Trump-appointed CDC deputy director to resign after six months on the job

The deputy director and chief medical officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will resign after six months on the job, according to an agency email obtained by the Guardian.

Deputy director Dr Jennifer Shuford was appointed by Donald Trump in April as part of a four-person senior leadership team.

The appointments were meant to stabilize the agency after the previous CDC director, Susan Monarez, left less than a month into the job – publicly describing health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s directives as “unscientific”.

“I am leaving to spend more time with my family,” Shuford said in a statement, sent via email by 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.”

Shuford is expected to leave her post 12 November, after the midterm elections.

More details soon …