ATLANTA — Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will join ABC News as senior health and medical editor.
Besser was at the helm of the agency during the outbreak of novel H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu, earlier this year.
He joins the ABC News medical team headed by Dr. Timothy Johnson. Johnson becomes the chief medical editor.
Besser has a long career in public health, emergency preparedness and epidemiology. Besser began his career at the CDC in 1991 in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, working on the epidemiology of food borne diseases.
He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Williams College and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his residency and chief residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, Md.
Shelia M. Poole writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.