CDC deputy director Jennifer Shuford resigns after just four months in the role

The deputy director and chief medical officer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is leaving her job after just four months.

Jennifer Shuford, an infectious disease specialist, was appointed by President Donald Trump in April after spending almost four years as commissioner of Texas’s Department of State Health Services and started at the CDC in June. Shuford had previously served as Texas’s chief state epidemiologist and an infectious disease medical officer, as well as being an infectious disease physician in private practice.

Citing a desire to spend time with her family, Shuford confirmed her departure to the Washington Post late on Monday. Sources told the Post that she had clashed with the administration over its attempts to overhaul the U.S.’s vaccine guidance and that this reportedly factored into her leaving.

On supporting science journalism

If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

A CDC spokesperson confirmed to Scientific American that Shuford’s last day would be Nov. 12.

“I am deeply grateful for Dr. Shuford’s outstanding leadership and commitment to CDC and public health, especially as she has navigated an exceptionally demanding, high-profile, and constantly evolving environment over the past several months,” said CDC Director Erica Schwartz in a statement.

Her resignation comes at a difficult moment for the CDC. The agency has come under fire from infectious disease experts for its responses to a series of ongoing measles outbreaks, including for seemingly disputing several recorded deaths from the disease in Pennsylvania. And for the first time in years, the agency has not held a flu vaccine awareness campaign ahead of flu season, leaving independent organizations to issue their own guidance. Public confidence in the CDC, meanwhile, has plummeted, with a recent survey showing only half the country trusts health recommendations from the agency.

The departure is a sign of continuing dysfunction at the CDC, said Yolanda Jacobs, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883, which represents many CDC workers, in a statement.

“When the agency’s own leadership can’t build a lasting, cohesive team, imagine the damaging effects this has on the employees they’re charged with leading,” she said. “The theatrics happening in and around CDC are continuing to cause ripple effects on the health and wellbeing of CDC employees and, ultimately, it is the public that will pay the price.”

Editor’s Note (10/27/26): This is a breaking news story and may be updated.

Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism

Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.

When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are p***ionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.

Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber