HHS People In Brief

NYC Health Commissioner Frieden heads to CDC: President Obama appoints Thomas R. Frieden as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is the second top Obama health official to have served as New York City health commissioner, a position Frieden has held since 2002. Prior to that, FDA Commissioner-designate Margaret Hamburg held the post. An infectious disease specialist, the new CDC director worked at that agency from 1990 to 2002 and worked with Hamburg in the effort to stop the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis in New York City. Their experience working together on a disease outbreak may be a bonus as both Frieden and Hamburg will likely find swine flu still on their agendas as they take office. Like a number of Obama appointees, Frieden has led smoking-reduction and cancer screening initiatives. The post does not require Senate confirmation; Frieden is expected to be on the job in June