Jim O’Neill, the deputy director of HHS, was selected by the White House on Aug. 28 to replace Susan Monarez as acting CDC director.
Monarez was sacked allegedly for her refusal to go along with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s and President Donald Trump’s health and science agendas.
“During the previous administration, CDC lost public trust by manipulating health data to support a political narrative,” O’Neill wrote in a Friday post on X. “The Trump administration is rebuilding trust and refocusing CDC on its core mission of keeping America safe from infectious disease.”
While the head of the nation’s top public health agency usually has a medical and/or public health background, O’Neill has neither. He is known more for his expertise as a Silicon Valley investor.
From 2012 to 2019, he was managing director of venture capital fund mithril Capital Management, which was co-founded by famed venture capitalist and entrepreneur Peter Thiel.
O’Neill and Thiel have a long relationship. From 2008-12, O’Neill was managing director of Clarium Capital, another hedge fund run by Thiel. During this time, O’Neill was also managing director of Thiel Capital and from 2009-12, was CEO of the Thiel Foundation.
O’Neill also had a stint as the CEO of anti-aging organization SENS Research Foundation and currently serves on the board of ADvantage Therapeutics, which is developing therapies for neurodegenerative conditions with a focus on Alzheimer’s.
He did hold several positions within HHS during the two terms of former President George W. Bush.
O’Neill has come under fire for comments he made in 2014 in which he said that the U.S. FDA should permit the use of more drugs, allowing them to be taken as soon as they are determined to be safe and confirming efficacy after they are on the market.
He was considered by Trump for FDA commissioner in his first term, but Scott Gottlieb was ultimately nominated and confirmed.
Although O’Neill has been less outspoken than others in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement supported by RFK Jr., during the Covid-19 pandemic, he supported unproven alternative therapies such as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and vitamin D.
During his Senate confirmation hearing in June, O’Neill said that he supported the current CDC recommendations for vaccines. Responding to a question about RFK Jr. and his past skepticism of vaccines, O’Neill responded, “Secretary Kennedy has not made it difficult nor discouraged people from taking vaccines.”
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