President-elect Barack Obama is about to name new heads of the CDC and FDA, says this story in the Wall Street Journal. Julie Gerberding will step down as CDC director to be replaced by William Gimson III, the CDC's COO, for the transition. Possible permanent choices include James Marks, a former senior CDC official and now a senior vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Helene Gayle, former CDC director for HIV/AIDS and president and CEO of CARE; and Thomas Frieden, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
FDA's current science chief, Frank Torti, will serve as acting director until a permanent replacement is named. He was chosen to fill the temp spot over Janet Woodcock, director of the drug division who is currently "under fire from Congress in relation to several drug-safety issues, including the importation of contaminated heparin from China," reports the WSJ.