Who is Jim O’Neill? CDC chief set to bolster RFK Jr plan to remake vaccine policy

Ally of health secretary worked as speechwriter in George W Bush administration and has no training in medicine

The White House has chosen a top aide to health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr to temporarily lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - an appointment that is expected to bolster Kennedy's goals of remaking federal vaccine policy.

Jim O'Neill, a biotech investor and speechwriter for the health department during the George W Bush administration, was tapped as acting director of the agency that oversees vaccine recommendations, a White House official confirmed to the Guardian.