On Wednesday the U.S. Senate confirmed Erica Schwartz to head the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her confirmation gives the nation’s top public health body a leader after almost a year of acting directors, most recently Jay Bhattacharya, who serves as director of the National Institutes of Health. At a recent hearing before senators prior to her confirmation, Schwartz insisted that she would stand up to Kennedy on matters of public health when necessary. “If I’m confirmed as a CDC director, the nation’s health and well-being will take primacy, and I will never compromise on that,” Schwartz said at the hearing. At the same time, public faith in the nation’s top public health body is at a nadir.