Diagnosis at CDC: Anxiety

With less than two weeks remaining until CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan steps down, anxiety within the agency is increasing. No acting director has been appointed, and no names of permanent successors have surfaced since Koplan announced his resignation three weeks ago. "Whenever there is a change in leadership, it is very upsetting to people both organizationally and personally," said Martha Katz, deputy director for policy and legislation at the CDC.

The CDC has three deputy directors: Katz, Virginia Shankle Bales and Dr. David Fleming. Though all have advanced degrees, Fleming is the only physician and has been a state health director. He is viewed by agency insiders as the most likely candidate to become interim director. The fact that he has not been tapped for that job fuels speculation that Health and Human Services (HHS), the CDC's parent agency, disagrees with the CDC's priorities. "The place is so big that many people aren't affected much by who is in the director's office," said one researcher. But if a new director were conservative enough to object to specific programs, he added, "that would be a real concern." Some researchers fear that their work -- on sexually transmitted diseases or occupational injuries, for instance -- will be interpreted as challenging administration policy.

Few staff members in the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta expect HHS to choose the next director from within the agency. As anthrax-tainted letters popped up, the CDC was widely criticized for not communicating quickly or clearly with the public. In response, some staff members said at the time they had been blocked from speaking by HHS, which wanted to ensure that Thompson was the administration's front-line spokesperson. HHS staff members have repeatedly denied that claim.

CDC researchers point to several grounds for concern. During the presidency of George H.W. Bush, some conservative senators harshly criticized CDC research into handgun injuries. Currently, President Bush's 2003 budget request -- unlikely to be enacted as written, but seen as a statement of administration intent -- proposed cuts in many programs at the CDC not related to bioterrorism.

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