CDC’s New Chief Plans to Rebuild Trust in the Agency

New CDC Director Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, wants to rebuild trust in the agency — both internally and with the general public — through improving communication, focusing on data collection, and translating that data into rapid responses to public health crises.

During a press event in Atlanta on Wednesday, she emphasized that a primary goal will be to lead the agency through its recent reorganization undertaken by Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, the agency’s former director.

“A lot of that hard work on the reorganization was very necessary in order to learn the lessons of the past pandemic,” Cohen said. “And I’d say that work was done before I got here. I got to join at a time where a lot of that introspection for the agency was done. They plotted a new course.”

She explained that her job will be to focus on three core principles of that reorganization, including promoting “being one team” within the agency, increasing internal access to important data, and using the first two efforts to improve the agency’s ability to respond quickly to public health issues.

“This work cannot happen without good data,” she noted. “Data is the oxygen that drives all this work. If we don’t have data, we don’t have evidence, then we can’t make good recommendations.”

Cohen also said these goals will help to build greater trust both within the agency, and between the agency and the general public, pointing out that building trust has been a staple of the public health message since before her appointment.

She said her experience leading the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that centering a public health response “around building and maintaining trust” can be an effective approach.

“Trust is absolutely foundational,” she stressed. “It is something that I talked about at my very first all-hands meeting when we brought thousands and thousands of CDC employees together. I said trust is absolutely foundational to our ability to help Americans and those around the world protect themselves.”

“And trust is not just a feeling, it’s an intentional plan,” she added.

Cohen’s comments came during an in-person press event where she wore a mask while entering and walking around the room, but not while sitting and answering questions. She said her masking approach reflected the current CDC guidance, specifically that individuals who have a close contact that has tested positive for COVID should mask in public for 10 days.

She shared that someone close to her recently tested positive, but she had tested negative before the event, allowing her to attend while wearing a mask. This real-world demonstration of the CDC’s guidance exemplified the agency’s multi-tool approach to protecting against COVID, the flu, and RSV, she said.

She also emphasized the importance of staying up-to-date on vaccines, using rapid testing for COVID, and staying home when sick, as well as the added benefit of having access to new vaccines for emerging COVID variants, as well as RSV, especially for infants.

“As long as we use these layers of tools, I think we are in a better position than we have been before,” Cohen said. “We know moving through the world is a risk. So what we tried to do with the CDC was say, hey, here are some ways in which you can help layer on protections. … It’s just thinking through what are the layers of protection you could use that make sense for you.”

Cohen concluded the event by receiving her flu shot as part of the rollout of the agency’s new “Wild to Mild” campaign to promote the flu vaccine this year.

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