Robert Redfield, a leading AIDS researcher who is well-known for his clinical work but has no prior experience in heading a government agency, has been named the new leader of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Alex Azar, Health and Human Services Secretary, said in a statement that the 66-year-old doctor and virologist has “dedicated his entire life to promoting public health and providing compassionate care to his patients, and we are proud to welcome him as director of the world’s premier epidemiological agency,” The Washington Times reports.
Azar added that Redfield’s scientific and research background is “peerless” and that in his 20 years at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Redfield made “pioneering contributions to advance our understanding of HIV/AIDS.” Azar also mentioned Redfield’s recent work of spearheading an HIV and hepatitis C treatment network in Baltimore, saying that this prepares Redfield to “hit the ground running on one of HHS and CDC’s top priorities, combating the opioid epidemic.”
There was no mention of Redfield’s controversial positions on HIV testing years ago, when AIDS first started gaining attention. A Senate Democrat cited the issue on Monday, asking the White House to rethink the appointment.
Redfield, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a former Army researcher, was already on the top of the list of nominees for the position of CDC director. He was also considered for the same during George W. Bush’s term as president.
Redfield’s primary advocacy has been chronic human infections, focusing on HIV/AIDS.
He is the head of clinical care and research at the medical school’s Institute of Human Virology, which he co-founded with Robert Gallo. Gallo co-discovered that HIV was causing AIDS.
In addition, Redfield oversees the Baltimore program that provides care to oer 6,000 patients, and more than 1.3 million patients in the Caribbean and Africa, as a part of the current Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. He was also on former president Bush’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 2005 to 2009, and on several similar advisory councils at the National Institutes of Health.
Redfield’s placement as CDC director has been met with both praise and criticism, the latter mostly stemming from his previous stances on HIV/AIDS and lack of experience in leading public-health agencies.
