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Biden Administration International Affairs Personnel Tracker
Dr. Rochelle Walensky
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
On This Page
Dr. Walensky is currently Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital. She holds an Infectious Disease Certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine, an MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, among multiple medical residencies, fellowships, chairmanships and advisory positions in the U.S. and on the international stage.
Given that her career began in the 1990s, her research interests have centered around HIV/AIDS policy and cost-effective strategies of HIV care in resource-limited settings, through which she became an expert in viral testing, prevention, and treatment. “She is internationally recognized for motivating U.S. and global policy toward routine HIV screening;” research which has expanded to include France, Côte d’Ivoire, India, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
This position does not require Senate confirmation.
Views On China
Although her scientific research has expanded past U.S. borders and she has publicly acknowledged how “interconnected” the global community is, Dr. Walensky has few evident views on U.S. foreign policy, China, or U.S.-China relations at this time.
When questions about the origins of the coronavirus resurfaced in May 2021 after a discussion between lawmakers and Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Walensky did state that an accidental release from a lab was “certainly” was “one possibility.” In her comments, made before Congress during a hearing on the CDC’s 2022 budget, Dr. Walensky also stated: “I don’t believe I’ve seen enough data, individual data for me to be able to comment” on the origins of the pandemic though most coronaviruses “generally come from an animal origin”.
This position was added to the tracker due to the Biden Administration’s inevitable focus on bringing the COVID-19 pandemic to a close, likely with foreign counterparts, and Beijing’s connection with the virus itself that has contributed to recent strains in U.S.-China relations.
Most Recent Actions
Dr. Walensky has yet to many any public comment on or related to China or U.S.-China realtions this month.
Focused on restructuring the CDC and heading the national vaccine effort in the United States, Dr. Walensky has yet to conduct any notable liason and global activity in her position.
Archive
Media
- “CDC is criticized for failing to communicate, promises to do better,” NPR, January 7
- “CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky Takes Heat From All Sides,” The Intelligencer, January 21
In Her Own Words
- In a phone interview released around mid-November, Walensky acknowledged that the strict lockdowns such as those going on in China have been beneficial in keeping the death rate to a minimum.
To give you a sense of what lockdowns were able to do in other countries, and I mean really strict lockdowns, in China their death rate is 3 per million.
- On November 4, Walensky appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for a hearing on “Next Steps: The Road Ahead for the COVID-19 Response.”
Media
- “Fauci, Walensky testify amid child vaccine rollout, Wuhan lab funding controversy,” Fox News, November 4
In Her Own Words
- Walensky released a comment while attending the opening of a new regional CDC office in Hanoi, Vietnam on August 25, 2021.
Our longstanding partnership with the countries of the ASEAN [region has strengthened public health laboratories, emergency operations centers, surveillance systems – all tools that are being called upon during the current pandemic.
Media
- On June 8, 2021, Republicans on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent a letter to Walensky requesting information, including detailed blood samples, and a briefing from the CDC on the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the Chinese government continues to block access to pertinent data on cases in China, examination of possible evidence in the United States could shed light on the timing of when the earlier cases in China occurred…
- With a resurgence of interest in the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, during the congressional hearing for the FY 2022 budget for the CDC held on May 26, 2021, Dr. Walensky was asked to comment on “possibilities” of the origins of the pandemic:
Certainly the possibilities of, that most coronaviruses that we know of are of origin from, that have infected the population — SARS CoV-1, MERS — generally come from an animal origin.
Certainly a lab-based origin is one possibility
Media
- “CDC director warns of “impending doom” as COVID cases increase,” Axios, March 29, 2021
In Her Own Words
- “A conversation with CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky,” John Hopkins University, April 30, 2021
- Dr. Walensky was a witness at the congressional hybrid hearing on “Reaching the Light at the End of the Tunnel: A Science-Driven Approach to Swiftly and Safely Ending the Pandemic” held on Thursday, April 15, 2021. The two other witnesses were Dr. David Kessler (Chief Science Officer, COVID Response, HHS) and Dr. Anthony Fauci (NIAID Director).
- Read her full testimony HERE
COVID-19 has brought to the forefront how interconnected we are as a global community and the importance of our international scientific relationships.
- Soon after the official release of a controversial W.H.O. report on the origins of Covid-19, released in late March 2021, Walensky gave no immediate opinion, saying at a White House news conference on March 26 that “said she was looking forward to reviewing the upcoming joint report from the W.H.O. experts and Chinese scientists.”
Media
- “The new leader of the nation’s coronavirus fight has been battling diseases her whole career,” The Boston Globe, February 16, 2021
- “Biden’s New CDC Director Takes Over Institution in Crisis,” Bloomberg, January 28, 2021
Media
Walensky has never run a government agency or organization as large and complex as the CDC, but has garnered decades of experience in the medical field and was received with excitement by the vast majority of media outlets and her peers. Having led Mass General Hospital on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic since February 2020, her experiences and commitment to science has won the overwhelming support of her peers and top health officials. She has also been applauded for speaking out against current federal policies on the pandemic.
Her long-term commitment to communication and science-based decision-making has also made her peers predict she “won’t be susceptible to political pressure.” Her unexpected selection “came out of left field” but there is a confidence in her ability to face the challenge of realigning the CDC on the front lines.
In Her Own Words
While a prolific writer and researcher, Dr. Walensky has no publication on U.S. foreign policy, China, or U.S.-China relations at this time.
- “CDC director says ‘bruises are going to take a long time to heal’ at agency,” STAT, February 10, 2021
I know I have a lot of hard work ahead of me…[but] just understanding that I share their values with them and that I will stick up for those values, I think goes a really long way.
Page Last Updated: January 27, 2022
*None of the personnel in this tracker are associated with the Institute for China-America Studies. All images used on this page are sourced from the official Biden-Harris transition website buildbackbetter.gov or the public domain.*
