Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the head of Texas’ public health agency, has been appointed as the chief medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This announcement came from President Donald Trump, who included her name among a list of proposed leaders for the federal agency in a recent post on Truth Social.
Included in Trump’s nominations are Dr. Erica Schwartz as the CDC director, Sean Slovenski as the deputy director and chief operating officer, and Dr. Sara Brenner as senior counselor for public health to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. While Schwartz’s nomination requires Senate approval, Shuford will assume her role without such a requirement. The Texas Department of State Health Services has yet to respond to inquiries regarding Shuford’s timeline for departing her current position.
Trump highlighted the qualifications of his nominees, emphasizing their collective “knowledge, experience, and TOP degrees,” which he asserted would “restore the GOLD STANDARD OF SCIENCE at the CDC.” The agency has seen the departure of several top leaders in response to its recent shifts in public health practices, particularly concerning the vaccine schedule, which diminished the emphasis on certain childhood immunizations. Public health observers express renewed optimism regarding the CDC’s future with the appointments of scientifically knowledgeable individuals like Shuford, who do not have apparent connections to anti-vaccine movements.
Before her current role at the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Dr. Shuford had a career as an infectious disease physician in Austin. She joined the DSHS in 2017 and has been actively involved in various public health initiatives, including serving on the DSHS Preventive Medicine and Public Health Residency Program. Shuford is also affiliated with the Travis County Medical Society, the Texas Medical Association, and the Infectious Disease Society of America.
Before becoming commissioner in 2022, Shuford was the chief state epidemiologist at the health department, where she played a crucial role in managing Texas’s public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, she was instrumental in addressing the West Texas measles outbreak, which marked the largest incident in the U.S. in three decades, resulting in 762 infections and the tragic deaths of two children. The state’s effort to combat the outbreak cost over $10 million, funding vaccination and testing clinics as well as awareness campaigns.
Shuford has consistently advocated for the effectiveness of vaccinations, stating during the outbreak that the measles vaccine was crucial in eliminating the disease from the United States in 2000. She emphasized the vaccine’s importance in protecting communities during outbreaks, asserting, “We know that that vaccine works, and that’s the best protection that we can get to communities at any time of a person’s lifetime, but especially during an outbreak.”
Her unwavering support for vaccinations stands in contrast to Kennedy, who has recently altered his stance on vaccines, shifting from a previously strong opposition to a more supportive view, stating they “contribute to community immunity” in a Fox News essay last year.
Joseph Kanter, CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, praised Shuford’s appointment, noting her high regard within the public health and governmental leadership arenas. He commended her for demonstrating exceptional leadership and a committed adherence to evidence-based public health practices.
Debra Houry, who stepped down as the CDC’s chief medical officer last August, expressed concerns about a perceived decline in scientific integrity and public trust in the agency. Houry, along with two other officials, left the CDC in disagreement with the agency’s current direction under Kennedy’s leadership. In a critical piece for TIME Magazine, she linked Kennedy’s leadership to recent measles outbreaks and rising child mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases, stating, “These are not failures of clinicians or health departments. They are failures of federal leadership: predictable outcomes when trusted scientific voices are replaced by ideological leaders. The nation’s public-health infrastructure is destabilized.”
