Erica Schwartz

Erica G. Schwartz (born ) is an American health official who is Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She previously served as Deputy Surgeon General from January 2019 to April 2021, with the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

Prior to this, she served in several positions with the U.S. Coast Guard, including as Chief Medical Officer during 2015–2019, and before that as Chief of Health Services and Chief of Preventive Medicine at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, becoming its principal expert on flu pandemics.

Early life and education Schwartz's father was a career Navy master chief petty officer stationed in San Diego, and she has three siblings who served in the military. She enrolled in Brown University's eight-year Program in Liberal Medical Education, graduating with a degree in biomedical engineering with a minor in East Asian studies in 1994, and an M.D. in 1998. and has been admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.

Career

Early career Schwartz was in the U.S. Navy until 2005. She was an occupational medicine physician with postings that included several positions at Naval Medical Clinic Annapolis, including Chief of the Occupational Medicine Clinic and the Immunization Clinic, and Head of the Preventive Medicine Department.

Deputy Surgeon General

Schwartz was appointed Deputy Surgeon General on January 1, 2019. She was the point person for the Department of Health and Human Services during the presidential transition from the first Trump administration to the Biden administration. She was not chosen by the incoming Biden administration to serve as Acting Surgeon General, and chose to resign in early 2021, concluding 27 years of combined uniformed service.

Private career From 2022 to June 2026, Schwartz was President of Insurance Solutions for Medicare and Retirement at United Healthcare. She additionally joined the board of directors of Georgia-based home care provider Aveanna Healthcare in May 2021, and of medical imaging company Butterfly Network in September 2021. As of June 2026, Schwartz remained a board member of these two organizations, as well as Searching for Solutions Institute. Following her appointment as CDC director in August 2026, she resigned from the board of Aveanna Healthcare Holdings.

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention On April 16, 2026, President Donald Trump named Schwartz as his nominee for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a July 2026 Senate nomination hearing, Schwartz stated that she supported the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization.

On August 5, 2026, Schwartz was confirmed by the Senate as CDC Director in a 51–44 vote, becoming its first permanent leader in over a year.