After nearly 7 months as director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Julie Gerberding has announced the formation of a new executive leadership team modeled on a corporate approach. She chose a business model to manage CDC and its sister agency, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), "after consulting with corporate executives and seeing how the model could improve the agency's effectiveness, accountability and impact," according to a statement accompanying the announcement.

The team, which is already in place, is made up of five people, all of whom have experience working with the CDC or in public health. They are David Fleming, deputy director for public health science; William H. Gimson, chief operating officer; Ed Thompson, deputy director for public health services; Kathy Cahill, senior advisor for strategy and innovation; and Verla Neslund, acting chief of staff.

According to Fleming, Gerberding is trying...

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