Meet President-elect Joe Biden’s full health team, including his picks for CDC director and surgeon general

By Lydia Dishman

December 07, 2020

 

With the pandemic continuing apace—and the number of coronavirus cases and deaths ratcheting up—President-elect Joe Biden has just revealed his picks for his administration’s health team.

Among them, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. He would be the first Latinx leader of the department if confirmed. Becerra helped pass the Affordable Care Act during his tenure as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served 12 terms.

Becerra and Biden’s other choices for the team will be instrumental as the U.S. continues to battle the COVID-19 crisis, especially as an approved vaccine is expected soon. Other nominees include:

    Dr. Anthony Fauci as chief medical adviser on COVID-19 to the president

    Dr. Vivek Murthy for surgeon general (he also served as surgeon general under the Obama administration)

    Dr. Rochelle Walensky for director of the CDC

    Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith as COVID-19 Equity Task Force chair

    Jeff Zients as coordinator of the COVID-19 response and counselor to the president

    Natalie Quillian as deputy coordinator of the COVID-19 response

You can check out the full list of nominees and their bios here.

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