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Massachusetts General Hospital infectious diseases chief Rochelle Walensky has been picked by President-elect Joe Biden to be the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a person familiar with the decision. Walensky will replace Dr. Robert Redfield and be charged with rebuilding a troubled federal agency that has been widely regarded as ineffectual in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and President Trump’s efforts to downplay it. (Freyer and Hilliard, 12/6)

Like Dr. Redfield and many others leading the federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Walensky draws her expertise from an extensive background in HIV. She is a widely respected policy researcher known for her work showing the cost-effectiveness of HIV testing, care and prevention strategies, and an outspoken advocate for HIV patients. She has served on several federal advisory panels. (McKay, 12/6)

As part of her work, Walensky has studied the effectiveness of a potential coronavirus vaccine. She recently completed a study in partnership with Yale University looking at the efficacy rates of the coronavirus vaccines on a general population. Using a model they developed, the research team found that regardless of a vaccine’s effectiveness, the timing of its distribution was just as important to combating the pandemic. (Choi, 12/6)

Health care leaders celebrated Walensky’s appointment after the news broke on Sunday night. “In selecting @RWalensky, Biden has chosen one of the most respected infectious disease docs in the world,” Jen Kates, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, wrote on Twitter. “She has a long history working on HIV and has, in the past year, become a tour de force in addressing COVID. She’ll take the helm of CDC at perhaps its most critical moment.” (Pager, 12/6)