Deputy state Commissioner of Health Jackie Cornell will be departing the Murphy administration for a top post at 1906, a big player in the cannabis industry.
The move takes Cornell out of the running to replace Commissioner of Health Shereef Elnahal, who is leaving the cabinet to become the new president of University Hospital in Newark.
Cornell has served as principal deputy commission since 2018, heading the Public Health Services Branch of the New Jersey Department of Health. She previously served in the Obama administration as the regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, overseeing the New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.