Washington, D.C., Mayor Fenty To Announce Appointment of New HIV/AIDS Administration Director
Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty on Thursday is expected to announce the appointment of Shannon Lee Hader, former director of CDC's Zimbabwe Global AIDS Program, as director of the city's Administration for HIV Policy and Programs, the Washington Post reports.
Hader, an epidemiologist and public health physician, has worked with HIV-positive children and adults in Africa, the Caribbean and South America, the Post reports. Hader joined CDC in 2001 as an epidemic intelligence service officer and has served as an adjunct clinical faculty member at Emory University School of Medicine. If confirmed by the D.C. City Council, Hader will be the agency's third director in three years. The position has been vacant since January, when Fenty chose not to reappoint Marsha Martin, according to the Post.
"We're very excited that Dr. Hader is joining our team," Leila Abrar, a spokesperson for the D.C. Department of Health, said, adding, "Hader is an outstanding clinician and researcher with a wealth of national and international front-line experience in the fight against" HIV/AIDS.
According to the Post, Fenty has called HIV/AIDS his administration's primary public health concern. Under a campaign launched last year, the city aimed to have all residents between ages 14 and 84 receive HIV tests. About 48,000 people were tested in 2006 -- a 75% increase compared with 2005 -- according to the Post. However, the campaign has "fallen well short of its goal," the Post reports. Fenty is scheduled to make his announcement Thursday at the Congress Heights Clinic (Holley, Washington Post, 8/9).