Government

Assistant HHS chief confirmed

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 6, 2009

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The Senate on June 19 confirmed Howard Koh, MD, MPH, as assistant secretary for health at the Dept. of Health and Human Services. He will serve as the primary adviser to HHS chief Kathleen Sebelius on public health issues.

"Howard Koh is a world-renowned public health expert and physician who has devoted his career to promoting prevention and wellness policies and reducing health disparities," Sebelius said, "Whether it's advancing health reform or working to implement the critical prevention programs in the [federal stimulus], I am confident that Dr. Koh will work tirelessly on behalf of the American people."

Dr. Koh was most recently the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health, associate dean for public health practice and director of the division of public health practice at the Harvard School of Public Health in Massachusetts. There, his research involved cancer prevention, health disparities, tobacco control and emergency preparedness.

He also served as Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health from 1997 to 2003 and is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine. He graduated from Yale College and Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut, and completed his postgraduate training and chief residencies at Boston City Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/07/06/gvbf0706.htm.

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