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Dr. William Schaffner

Dr. William Schaffner is Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Department of Health Policy as well as Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. After graduating from Yale in 1957, Schaffner attended the University of Freiburg, Germany as a Fulbright Scholar. He graduated from Cornell University Medical College in 1962 and completed residency training and a Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt. He then was commissioned in the U.S. Public Health Service as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for two years. While with the CDC, Dr. Schaffner became intimately familiar with public health and investigated outbreaks of communicable diseases both in the United States and abroad. These experiences were a formative stimulus for his subsequent career. He returned to Vanderbilt after that tour of duty, joining the faculty and establishing a long collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Health. Dr. Schaffner's primary interest has been the prevention of infectious diseases. He is a strong proponent of collaboration between academic medical centers and public health institutions. He has worked extensively on the effective use of vaccines in both pediatric and adult populations and has been a member of numerous expert advisory committees that establish national vaccine policy. Dr. Schaffner is the current Medical Director and past president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and has served on the Executive Board for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Dr. Schaffner is committed to communicating about medicine to the general public. He regards this as a teaching opportunity. As such, he often is invited to comment in local and national media on communicable disease issues, translating research advances and public health events into language that the public can understand.

CDC: Nearly A Third Of Measles Cases Since 2020 Happened In The Past Three Months

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CDC Restructuring Its Agency Amid Public Criticism

Change is coming to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The goal is to regain the public's trust.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says the agency needs to respond much faster to outbreaks and share information in a way that isn't confusing.

She told The Associated Press, "I feel like it's my responsibility to lead this agency to a better place after a really challenging three years."

"This will take a time, but we need to restore trust in the CDC," said CDC consultant Dr. William Schaffner.

The shake-up comes after an internal review Walensky OKd in April. That report isn't out yet.

Reorganized CDC plans include: using more outside preprint research instead of waiting for the CDC's own review and publication, requiring CDC leaders in an outbreak response role to devote a minimum of six months on the job, restructuring the agency's communications office and changing the CDC website to make it easier to understand.

The CDC's long been criticized for confusing communication, and the COVID-19 pandemic put that center stage.

The CDC, the American Medical Association, and the National Institutes of Health say public health information should be in between sixth through eighth grades.

Newsy first reported in spring and summer 2020 that researchers found CDC guidance was written on average for someone with an 11th grade reading level.

"Approximately three grade levels above the CDC's own recommendations," said Joseph Dexter, a Dartmouth Neukom Institute Fellow.

The criticism of the nation's health agency has grown throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as public confidence has dropped.

A January 2022 poll found only 44% of Americans trusted what the CDC has communicated about the virus.

That distrust grew with the Monkeypox outbreak. There's continuing criticism over the lack of vaccines and treatments, information and help. Currently, about one in three cases globally are in the U.S.

It's uncertain how any reorganization would impact the current public health response to Monkeypox, or to COVID omicron boosters coming in the fall.

"It is achievable, but it will take a change in mindset," Dexter said.

Experts say constant updates with the public during it all will be key.

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