NBC “Who is Stuart Burns?” a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention texted me from the organization’s all-hands meeting in June, attaching a photo of a man seated in front of his name card.
The 60-year-old conservative with a stout build and a boyish haircut was mostly unknown to the doctors, epidemiologists and officials who had gathered to ask questions about what many have described as the gutting of their agency and the threat many believe its new leaders pose to public health.