AUGUSTA — The director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control is moving to a new position.

Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew announced Sheila Pinette will become Chief Health Officer for DHHS while Ken Albert will take over as director of CDC.

“The Maine Centers for Disease Control is headed in an exciting new direction under the capable leadership of Ken Albert,” Mayhew said in a statement. “Ken brings decades of managerial, clinical, and legal experience to the table and I am grateful to him for stepping up to lead the CDC.”

According to a 2012 Sun Journal article, Albert graduated from the CMMC School of Nursing. He earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing at the University of Southern Maine and a law degree at the University of Maine School of Law. He lived in Lewiston with his wife and two children.

“I am thankful for Dr. Pinette’s service as director, and I know that she will be a valuable asset in achieving clinical goals across the Department as the Chief Health Officer,” Mayhew also said about Pinette in the statement.

Pinette was named in a whistle-blower suit settled last month. The suit was filed last year by former CDC division director Sharon Leahy-Lind. She said she refused to destroy public documents and claimed that officials harassed and discriminated against her.

As part of the settlement, Pinette and other principals in the suit admitted to no wrongdoing.