State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney is among the contenders to head the nation’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Washington Post reported Sunday.
The deadline to appoint a new director of the nation’s top public health agency is fast approaching, with the acting director’s position expiring Thursday unless the White House submits a formal nominee for the role.
The Trump administration is seriously considering about half a dozen people as its nominee for the position, including former Kentucky Republican governor Dr. Ernie Fletcher and Johns Hopkins cardiologist Dr. Joseph Marine, according to the Washington Post. Selection for the role requires Senate approval, a change that was implemented in 2025.
Edney has served as Mississippi’s state health officer since August 2022. He replaced former State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. Edney previously served as the state agency’s deputy state health officer and chief medical officer and worked closely with Dobbs on the department’s COVID-19 response.
He is also a former president of the Mississippi State Medical Association and former board member of the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure. He was in private practice in Vicksburg for over 30 years, and is a board-certified general internist with a subspecialty board certification in addiction medicine.
Edney declined to comment on his nomination for the role.
During his tenure at the Mississippi State Department of Health, the agency has seen some improvements in public health, rising to 48th in one national ranking of 99 health measures released annually by United Health Foundation.
“The health of our population is not great, but it’s better than it was,” Edney said at a press conference Jan. 21 celebrating Mississippi’s improved state health ranking.
Mississippi has one of the highest rates of preventable diseases in the country, including heart disease, hypertension, obesity and diabetes. These conditions disproportionately affect Black Mississippians.
Edney has long been a vocal advocate for evidence-based policy and vaccination, particularly as childhood vaccination rates in Mississippi have declined following a 2023 federal court ruling that allowed parents to opt out of vaccinating their children on religious grounds.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the CDC, replaced the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel with a cohort of handpicked appointees and overhauled the childhood immunization schedule.
On March 16, a federal judge halted the Trump administration’s efforts to cut the number of vaccines recommended for children.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health, has served as acting director of the agency since February, during the search for a new director.
President Donald J. Trump dismissed former CDC director Dr. Susan Monarez, a microbiologist and immunologist, in August, about a month after she was confirmed. She testified the following month that she was ousted because she resisted Kennedy’s orders to fire top scientists at the agency or pre-approve vaccine recommendations.
The agency can only be led by an acting director for 210 days unless a nomination for the role is submitted to pause the clock.
Edney’s time as state health officer has been marked by progress and controversy.
During his tenure, Mississippi’s rates of syphilis and congenital syphilis — which began rising rapidly in 2018 — have fallen.
He has also worked to launch an obstetric system of care, promoted as a solution to the state’s persistently high rates of infant and maternal mortality, among the highest in the nation. In August, the health department declared a public health emergency over the state’s rising infant mortality rate.
At the same time, his leadership also drew scrutiny after he removed the directors of about a dozen preventive health programs from their posts last year with little public explanation. Those changes affected programs focused on chronic disease prevention, diabetes, cardiovascular health, cancer, school health, tobacco control, injury and violence prevention, heart disease and stroke prevention and oral health.
If Edney is confirmed as head of the CDC and steps down from his role as state health officer, his successor would be appointed by the 11-member Board of Health, whose members are selected by the governor. Two seats are currently vacant.
Hence then, the article about trump administration adds state health officer dr dan edney to short list of nominees for cdc director was published today ( ) and is available on Mississippi Today ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Trump administration adds State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney to short list of nominees for CDC director )
Also on site :
- Your citizens don't stay put in Stellaris-style 4X strategy game Final Vanguard - start a war and "entire waves of refugees can emerge"
- Labour doesn’t care about protecting countryside, voters say
- Shropshire cricket ace lands Warwickshire captaincy role