Donald Trump has selected Erica Schwartz to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bringing to an end a months-long search for a permanent head of the troubled public health agency.

Trump revealed his choice on Truth Social, saying: “I am pleased to announce the new leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is my Honor to nominate the incredibly talented Dr Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, as my Director of the CDC,” he wrote. “She is a STAR!”

Schwartz must receive confirmation from the Senate before taking the role.

A rear admiral in the US Coast Guard, Schwartz previously served as deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first administration. Over more than two decades, she has held positions in the US navy, the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the US Coast Guard. Her tenure as deputy surgeon general lasted from 2019 to 2021.

Schwartz is a physician with a background that includes a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and a medical degree from Brown University. She also has a master’s degree in public health from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, as well as a law degree from the University of Maryland.

Jay Bhattacharya had been serving as acting CDC director, but that designation expired last month under federal law. The statute, known as the Vacancies Act, restricts acting officials from serving longer than 210 days in roles that require Senate confirmation.

Since Trump returned to office in January, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, and his team have taken public and private steps aimed at slowing vaccine research and guidance.

During a staff meeting in March, Bhattacharya pointed to several difficulties the agency has encountered over the past year, including repeated layoffs, declining staff morale and an incident in which a gunman fired outside the CDC’s Atlanta campus, resulting in the death of a police officer.