The U.S. Senate has confirmed the January nomination by President Obama of Deborah L. Birx, MD, as ambassador at large and U.S. global AIDS coordinator, according to a USAID statement.

The position oversees the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and heads the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) in the Department of State.

Most recently, she was the director of the Division of Global HIV/AIDS in the Center for Global Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Previously, she was director of Global AIDS Programs in the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention at the CDC.

Birx served in the U.S. Army for nearly three decades, retiring in 2008 with the rank of colonel. In the Army, she was director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program. Birx also is a professor at three universities.

She replaces former U.S. global AIDS coordinator Eric Goosby, who resigned in late 2013.

To read the statement, click here.