--- description: Find out why Susan Monarez is on the TIME100 Health 2026 list. title: TIME100 Health: Susan Monarez image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbec5a3f0312e338d/6998ce4fe1ba005e3098e69c/T100-Health-2026-monarez.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Feb 11, 2026 # Susan Monarez Steadfast leader by [Dominique Mosbergen](/author/dominique-mosbergen/) ## Dominique Mosbergen Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Health correspondent  Courtesy of Susan Monarez Susan Monarez was fired in August 2025 as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a move that drew attention amid broader debates over the direction of federal health policy under the Trump administration. That her dismissal was followed by the resignations of several other senior [CDC officials](https://time.com/7338714/dr-debra-houry-essay-cdc/ "undefined") underscored internal tensions over policy and governance at the agency. Monarez says she was removed after resisting what she describes as pressure to sign off on vaccine recommendations without reviewing scientific data. “My core principles are integrity and trust,” Monarez says. “I had not anticipated that I would be put in such a stark decision-making position.” A microbiologist by training and longtime civil servant, Monarez testified in September before a Senate committee that she was fired by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after declining his requests to pre-approve vaccine recommendations and dismiss career scientists involved in vaccine policy. “Even under pressure, I could not replace evidence with ideology,” she told lawmakers. Kennedy denied her allegations in Senate testimony. TIME100 Health: Susan Monarez ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362645/susan-monarez/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362645/susan-monarez/"},"headline":"Susan Monarez","datePublished":"2026-02-11T13:01:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:07:24.228Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362645/susan-monarez/","keywords":["TIME100 Health 2026","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbec5a3f0312e338d/6998ce4fe1ba005e3098e69c/T100-Health-2026-monarez.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dominique Mosbergen","jobTitle":"Health correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/dominique-mosbergen/"}],"creator":"Dominique Mosbergen","articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbec5a3f0312e338d/6998ce4fe1ba005e3098e69c/T100-Health-2026-monarez.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time100-health-2026/","name":"TIME100 Health 2026"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362645/susan-monarez/","name":"Susan Monarez"}}]}] ```