NEW YORK, NY May 15, 2009 —In the midst of the swine flu outbreak, City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden is leaving. President Obama today announced Frieden will take the helm of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 48-year-old Frieden has worked at the CDC before, in the 1990s, and cut his teeth as an infectious disease specialist working on tuberculosis in New York City and then India, before Mayor Bloomberg hired him to take over the Health Department. Here, he’s largely focused on chronic health problems and is best known for leading the smoking ban in restaurants and bars, and forcing all food establishments to give up trans-fats. He’s also called for increasing sales tax on sugary beverages. At least one of Frieden’s local initiatives is at the top of President Obama’s agenda: helping physicians purchase electronic medical record systems to improve treatment, increase accountability and, eventually, reduce the cost of healthcare. For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul.