate roles, including service on the boards of Aveanna Healthcare and Butterfly Network, and as president of insurance solutions at UnitedHealthcare.
In addition to the nomination of Schwartz, President Trump also announced three key supporting appointments designed to strengthen operational efficiency, medical expertise, and policy coordination at the CDC and across the Department of Health and Human Services.
Sean Slovenski, a longtime healthcare executive and former senior vice president and president of Walmart Health and Wellness, was named deputy director and chief operating officer. He has led innovation efforts at companies including Humana and served as CEO of health-tech ventures such as Care Innovations (a GE-Intel joint venture).
Dr. Jennifer Shuford, currently commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, was appointed deputy director and chief medical officer. A board-certified infectious disease and internal medicine physician, she previously served as Texas state epidemiologist and led the state’s COVID-19 response. She earned her M.D. from UT Southwestern Medical Center and M.P.H. from Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Sara Brenner, a preventive medicine and public health physician with expertise in diagnostics, regulation and emergency response, was named senior counselor for public health to Secretary Kennedy. She has served as acting and principal deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and coordinated federal medical-countermeasures efforts during the COVID-19 response across two administrations. She holds an M.D. from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and an M.P.H. from SUNY Albany.
The CDC has operated without a confirmed permanent director, which requires Senate approval, for most of President Trump’s second term.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
