NEW YORK (AP) — The new head of the nation's top public health agency is getting paid nearly twice what his predecessor made and far more than other past directors.

Dr. Robert Redfield Jr. has long career as a top HIV researcher, but he had no experience working in public health or managing a public health agency.

Government officials confirm he is being paid $375,000 a year to run the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's nearly twice the annual compensation given to Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who had the job for six months before resigning in January. Redfield is also making at least $150,000 more a year than any other previous CDC director.

Redfield has not been doing media interviews since taking the CDC job. He took a big pay cut to take the job.