Infection Expert Named CDC Chief

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And it¹s a female, so maybe she¹ll put some priority on autoimmune diseases!

Infection Expert Named CDC Chief

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Jul 2, 11:16 AM (ET)

By LAURAN NEERGAARD

WASHINGTON (AP) - A scientist on the front lines of the

anthrax investigation has been tapped to head the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, administration officials said

Tuesday.

Dr. Gerberding will become the first female director of the

CDC, the nation's top public health agency.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy is

scheduled to announce the appointment Wednesday afternoon

at the CDC's Atlanta headquarters, said an administration

official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Gerberding, 46, is the CDC's acting deputy director for

science.

An infectious-disease specialist credited with pioneering steps

to protect health care workers exposed to the AIDS virus,

Gerberding was recruited to the CDC in 1998 and went on to

become one of its most quoted, unflappable investigators into

last fall's anthrax attacks.

" The country could not be better served, " said Dr. Julius R.

Krevans, chancellor emeritus at the University of California,

San Francisco, where Gerberding worked before joining the CDC.

" She's somebody who has been able to withstand the pressure

and take the heat and always use good science-based

judgment to make decisions, " said Dr. Curran of Emory

University, the CDC's former AIDS chief, who has known

Gerberding for over a decade.

The new CDC director faces some immediate challenges:

ensuring the agency is ready should bioterrorism strike again;

regaining trust for what critics have called its early fumbling

during the anthrax attacks; and learning to work with the CIA,

FBI and proposed Homeland Security Department, a function

new to CDC's doctors.

Gerberding " gained a lot of credibility " in Washington during

the anthrax crisis, said Dr. Gail Cassell of Eli Lilly & Co., a

bioterrorism adviser to the government who had lobbied the

White House to appoint her.

But Cassell said one of her first steps should be " a really

critical analysis of CDC and its programs, " to ensure the

agency is using new resources to properly balance

bioterrorism preparedness and day-to-day disease fighting.

The CDC investigates outbreaks of infectious diseases and

works to prevent other illnesses. Former director

Koplan stepped down March 31, saying it was time to move on

after more than three years in the job. He had defended CDC

against criticism from Congress that it had too slowly reacted

to the anthrax crisis, saying the agency had performed well in

the face of an unprecedented bioterrorist attack.

Public health organizations had lobbied hard for Gerberding's

appointment, largely because of her anthrax experience.

But Gerberding has more of a medical school background than

past CDC directors, added Krevans - which could be important

as the CDC works to shore up the nation's public health

infrastructure.

She also is popular among HIV activists and physicians.

While at the UCSF and its teaching hospital, San Francisco

General, Gerberding developed one of the first programs to

give health workers stuck with HIV-tainted needles medication

to prevent infection, said Dr. Tom Coates, the university's AIDS

research director.

" She understands that if we're going to have effective

responses to this epidemic, they need to be based in science, "

added Terje of the National Association of People

With AIDS.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press