Episode 59 – The CDC without Scientific Leadership with Dr Demetre Daskalakis (October 21, 2025)

In episode 59 of Going anti-Viral, Dr Demetre Daskalakis joins host Dr Michael Saag to discuss his career in public health and the turnover in leadership at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr Daskalakis is an infectious diseases physician who served in leadership roles at the CDC from 2020 to 2025. He was director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and was previously director of the Division of HIV Prevention at the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. In 2022, he was appointed deputy coordinator of the White House response to the mpox outbreak. Dr Daskalakis discusses his career in public health and leadership roles in infectious diseases. Dr Saag and Dr Daskalakis have a detailed discussion about applying lessons learned from the HIV epidemic in the national response to the mpox outbreak and they discuss Dr Daskalakis’s role at the CDC in response to the current measles outbreak. They also address ideologic-driven changes at the CDC under the direction of Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services including the firing of Dr Susan Monarez and Dr Daskalakis’ subsequent resignation. Finally, they discuss the current direction of the CDC and the outlook for public health without scientific leadership. They also discuss the possibility of a renaissance for public health in the future where it can be reimagined to focus on people instead of historic funding paradigms.