Rochelle Walensky to step down as CDC director

In a statement released by Walensky, she noted that the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency will also mark the end of her time at the head of the organization.

She said her goal was "leaving behind the dark days of the pandemic and moving CDC, and public health, forward into a much better and more trusted place."

"In the process, we saved and improved lives and protected the country and the world from the greatest infectious disease threat we have seen in over 100 years," Walensky said.

"She led a complex organization on the frontlines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity," Biden said in a statement. "Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans."

"We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in her next chapter," Biden added.

Walensky's career prior to being the director of the CDC included serving as the chief of the division of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, according to the hospital's website. During the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.

Walensky started her career and focused on improving HIV screening and care in South Africa. She was also the chair of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council, per the CDC.