Jennifer Shuford says she is leaving CDC for more time with her family

Shuford’s expected departure follows Susan Monarez’s brief CDC tenure

Dr Jennifer Shuford, the deputy director and chief medical officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will resign after six months on the job, according to an agency email obtained by The Guardian. Shuford is expected to leave her post on 12 November, after the midterm elections.

“I am leaving to spend more time with my family,” Shuford said in a statement sent via email by the CDC director, Dr Erica Schwartz. “I am so thankful to President Trump and Secretary Kennedy for giving me the opportunity to help lead CDC. It has been an amazing experience, and I will be forever grateful for it.”

President Donald Trump appointed Shuford in April as part of a four-person senior leadership team at the CDC.

Those appointments were meant to stabilize the agency after its previous director, Susan Monarez, left less than a month into the job.

Monarez publicly described the directives of the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, as “unscientific.” Her departure preceded the April appointments that brought Shuford to the agency.

Shuford held the deputy director and chief medical officer roles at the same time and is expected to leave on 12 November, after the midterm elections. The CDC is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

The agency email obtained by The Guardian gave Shuford’s expected departure date as 12 November, after the midterm elections. Shuford’s expected post-election departure would reduce the April leadership team by one member.