Beth Cameron, a top White House official who played a key role shaping the Biden administration’s global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is leaving her position this spring.
Cameron, who has served as senior director for global health security and biodefense at the White House National Security Council (NSC) since the start of the Biden administration, plans to leave the position in the coming weeks.
NSC spokeswoman Emily Horne said that Cameron will be replaced by Raj Panjabi, who currently serves as the global malaria coordinator at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“Dr. Beth Cameron will be departing NSC this spring,” Horne said in a statement. “Dr. Cameron was a key member of the of the Day One team to re-establish her former office and help build the U.S. global COVID-19 response and strengthen biosecurity. Dr. Cameron will remain at the NSC into the spring to ensure strong continuity of effort.”
Cameron had planned to leave the post earlier but extended her timeline to find a successor, a White House official said. Her departure was first reported by Axios on Tuesday.
Cameron has been a pivotal figure in the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response and pandemic preparedness efforts.
She runs the NSC’s Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, an office that was consolidated under the Trump administration but revived when Biden took office last year. Cameron served in the same position under the Obama administration.
It’s unclear what Cameron’s plans are for when she leaves the White House.