Nearly one year after Susan Monarez’s departure from her role as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Erica Schwartz, MD, MPH, JD (RADM, USPHS, RET) has been named CDC director.

CIDRAP reported on the Senate’s vote to name Dr. Schwartz CDC director (51-44). The vote was pretty split between the Democratic and Republican parties, with only one Democrat voting in favor of Dr. Schwartz.

CIDRAP noted that Dr. Schwartz’s confirmation hearing was rocky, with several senators appearing “dismayed” by a few of her responses to questions. One example they pointed to was her reluctance to say that she would defy orders to limit access to or undermine vaccines. However, committee chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) shared his confidence in her, helping secure her nomination.

Dr. Schwartz’s bio, according to the CDC:

Prior to joining CDC, Dr. Schwartz served as the United States Deputy Surgeon General. During her tenure, she played a pivotal role in the COVID-19 pandemic, designing and operationalizing scalable drive-through testing sites across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. This effort resulted in the testing of nearly 11.5 million Americans and expanded access to care while preserving critical hospital capacity.

Dr. Schwartz's early career includes service as an occupational medicine physician in the US Navy. Her assignments included serving as the Chief of the Occupational Medicine Clinic and the Immunization Clinic and serving as the Preventive Medicine Department Head at the Naval Medical Clinic in Annapolis, MD. She also served as an occupational medicine physician and clinical epidemiologist at the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center in Portsmouth, VA.

In 2005, Dr. Schwartz transferred from the Navy to the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and was detailed to the US Coast Guard. She focused on developing force health protection guidance for responders during major national and global crises such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Deepwater Horizon, and the West Africa Ebola outbreak.

In 2015, Dr. Schwartz was appointed to the rank of rear admiral in the USPHS and became Chief Medical Officer for the US Coast Guard, where she oversaw the Coast Guard's healthcare system, safety program, and work-life initiatives.

Dr. Schwartz holds a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering and a Doctor of Medicine from Brown University. She also earned a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland. Her academic and professional training reflects a lifelong commitment to public health, scientific rigor, and operational excellence.