Departing director of CDC has drawn praise and criticism

ATLANTA — The woman who led the nation's top public health agency for more than six years is leaving the post with a mixed legacy.

Dr. Julie Gerberding has been praised for strides against bioterrorism and maintenance of the CDC's high standing with the public but also criticized for hewing closely to Bush administration politics and wrecking morale.

No permanent replacement has been named for Gerberding, who resigned as director of the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But public health experts have been raising a number of names as they speculate about a possible successor.

Gerberding's departure was revealed in a Friday night e-mail to employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the umbrella agency over CDC.

The e-mail said she will be replaced on an interim basis by a deputy as of Jan. 20, the day President-elect Barack Obama is inaugurated.

Although an HHS housecleaning has been expected with the new administration, Gerberding's fate had been somewhat unclear. The first woman to head the agency, Gerberding led the CDC through a post-Sept. 11 world of bioterrorist fears and was considered an effective communicator with legislators and the public. Colleagues said she quietly had held out hope she would be allowed to stay on.

Speculation that she might remain was fueled by Obama's selection of Tom Daschle as HHS secretary. Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, is from South Dakota — like Gerberding. But Friday's e-mail confirms she will indeed be leaving office, a CDC spokesman said.

"As part of the transition process, the administration requested resignation letters from a number of senior-level officials, including Dr. Julie Gerberding. This week, the administration accepted Dr. Gerberding's resignation, effective Jan. 20," CDC spokesman Glen Nowak said in a prepared statement.

Nowak said Gerberding was traveling in Africa on CDC business and unavailable for comment.

The CDC investigates disease outbreaks, researches the cause and prevalence of health problems, and promotes illness prevention efforts. In a 2007 Harris Poll of U.S. adults, the CDC was rated as the government agency that does the best job.

Gerberding is head of the CDC and its sister agency, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The two have a budget of about $8.8 billion and more than 14,000 full-time, part-time and contract employees. Gerberding receives a total compensation of $202,200.