Dr. Rochelle Walensky, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the infectious diseases chief at Massachusetts General Hospital whose research on HIV/AIDS has helped inform national and global policy.
Walensky was tapped by Biden Monday for the critical job of running the CDC as the United States battles a deadly second surge of the coronavirus and prepares to approve and distribute vaccines.
She said on Twitter Monday she was “honored” to have been chosen and vowed to battle the virus “with science and facts” and shed light on how her experience fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic has prepared her to fight the coronavirus crisis.
Walensky will replace Dr. Robert Redfield and faces an uphill battle to restore public trust in the CDC after the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic was widely criticized as slow and ineffective.
Walensky is also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and has conducted influential research on HIV care in the US and abroad, according to an online biography from Harvard.
Walensky has been “nationally recognized for motivating health policy and informing clinical trial design and evaluation in a variety of settings,” according to an online biography from MGH.
In a March 2019 hearing before the House Oversight Committee, she testified about the high price of the HIV prevention drug Truvada and spoke about the need to lower the cost of HIV treatment and ensure the drug reaches people of color who are disproportionately affected.
“We have the scientific tools to end this HIV epidemic, and we are fortunate that pharma has developed these drugs to get us there,” Walensky said in her opening statement. “They have already profited enormously. Now in the spirit of saving lives, of preventing new infections, of putting forth a cohesive public health response, and realizing a presidential call to action, I simply ask that these drugs be reasonably priced so that those most marginalized and at risk can reap their benefit.”
She is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Association of Physicians, the HIV Medical Association Board of Directors, and the Department of Health and Human Services Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents, and she previously chaired the National Institute of Health Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council, according to the bio.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, her MD from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and her masters in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health, according to the bio.
Walensky, who will arrive at an agency charged with battling the nation’s worst public health crisis in generations, has shared her expertise on infectious diseases in a number of media appearances throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview with WBUR at the end of September, around the time when the United States surpassed 200,000 deaths due to the virus, Walensky said there had not been a unified response to pandemic.
“That unified response, listening to the science, listening to the data, being selfless in this somewhat selfish world right now is really what we need to do,” Walensky said. “And in the absence of that, the virus is winning.”
In an appearance on CNN in early September, she discussed vaccine hesitancy in the country amid news of AstraZeneca pausing its trial after a reported side effect in a patient and explained the need to develop a vaccine that is safe over one that can be developed quickly.
A number of doctors and public health experts lauded Walensky’s appointment and expressed optimism about the future of the CDC under her leadership.
She is married to Loren Walensky, a pediatric oncologist, and they have three sons, according to an online biography from the 2021 World Medical Innovation Forum. They live in Newton.
Walensky was named to Biden’s health team alongside Xavier Becerra, who was nominated to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Vivek Murthy, who was nominated to serve as surgeon general.
The CDC director does not need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Amanda Kaufman can be reached at amanda.kaufman@globe.com. Follow her @amandakauf1. Christina Prignano can be reached at christina.prignano@globe.com. Follow her @cprignano.