Sources: NC's Mandy Cohen is Biden's pick to lead CDC

When Rochelle Walensky steps down at the end of the month as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a face familiar to North Carolinians will step into that leadership role.

Sources tell WRAL News that Dr. Mandy Cohen, who was North Carolina's secretary of Health and Human Services through the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to be named to the job by President Joe Biden.

Cohen, an internal medicine physician, graduated from Cornell University and received her medical degree from Yale School of Medicine. She obtained a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and joined NC DHHS in 2017.

Before COVID-19, most North Carolinians likely wouldn't have recognized Cohen on the street. But through almost-daily briefings during the pandemic, Cohen became one of the most recognizable people in the state, known for urging people to follow the "three W's" of wearing masks, washing hands and waiting apart from others to limit the spread of the virus.

With Gov. Roy Cooper, she faced the backlash from those who resisted mask mandates and, later, the push for vaccinations.

"We knew there would be consequences to any of those decisions," Cohen told WRAL News. "We tried to stay focused on the science and keeping people healthy."

She resigned from DHHS in December 2021, and joined Aledade Care Solutions in March 2022.

The Washington Post reported that Biden is expected to announce Cohen for the CDC later this month.