Introduction
I am a physician, epidemiologist, and public health leader dedicated to fighting infectious diseases and shaping global health policy. My career has been marked by transformative leadership in health systems, complex emergency management, high-impact research, and the development of life-saving policies.
I currently work as a physician preventing and treating HIV infection at a community health center in New York City. I also work in health communications, running the YouTube Channel (ThermometerHQ) and writing for Psychology Today and other publications about infectious diseases and public health.
My Mission
Public health requires anticipation, prevention, and action. My career has taken me from the front lines of disease outbreaks to advising policymakers and advancing research, always with the goal of creating a healthier, more resilient world. I am committed to building systems, public awareness, and evidence to avert illness and promote health.
The goal of public health is to advance protection, opportunity, and justice. Protection of communities from threats that individuals alone cannot stop. Opportunity for people to live healthy, economically productive lives. And justice for groups that are vulnerable and lack power.
I have dedicated my career to achieving these goals and improving public health through research, policy, and leadership in the fight against infectious diseases. From my early years in medicine to advising on pandemic response strategies, I have worked to bridge science with effective action.
My Entry Into Medicine
I graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1993 with a degree in History and Science, drawn to understanding the role of science in shaping society, culture, and government. I wrote my senior thesis on how physicians and scientists promoted (now discredited) theories about racial science and eugenics to restrict immigration in the early 1900s. My studies taught me the powerful role that physicians can play in shaping policy and practice outside of a clinic and hospital.
In 1993, I chose to pursue medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. While at UCSD, I helped found the first student-run clinic for homeless and indigent persons and served as the class graduation speaker. I completed my internal medicine residency at UCSD Medical Center, where I served as chief resident from 2000-2001.
My Transition into Public Health
After finishing residency in 2001, I joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Service, marking the beginning of my deep engagement with domestic and global health challenges. My early work focused on investigating foodborne disease outbreaks in the U.S., but it wasn’t long before I was called to international assignments. While in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, I led investigations into outbreaks of botulism in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, and identified novel approaches both to preventing and managing the disease.
Between 2003 and 2008, I led CDC’s tuberculosis control programs across Southeast Asia, working to curb one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. I supported expansion of HIV testing and treatment and TB screening across three countries, which dramatically reduced from HIV and TB. I led a multi-country clinical research study (published in the New England Journal of Medicine) and a meta-analysis (published in Plos Medicine) that led to development of a new WHO global policy on screening people with HIV for TB.
From 2008 to 2011, I was selected to serve as CDC advisor to the Chinese government to improve early detection and control of infectious diseases. The program I led built new epidemiology, laboratory, and information systems for tracking foodborne and airborne diseases, updated childhood vaccine policy, and advanced infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities. I also provided expert consultation to Chinese government for a wide range of infectious disease outbreaks, including a new hemorrhagic fever virus, Chikingunya, TB, influenza, typhoid fever, rabies, and norovirus. I advanced US CDC diplomacy through appearances on Chinese television and internet sites that had a combined viewing audience over 1 million people.
Leading Public Health Efforts in New York City
In 2011, I returned back to the U.S., taking a leadership position at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. As Deputy Commissioner for Disease Control from 2011-17, I led the city’s response to multiple public health crises, including Ebola, Zika, measles, meningitis, and Legionnaires’ disease.
I led creation and development of the “Ending the AIDS Epidemic” initiative that revitalized the city’s sexual health clinics and expanded prevention and care for people at risk of or with HIV infection.
Under my leadership, New York City achieved record lows in HIV and TB incidence and record highs in childhood immunization coverage and launched new, nationally-recognized programs for hepatitis C, STDs, HIV, Legionnaires’ Disease, advanced molecular diagnosis, and data management. I led implementation of new health information systems for clinical, public health, and laboratory data.
I served as the City’s incident manager and operations lead for 9 emergencies, leading teams of up to 500 staff for 938 total days responding to outbreaks and coastal storms. I served as a spokesperson for the City’s response activities, conducting interviews for national and local television, radio, and print media.
Building Public Health Systems in Africa
While still based in New York City, I deployed to Sierre Leone in spring 2015 for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. While there, I helped lead CDC’s Ebola response teams . That experience led CDC to ask me to support development of a new public health agency for the African continent.
In February 2017, I left my position in New York City to serve as the Senior Advisor to Africa CDC. Based at the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I developed strategy and designed, and implemented programs in surveillance, emergency preparedness and response, information systems, laboratory systems, workforce development.
I worked closely with government leaders across the African Continent to develop and implement new policies and commitments on antimicrobial resistance and infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities. I served as an Africa CDC representative to continent-wide and global technical advisory committees on epidemic preparedness and response convened by the World Health Organization.
Leading COVID-19 Pandemic Response in New York City
When COVID-19 emerged, I helped develop the initial continent-wide strategy for the African Continent. In March 2020, however, I received a request to help lead the response in New York City, which was the epicenter of the initial outbreak in the U.S. As Senior Advisor for Public Health to Mayor Bill de Blasio, I worked with leadership across the city to design and implement policies that shaped New York City’s pandemic response—from diagnostic testing and contact tracing to vaccination and business reopening strategies.
One of my most critical projects was supporting the re-opening of the city’s public schools, implementing extensive safety measures for students, teachers, and staff in the largest school system in the country.
Advancing Pandemic Preparedness and Health Policy
After completing my career at CDC, and retiring as a Captain in the United States Public Health Service, I took on a new challenge in September 2021, serving as the inaugural director of the Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response at Weill Cornell Medicine. In that role, I research and advocated for stronger domestic and global health systems. From 2023-2024, worked at SIGA Technologies as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, applying my expertise to develop new drugs for pandemic-prone infectious diseases.
Launching My YouTube Channel – THERMOMETERHQ
Public health is at a critical moment. Health systems are in crisis. New diseases are emerging. Governments are struggling to keep up, and, in many situations, reducing their support for public health. That’s why I launched my YouTube channel, THERMOMETERHQ, to provide expert insights on infectious diseases and public health.
What You’ll Find on My YouTube Channel
- Expert analysis of outbreaks and health threats
- Straight talk on what’s working, what’s failing, and how we do better
- Insider insights from someone who’s worked at the highest levels
- What you aren’t hearing from the media and governments
- Discussions with leaders in health & science
Launching My Psychology Today Site – Fevered Mind
I am writing about urgent issues of infectious diseases and public health at Fevered Mind. I am particularly interested in raising awareness about the many ways in which infections can alter brain health and psychology, and helping educate people about what we know and do not know about prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of these conditions.