Ralph Abraham, MD, principal deputy director of the CDC, has resigned after three months in the role.
Dr. Abraham stepped down effectively immediately to address “unforeseen family obligations,” according to a Feb. 23 statement from the CDC.
“It has been an honor to serve alongside the dedicated public health professionals at the CDC and to support the agency’s critical mission,” Dr. Abraham said in the statement.
His exit follows that of Jim O’Neill, who had served as acting CDC director since August after the ouster of Susan Monarez, PhD. Jay Bhattacharya, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health, was named acting CDC director, effective Feb. 18.
In the same week, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices canceled a meeting scheduled for Feb. 25-27. The advisory committee has reviewed vaccine safety and efficacy data and made recommendations to the CDC director since 1964.
Dr. Abraham was appointed to the principal deputy director role in November and previously served as Louisiana’s surgeon general beginning in 2024. In that position, he ordered the state’s health department to halt its mass vaccination campaign and has been a longtime critic of COVID-19 vaccination policy.
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