N.I.H. Director to Serve Temporarily as C.D.C. Acting Director

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health, will also serve as the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while continuing to lead the N.I.H. He will remain in the temporary post until President Trump appoints a permanent director, a position that requires Senate confirmation.

Public health experts say it will be nearly impossible for Dr. Bhattacharya to run both agencies. The C.D.C. has been hobbled by funding cuts, firings and resignations, and many of its career leaders are gone; Dr. Michael T. Osterholm called the arrangement "a recipe for disaster." At the very least, the split is a geographic challenge: the N.I.H.

is in Bethesda, Md., and the C.D.C. is in Atlanta. Dr. Bhattacharya left Stanford to join the administration and has no formal training in public health, though his research has focused on population well-being.

United States, Bethesda; Atlanta

jay bhattacharya, nih, cdc, acting director, president trump, senate confirmation, public health, funding cuts, michael osterholm, atlanta