Who Are the Acting Heads of Federal Health Agencies?
— Most, but not all, have come from within their agencies
MedPage | By David Jennifer Henderson
January 29, 2025
As President Donald Trump's picks to lead federal health agencies await confirmation hearings, there are now acting directors in place at HHS and its key sub-agencies.
Here is what is known about who is currently running the show at these sprawling and influential entities.
HHS Acting Secretary: Dorothy Fink, MD
Fink is deputy assistant secretary for women's health and director of the Office on Women's Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS. She is board certified in endocrinology, internal medicine, and pediatrics.
Soon after her appointment as acting secretary, she told agency staff leaders in a memo that an "immediate pause" had been ordered on communications, such as regulations, guidance, announcements, press releases, social media posts, and website posts, until they had been approved by a political appointee.
In a subsequent statement issued this week, Fink noted that the Office for Civil Rights at HHS would reevaluate its regulations and guidance related to federal laws on conscience and religious exercise.
"Pursuant to the President's Executive Order of Jan. 24 (enforcing the Hyde Amendment) and guidance from Office of Management and Budget, the department will reevaluate all programs, regulations, and guidance to ensure federal taxpayer dollars are not being used to pay for or promote elective abortion," the statement read in part.
It also highlighted the U.S. rejoining the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women's Health and Strengthening the Family, which is based around the following pillars: better health for women, preservation of human life, strengthening of the family as the foundational unit of society, and protection of every nation's national sovereignty.
Fink received her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. Previously, her clinical practice focused on women from adolescence through menopause and later in life, with areas of expertise including diabetes, nutrition, and bone health.
NIH Acting Director: Matthew Memoli, MD
At NIH, Memoli heads the Laboratory of Infectious Disease (LID) Clinical Studies Unit (CSU), where much of the research has focused on influenza and respiratory viruses with regard to vaccines, transmission, and at-risk populations.
"Translating science from bedside to bench and then back to the bedside in the form of a product that can prevent or treat an infection is an extremely important part of the development of future impactful vaccines and therapeutics," a description of the LID CSU states.
Though an NIH insider, Memoli has previously pushed back against the U.S. response to COVID, according to reporting this week from STAT.
In 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported that Memoli -- who had opposed mandatory COVID vaccinations and declined to be vaccinated -- was primed to make the case against such mandates at an NIH roundtable.
"Dr. Memoli said he supports COVID-19 vaccination in high-risk populations including the elderly and obese," WSJ reported. "But he argues that with existing vaccines, blanket vaccination of people at low risk of severe illness could hamper the development of more-robust immunity gained across a population from infection."
At the time, Memoli noted the following: "I do vaccine trials. I, in fact, help create vaccines. Part of my career is to share my expert opinions, right or wrong. ... I mean, if they all end up saying I'm wrong, that's fine. I want to have the discussion," according to WSJ.
Following STAT's reporting on his appointment as acting director of the NIH earlier this week, an agency spokesperson provided a statement from Memoli to the outlet that said, "My singular focus in the role of Acting NIH director is to support the transition of the new administration until a new NIH director is confirmed by the U.S. Senate and is onboard at NIH."
Memoli received a master's degree in microbiology from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and his medical degree from St George's University School of Medicine in Grenada.
CMS Acting Administrator: Jeff Wu, JD, MBA
Wu is the deputy director for policy in the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) at CMS, where he leads CCIIO's work on policy and regulations for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance reforms, according to the agency. This includes health insurance marketplaces, premium stabilization programs, advance payments of the premium tax credit and cost-sharing reductions, the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program, regulation of qualified health plans, and eligibility and enrollment standards.
In November, Wu was quoted in a report from KFF Health News on CMS' anti-fraud efforts during the ACA enrollment period, saying the agency had "ramped up support operations" at its healthcare.gov marketplace call centers in anticipation of increased demand for three-way calls. Three-way calls are necessary only when an agent or broker not associated with a consumer's enrollment wants to change the consumer's enrollment or end their coverage, he told the outlet at the time.
Prior to his position as deputy director for policy at CCIIO, Wu held other policy positions at the center, according to CMS. Before that, he worked as an attorney at the law firm Covington & Burling, and as a management consultant with the consulting firm Oliver Wyman.
Wu received his law degree from Stanford Law School and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, both in California.
FDA Acting Commissioner: Sara Brenner MD, MPH
Brenner serves as a preventive medicine and public health physician at the FDA.
"She has broad medical, scientific, and federal health policy experience including coordinating whole-of-government operations with a focus on medical countermeasures, technological innovation, regulation, public health preparedness, and data analytics on the front lines of the COVID-19 national response spanning two administrations," according to the agency.
Most recently, Brenner served as chief medical officer for in vitro diagnostics and associate director for medical affairs in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the FDA. During the pandemic, her work in the federal response included serving as the diagnostic data lead on the HHS Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup.
Prior to joining the FDA, Brenner worked as a senior policy advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where her portfolio included biomedical science, technology, and human health.
Brenner received her medical degree from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City, and an MPH degree from the SUNY University of Albany School of Public Health in New York.
CDC Acting Director: Susan Monarez, PhD
Prior to a posting on the CDC's website, CBS News reported that the Trump administration was expected to go outside the CDC by appointing Monarez -- deputy director of a federal health research agency -- as acting director.
Monarez joined the CDC from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), where she most recently served as deputy director since January 2023.
Prior to her time at ARPA-H, she led initiatives "focusing on the ethical use of artificial intelligence and machine learning," in support of improving health outcomes, addressing affordability and accessibility in healthcare, expanding access to mental health interventions, ending the opioid epidemic, addressing health disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality, and improving organ donation and transplantation programs.
Monarez also served at the White House in the Office of Science and Technology Policy and on the National Security Council, and has held leadership positions at the Department of Homeland Security.
She completed her doctorate degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
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