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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/03/health/03CDC.html

Infectious Disease Expert Will Lead National Health Agency

By WARREN E. LEARY

ASHINGTON, July 2 — Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, an infectious disease expert noted for her work against AIDS and anthrax, will be the next director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administration officials said today.

Dr. Gerberding, a 46-year-old physician and research scientist, would become the first woman to lead the centers, the nation's principal public health agency.

Tommy G. Thompson, the health and human services secretary, will announce Dr. Gerberding's appointment on Wednesday at a ceremony at the agency's Atlanta headquarters, health officials at the administration said.

Dr. Gerberding, who is now acting deputy director for science at the agency, helped lead the centers' efforts to investigate and contain the spread of deadly anthrax spores through the mail last year.

As the centers began to understand the anthrax problem and developed a strategy for dealing with it, Dr. Gerberding assumed a larger role and spoke for the agency.

The agency's previous director, Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, left the job on March 31. Dr. Koplan defended the centers' response to the anthrax crisis, saying the agency performed well in the unprecedented situation of a bioterrorist attack.

Federal health officials said Dr. Gerberding's leadership during the anthrax attacks made her the leading candidate for the job.

"She rose to the task with the anthrax scare and gained a lot of credibility," said Dr. Gail H. Cassel, vice president for scientific affairs at Eli Lilly & Company and a member of the director's advisory committee for the disease control centers.

"She can think quickly, respond quickly, has good judgment and is very articulate," Dr. Cassel said in an interview. "She is also knowledgeable enough to admit when she doesn't know something and seek good advice."

Dr. Gerberding is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and its medical school. She also holds a master's degree in public health from the University of California.

Before joining the federal disease centers in 1998, Dr. Gerberding practiced at San Francisco General Hospital, where she eventually became director of epidemiology, and taught at the University of California campus there.

Dr. Gerberding first gained attention more than 15 years ago as a pioneer in studies on the infection of health care workers with the virus that causes AIDS.

She was one of the first to document the number of hospital workers stuck by needles and other sharp medical instruments that can lead to infections by the AIDS virus and other disease agents, and she helped write guidelines to reduce this risk.

Dr. Peter Lurie of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, a health advocacy organization in Washington, said, however, that Dr. Gerberding did not push aggressively enough to protect health workers from needle sticks.

"She has never been a strong enough advocate for H.I.V. protection in health care workers," Dr. Lurie said. "Her past record provides us with no reassurance."

A spokesman for Dr. Gerberding's office said she was not available for comment today.

Several public health experts said one of Dr. Gerberding's biggest challenges as head of the health centers would be to re-examine the agency and its programs in light of bioterrorism and its traditional role of fighting ordinary disease.

"As important as bioterrorism is, it is only part of the C.D.C.'s efforts," said Dr. William L. Roper, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina and a previous director of the health centers. "It would be unfortunate to focus predominately on bioterrorism and forget that the agency's larger role is to lead the fight against all infectious and chronic disease."

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